School Lunch & Snacks
In an effort to minimize sugar and refined foods that can cause energy slumps, impair optimal learning and cause behavioral issues, I like to encourage snacks to be proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Parents are busy, so snacks need to be quick, wholesome and easy to prepare. Here are some suggestions.
Vegetables— I like whatever’s seasonal and/or local. Veggies go over well with DIPS
like hummus, vinegars, or homemade dips of puréed leftovers, or WRAPS, like wraps them in flatbread, lettuce leaves, nori sheets or tortillas. Baked sweet-potato or squash slices Steamed green beans (splash on a little Bragg’s and vinegar) Raw sliced red, green, yellow peppers Raw or lightly steamed carrot sticks, broccoli and/or cauliflower Cucumber chunks (raw or soaked in a sweet vinegar ) Peas inside the pod Corn on the cob sections (even cold) Cherry tomatoes (but wear protective eyewear :o) Kale chips (slow roasted kale pieces, baked til crisp) Roasted Cauliflower (coated in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and roasted at 300˚F for 60 mins) Small romaine lettuce leaf ―tacos‖ filled with beans, meat, fruit, vegs, egg, anything…
Fruits— (preferably fresh, not canned, use dried fruit sparingly)
Peeled chunks of kiwi Bananas Oranges or clementines (easy to peel) Apple, pear, plum or peach Berries, cherries, grapes (see below about washing) Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries Applesauce (unsweetened) (Summer option; freeze whole grapes or ½ bananas on popsicle sticks)
Whole grains— There are a few great brands of whole grain (rye) crackers and breads (pictured below- available at Nature’s Choice, Fresh Off the Farm and sometimes even Hannaford and Shaw’s.)
Mind Body Nutrition Holly Noonan (207) 975-9442 www.MindBodyNutrition.net
Ryvita crackers, (any variety)
Kavli crackers (any variety)
Wasa crackers (any variety)
Mestemacher rye or pumpernickel bread
Whole grain crackers-- The Kavlis in particular are yummy by themselves. All can be topped with plain organic butter, almond or peanut butter and thin apple slices, Sockeye salmon and tomato, apple butter, hummus, banana slices or applesauce. Mochi- Cut cakes into squares and bake til they expand. They get chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Dip in sweet soysauce. (Available at the Co-ops or FOTF.) Porridge—Whole grains (oats, quinoa, rice, amaranth, spelt, cornmeal, barley, etc.) cooked til soft, served with butter and maple syrup topped with fruit and roasted nuts, coconut oil and agave, savory sauces, like miso-tahini sauce. Whole grain pancakes (see recipe)—good by themselves or with fruit. Sprouted grain bread (Food for Life or Ezekiel brands—available in Hannaford natural foods freezer section) almond butter and all-fruit jam or egg salad with diced pickles and carrots with mayo, org. cream cheese and jam are some ideas. Zippy Ziti (see recipe) a whole grain pasta with a high toddler approval rating.
Protein—
Hard boiled eggs (boil for 10 mins then shock them with cold water to make them easy to peel.) Leftover roasted chicken pieces Fritatta (sort of an omelet of leftovers including whole grains) Hummus (see recipe) Roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds (see recipe) Applesauce mixed with amaranth or quinoa (it’s good! Both grains are complete proteins)
Organic?
Here’s a link to the top ten fruits and vegetables to buy organic because they test as having the highest pesticide residue.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Peaches (highest pesticide load) Apples Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Nectarines
6. Strawberries 7. Cherries 8. Lettuce 9. Grapes – Imported 10. Pears
To see the whole list of 44 items, go to: http://www.foodnews.org/ Before being washed, non-organic produce regularly hosts small quantities of up to 20 pesticide chemicals including known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.
Mind Body Nutrition Holly Noonan (207) 975-9442 www.MindBodyNutrition.net
When you enjoy non-organic fruits, scrub with bio-degradable soap, then rinse multiple times.
