The end of summer is upon us, and we’re all starting to think about our kids heading back to school and the busy routines returning. If you’re looking for breakfast, lunchbox and snack ideas for the whole family, we’ve got some simple tips for healthy back to school routines.
Family breakfast ideas
- Make your first meal of the day a little sweeter without any added or processed sugar by topping your porridge or cereal with juicy raisins and apricots. Whitworths’ Sunny Raisins are bursting with fruity goodness and are a brilliant source of fibre, and they also count as one of your five a day.
- A bowl of granola with yoghurt on top is a great way to incorporate protein and important micronutrients like iron, vitamin D, folate, and zinc into your diet.
- Pack in your 5-a-day with a homemade fruit smoothie! Blend some strawberries and raspberries with some natural yoghurt, pour and serve. Easy!
- 2x hard-boiled eggs with brown toast soldiers. Hard-boiled eggs are a low-calorie, nutrient-dense food, providing high-quality protein, B vitamins, zinc, calcium and other important nutrients and antioxidants like choline, lutein and zeaxanthin.
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Healthy lunchbox inspiration
- Sandwiches are an obvious go-to for all the family. Buy seed or oat-topped wholemeal rolls, wholemeal breads with poppyseeds or nuts in, or wholemeal pittas for variety.
- Add some protein to sandwiches. Ham is the most popular choice, but try not to serve meat every day of the week. Choose lean, unprocessed meats whenever you can. Sliced chicken with cucumber and tomatoes makes a great sandwich filling and egg mayonnaise with salad is another healthy choice.
- Cheese is a popular source of protein in lunch boxes. Choose cottage cheese or mozzarella and try to avoid highly processed cheese such as cheese strings.
- Rice salads, made with brown rice, or pasta salads, made with wholegrain pasta, are great sources of starch. Add plenty of chopped vegetables for fibre.
- A slice of pizza or quiche is another possibility. Go for wholegrain pizza bases and pastry whenever you can.
- Oatcakes are great little fibre-filled additions to healthy lunch boxes, as are rice cakes, especially the wholegrain ones, and corn cakes. Avoid those that are flavoured, they’re usually coated with salty flavourings.
- Add some dried fruit that is not only convenient but tasty. Kids love raisins and they’re a really easy way of getting lots of key nutrients into your child’s mealtimes.
Healthy snacks for the whole family
When it comes to snack ideas for the whole family, a super-easy option is dried fruit. By weight, dried fruit contains 3.5 times more fibre than a fresh piece of fruit, and fibre is essential to support digestion and bowel movement in an everyday diet. They’re packed full of antioxidants, and they’re a great nutrient to regulate the digestion of meals, slowing down the process and helping you feel fuller for longer!
- Dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Check out Whitworths’ SHOTS, a great go-to for goodness any time of the day, making them the perfect addition to any healthy routine for kids and adults alike. Each pack of SHOTS contains 25g of dried fruit and nuts combined with little pieces of indulgence to keep you satisfied and on the right track. All under 100 calories.
- Homemade soup and a wholemeal roll or toasted pitta bread.
- Natural yoghurt pot.
- Smoothie with yoghurt.
The occasional treat
Every now and then we all deserve a treat! Melt some of your favourite dark chocolate and mix through dried fruits, chopped dates, chopped apricots, sultanas or raisins, and set in the fridge. Dark chocolate is a great source of iron intake and an easy way to support your five a day.
Whitworths are on a mission to help everyone eat a little healthier every day using the goodness of nature. Perfect for packed lunches, their range of dried fruit and nuts from their online shop are delivered directly to your door.
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