Healthy School Lunches

It’s nearly November and the time of year when I start to get in a school lunch packing rut. I pack my kids lunches 4 days a week (I actually let them have pizza on Fridays). My daughter hates sandwiches and my son could live off of PB&J and carrot sticks. Their diet is 95% vegetarian, so packing school lunches isn’t an easy feat.

Now that many children will be begging for candy every day for the next 1-2 weeks, it is time to refocus and update our approach to packed school lunches. Here are three quick and affordable healthy menus that will refresh your child’s school lunchbox:

Mexican Munchies ·      Low-fat refried bean and cheese quesadilla slices on whole wheat tortillas   ·      Apple slices ·      Shredded carrot, craisin and raisin salad (simply toss 2-3 tablespoons of shredded carrots with a teaspoon each of craisins and raisins)

PBA on the FLY ·      PBA (peanut butter and thin apple slices) on whole wheat bread ·      1/2 cup of Mandarin oranges ·      1/4 cup unsalted pretzels

Strip and Dip ·      Grilled chicken strips (perfect to make from leftovers, these could also be substituted with soy chicken, tempeh or tofu) ·      Low-fat honey mustard dressing or BBQ sauce ·      Baby carrots ·      1 cup air popped popcorn (no butter or salt) ·      Unsweetened dried apple rings

FYI: Looking for an environmentally friendly, BPA free, functional and sturdy lunchbox? I use laptop lunches systems. I bought these Bento type lunch boxes for my kids two years ago. I put them in the dishwasher 4 days a week and they are still in great condition. You can choose to upgrade to a system that includes a carrier and water bottle. I am a food safety freak and love that the carriers include a mesh pocket for an ice pack. The best part is if your child loses a lid, the water bottle or a container, you can order new ones on their website. They are pricey, but considering the quality, they are definitely worth the investment.

Healthier PB&B Even Elvis Would Love

Did You Know? Fried PB&B was one of Elvis's favorite foods

One of my favorite pastimes was eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches (PB&B) with my dad. It was probably one of the first sandwiches I learned to make as a child. Even as I type this, I can almost smell peanut butter wafting in the air and picture my dad’s childlike smile every time he took a bite.

Reinventing family recipes is a favorite hobby of mine. This particular sandwich got a facelift when I was pregnant with my daughter. For some reason I was craving a PB&B..something I hadn’t had in years. While perusing through my cupboards, I saw rice cakes, which, by the way, were going to get stale if I didn’t eat them soon. So I made a PB&B on a rice cake..and voila..my version of PB&B was reborn.

This isn’t just for craving pregnant mamas, it is also a great after school snack for kids. You can even make this on mini rice cakes and call them fairy sandwiches (for some reason if I make mini portions and add the name fairy..my kids love it (or are at least willing to try it)).

Of course there are many variations…just spread a tablespoon of your favorite nut butter (almond, cashew, sunflower etc.) on a rice cake then top with 6-8 banana slices. I suggest using plain, unsalted, unsweetened rice cakes. My favorite is Lundberg Eco Farmed Brown Rice Cakes. These whole grain rice cakes are only 60 calories and are gluten free, vegan, non GMO, and Kosher. You can even trade the banana for thinly sliced apples, raisins, craisins or whatever you or your kids are craving at the moment (or have available in your kitchen). Sweeten it with tiny drizzle of honey or dust some cinnamon for flavorful flair. For the little ones, make faces with the toppings. 

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Cinnamon Cereal

There is no need to feel guilty about feeding your kids cold cereal for breakfast. The key is choosing a cereal that is low in sugar, high in nutrient value and pleasing to your child’s taste buds.

Tips to Picking Healthy Cereal:

1. Stick with whole grain cereals- the first ingredient should be a whole grain. Examples include whole wheat, whole oats, brown rice etc.
2. Select cereals with at least 4 grams of fiber
3. Choose cereals with less than 15 grams of sugar (5-10 more if it contains dried fruit).
4. Look for cereals with less than 200 mg of sodium

One of our family favorites is Nature’s Path Flax Plus Cinnamon Cereal. It meets the nutrient guidelines above and tastes great. It is a whole-wheat and flax cereal sweetened naturally with evaporated cane juice. This cereal has a great cinnamon taste pleasing to taste buds of all ages.