Recipes!
Hummus-
Try them at home for fun. If you have your kids help you wash and cut, they are much more likely to eat! 2 cups of cooked chick peas (or one 30 oz can) ¼ cup tahini 3 cloves garlic ½ tsp sea salt juice of one whole lemon 2 tsp water options—add fresh herbs like basil, sautéed onions or roasted red pepper, add spices like cumin or cayenne or coriander. Blend til smooth. Chill. Dip crackers, veggies or apples and enjoy. Vinegars—Bragg’s apple cider raw vinegar is perhaps the healthiest (and tasty too) but also try ume plum vinegar, balsamic vinegar and seasoned rice vinegar to tickle your taste buds. Sometimes just vinegar is enough o get a kid to eat vegetables. Sweet Cukes --- Just immerse a sliced cucumber into ½ cup of water, ½ cup rice or apple cider vinegar and add a teaspoon of sugar (use agave nectar or stevia for lower glycemic options.)
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Fruit Dip—any fresh fruit, especially berries, blended with dates (oat-floured date pieces) Add silken tofu and/or tahini until you get the consistency you want. 2 cups fruit ½ cup date pieces ½ block silken tofu ½ cup tahini Avocado dip—
Roasted tapanade—Roasted vegetables (toss raw zucchini, red peppers, cauliflower, squash, whole garlic cloves and/or carrots in olive oil and bake at 250˚F for 60 minutes. Let cool before putting in the blender.) 4 tbls olive oil 1 cup olives salt to taste ¼ tsp oregano ¼ tsp basil 3 cups roasted vegetables of choice 2 tbls balsamic vinegar ½ cup toasted pumpkin, sunflower or sesame seeds Whizz ingredients into a puree. Whack it into the fridge to chill.
1 ripe avocado ½ cup yogurt or ¼ cup soy mayo 2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar salt to taste
Mind Body Nutrition Holly Noonan (207) 975-9442 www.MindBodyNutrition.net
Smoothies- you can hide greens, fish/flax oil and tofu in them and they’ll still drink it! Whole Grain pancakes—good slow-burn brain food to keep you going. 1 cup whole wheat flour (or gluten free mix) ½ cup other whole grain flour (buckwheat, cornmeal, spelt, etc) 1 cup rolled oats, or cooked grain (like kasha, amaranth, millet, etc) 3 tbls olive or walnut oil
1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 3 tbl maple syrup or agave nectar 2 eggs (or more if you want) 1 ½ cups organic milk, soymilk or ricemilk ½ cup toasted sunflower seeds ½ cup or raisins and/or ½ cup of date pieces optional: 2 cups organic blueberries (fresh or frozen) optional: add walnuts, replace soymilk with plain yogurt Fill a bowl with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients and immersion blend or whisk til smooth. Reserve some of the milk til the end and add til you get the consistency you want. Heat skillet to medium high heat with butter. Make heaps and then freeze for quick snacks on the go.
Zippy Ziti— I whole bag whole wheat pasta or whole rice pasta (Hannaford) 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup Braggs liquid aminos 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1/4 cup dulse flakes ½ cup unsweetened applesauce Cook pasta and drain. Mix all ingredients together. Let cool. Roasted seeds-1 cup seeds (pumpkin or sunflower or a mixture) Mind Body Nutrition Holly Noonan (207) 975-9442 www.MindBodyNutrition.net
1 tbl Braggs aminos Lay seeds on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and pour aminos on. Swish around till all are damp. If you have a toaster oven, toast on ―light‖ or until you hear seeds start to pop (maybe 2 minutes.) In a conventional oven, preheat to 300˚F and put the seeds in for 2 to 5 minutes. Keep a careful watch as they can burn quickly. Let cool and scrape off. Serve as garnish or by themselves. Yum! Great source of calcium.
Mind Body Nutrition Holly Noonan (207) 975-9442 www.MindBodyNutrition.net