Back-to-School Breakfasts and Brown Bag Lunches

by Susan Davis on 04/09/09 at 9:48 am

And make it special

Are you a busy mom or dad looking for some creative ways to feed your kids healthy and nutritious meals before they head off to school?  It’s not always easy finding tasty, high protein options that are low in fat and sugar that kids are willing to eat.  It’s even harder to get them to sit down at the table and stay for the duration of the meal!  However, encouraging your kids to eat a good breakfast will ensure that they have enough energy to keep them positive and focused for the rest of the day.

Finding quick and nutritionally sound breakfast suggestions for the youngsters may be challenging, but here are ten tasty, terrific ideas for quick morning pick-me-ups.

• Low-fat yogurt mixed with multigrain cereal, fresh fruit, and nuts (make sure to look at labels for yogurts with no high fructose corn syrup)
• Whole grain toast with peanut butter, honey and banana slices
• Scrambled egg whites rolled into a tortilla with chopped vegetables and cheese
• Mixed fruit (of your choice) and low-fat yogurt smoothie
• Homemade whole grain and fruit muffins
• Whole grain waffles with low-sugar or all-fruit jam.
• Breakfast pizza on whole grain English muffins with tomatoes and melted cheese
• “Eggs in a Nest” (eggs baked into toast)
• Whole grain French toast with low-sugar jam
• “Pigs in a Blanket” (reduced fat crescent rolls, turkey sausage and cheese)

And while we’re reminding you about breakfasts for your kids, it’s not a bad idea to spend a bit of time addressing brown-bag lunches.  While it may be hard to get your kids to to eat breakfast, it may be even more difficult to ensure they eat a healthy lunch.  That’s why it’s so important to pack easy-to-eat luncheon meals that are fun and tasty, while keeping salt, sugar and fat to a minimum.  Here are some suggestions for take-along lunches.

• Peanut butter and reduced sugar jelly on whole grain toast
• Quiche cups (pour quiche mixture into lined cupcake tins for individualized quiches)
• Crunchy baked chicken fingers (coated with oatmeal and flaxseed mixture)
• Tuna salad sandwich with Greek Yogurt (put it on a wrap to cut out carbs)
• A container of low-fat yogurt with whole grain crackers and cut veggies
• Turkey and cheese roll-ups on a whole grain tortilla
• String cheese, veggie strips and mixed fruit salad
• Deviled eggs, whole grain crackers and a banana
• Cold pizza with fruit salad
• Rice cakes with peanut butter and a container of salad (with dressing on the side)

To ensure that your kids actually eat their lunch (instead of throwing it away or trading it for someone else’s less healthy meal), get them involved in choosing what to take and in helping put it together.  The more your child is invested in his or her meal, the higher the chances are that he or she will eat it.

Although the goal of packing a brown bag lunch may be twofold:  one, to ensure the kids have healthy food that will maintain a steady energy level throughout the day, and two, to save money, providing a cookie or a bag of pretzels or chips every now and then isn’t the end of the world.  Just remember that homemade cookies are far superior to the commercially produced variety.  Packing a sweet treat every now and then will keep your kids guessing about when the next one will show up.