Back to school is always a big rush in our house. We transition from long and lazy summer days when my daughter sleeps late, eats dinner late, and often watches TV or plays with her friends in the evenings, and into time-crunched mornings, brown bag lunches, and dinners that have to be fit around the busy schedule of homework, sports, and activities.
During this hectic time of year, I am always looking for recipe shortcuts. I want to give my daughter, Kayla, nutritious, delicious, and homemade meals. But I'm busy, too, and I can't spend hours preparing, chopping, cutting, cooking, packaging, and cleaning up. And kids can be be picky eaters, so it can be difficult to introduce healthy choices that will keep them on the ball, full of energy, and completely satisfied until meal time comes around again.
Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of a child's life. Research has linked skipping breakfast with poor learning, and high fat, high sugar, high processed food diets have been linked with lower IQ. So, we know that kids who eat healthy, less processed meals end up on the smarter end of the spectrum. They also end up with better energy levels and increased performance in both the classroom and on the playground.
In my own experience, school mornings in particular are absolute chaos. But there's still a lot you can do in a short amount of time to insure that your children have something healthy on board before heading out to school. The ideal breakfasts and lunches are high in fiber, quick, healthy, and if you're not familiar with my philosophy: made with REAL food ingredients (which means you can read and pronounce all of them!). They should also consist of lean proteins, complex carbs, and friendly fats.
Here are some breakfast recipes that meet all of these requirements, that will satisfy their taste buds and your own desire to make sure they are eating REAL nutritious food all day long.
Quick Banana Berry Colada Recipe
Serves 2
Prep time: 2 minutes
This high-potassium smoothie recipe offers a tropical taste, perfect for end-of-the-summer!
Ingredients:
2 whole Bananas (fresh or frozen)
1 cups Ice
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries (or berries of your choice)
1 cup Piña colada mix
1 sm container low-fat greek Yogurt
Place bananas, strawberries, piña colada mix, and yogurt in a blender; add ice and blend on high until smooth (roughly 80 to 90 seconds).
Nutty Carob Power Shake
Serves 2
Prep time: 2 minutes
Carob is better for kids, since it doesn't contain caffeine like cacao does.
Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
½ frozen banana
1 T unsweetened carob powder
1 T raw, unsalted PB or AB
Stevia or raw honey, to taste
Blend all ingredients together in a blender until creamy.
Acai-Blueberry-Chia Smoothie
Serves 2
Prep time: 2 minutes
Most people are well aware that acai is a super food. With good reason, because it is high in antioxidants, which makes for a healthy kid. Be sure you buy pure acai, with no added sugar or ingredients you can't pronounce. You can usually find it in the frozen fruit section of Whole Foods or your local health food store. If you can't find it, you can add in other berries of your choice.
Ingredients
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 packed of frozen acai
1 Plain, low-fat Greek yogurt
½ cup unsweetened almond or rice milk
Blend all ingredients together in a blender untily creamy.
Sima's Famous Green Smoothie
Serves 2
My clients and I are seriously ADDICTED to this delicious and good for you green smoothie!
I have made a few modifications, and eliminated the parsley, cilantro, and celery, so that your kids will drink it without too much whining.
Ingredients
Handful of spinach (or kale, or any dark leafy green of your choice)
1 avocado
1 ripe banana (best if frozen)
1 small apple (green or red, doesn't matter)
1 T whole flax, hemp or chia seeds
1 Persian cucumber
1 C Coconut water or Warer
Blend all ingredients together in a blender until creamy.
Banana Breakfast Wrap
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 sprouted whole wheat tortilla or Eziekel tortilla.
2 tablespoons raw, unsweetened almond butter
1 banana, diced
Spread almond butter on tortilla. Top with bananas and roll.
Rise and Shine Sweet Quinoa
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, cooked
2 T of your favorite mixed dried-fruit such as: apricots, cranberries, raisins, blueberries, etc…
Dash of sea salt
Dash of Cinnamon
Stevia or raw honey (a few drops)
A few drops of rose water (if desired)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until all liquid is absorbed. Divide into two bowls and enjoy!
And here are some delicious lunches, for the kids (and moms) on the go. These can all be prepared quickly the night before to help you save precious time in the morning.
Quinoa Pasta Salad
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa rotini pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled
½ sweet red pepper, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 persian cucumber, chopped
3 T fresh basil, chopped
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Sea salt
Black pepper to taste
Mix pasta, pepper, onion, tomato, zucchini, cucumber and fresh basil. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour over salad. Toss to mix.
California Turkey-And-Veggie-Wrap
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 sprouted, 100% whole wheat or Eziekel tortilla
4 slices of low-sodium deli slices of turkey or chicken.
1/4 avocado, mashed.
2 T hummus
¼ cup fresh spinach
½ cup carrots, shredded
1 tomato, chopped
1 small Persian cucumber, slices.
Sea salt and lemon juice
Spread hummus on tortilla and add mashed avocado. Top with spinach, carrots, tomato and cucumber. Add 2-3 slices of low sodium turkey or chicken deli slices. Roll and cut in half.
And here are some more healthy lunch and snack ideas for adding to kids lunches, or for after school:
Celery sticks with raw almond butter and raisins
Coconut yogurt
Seasonal fresh fruit salad (NOT fruit kabobs, since it can be dangerous for our kids!)
Sweet potato “fries”