If you are trying to stock your kitchen with more whole grain options, this is a great product to start with. For pickier eaters, mix it with corn flakes, slowly increasing the ratio of whole grain flakes to regular corn flakes over time. Add banana slices, berries or almond slivers for a healthy kick.

This particular cereal is available as an Eco Pack, which provides the option of purchasing a product that is not only healthier for your family, but also healthy for the environment.

Cost:

On the website, a 26.4 oz bag costs $9.49. This sounds pricey, but a 26.4 oz bag has 30 three-quarter cup servings. That boils down to 32 cents per serving. Save money by shopping online at Amazon.com, and you can get two packs for $14.95! That’s 25 cents per serving.

 *Please note these prices are subject to change at anytime

Healthy Fruit Roll-Ups

I used to love eating fruit roll-ups as a child. Pulling the fruit leather sheets off the wax paper, making shapes and faces and licking my sticky fingers…yum. Even as an 8 year old, I knew these were no replacement for real fruit. Now, over 25 years later, if my kids are with me at the grocery store, I avoid the fruit snack isle like the plague. It is bad enough that the boxes are ordained with Disney Princesses and Action Figures. It is even worse that the front packaging deceives consumers into thinking they are actually healthy “food”. It comes to no surprise that I am not the only one that thinks this is a problem.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) proposed a class action lawsuit charging General Mills, Inc. for misleading consumers about the nutritional and health qualities of fruit snacks, namely Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot as well as other similar products. The Center for Science in the Public Interest argues that General Mills Inc. made misleading statements that its products were nutritious, healthful to consume and better than similar fruit snacks.

The front packaging of each of its Fruit products says the following:

·      Fruit flavored snacks

·      Naturally flavored

·      Good source of vitamin C

·      Low number of calories

·      Low fat

·      Gluten free

The lawsuit also addresses the marketing tactics targeting children with various promotional gimmicks to win prizes, directing children to eatplayburn.com and having the Box Top for Education label. CSPI also points out that the fruit snacks contain partially hydrogenated oil, aka trans fats which are known to contribute to cardiovascular diseases.

While we wait to see how the United States District Court in the Northern District of California rules on the case, as consumers, we can take our own action buy purchasing healthier alternatives.

While fresh or plain dried whole fruit is the best choice, there are healthier dried fruit products available. They may lack some of the marketing flair, but have similar texture and taste and are actually made with real fruit. My kids love the Trader Joe’s Organic Fruit Wraps and FruitaBu. These are the most similar in texture to the “fake” corn syrup laden Fruit Roll-ups. The original Stretch Island fruit leathers (Fruitabu are a brand extension of Stretch Island) are another alternative that are more widely available and lower in sugar than Fruitabu and Trader Joe's Fruit Wraps. For those chefs out there you can go above and beyond and make your own.

Before heading to the grocery store, you can look at the table below, which compares the aforementioned brand nutrient profiles:

Nutrition Facts (for one serving size)	Fruit Roll-Ups: Berry Flavored	Trader Joes Organic Fruit Wraps: Apple Raspberry	FruitaBu: Smooshed® Strawberry	Stretch Island: Summer Strawberry	½ cup Strawberries
Calories	50	50	80	45	24
Total Fat (g)	1	0	1.5	0	0.23
Dietary Fiber (g)	0	<1	<1	1	1.5
Sugars (g)	7	11	14	9	3.54
Vitamin C (% Daily Value)	25	4	0	4	74
Iron ((% Daily Value)	0	2	0	0	2
Ingredients	Pears From Concentrate, Corn Syrup, Dried Corn Syrup, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Acetylated Mono and Diglycerides, Fruit Pectin, Malic Acid, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Natural Flavor, Color (Red 40, Yellow 5&6, Blue 1).	Organic apple puree concentrate, organic apple juice concentrate, organic raspberry puree concentrate, citrus pectin, organic elderberry juice concentrate, natural flavor, organic lemon juice concentrate	Apple puree concentrate, apple juice concentrate, white grape juice concentrate, apple powder, strawberry puree concentrate, organic palm fruit oil, citrus pectin, natural strawberry flavor, fruit juice for color, citric acid, sodium citrate, soy lecithin	Apple puree concentrate, pear puree concentrate, strawberry puree, organic natural strawberry flavor, lemon juice concentrate	Strawberries J Fresh strawberries are the clearly the nutrient champions!

