SCHOOL BACK TO. First, Let s Look at the Basics. Let s dust off the old lunch boxes and get creative! There are so many choices for a tasty lunch!

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1 BACK TO SCHOOL as d I h c Lun by Sarah Muntl, RD Summr has com to an nd bring on school, Fall and fun! It taks a whil to gt into th fall mindst of homwork, schduls and school activitis, but onc you do, it s a snap! With th thought of backto-school, many parnts struggl with packing lunchs vry day for thir kids. With a littl crativity, planning and commitmnt, you can knock school lunch out of th park! Lt s dust off th old lunch boxs and gt crativ! First, it s important to know that a balancd school lunch can st your kids up for succss. Multipl studis show that whn kids at a halthy lunch, thy will b abl to focus and hav th nrgy to gt through th day. Som studis vn show improvd tst scors. Additionally, with th ris in childhood obsity rats, a halthy lunch has a big impact on a child s long-trm halth. Who wouldn t want to tak stps to mak thir kids mor succssful? First, Lt s Look at th Basics. Mak sur your lunch has this: Protin/Fruits/ Vgtabls/Dairy/Whol Grains. That sms lik a lot for a kid, but offring all of th food groups can provid maximum nutrition. How about this? Ham and chs on a whol what tortilla Yogurt, appl slics and carrot sticks A small cooki (bcaus who s prfct!) Ths options can provid a grat lunch and offr protin, complx carbohydrats, vitamins, minrals and fibr. Looking for mor idas? Chck ths out: Panut buttr and banana sandwich on whol what brad Grn ppprs and low-fat dip String chs Strawbrris Thr ar so many choics for a tasty lunch!

2 Additional Tips for Crating Powr-packd Lunchs LIMIT SUGAR: Sur, a trat can b fin onc in a whil. Thr is nothing wrong with a cooki in your lunch box somtims, but watch for hiddn sugars lswhr. Thr ar many addd sugars in drinks, yogurt tubs, appl saucs and fruit snacks. Rad th nutrition labls on food packags and limit addd sugars! PLAN AHEAD: Thr is nothing wors than throwing a lunch togthr two minuts bfor th bus pulls up. Spnd som prp tim to gt st for th wk by chopping and bagging vgtabls, slicing fruit in containrs and portioning out whol grain crackrs. If you prp on Sunday, you can grab and go all wk. This can also lad to a lss strssful morning! Anothr option is to pack th ntir lunch th night bfor and put it in th fridg for latr. This way, you can compltly avoid th morning rush. GET THE RIGHT TOOLS: Rmmbr th days of brown papr bag lunchs? Things ar so much asir now! Hr ar a fw things you may nd: Ic Pack Kp your lunch cool and at th right tmpratur until lunch. Plastic containrs Containrs of all shaps and sizs can mak packing fruit, salads, sandwichs and sids supr asy. This is also a grat way to hlp th nvironmnt! Thrmos This can compltly xpand your mal choic options. Soups and chili on a cold day or cool chickn salad can b grat choics! Watr bottl Guss what you put in a watr bottl... watr! Ys, that s right, th halthist drink of all! A cool watr bottl can go a long way with kids. In January 2017, th Cntrs for Disas Control (CDC) rlasd a study that showd almost two-thirds of childrn in th Unitd Stats consumd at last on sugary bvrag on any givn day, and roughly 30 prcnt consumd two or mor a day. That is a lot of sugar! GET YOUR KIDS INVOLVED: On yar, I packd my daughtr yogurt vry day in hr lunch. I larnd aftr four months that sh thrw it away vry singl day. That was my fault for packing hr what I thought sh should hav without asking hr for idas. Talk about foods thy would lik to includ and vn ask thm to com to th grocry stor with you! Anothr ida is to hav your kids pack thir own lunch. GIVE YOUR LUNCH SOME CHARACTER: Grab som cooki cuttrs and us thm to mak fun-shapd sandwichs or hart-shapd watrmlon slics. Us lunch box nots as a way to connct with your kids. Writ a funny jok, wish thm luck on a tst or just say hi! COOK A LITTLE EXTRA: Having grilld chickn on Sunday night? Grill up som xtra chickn brasts to chop up in a salad or put in a whol grain tortilla. Think of this oftn. Last night s dinnr can b tomorrow s lunch!

