School may have started for your kids, or it may be just around the corner. That means it’s time to start thinking about giving your kids a nutritional edge with the food you feed them! If your kids are like most, they are probably really busy once the school year rolls around with activities, homework, friends, and other obligations. With such a busy schedule, it’s easy to let nutrition give way to convenience, so it’s understandable why so many give into the temptations of school breakfasts and lunches. Still, with a little planning and minimal preparation, you can provide healthy, homemade breakfasts and lunches for your kids that fit well within their busy lives and yours.
Why it Matters
Nutritional status is linked to multiple performance aspects of a child’s life. Some of those aspects are obvious, such as energy levels. Others have become clear through studies.
- A 2010 case study evaluated the Healthy Kids, Smart Kids program at Browns Mill Elementary School in Georgia. The program promoted nutrition and physical activity, and researchers tracked kids’ performance between the years of 1995 and 2006. During the studied period, counseling and disciplinary referrals declined while standardized test scores improved after the program’s implementation.
- Multiple studies have linked skipping breakfast to poor learning outcomes.
- A 2010 study showed a correlation between a high fat, high sugar, high processed food diet and lower IQ scores in children at 8 years of age.
These are but a few of the many nutrition and learning outcome studies that point to the conclusion that kids who eat healthy meals are likely to experience better academic performance.
Beyond Cereal – Better Breakfasts for Kids
There’s no doubt school mornings can be chaos, but there’s plenty you can do to ensure your children have something healthy on board before they head out the door. The ideal breakfast is quick, healthy, and plant-based. Of course, you can always give your kids a Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast, at least as part of breakfast. It is amazing for children. Here are some other options to try.
Nutty Carob Power Shake
Carob doesn’t have caffeine like cacao does.
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ½ banana
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened carob powder
- 1 ounce raw almonds
- Stevia to taste
Blend all ingredients together in a blender until creamy.
Chia Acai Smoothie
- 1 tablespoons of chia
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/2 banana
- 1/2 packet frozen acai smoothie package
- 1 cup almond milk
- Soak chia in water overnight in refrigerator.
- Add chia gel, banana, acai and almond milk to a blender and mix well.
Banana Breakfast Wrap
- 1 sprouted whole grain tortilla
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
- 1 banana, diced
- Spread almond butter on tortilla.
- Top with bananas and roll.
Hearty Breakfast Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa, soaked and cooked
- 2 tablespoons of your favorite dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, blueberries, etc.)
- Dash sea salt
- Cinnamon or grated nutmeg to taste
- Stevia to taste
- 1 cup almond milk
- Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat until liquid is absorbed.
Quick, Healthy Lunches
These lunches are easy to prepare the night before and send to school with your kids.
Zucchini Hummus and Veggies
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
- ½ teaspoon cumin seed
- Dash sea salt
- Your favorite vegetables.
Combine all ingredients (except vegetables) in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. Serve with cut vegetables or spread on a pita wrap or gluten-free bread along with veggies.
Quinoa Pasta Salad
- 1 cup quinoa rotini pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled
- ½ sweet red pepper, chopped
- 1 green onion, chopped
- ½ tomato, seeded and chopped
- ½ zucchini, chopped
- ½ cucumber chopped
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon organic lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Dash sea salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- Mix pasta, pepper, onion, tomato, zucchini, cucumber and parsley.
- Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour over salad. Toss to mix.
California Veggie Wrap
- 1 sprouted grain, gluten-free tortilla
- ½ avocado
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Dash sea salt
- ¼ cup baby spinach
- ½ cup carrots, peeled and shredded
- ½ tomato, chopped
- ¼ cup spicy sprouts
- ½ red bell pepper, sliced
- Combine avocado, lemon juice and sea salt in a small bowl. Lightly mash with a fork.
- Spread mashed avocado on tortilla.
- Top with spinach, carrots, tomato, sprouts, and pepper.
- Roll and cut in half.
Other Lunch Box Additions
Along with the recipes above, you can add the following to your kids’ lunches:
- Bugs on a log
(celery sticks with almond butter and raisins) - Coconut yogurt
- Seasonal fruit kabobs
- Leftovers
- Veggie soups in a thermos
- Kale chips
- Veggies and salsa
- Fruit salad
- Brown rice and beans
- Raw almonds or seeds
- Homemade trail mix
What Not to Put in Your Kids’ Lunchbox
In order to give your kids the healthiest possible foods, avoid the following common lunch items:
- Cheese
Breads containing wheat- Candy
- Commercial granola bars
- Commercial fruit snacks
- Juice boxes
- Dairy yogurt
- Milk
- Potato chips
- Processed meats like bologna or hot dogs
- Soft drinks and energy drinks
- Fast processed snacks like Lunchables or packaged cheese and crackers
- Cookies and snack cakes
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I see a few of your recipes call for almond butter or almond milk, my daughter has a moderate allergy to almonds, nuts in general are there any healthy alternatives to this.
