Back to School Recipe Round Up
Want your kids to excel, stay focused, and perform their best at school? I’m here to help you conquer the lunch and snack rut with fresh, easy and delicious ideas
My slow summer mornings have quickly gone from peaceful matcha sips to a high-speed chase through the house—complete with an easy breakfast, a race to find matching socks, and the epic battle of packing lunches that will actually get eaten.
Why do I bother?
These meals don’t just keep hunger away - they’re the foundation for our kids’ (and let’s face it, OUR) focus 🧠, energy 🏃, immune health 🦠, and overall performance 🧑🏫.
What they eat also provides vital nutrients that their detox organs need to break down toxins they will inevitably encounter during their school days.
Here’s how I approach nutrition as a busy working mom of two, wearing my MD with 15 years of clinical experience and #foodasmedicine hat.
5 KEY pillars
Remember these 5 things to include:
COMPLEX CARBS: This gives them sustained energy - sweet potatoes, potatoes, grains like: oats, millet, wheat, buckwheat, brown/wild rice, quinoa. Contrast this with refined carbs from cookies, pastry, snack bars - which give them a sugar rush and a crash hours later - eroding their attention, learning, and focus.
CLEAN PROTEIN: This helps them grow and repair tissues - Organic soy products (tofu, edamame, tempeh), legumes (chickpeas, lentils), quinoa, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, chia), and if you eat meat: pasture raised eggs, wild-caught fish and chicken (I know it's easy, and kids like them, but I don't consider cold cuts 'clean' - processed meat is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the WHO.1 More on this below.
HEALTHY FATS: This provides energy and is important for brain health too - avocado, nuts and seeds, yogurt, wild-caught salmon, olives, or high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
FIBER: This is the forgotten one but important for a healthy microbiome, which then translates to a healthier immune system. Fiber also binds onto toxins and helps us eliminate them - Seasonal fruits and veggies (leafy, cruciferous, non-starchy, crunchy) that are easily accessible, easy to prep, and pack.
COLOR: Each (naturally occurring) color in our food represents a different antioxidant. Antioxidants keep our immune system strong and help us fight diseases. One of the biggest and most important determinants of gut health is the diversity of plants we eat. So I try to look at what colors are on my kids' plates and try to incorporate as many colors from the rainbow as I can.
KEEP IT SIMPLE: You really can’t go wrong if you remember these 5 things - even if it’s not pretty.
I’ll be the first to admit that my kids’ lunch boxes won’t win any presentation awards 🫢, but it’ll nourish them the right way.
For example, when I’m busy, I’ll just throw some leftover complex carbs like sweet potatoes from dinner, organic edamame or baked tofu nuggets (protein), olives (healthy fat and fiber), and a colorful veggie or fruit I have on hand e.g. red bell peppers. That’s it! When I have time, I might make some bliss balls, wraps, or sushi for them.
Shortcut I love making bean burger patties (see below) ahead of time and freezing them as they pack protein, complex carbs, healthy fat, fiber, and veggies all in one hit. I then take these out of the freezer in the morning and warm them up while we eat breakfast.
Breakfast ideas
Breakfast doesn’t need to be complicated - the 5 pillars above apply.
Here are some simple breakfast ideas to incorporate the good sources above:
Overnight oats: This is one of my favorites - Prep this the night before and warm it up in the morning or serve it cold. You can play with countless flavor combinations to keep things fun... For myself, I sometimes add in a scoop of protein powder [code: VIVIAN20] to bump up the protein content. My kids don't need protein powders, only I take it. See below for the link to my recipe.
Chia pudding: Similar to overnight oats, flavor this with any fruits of choice or nuts/seeds combination. One of my favorites is a strawberry chia parfait. I have a recipe in my e-book.
Fruits with yogurt/milk and granola: Granola can be store-bought or homemade. You can also vary this with store-bought cereals. This is my favorite homemade granola recipe.
Smoothies/smoothie bowls: The easiest way to incorporate all the different food
sources into a nutrient-dense easy breakfast. So many to choose from, but my e-book has my favorite one. If you are making it for breakfast, try to incorporate a good amount of protein - either in the form of seeds (e.g. hemp) or protein powder.Tofu scramble: This is a great way to incorporate vegetables into a protein-packed breakfast. (my recipe in my e-book)
Eggs/Omelets
Avocado Toast topped with protein e.g. crispy chickpeas: Look for whole grain bread, or better yet, seeded or sprouted for extra goodness.
You can also find make-ahead breakfast ideas from recipe blogs such as Happy Kids Kitchen.
Lunch Ideas
I certainly feel the school lunch fatigue sometimes, so I usually batch-make Bean Burger Patties (recipes via my e-book) at the weekend that I can warm up during the week for their lunches when I'm in a pinch (which is quite often #workingmom)!
I know it’s tempting, and kids love it - but I don't buy cold cuts like ham, salami or processed/cured meat like bacon - these are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer and are classified as a Class 1 carcinogen by the WHO.
Colon cancer is hitting young people - the age of diagnosis is getting younger and younger, with 20% of colon cancers now being diagnosed in those under the age of 50 - frightening and our diet is a huge contributing factor.
People ask if ‘better ingredients’ options like Applegate or Amylu are ok - the truth is - we don’t know!
What we know is this: meat needs preservatives. Or they’ll go bad.
The way the food industry preserve meat is by adding nitrite, nitrates, and salt. These compounds interact with the meat to become harmful compounds. You’ll see a lot of processed meats marked “Nitrite or Nitrate free”. That’s all well and good, but then you see celery powder as one of the ingredients. Celery powder is high in nitrate, so to me, this is just a sneaky way to add nitrate to the meat to make it ‘SOUND’ natural and harmless, when it may not be… nitrates in celery powder COULD still interact with meat to create the same harmful compounds (we need more studies on this, and until I know it is safe, I won’t be buying it) - So watch out for that.
