Our kids are our responsibility. What we feed them can either make them healthy or unhealthy adults. Pack them their healthy school lunches.  

I am not sure if you have seen or read the ingredients of the food they consume at school during breakfast and lunch.  I have been packing my son and daughter’s lunches because what they put in their bodies is my priority. I understand we are all busy working; however, prioritizing is important.  Before I try to convince you to make packing healthy lunches for your kids a priority, let me tell you why it is mine.

1- The food in the school’s cafeteria is not fresh. They do offer fruits and veggies; however, most of the fruits are packaged and drenched in high fructose corn syrup. When the kids are given hot dogs, chicken nuggets etc… they are rarely likely to eat the veggies offered in the salad bar.

2- The packaged food such as bagels, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pizza, etc… is made with genetically modified organisms (GMO) and contains many unnecessary and unhealthy chemicals ( yes they are those ingredients that are too long and cannot be pronounced by adults.)

3- Sugar packed doughnuts,  for breakfast, are considered whole grains?? A cup of brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat is whole grains not doughnuts! Maybe the doughnuts originally started with whole grains, then they were processed, fried and dipped in sugar! So it’s not whole grains anymore and parents should not accept that as an alternative to whole grains.

4- For breakfast, they are served plenty of sugar such as pancakes and syrup, sausage and syrup, doughnuts and syrup and let me tell you the syrup is NOT organic 100% Maple Syrup.  So what happens to the children when they eat tons of sugar in the morning? They crash in the afternoon; hence the misbehavior in the classroom.

Normal school breakfast of empty calories. So happy that some students had bananas.

More empty calories, artificial flavors, dyes and sugar for lunch.

I hope I was able to make it clear. Wouldn’t you want your kids brains and bodies NOT be depleted from all the vitamins and minerals?  Wouldn’t you want to raise healthy adults who will change the food system one day?

Here are some simple ideas for breakfasts and lunches for your kids.

For breakfast :

Make it simple; pack fruits. Fuel them with real energy that their brain needs: A cup of blueberries, an apple and a banana, two bananas, bananas and dates,  strawberries and blueberries, oranges, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, watermelon, smoothies, etc… Make sure you give them enough fruits so they don’t get hungry and reach for chips or cookies.

For Lunch:

• Hummus with celery or cucumber
• Organic almond butter on Ezekiel or whole grain bread ( the real organic kind with real ingredients)
• Salad with homemade dressing
• Organic Non GMO cheese( if they can eat dairy) slices with veggies
• Almond butter ( if they’re not allergic) and veggies such as celery
• Leftover Plain Pasta ( unless you have a container that’s pretty tight)
• Zaatar sandwich on whole grain bread
• If you buy the processed meats, make sure they are nitrate and nitrite free and limit it to once a week ( I would limit processed meat consumption)
  

I recommend you find 4-5 food items they really like and rotate.  Make sure you always pack them vegetables with their sandwiches such as carrots, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, etc… There are tons of healthy snacks that are organic and non gmo such as fig bars, pop corn, veggie chips, fruit rolls, etc…

Here is what I packed my kids for tomorrow’s lunch at school.  My daughter is in preschool and they have a fridge so I can send leftover food. Her lunch was leftover Lebanese mjadra ( which is lentils and rice), with organic whole carrots and non GMO tangerines.  My son’s lunch is organic non GMO peanut butter and jelly on 21 whole grain organic bread with organic whole carrots.  

The public school lunch is free or at a low cost ; however, the doctor’s visits along with medication is NOT free. 

Lentils for Avery with tangerines and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly for Geo with carrots.

The options are endless.  Just make sure you pack them fruits and encourage them to eat them first for better digestion, in addition to veggies and carbs or protein whatever you wish.

It is important to pack them enough good calories that contain vitamins and minerals so they don’t feel hungry.  Count colors ( eat and feed your kids the rainbow NOT skittles). I usually write what I am going to pack my son and daughter for lunch on Sunday for the whole week.  Sometimes, my kids do not eat everything and sometimes they do. I never give up and I continue to pack them foods that are nourishing to their bodies.

“Every Time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.”
Our little ones bodies work so hard to keep them healthy and keep all their organs functioning properly, they also help them fight the colds and flues they encounter environmentally. Let’s feed them food that will help them win every battle against environmental toxins, not work against them.

I would like to hear from you , what do you pack your kids?