whole grains

Below are some of my ideas for healthy easy lunches.  It is coming close to end of August, and that means that most parents and students are getting ready to get back into the habit of packing lunches.  Many lunch periods are short these days, so the need to make lunches quick to eat and nutritious is a serious challenge.  My main goal for packing lunches is to provide a meal that is fun to eat and is balanced with whole grains, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats.  I hope that you and your kids will have fun making and eating the following options:

Tortilla Roll Up

Use a 6 inch tortilla, spread mustard or hummus on it.  Top with 2 thin slices of turkey or ham, a thin slice of cheese and lettuce, shredded carrots, and thin slices of tomatoes.  Then roll it up.  This gives a fun and unique twist to your standard sandwich.  To boost the fiber intake, consider using a whole wheat tortilla.  To give variation to this lunch, swap between  regular while flour, whole wheat, spinach and tomato based tortillas. Serve with a piece of fruit on the side.

Peanut Butter/Cornflakes/Graham Crackers Balls

This is a fun lunch that can be prepped the night before and stored in the fridge.  Mix together 1/4 cup peanut butter to 1/4 cup cornflakes. Take the mixture and create balls about the size of a golf ball.  (To get the correct consistency, you may have to add more peanut butter or cornflakes until the desired firmness for rolling the balls is achieved).  Once balls are made, roll them in crushed graham crackers.  Serve with fresh fruits such as apples, grapes, or peaches and small container of low-fat .  These balls give a fun twist to your standard PBJ sandwich.                                                      **If your child has a peanut or nut allergy, then an alternative to nut butters is sunflower seed butter. (more…)