If your kids love meat - roasted chicken, pork, or other forms of ‘unprocessed’ meat would be better choices than ham, salami, bacon, and the like.
Here are some simple ideas + recipes I have on rotation:
Cut veggie with hummus: Use whatever fresh vegetables that are in season or available at home. Bell peppers, cucumber, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, jicama, snap peas, edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes. Serve with hummus, either store-bought or homemade.
DIY wraps or rolls: This is my version of "Lunchables", which Consumer Report found to contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium and endocrine disrupters like phthalates. Try packing the wrap and the filling 'deconstructed' and let your kids make their own (it’s fun, they’re more likely to eat it, and it’s less work for you #momwins). Serve it with a side of your kids’ favorite sauces/dressings. If you want to make wraps at home, Plantyou has a great 2 ingredient tortilla recipe here.
Burger patties/bites: This is a great way to incorporate A LOT of fiber, veggies, protein and fat into one easy meal. I have a black bean and navy bean beans/ recipes in my e-book. I normally make a batch, freeze them, and warm them up in a toaster oven in the morning. This is usually served with a side of fruit. Costco sells frozen grass fed beef patties which you can pair with some potatoes or other complex carbs and a side of cut veggies.
Pasta: I always make extra when we have pasta for dinner so that they can take it to school for lunch the next day in a thermos. Also try using legumes-based pasta (edamame, chickpeas, lentils, peas) for added nutrients.
Quinoa fried rice: recipe’s in my e-book - I like using quinoa instead of rice to change things up and reduce our arsenic exposure, and it is also a source of complete proteins.
Repurpose other dinner leftovers. For example, when we have rice for dinner, I will make sushi for their school lunch the next day. When meal planning for the week, make some extra food for dinner that you can easily pack for lunch the next day. Stir-fry noodles or rice, pasta, soups, stews, or curries, make good leftovers. Cook once and eat twice!
If you want to buy patties, these options are ‘better’ choices but not perfect:
Engine2 black bean burgers (I've not tried them for taste) - not organic, has natural flavors
Hilary's Organic Adzuki bean burger - Organic, but uses canola/sunflower oil (I actually don’t share the same hate for sunflower oil as the internet. I think expeller, organic sunflower oil is ok in small amounts).
These Organic Black Bean burgers from Costco are also ok, but uses soy bean oil (it’s organic so not as much of a concern for me)
Snack Ideas
Snacks aisles in stores can feel like a parent trap sometimes, with tons of kid-friendly looking snacks and marketing ploys to get your kids' (and your) attention.
I always ignore the marketing terms on the front like “All natural”, “Sugar Free”, and “Gluten Free” and go straight to be back and read the actual ingredients, plus the nutrition label.
I try to do a mix of homemade and store-bought snacks.
Here are some simple ideas and recipes for you to try at home:
Fruit bagels: Bananas or apples sliced into round shapes spread with nut/seed butter of choice and sprinkled with pumpkin, sunflower, or hempseeds.
Energy bites/bars or pudding: These are easy and fun ways to serve proteins (e.g., black beans, cannellini beans, adzuki beans), healthy fats (e.g., nuts/seeds, avocado) and fiber (oats, dates). Check out these protein balls from Minimalist Baker.
Instead of Rice Krispies bars, make a healthier one with my recipe below. Rice can be a source of arsenic, which does not concern me if it does not feature regularly in your diet. However, if it does, you may want to sub puffed rice here with puffed quinoa or millet instead - switch up the whole grains :)
Baked goods: Homemade muffins, flourless brownies, socca (see my e-book), or scones are quick and easy ways to incorporate whole grains, veggies, or fruits like zucchini, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, berries, and nuts/seeds.
My kids LOVE a cookie dough bar - make them ahead of time, refrigerate, and they can help themselves after school.
Trail mix: Mix up your own with your kids’ favorite nuts or seeds, roasted chickpeas, or edamame, chopped dried fruits and dark chocolate.
Smoothies: Smoothies can be turned into quick snacks that you can keep cool in stainless steel thermos.
Stovetop popcorn drizzled with olive oil or nut butter.
Store-bought - let's be real here, although I attempt to provide homemade snacks for my kids, it is not always possible. Sometimes we are busy on the go, sometimes I'm just too busy and don't have the time. Here are some options my kids like:
Skout Organic Bars and Cookies (Affiliate code: platefulhealth for 20% off)
Organic seaweed (I also like Gimme Seaweed)
Lesser Evil Popcorn (we also like their paleo puffs and power curls), or the popcorn from Trader Joe’s
Sprouted Truffle Almonds from Sprout Living [code VIVIAN20]
I don’t love fruit roll-ups in general for dental health but these are better ingredients, and my kids are obsessed with them. I don’t buy a lot but it’s an occasional treat.
Last but not least - GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE
Not every lunch or every snack has to be perfect. I buy ready-made wraps from Whole Foods for their lunches when I know I have a busy week. Their diet does not have to be 100% perfect, organic whole foods for them to be healthy.
If you are stressing about having perfect ingredients for every meal, the stress might harm your health more than having perfect ingredients.
Our kids don’t need us to be perfect - they need love first and foremost, and good enough is the new perfect in my books!
Please share your favorite lunch recipes over in our chat! I can’t wait to hear from you.
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Harvard T.H.Chan, WHO report says eating processed meat is carcinogenic: Understanding the findings, accessed August 10th 2024