Secrets to healthy, creative school lunches

(Ideas using tortillas, Flat Out wraps, 100 percent whole wheat bread or pitas)

Pair raw veggies with low fat dip (we like the Hidden Valley Ranch dip mixed in with low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt)

Fresh seasonal fruit, ½ banana, 1 Tbsp raisins/Craisins, or natural applesauce/fruit cup in its own juices

Sandwich alternatives

Include a calcium source:

Beverages: water, 100 percent juice ( 4 ounces is the recommended serving size for juices and one a day is just fine) or low-fat/fat-free milk

Allowing a small treat such as dessert, small amount of chips, small piece of candy at times is reasonable. Do this in moderation and stick to miniature sizes, small portions.

Keep in mind refrigeration:

Add some love: Add a surprise note to your child's lunch.

SOURCE: Becky Gonter-Dray, pediatric dietitian, Dayton Children's Hospital. Follow her Activities to Zucchini blog: http://blog.childrensdayton.org/author/becky-gonter-dray/

Becky Gonter-Dray’s FunWich

2 slices whole wheat bread

1-2 slices deli turkey meat

1 slice Colby jack cheese

Leafy greens

Light mayonnaise and/or mustard (optional)

Shredded carrots (on the side)

Directions: On the two slices of bread, have your child assemble the ingredients and complete the sandwich. Take a favorite cookie cutter and assist your child with using it on the sandwich. For a child up to age 4, use a smaller cookie cutter for a smaller serving size.

Optional: Provide the fun shredded carrots on the side of their sandwich as a side

Per FunWich, without optional ingredients: 276 calories (percent of calories from fat, 36), 17 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 11 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 40 milligrams cholesterol, 713 milligrams sodium.

Emily Heckman’s Wholesome Zucchini Muffins

Make as mini muffins, and the kids tend to eat them up. You can even feel good about packing these in place of a sandwich.

2 cups white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)

½ cup ground flax seed (or more wheat flour or almond meal)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

½ cup coconut oil, melted (or substitute vegetable oil if needed)

¾ cup honey (or pure maple syrup or agave nectar)

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups of finely shredded zucchini

Directions: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or use a mini-muffin pan with liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Add the oil, honey, almond milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is just combined. