Stacked Intent

Back to School Nutrition

Becca Stackhouse-Morson Season 6 Episode 12

Back to School Meals for the Family

  • Easy grab-and-go breakfasts should include fruit, protein, and whole grains to energize kids with options like peanut butter banana cinnamon toast or a berry and yogurt parfait.
  • For nutritious back-to-school lunches, focus on lean protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy with examples like turkey wraps and veggie sticks with hummus.
  • Create versatile weeknight dinners using ingredients that can be repurposed, like ground beef for tacos, spaghetti, and hamburgers, or leftover toppings for customizable homemade pizzas. Appliances like air fryers and slow cookers can streamline meal preparation for busy parents.



Call to action: Think about how you can use in-season fruits and vegetables to make healthy back-to school meals for your family while benefiting from the gut-health supporting nutrients! 

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OBJECTIVE: Talk about some healthy and easy back-to-school meals and snacks.

Back to School Meals for the Family 
 

  • Point 1: Easy grab and go breakfasts with fruit, protein, and whole grains are essential for energizing kids as they start their days. While it may seem easiest just to grab a pastry or prepackaged muffins or donuts on the way out the door, these common breakfast items are full of sugar that will cause a mid-morning crash and leave them feeling hungry well before lunch time. A better option would be peanut butter banana cinnamon toast on whole wheat bread, or a berry and yogurt parfait topped with low-sugar crunchy granola. These breakfast items are high in hunger-curbing fiber, natural sweetness from fruit, and healthy fats from the peanut butter and/or yogurt. Talk about a brain-boosting breakfast! 
  • Point 2: Back to school lunch meals should be nutritious, but simple! It can be really tempting as a mom to go all out for your kids back to school lunches with Pinterest’s beautiful bento boxes, but truthfully, your kid will likely not care how it is packed and just want something sweet and probably something salty, and you as a mom can give them both without compromising nutrition (or your sanity) and in a plastic ziplock or brown paper sack works just fine. The key is to focus on lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low fat dairy. Something like a turkey, apple, and cheddar wrap on a whole grain tortilla with carrot and celery sticks with hummus and blueberries is a good example of how to have a variety of colors, textures, and nutrients. These are also things that can be prepped and packed the night before…win win! 
  • Point 3: The key to the perfect weeknight dinner for both parents and kids is something with different flavors, textures, and uses ingredients that can be used in different dishes when batch prepping. For example, if you can purchase ground beef in bulk and use it to make tacos, spaghetti, and hamburgers, you have three meals from one meat. Or, if you make tacos or hamburgers one night and have leftovers, you can repurpose those ingredients into a taco or hamburger casserole by adding rice or pasta and some extra vegetables. If your children are on the pickier side and prefer nothing but pizza, making your own pizza crusts and leaving room for customization using leftover protein, low-fat part skim mozzarella and lots of vegetables can revive the same dish repeatedly in different ways. Lastly, don’t sleep on the appliances! Air fryers and slow cookers are awesome tools that you can use to either quickly (air fryer) or conveniently (slow cooker) prepare meals that are both delicious and healthy. 


 

Call to action: Think about how you can use in-season fruits and vegetables to make healthy back-to school meals for your family while benefiting from the gut-health supporting nutrients! 

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