Peek Inside 5 Days of My Toddler's School Lunchboxes

I sent my toddler off to "school" for the first time a couple weeks ago and had to up my lunchbox game given there would be no "warming up" of food and no refrigeration provided.

Here’s a glimpse into five days of my toddler’s school lunchboxes, which are a combo of some planning and a little "what's in the fridge today."

Day 1

What’s in the Lunchbox:

• Baked Tofu Bites: These are great for weekly meal prepping. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Tear apart a block of extra firm tofu with your hands. Sprinkle liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, and garlic over the tofu. Bake for about 45-60 minutes until it's a little dried out and a tougher consistency.

• Sliced Organic Cucumbers: My son doesn't mind eating cucumber skins, so I buy organic cucumbers to limit pesticide residue. A cucumber's skin is rich in fiber, vitamin K, potassium, and antioxidants. However, if you buy non-organic, remove the skin to significantly reduce pesticides.

• Steamed Broccoli with Dulse: Steaming is one of the best cooking methods to preserve vegetable nutrients. I often sprinkle dulse over foods because it is high in iodine, and my son and I limit our salt intake significantly. Dulse is a type of edible seaweed rich in essential vitamins and minerals including iodine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A,C, and B12.

• Half of a Banana: Not a nutritional powerhouse, but my son loves them.

Day 2

What’s in the Lunchbox:

• Whole Wheat Pasta with Broccoli Pesto Sauce: Recipe here. No dairy, salt, or oil in the pesto. All good stuff. I sprinkled hemp seeds on it.

• Sliced Organic Cucumbers

• Sliced Organic Apples: Apples are on the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" list of fruits and vegetables most contaminated with pesticides. So try to buy organic.

• Sprouted Wheat Bread with Almond Butter: I try to find breads with ingredients I recognize, no added sugar, and virtually no salt. It's not easy. Trader Joe's has a good sprouted brand and Dave's Killer Bread has one loaf that is low in sugar.

Day 3

What’s in the Lunchbox:

• Organic Peanut Butter Toast: Peanut butter has healthy fats and protein. Super important to check out the ingredients in peanut butter as most conventional brands are loaded with bad stuff like hydrogenated oils, sugar, salt, and artificial flavors. Look for peanut butter with just one ingredient: peanuts. This is another one where it's pretty important to buy organic. Peanut crops are often rotated in fields with cotton that has been genetically engineered to withstand a cancer-causing weed killer.

• Steamed Multi-Color Carrots: Multi-colored carrots contain a variety of phytochemicals and antioxidants that differ in each color. For example, purple carrots are rich in anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, while yellow and red carrots provide unique carotenoids beneficial for eye health.

• Green Beans: These are on the dirty dozen. Buy organic.

• Mashed Sweet Potato: Finally, a vegetable on the clean 15 and not the dirty dozen! Generally OK to buy sweet potatoes non-organic. Be sure to mix things up with purple sweet potatoes sometimes.
  

Day 4

What’s in the Lunchbox:

• Vegetable Lo Mein: This was a bag of frozen lo mein noodles with vegetables. Contained way more salt than I would have liked but I was low on food. I added frozen broccoli and artichokes. Try to eat broccoli every day. Doing so will help important anti-cancer properties remain circulating in your blood. The USDA developed a list of foods containing the highest amount of antioxidants and artichokes took a top slot at #7.

• Oatmeal Banana Cookies: I always make these with my ripe bananas. I throw oats (sprouted organic oats from Costco) into my food processor to make a flour. I add baking powder. Transfer to a bowl, throw several ripe bananas into the food processor. Mix it all together in the bowl. For this one, I also threw in ground flaxseeds and raw cacao powder. That's it. No oil. No salt. No added sugar.

• Cantalope

• Organic Tomatoes: Tomatoes are on the dirty dozen, so try to buy organic.

Day 5

What’s in the Lunchbox:

• Avocado Toast: Avocados are not on the dirty dozen! Generally OK to not buy organic if you're looking to save a little money at the grocery store.

• Sliced Organic Cucumbers

• Organic Blackberries: Bad to the dirty dozen. Buy organic to avoid high pesticide residues. These can be expensive so I only buy when they are on sale. Berries are nutritional powerhouses my family tries to eat every day. Buying frozen can save money. Costco and Whole Foods both sell big bags of frozen organic blueberries for around $10. Dr. Greger says that berries are second only to herbs and spices as the most antioxidant-packed foods, giving them huge anti-cancer benefits.

• Zucchini Sweet Potato Tots: Blend together a cooked sweet potato with shredded zucchini. Form into balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake until they look done!