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Nutrition

It's in the Bag!

Posted on October 11th, 2011

Back to school, means back to packing lunches! It is one of the great culinary dilemmas…how do I create a tasty and healthy meal that will actually survive in the box until lunch? There is also the time-crunch factor of getting this all put together in the mist of signing off on school assignments and looking for long lost gym shoes!

Fret no more! Here are some strategies for making nutritious lunches that will actually get eaten by your kids:

  1. Keep it cold! Space is often limited in lunch boxes, so use foods that the kids will be eating as the cold pack. Yogurt tubes, string cheese, applesauce cups, fruit cups, and bottled waters work great for this. Store them in the freezer and then put them in the lunch box. By lunch time they should be thawed and ready to eat! Depending on foods you are serving, you may want to also include a small ice pack to maintain food safe temperatures.

  2. Prep the night before! When you are putting together the evening meal, why not chop the veggies or fruit for the lunch pack the next day? Also consider assembling sandwiches the night before or using leftovers from dinner meal as the main “entrée” for tomorrow’s lunch. Last night’s BBQ chicken could make a great BBQ chicken wrap sandwich or salad for the next day!

  3. Involve the kids! You will certainly get more “buy in” on the menu if the children are involved in planning it. It is also an excellent opportunity to teach about the well-balanced eating. Make a simple chart that shows all the food groups and have your children “design” a lunch menu that includes all the groups. It can also work as a checklist for packing up the lunches! For ideas on explaining the foods groups check out the USDA’s new Choose My Plate website!

  4. Compartmentalize! There are many eco-friendly lunch boxes on the market these days that help to keep foods fresh and at their best. One design is based off of Japanese Bento-style boxes with separate compartments for different types of foods. This will help in creating more inspired lunches such as: pita wedges, hummus, pea pods and carrot sticks, yogurt/fruit/granola parfait, and oatmeal cookies all in one glorious box!

  5. Inspire Me! Check out the list below of fun and nutritious lunch choices:

    • *Greek Yogurt Parfaits (see recipe below)
    • *Trail Mix (whole grain cereal, dried fruit, walnuts)
    • *Cheese slice cutouts (use cookie cutters of child’s favorite animal/cartoon character)
    • *Vegetable soup with fun pasta shape of choice (obviously will need a thermos for this)
    • *Taco Salad in a bag (Put favorite taco ingredients in snack bag of baked tortilla chips) make sure you have ice pack to keep things temperature safe
    • *Fruit Quesadilla (see recipe below)
    • *Chicken Strip Roll-Up (see recipe below)

Greek Yogurt Parfait

Combine or layer the following ingredients:

  • 1 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla extract
  • Sprinkle cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp agave nectar or honey
  • 1/8 cup pistachios (or other favorite nut), roughly chopped
  • 1/8 cup dried fruit of choice

Fruit Quesadilla

  • 2 whole grain tortillas
  • 1-2 tbsp of low fat cream cheese
  • Sprinkle with cinnamon
  • Sliced fruit of choice (bananas, grapes, berries, apples)

Directions:

  1. Spread cream cheese on tortillas
  2. Sprinkle in cinnamon
  3. Layer sliced fruit
  4. Put tortillas together

Chicken Strip Roll-Up

Makes 10

For the chicken fingers:

  • 20 chicken tenders
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • One 14-ounce bag potato chips

For the roll ups:

  • 1 carrot, peeled
  • 10 leaves of Boston lettuce (or a similar green with soft leaves)
  • 10 flour tortillas
  • 1 cup Ranch dressing

Directions

For the chicken fingers:

  1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
  2. In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, and set it beside the flour bowl. Slightly open the bag of chips (to let the air out) and then crush them until they are in small pieces. Place the bag of crushed chips at the end of your assembly line.
  3. Dredge one chicken finger in the flour and shake off any excess. Next, coat it in the egg mixture, and then drop it into the chip bag. Repeat with the rest of the chicken tenders. Once all of the tenders are in the chip bag, shake them around until they are all fully coated with the potato chip flakes. Place the tenders in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

For the roll ups:

  • While the chicken strips are baking, prepare the tortillas. Place tortillas between two wet paper towels and place on a baking sheet in the oven. This will make them softer and easier to fold.
  • Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, peel long, thin strips off the sides of the carrot.
  • Remove the tortillas from the oven and place a few ribbons of carrot in the tortilla, in addition to a leaf of lettuce and about 1 tablespoon of Ranch dressing. When the chicken tenders have cooled slightly, add 2 strips to each tortilla and wrap tightly.
  • Can store in fridge and use for lunch next day!