Hi Kim,
I heard that chia seeds lowers the bp if taken for a long time.
I already have low bp, can i take chia seeds?
Can i give chia seeds to my daughter(2.5 yrs old) or it may cause low bp in her, in the long run.
Thanks,
Kat
when eating chia seeds must you soak and rinse them to release enzyme inhibitors. If so please explain the process. I have soaked them before but find rinsing the gel difficult.
Is it bad to eat whole grain or wheat breads?? Why?
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Can you recommend a “sprouted grain, gluten-free” tortilla? All I’ve ever been able to find as far as whole grain and gluten-free are brown rice tortillas, but they’re not sprouted and don’t seem to hold up well to wraps as they crack easily. I live in Dallas, Texas and shop primarily at Whole Foods. Any suggestions would be great!
Just saw your post and I also live in East Texas. In Tyler we do not have a Whole Foods but do have a few small health food stores that carry a line of Ezekial bread. The Ezekial line make sprouted live grain bread, tortillas, pitas, and english muffin. Hopes this helps!
can they eat seeds? if so, you should be able to sub sunflower seed butter!
Are there any Bannana substitutes? My son is alergic to bannanas
Kim-
How come the banana breakfast wrap is considered miscombining protein and carbs???
This is right way, but how to avoid eating cheese, candy, processed meats and others, from other kids. If other kids eat them and offer to my kid – chips and cakes ? How to make my conviction on that to be good example uninfluenced from other kids food?
Great post and so useful! I may make some of these for my husby’s lunch as well. But I’m confused! …I thought protein and starch weren’t supposed to be combined. For instance, in the Hearty Breakfast Quinoa, why is almond milk with quinoa ok, and brown rice and beans? (If anyone in the BDS community understands food combining, please feel free to jump in with any thoughts, ideas to clarify
! )
So can’t wait for your new book!
J~
Hi Kimberly! Always enjoy reading your posts! I was wondering if you still use millet? I love many of your millet dishes from the BDS. Is it ok to just soak chia for 10mins prior to eating, and ok to have 2 tbs everyday? Also, I eat a gluten free brown rice bread, which I found in the fridge of my local organic store. It seems to be the closest to what you describe in your book. Do you prefer tortillas/pitas over bread or are all equally good??
Thank you do much xx
Hey Kimberly- great ideas!
Any thoughts on almond milk and carrageenan? I heard it was really bad for you..
Thanks!
Hi Kim,
My 10 year old son, soon too be 11 is terribily constipated for over 3 years and soils his underwear. I am a South asian and hence consume lentils, cooked vegetables and chicken and Rice. My Kids won’t eat salads .DO you have kids version of GGS. I even took him to a chriopractor to see if she could help. thanks
Raman,
I don’t have kids, but my husband was a meat and potatoes guy when we met, so it’s been a challenge to get him to eat more veggies. Here’s some tips that’s worked for my big kid lol:
(1) For the GGS, don’t put as many greens in the beginnings – maybe just a 1/4 cup of spinach and leave out the celery for now (so it’s just the fruit and a little spinach). Gradually start putting in more greens
(2) There are colored bpa cups w lids for green juices or green smoothies on amazon and other places. Healthy stuff is more fun when you can drink it w a straw!
(3) I pack salads for my husband and he has to eat it b/c he has no other option. Walnuts, dried cranberries, and sometimes a creamy dressing (Amy’s Organic green goddess dressing is yummy) are good to get someone used to salads. Maybe you can try packing a super small salad with a thermos full of cooked veggies and quinoa.
(4) I suffered from constipation growing up. The only thing that “cured” me was paying attention to food combining and having a probiotic rich diet. Coconut water kefir w/ a little pomogrande juice is maybe something he would like (Body Ecology makes a powdered kefir starter kit). If he’s not taking that, the probiotic that Kim recommends really is the best (Dr. Ohiora’s) – it’s pricey but worth it!
(5) I stay away from beans because they’re just really hard on my stomach. During this healing process for him, bone broth soups are really great at healing the gut and staying away from spicy food might help. Good luck. The principles of Kim’s program have really changed me life. It works well with other programs, like Body Ecology, to heal the gut and the body!!
Oh to be able to use tahini in the dips but any sesame product seems to be just about outlawed in every school here in the UK. I will give some of these ideas a try… it is inordinately difficult though to get them to try delicious looking to me food, colourful or not, they seem to be steadfastly defiant. I guess it’s a case of keep on keeping on but you just really don’t want them going hungry so you end up indulging them in a fail safe….