3 TO ADD TO s p i c R l u f p SCHOOL LUNCHES l H Crat this rcip th night bfor for dinnr. Mak a littl xtra and srv cold th nxt day in your child s lunch box! No Bak Enrgy Bits Ingrdints: Chickn-Vggi Qusadillas with Ranch Yogurt Sauc Ingrdints: 1 4 cup low-fat plain Grk yogurt 2 tsp Ranch sasoning blnd 12 ouncs bonlss and skinlss chickn brast 1 tsp canola oil 2 rd or orang bll ppprs, top and bottom rmovd, cord and sdd 4 whol-what tortillas 2 tomatos, dicd 1 2 cup shrddd Montry or Pppr Jack chs Dirctions: 1. In a small bowl, mak th sauc by combining th yogurt and 1 2 taspoon of th sasoning blnd. Covr and chill in th rfrigrator. 2. Plac th chickn into a plastic bag. Using a mat mallt or rolling pin, pound out th mat to 1 4-inch thicknss. Add oil and rmaining sasoning blnd to th bag. Marinat mat 10 minuts or up to 8 hours. 3. Plac a cast-iron skillt or nonstick skillt ovr modrat hat. Onc warmd, add th ppprs. Sar th ppprs by prssing down on thm for 2 to 3 minuts. Rmov from hat, lt cool slightly and dic. 4. Plac th chickn in th skillt (discard th marinad) and cook ovr modrat-high hat for 4 to 5 minuts. Turn and continu to cook until intrnal tmpratur rachs 165 Fahrnhit, about 5 minuts mor. Rmov th mat from th skillt, lt cool slightly and dic. Wip out th skillt with papr towls. 5. Rhat th skillt to modrat hat. Build th usadillas on at a tim by placing a tortilla in th pan, thn layring on half of th chickn, ppprs, tomatos and chs. Top with a scond tortilla and cook for 2 minuts on ach sid until th chs mlts. Rmov th cookd usadilla to a cutting board. To srv, cut ach usadilla in half with a pizza whl if you hav on. Srv with th ranch sauc. 1 cup rolld oats ½ cup mini smi-swt chocolat ships ½ cup ground flax sd ½ cup crunch panut buttr 1/3 cup hony 1 tsp vanilla xtract Dirctions: Combin ingrdints in a bowl. Mix with your hands and form into balls. Arrang on baking sht and frz for on hour.

4 Main Dish Idas: Find a Thrmos This is a grat way to us your lftovrs! Chickn, pork or stak with a sid of barbcu sauc Soups, chili or mac and chs Last night s dinnr Spaghtti, stir fry or cassrol Sandwich or Wrap Whol-grain brad with lunch mat Whol-grain tortilla with panut buttr and banana (or any fruit - try strawbrry!) Chs usadilla (wrap in aluminum foil) Salads To-go Lttuc, vggis and protin (us last night s protin) Cold pasta salad with grilld chickn Tuna or chickn salad Go Mat-fr Yogurt, fruit and granola Cottag chs and fruit Mak your own pizza English muffin or tortilla, pizza sauc and chs (Kids assmbl!) Ants on a log (clry/panut buttr/raisins) Appls and nut buttr Prtzls with chs Snsibl Lunchbox Sids: Edamam Bakd chips Almonds Ppprs and hummus Slicd cucumbr and dip Sid salad Low-fat yogurt Banana Graham crackrs No-sugar-addd applsauc Walnuts Strawbrris Blubrris Pars Cottag Chs Whol-grain crackrs Prtzls Popcorn Pasta salad Avocado slics Raspbrris Drid fruit Animal crackrs Last night s vggis Brris and fruit dip Chs cubs Frsh fruit cup

5 SOMETHING SWEET A swt trat is grat vry onc in a whil as wll. Balancing a halthy mal with a small trat is a grat plan. Opt for small portions of trats, but don t count out foods with natural swtnss. Fruits and low-fat flavord yogurts can b grat ways to add a swt tast without a lot of addd sugar. Giv thm a try! WHAT ABOUT SCHOOL LUNCH? On a busy day, is a school lunch an option? It can b, and school lunchs can b okay. Thr ar crtain standards by th National School Lunch Program that st a ruirmnt for srving fruits, vgtabls, whol grains and low-fat milk. Is it prfct? No, but on a busy day, it can b a bttr option than chips, cookis and a juic box. Don t count it out! AND AT THE END OF IT ALL... Thr ar so many options to choos from, and finding th balanc btwn a halthy lunch and somthing your child may at can b difficult. Tak your tim and snak in a fw halthy options hr or thr. You ll b glad you did in th long run! About th Author: Sarah Muntl, RD, is a Rgistrd Dititian and Bariatric Coordinator at Community Bariatric Surgons in Indianapolis, IN. Sh has workd with bariatric surgry patints for 17 yars and spcially njoys lading support groups. In hr fr tim, sh njoys spnding tim with hr husband and thr childrn. Fall 2017 Your Wight Mattrs Magazin 37