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5 easy fixes for healthy school lunches

By WTOP Staff

WASHINGTON – As the first day of school looms, why not vow to say bye-bye to that boring PBJ?

[related_gallery align=”right”]As millions of school kids and parents prepare for back to school, local grocery store nutritionists are offering ways to banish the blah from your kids’ brown bags, all while adding a dose of nutrition to your kids’ school lunches.

The folks at Giant Food of Landover, Maryland offers these tips:

Plan your meals

Set aside time on the weekends to pull out a few recipes which include a lean source of protein, whole grains and a lot of color.

Extra tip: Save your dinner leftovers for next day’s lunches. Have leftover grilled chicken? Great. Chop it up along with some veggies and roll in into a whole wheat tortilla for a great easy-to-eat chicken veggie wrap.

Breakfast prepared with ease

Mini frittatas are a convenient breakfast recipe that you can prepare once on the weekend and enjoy all week long. Mix together your favorite veggies, low-fat cheese and eggs. Then pour that mixture into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Simply reheat in the microwave on busy mornings and pair with a piece of fruit or whole-wheat toast.

Place color in the lunchboxes

To get the recommended five to nine servings of these powerhouse foods – fruits and vegetables — we need to introduce “color” at all meals, not just at dinner time. Add a couple of new and different fruits and veggies into the kids’ lunchboxes and meals each week. If we don’t offer, how will they try new foods?

Healthy snacks your kids will actually eat

Who doesn’t love a good chip or cracker? These days there are plenty of snacks that are delicious and on the lower side of saturated fat and sodium and high on fiber. Look for high-fiber snacks containing at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving.

Extra snack tip: No need to pre-portion snacks anymore. Did you know that hummus now comes in individual containers? Look for it in the produce department along with pre-cut bell peppers or individually packed baby carrots. Pair them for a high-energy snack.

Don’t skimp on the protein

Pair a lean source of protein, like hard-boiled eggs, chicken or turkey, nuts and seeds or Greek yogurt with those high fiber-foods for brainpower throughout the day.

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