Looking strictly at the nutrient facts of the four fruit snacks could trick you into thinking that Fruit Roll-Ups are the best choice; they are the highest in vitamin C and lowest in sugar. However, when you are looking at the nutrition facts panel, don’t forget the read the ingredient list. You can see that in the case of Fruit Roll-Ups the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th ingredients are corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil respectively. In the Fruit Roll-Up there is no fruit puree, only pear juice concentrate (and these are berry flavored??). I typically buy the Trader Joe's fruit wraps, my kids like them and they are cheaper (49 cents each). While these are a little higher in sugar than the original Stretch Island Fruit Leather, they have a little iron and my kids like them better.

Crockpot Oatmeal for Breakfast

No matter how much I prepare the night before, or how early I wake up, school day mornings at the Ilkay house are chaotic. It starts with 15 minutes of motivating the kids to wake-up, followed by the 20 minute routine of getting dressed, brushing teeth and hair all the while dealing with tantrums and trying to drink my coffee before it gets cold.

After the kids are groomed and dressed that leaves us with less than 15 minutes to eat breakfast. If I am lucky I will have 10 minutes to make breakfast (and drink more coffee). My kids will only tolerate cold cereal and milk 2-3 times a week. My other standbys are eggs and toast, bagels with cream cheese, or frozen waffles, but our family favorite…is crockpot oatmeal.

Thankfully my kids love oatmeal. This whole grain is packed with plenty of vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and antioxidants. It also decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes, helps with weight management and has even been shown to prevent certain types of cancers (Cathy, K. 2001).  

Crockpot oatmeal is not only healthy but super easy to make. The bonus is you can make it the night before and have breakfast ready before you even wake up. The main difference is that this recipe calls for steel-cut oats. Steel-cut oats are less processed and require more time to cook, but it is well worth the wait.

Recipe:

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

·      2 cups water

·      2 cups milk (I love using vanilla almond milk, but you can use regular milk, soy or even coconut milk)

·      1 cup steel-cut Irish oatmeal

·      1 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·      1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the ingredients in a slow cooker and stir thoroughly. Cook on low heat for 7-9 hours. For a sweet kick, serve with a teaspoon of maple syrup.

Why Breakfast is really the most important meal of the day for our kids:

According to the American Dietetic Association, research shows that children who eat breakfast (ADA, 2010):

·       Show improvements on math, reading and standardized test scores,

·       Are better able to pay attention and perform problem solving tasks,

·       Have fewer absences and incidences of tardiness – and are more likely to behave better in school,

·       Have more important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such calcium, dietary fiber and protein, and

·       Are less likely to be overweight

References:

1. American Dietetic Association, 2010. Kids Eat Right. Breakfast Helps Kids Eat Right. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from: http://www.eatright.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=6442459346
2. Cathy, Kapica. 2001. Oats-Nature’s Functional Food. Nutrition Today, 36 (2).  56-60.

Hello Readers!

My name is Jasmin. I am a foodie, family chef, nutritionist, wife and mother of two. My journey to health began with getting my undergraduate degree in nutrition. At the time I wasn’t sure what type of career I wanted, but I knew that my future included living a healthy lifestyle and raising a healthy family.

When I became a mother, I thought my education and experience in helping hundreds of individuals eat healthier provided me with the tools to raise perfect eaters. Boy was I wrong! My cooking skills and PATIENCE have been put through the ringer. I have spent countless of hours on blogs, reading books, reviewing recipes and searching grocery stores for meal and snack ideas that are not only healthy, but also affordable.

My goal with this blog is to provide practical tips and advice on shopping for and making healthy food in order to help families build a healthier eating home.

I see this blog as an opportunity to exchange ideas and information and I encourage readers to share their thoughts, advice and concerns related to my posts.

I look forward to my continued journey to health and hope to learn even more from you.

Have a Healthy Day! Jasmin