With September quickly approaching, many of you fellow parents start thinking about how to plan the hectic back-to-school weeks before you settle into your new routine.
 
Let me offer some help for all of you Moms and Dads who need some inspiration with healthy meal ideas to pack in your child's lunch box. As a mother of two adult boys, I still remember how I felt when my nutritious foods were brought back almost untouched after school.  It took me some time to come up with creative meal ideas which were successful (at least, most of the time!).
 
In this post, I would like to share a few tips that worked for me and offer the free Nutritious School Lunch Recipes booklet to you with helpful meal and snack ideas. The recipes within this booklet will provide your child with energy throughout the school day, enhance concentration and strengthen his/her immune system.
 
 You can access your free recipe booklet here.
 
To save time, I used dinner leftovers as often as I could. I reheated meals such as soups, stews, chili, and stir-fries in the morning and packed them in a thermos. This type of lunch can be ideal for ever-hungry pre-teens and teenagers who require not only nutrients, but calorie-dense meals to keep up with their active lifestyle. The following recipes can be served for a family dinner and the leftovers used for the next day's thermos-lunch:

• White Bean Chicken Chili
• Turmeric Beef Stew
• Slow Cooker Lentil Chili
• One Pot Taco Pasta

 
 Chicken and other meat leftovers were used in our family to prepare sandwiches and wraps, along with LOTS of cut-up vegetables. For a meat-free lunch, I suggest using beans, lentils or tofu as the main protein-providing ingredient. For variety, wraps can also be assembled by using lettuce leaves or rice paper instead of wheat tortillas. Check out these kid- and teenager-friendly recipes:

• Chopped Salad Pitas
• Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
• Hummus and Veggie Wrap

 
Younger kids love cut-up foods, so anything they find in their lunch box will more likely be eaten if it is in bite-size pieces. Mini-pitas or wraps in small pieces held together with a toothpick are always well received. Your food will become even more popular when it is served in different shapes. Be creative and use your cookie cutter!
 
For snacking, I always packed fruits for my boys. The containers filled with slices of an apple or pear, wedges of an orange or tangerine, cut-up watermelon, cantaloupe or berries, always returned home empty. I managed to keep store-bought, sugar-loaded sweets out of their lunch boxes most of the time, and sent homemade muffins, energy balls or other goodies with them instead. These had previously been prepped in large batches, and then frozen in single servings. The last three recipes in the free booklet are dessert/snack recipes:

• Avocado Brownies
• No-Bake Pumpkin Protein Bars
• Green Smoothie Muffins

To further reduce my kids' white sugar consumption, I opted for plain yogurt (dairy-based or dairy-free) which I flavoured myself by adding a touch of maple syrup or honey, fresh fruit, cinnamon or cocoa powder, hemp or chia seeds, depending on what I had on hand.

An essential part of my boys' lunch bags were their stainless steel bottles filled with filtered water, as proper hydration is vital! For picky eaters who refuse to drink plain water, you can add a few berries, wedges of tangerine or small chunks of pineapple into the water. This will provide some natural fruit flavour and sweetness.
Please keep food safety in mind! Any perishable food items should be packed with a cold pack to prevent spoilage.

There you have it, my tips for filling your child's lunch box with nutritious foods. My final piece of advice to you is to stay firm most of the time and teach your kids healthy eating habits. In a few weeks, you will be able to read more about this topic in one of my future blog posts.
 
In the meantime, enjoy trying out these new recipes!
 
Get access to your free recipe booklet here.

Spring is almost here! We can feel the warmth of the sunshine, the snow rapidly melts away, the days are longer and yet, many of us cannot enjoy these early signs of spring. The short and cold winter days took their toll on our general well being. We feel heavy, fatigued and our driving force is gone. Sounds all too familiar?  

There's help.

Tips for resetting your diet and getting your vitality back!

Our bodies are in tune with the change of seasons, so naturally we crave less for starchy foods, warm stews and hearty soups, which are so essential for the cold winter days. At this time of year, we need to focus on the energizing nutrient-dense lighter foods based on seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Start your changes with eating less grain-based food such as pastas, pizzas, breads and pastries. Reduce your red meat consumption and replace it with lean poultry, fish and eggs. You can also add some plant-based sources of protein such as  beans, lentils, peas, nuts and seeds.

