Power Packed, Brain Boosting, School Lunches

​Fall signals the beginning of school, early mornings, packed lunches and hungry tummies away from home.

Here is a simple guide to help pack nutritious, power boosting lunches to keep your child satisfied until pick-up time.
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When preparing school lunches think about all the essentials to boost energy and brain power throughout the day.  This means protein, healthy fats, veggies and natural sugars from fruits and honey.

FIRST: Protein
We use nuts, nut butters, cheese, seeds, sliced chicken and turkey, hummus, hard-boiled eggs and beans for protein.

Here are some ideas:

• A hard-boiled egg with cheese slices on the side
• Protein bliss balls
• Turkey and cheese slices wrapped together with a cucumber slice in the middle
• Protein rich pancakes (we make ours with almond meal and other ingredients high in protein, vitamins and fats). Slice them up and include honey for dipping.
• Hummus drizzled with olive oil, with cucumbers, carrots and crackers for dipping
• Garbanzo beans with an olive oil drizzle make a fun finger food
• A simple nut butter sandwich with a honey drizzle in the middle over an organic sprouted bread.

​A note about bread: Sandwiches make a filling addition to a child’s lunch and are simple to prepare.  Read ingredients before purchasing bread.  Most breads have added sugars and additives that will slow down your child as the day progresses.  Purchasing an organic sprouted bread with no added sugar will help fuel your child.

SECOND: Healthy Fats
Lots of nuts like cashews, pistachios, pecans are our favorites.  Hiding seeds high in omega 3’s such as chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds will help boost your child’s brain power after lunch.
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Here are some ideas:

• Apple slices with almond butter, drizzled with hemp seeds, to dip on the side. 
• Bliss balls with chia seeds, hemp seeds and sweetened only with honey
• Trail mix with favorite nuts, dark chocolate, unsweetened coconut chips, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• Diced avocados with lemon juice over the top (to keep from browning)

THIRD: Healthy Sugars
These will come from fruits and veggies.

• At least one fruit per day in lunches, can be an apple, banana, orange, kiwi, strawberries, or blueberries.   Keep in mind berries are high in anti-oxidants which will help fuel immune systems as well.
• Veggies are an important part of lunch every day.  Sliced cucumbers or colorful peppers instead of chips, carrots with a dipping sauce or last night’s broccoli have all been good options in our lunches.
• To make lunches even more fun try our spring rolls or veggie sushi rolls
• Cherry tomatoes are fun to add to lunches and add vibrant colors, easy to pack too.
• If your kids enjoy salad, make a small salad to go with their lunch.

FOURTH: A Fun Dessert or snack
They have worked hard all day and most likely deserve a treat to make their lunch extra special.
Some ideas:

• Pack their favorite fruits and make their lunches colorful
• Plain yogurt with honey and homemade granola for them to drizzle over the top
• Apple sauce
• Pieces of cocoa nibbs or dark chocolate
• Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups is a sweet and fun dessert
• Popcorn drizzled with butter and nutritional yeast or try our kettle corn recipe for some sweet popcorn.

FIFTH: A Drink

Water! Water! And more WATER!
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That’s all we give to drink.  No fruit juices or sports drinks necessary.  Every day we pack a water bottle.  If they are going on a field trip, or have a field day, where I know they are physically active outdoors then I do pack a juice for them.  Only on these ‘special’ days.

The lunchboxes pictured here are Bentgo Kids Children’s Lunchboxes.  Bought them on Amazon several years ago.  They are long-lasting and durable.  Each child has their own color lunch bin.  Potion sizes are good for  lunch and we pack snacks on the side.