The Nutritional Institute

Feeding our kids a wholesome nourishing meal at school has never been more important. If you would like your child to be able to sit still and concentrate during lessons, then it is vital that you feed them properly.

How easy it is to just slip them a few notes and hope they make the best choices at their tuck shop, when very few schools have decent tuck shops. If you think you are giving them a treat for the day by allowing them to feed themselves empty, lifeless foods, then you need to think again. Treats shouldn't involve sweets, sugary items, fizzy drinks or processed foods. There are zero health benefits to your child by consuming them. Treats should hold real value and nourishment to the growing life of an individual. So I’m going to give you a clue of how to do that today.

I think one of the biggest ingredients in most kids lunch boxes regardless of age is BREAD. Often it’s the overly processed, phytate-filled, store bought bread that parents seem to choose because it’s so readily available and has a decent shelf life. The problem with this sort of bread is that not only do you need to eat eight slices to feel remotely full, but it is also made with a baker’s yeast that can cause all sorts of gastric disruptions and discomfort. And if it hasn’t come yet, it will come sometime. Baker’s yeast forces the bread to rise too quickly, which prevents the grains from being pre-digested, resulting in the bread being very difficult to digest for humans. I’m not saying to stop eating bread; what I am saying is to find something decent like a good quality fermented sourdough and start limiting the amount consumed.

You can do this by packing the sandwiches full of filling ingredients, and best of all you can let them create their own open sandwich with the ingredients you fill in their lunch boxes. The wonderful thing now is that you can find lovely BPA free bento style boxes, which have a number of different compartments, meaning that you can keep items separate. Using a bento box, you can layer two thinly sliced slices of sourdough with a good quality grass-fed butter or hummus; place one on top of the other and leave them in the biggest compartment. In another compartment, you can create the filling for the sandwich. Good ingredients include; leftover meat dishes, which could include chicken, pork, beef, lamb or farmer-grade sausages, tuna, salmon, sardines, grass-fed eggs or a good quality cheese. You need a decent protein to make the sandwich filling. Over and above the protein, include at least three of these options; shredded lettuce leaves, grated carrot or beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, micro greens, sauerkraut, kimchi, onions, spring onions, peppers, cabbage, shredded spinach, or whatever you can get your hands on that is in season. The bigger the sandwich the better! That means that it will be more filling. You could even have a family competition at home to see who can make the biggest sandwich by each child photographing their sandwich. The winner for the week or month gets rewarded with something meaningful like a new pair of cycling gloves or trainers, or whatever is important to them. JUST NOT SWEETS, CHOCOLATES OR JUNK FOOD!

Over and above the sandwich, include some mixed nuts, grass-fed droewors or biltong, along with a tasty salad. This could be anything from a four bean salad, corn salad or a tabouli made with quinoa, millet or brown rice. Add a yummy dressing and season with salt and pepper. You want to avoid the iceberg lettuce and tasteless tomatoes. The more colour you add, the better. If you have any space left in your bento box, include some fruit. This could be anything from a small fruit salad to a simple apple, pear, orange or a handful of seasonal berries. The more colourful the box, the better for the person eating it; not just from a nutritional perspective, but also from a tantalising view. The food in their lunch box needs to look enticing. They must want to eat it. You may need to begin with treats like healthy bars and then slowly wean these out from a daily inclusion to a once a week treat. There are a number of clean/healthy bar options out there, so read the labels and investigate before randomly purchasing.

If the bars are too expensive, you could make your own date and nut balls, or goji berry balls (page 155 of Wholesome Nutrition). Experiment with flavours they love. Working this way will keep them satisfied and hopefully out of the tuck shop.

Your aim is to include as much vegetables as you can into their tummy in a day. Ultimately you want them to fill themselves up with veggies rather than bread. Find ways to ‘hide’ the vegetables by making good quality muffins with carrots and marrows, plus there are loads of healthy savoury options. You could send them to school with mini frittatas filled with some of their favourite ingredients. Keep things simple. Vegetable packed crustless quiches, rice paper wraps or banting wraps are excellent healthy choices too. Stack them all to the brim with all the good stuff.

When they come home from school they shouldn’t be ravenous after all this food. So again, instead of offering more bread, why not make them (or teach them to make their own) smoothies. Again you can really pack in some high end ingredients. For example: using a fermented grass-fed base of either dairy kefir or amazi, a clean whey protein powder, or pea or brown rice protein powder, some superfoods like chia seeds (which makes the smoothie nice and thick and fills you up and is loaded with good omegas), and you could also add some maca, baobab, camu camu, or cacao for a chocolate flavour - the list is endless. Add a tablespoon of cold pressed coconut oil because the benefits of it’s consumption are endless, a good dollop of raw honey, a banana and a few ice blocks. Let them decide on which fruit to flavour it with, giving them a sense of empowerment over their own health. They will absolutely love this new addition and it should be enough to take them to dinner time.

We are all so quick to say we don’t have the time to make healthy lunch boxes, but we actually do. A lot of it can be prepared the night before to make the pressurised mornings even easier to tackle. If parents don’t take ownership of their child’s health, who else will? We all want our kids to perform the best they can at school and in life and by doing so, we need to feed them wholesomely. Feeding them this way will also lessen trips to the doctor. Watch your child thrive by making same meaningful changes.

Check out Rachel's appearance on Real Health TV demonstrating how to make a healthy lunch box for your kids: https://youtu.be/eMPfYitExJ0