Spring brings us a greater selection of fresh produce, starting with early spring vegetables such as spinach, radishes, green onions, asparagus and little later green peas, dandelion greens and other green leafy veggies. Eating them regularly provides a tremendous boost to our health and vitality through the various vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other phytonutrients that they harbour. The fibre in veggies and fruits helps balancing our blood sugar, promotes bowel regularity and supports the body's natural detoxification processes. And that's not all! Fresh produce is loaded with natural plant enzymes that help us breaking down the food we eat. There are many ways how to enjoy veggies: steamed, grilled, sautéed, stir-fried,  cooked in soups, etc. We also need to eat them in their raw form, in salads, in veggie rolls, or in delicious smoothies or juices, combined with fruits.

Six ways to create a lighter and refreshing meal plan in spring.

1. Ditch the morning toast and start your day with a fresh smoothie! Even the busiest person can whip up a delicious grab-and-go smoothie from fresh or frozen veggies and fruits, a source of protein (dairy- or non-dairy-based milk, yogurt, protein powder) and a source of healthy fats (nuts and seeds, nut and seed butters, coconut oil, flax oil, etc.) in five minutes or less. You can also add some superfoods (e.g. fresh or dry turmeric, ginger, spirulina, chlorella, goji berries) for increased nutrient-content.

2. Overnight oats and chia breakfasts are great on-the-go meal options too as you can make them the night before. If you are meal planning for the week ahead, you can prepare a few servings of overnight oat and chia breakfasts and keep them in the fridge in single-serving size jars. Download my free spring booklet for recipe ideas!

3. Replace your potato- and pasta-based sides with vegetable dishes such as the Asparagus, Cucumber & Feta Salad in my recipe booklet. The more colourful your salad is the more nutritious it is as those beautiful colours are provided by individual health-boosting phytonutrients.

4. For snack time, enjoy fresh fruits or veggie sticks with hummus, guacamole or nut butter. Would you believe that celery sticks and peanut butter make a tasty combination?

5. Challenge yourself to go meatless for one day every week! You can find yummy recipes in my recipe booklet such as the Peach and Sweet Potato Salad or the Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad.

6. Make sure your body is properly hydrated with clean fresh water! Avoid/reduce your consumption of soda, store-bought fruit or vegetable juices, or various other flavoured drinks. Water is the essential fluid that our body needs for preventing dehydration and subsequent headache, fatigue, weight gain, faulty detoxification, weakened immunity, even brain fog.

Need more help?

To assist you in implementing these diet changes I put together a free recipe booklet with delicious spring-inspired meal ideas. Sign up here get yours! If you need further help with meal planning for certain health conditions or for specific food sensitivities,  customized meal plans with detailed recipes and shopping lists are also available as part of my nutritional counselling services. Following a step-by-step meal plan tailored to your needs can save you a lot of time and will put you on the right path towards healing. Contact me for more information!

The arrival of shorter daylight and the foggy, gloomy weather is a sure sign that we are getting closer to my favourite time of the year, the holiday season. I still remember the special time when the entire family gathered around my parent's dinner table to celebrate. An essential part of these special gatherings was my Mom's delicious homemade meal, cooked from scratch.  As a child, I did not realize how much time, effort and creativity she had to put into preparing these dishes which contributed to the jovial, unforgettable atmosphere of Christmas.

Many years have passed since then and I now have my own family and friends to gather around our dinner table. Every year, I strive to re-create the festive atmosphere that still lives deep inside me. I prepare some of the traditional recipes that my Mom passed on to me and the ones that my family loves. They eagerly await for my special fish recipe on Christmas Eve, roasted duck or goose on Christmas Day, but mostly for the holiday pastries that I bake once a year only. Needless to say, all of the baked sweets would be gobbled up shortly after they cool down if I allowed them to eat as much as they wanted. Fortunately, the holistic nutritionist in me is well aware of the detrimental impact that all the white flour and sugar has on our waistline and overall energy. Therefore, to please my family's expectations and improve the nutritional content of my goodies at the same time, I started to experiment with substituting some ingredients for healthier alternatives. Here are some helpful tips that may help you in transforming your favourite recipes without compromising much on flavour.