Pack a Punch (of Nutrition in) Your Kiddos Lunch
Its not always easy to dream up quick and easy snacks that are also nutritious during this back-to-school time. Never fear: We've got some great ideas up our sleeve we'd like to share with you.

Your child's daycare center or school may offer subsidized meals. If so, that can take a great load off your shoulders; however, we'd like to point out some reasons why it doesn't hurt to supplement with homemade snacks.

You know your child's food sensitivities best. Lots of kids these days are allergic to things like gluten, dairy, food additives, etc. If you're a parent with a food-sensitive child, all the more reason to send him to daycare or school with snacks you know will agree with his little system.

You're teaching good eating habits early. By pushing the fresh fruits and veggies, even if all you can do is squeeze them in as snacks, you're helping train that wee palette to crave nutrient-rich food when she's hungry. Don't be surprised if your kids' friends are asking to trade food during snack time!

Try These 3 Healthy Snacks

You can keep things really simple with stash-and-go snacks. The key is to follow this guideline as much as possible: high in fruits and veggies, low in processed sugar and processed foods in general. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1) The Rainbow Veggie Pack. Buy some fresh carrots, celery, green peppers, and cucumber. Slice/chop into bite-sized pieces, and stow away into snack bags for the week. For more colorful fun, try yellow, orange, or red bell peppers.

2) Happy Trails Mix. You can buy lots of varieties of pre-made trail mix at places like Trader Joe's. If you want to save some money and make your own, buy in bulk a variety of nutrition-packed nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and cashews. Add raisins, sunflower seeds, and sesame sticks.

Hint: Change things up a bit so your kid doesn't get bored with the same old snack. Think dried banana chips or other dried fruit, granola, yogurt-covered pretzels, etc.

3) Superfood Cheesy Kale Chips. No more force feeding those greens. Your kids will LOVE the cheesy taste and get the awesome benefits of this dark leafy green vegetable. Even better, this dish is completely vegan, which is great if your child has a dairy allergy. Although a bit more complex of a recipe, its worth the extra time at the starting gate. If you double the recipe, you'll have snacks for the whole family that last at least a week or more.

A food processor or high-powered blender is a must. A dehydrator is preferred, but not necessary if you're willing to stick around all day to check on the oven.

Ingredients:
-1 bunch of fresh kale (any kind)
-1 cup of plain cashews (preferably raw)
-Juice of 1 lemon
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/2 c of nutritional yeast (these yellow yeast flakes can be ordered online or purchased at health food stores. They are what give the cheesy flavor).

Directions:
1. Soak  cashews for 4-5 hours (or until soft) in clean water. Discard soaking water.
2. Wash kale well and pat dry with towel. Cut off the stems and discard. Slice kale leaves into large chip-sized pieces.
3. Place chopped kale into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Massage salt into kale until it begins to wilt. (This process breaks down the tough cellulose of the plants cell walls so that we can better digest this roughage and assimilate all its nutrients).
4. Cheesy mixture: In a food processor or industrial-grade blender, blend the red bell pepper, lemon juice, cashews, and nutritional yeast. Add water if mixture is too thick to blend.
5. Massage cheesy mixture into bowl of chopped kale. (This is a really fun step if your kids are old enough to help.)
6. Spread kale on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with additional nutritional yeast if desired.
7. Dehydrate at 105 degrees F for 8-10 hours. No dehydrator? If you're around the house all day, stick the kale chips on a cookie sheet and dehydrate in the oven at 105 degrees F. Check every couple hours and remove when kale is at its desired crunchiness.

Have leftover cheesy sauce? Use as a yummy dip for crackers!

How to Really Pack a Nutritional Punch

Good food only goes so far in promoting good health, so here are some good habits we suggest to really make your homemade snacks count.

Push the water. Send your kid off with a fresh, full bottle of water. Ample hydration is key to good health, and it's a good idea to warm up your young children to plain water so they go for that instead of a sugary drink when they're thirsty.

Require a breakfast. This is the most often skipped meal of the day, yet the most important. Set a good example for your child now, even if it means waking up 30 minutes earlier. Even if all you have time for is some yogurt and a banana, that's better than nothing. Tip: put some granola in that yogurt for some extra filler up.

Enforce bedtime. If you want the breakfast thing to work, get the kiddo's in bed at a decent hour. A good sleep will ensure that all your hard work to feed your young ones high quality food pays off! Their bodies will be able to better assimilate nutrients, and YOU can have some time to relax and kick back.