Natural Parenting Toolbox: Healthy School Lunches and Snacks

There are many other lunch possibilities beyond bologna. Try some of these ideas:

• Humus (chickpea spread) and lettuce or green or red pepper slices
• Peanut butter and sliced banana or apple
• BBQ beans: Puree canned black or kidney beans with barbecue sauce, and use as a spread.
• Smoked salmon on cream cheese
• Grilled cheese with tomato and alfalfa sprouts
• Veggie sandwiches: sliced cucumber, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts with mayonnaise and mustard, with or without cheese
• Mock chicken salad: crumbled marinated tofu mixed with mayonnaise or plain yogurt, chopped celery, salt, and pepper
• Pita pocket: shredded carrots, sliced red peppers, cucumber, tomato, and chickpeas in a pita half; drizzle with a little plain yogurt or salad dressing
• Pigs in a blanket: chicken or tofu hot dogs wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla
• Hearty soups in a thermos, with breadsticks and carrot sticks
• Sushi rolls (vegetarian or cooked varieties, such as cucumber, avocado, crab, or shrimp) with rice cakes
• Rice or grain salads with chopped vegetables and nuts added

Keep healthy munchies or easy-to-prepare foods on hand for your children to snack on all day long.

• Trail Mix: Chopped dried fruit, nuts, pumpkin seeds, granola, dried coconut--let your children make their own favorite mix.
• Ants on a Log: celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter, with raisin "ants" marching along the top.
• Super Power Protein Balls: one cup peanut butter mixed with 3 tablespoons dried milk powder, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and enough yogurt to moisten to a rolling consistency. Add carob powder, nuts, raisins, coconut, or oats, and roll in sesame seeds.
• Corn cakes: Toast 3 cups cornmeal and 1 cup rolled oats in a dry skillet, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup corn oil, and 3 cups water, and knead like playdough. Make flat, round cakes with your hands and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.
• Smoothies made from fresh or frozen fruit such as bananas, peaches, berries, and pineapple; juice or milk; and yogurt. Add tofu, soy protein powder, peanut butter, or almonds (chop well in the blender) for extra protein.
• "Momsicles": Yogurt, vanilla, and honey mixed with pineapple, apricot, or peach nectar, frozen in an ice cube tray with a stick in each cube.
• Amazake: creamy, sweet, brown rice milk (available in natural foods stores).
• Veggie sticks with tofu dip: Puree tofu, yogurt, lemon juice, and garlic in the blender.
• Fruit salad tossed with plain yogurt, honey, and vanilla.
• Fruit leather: Cook 2 quarts ripe fruit (strawberries, plums, or whatever you like) over low heat in a large pot with a little honey, until fruit is soft. Cool and press through sieve. Spread softened fruit on an oiled baking sheet, and let it dry in the sun for a few days, or in a 200 degree oven for a few hours.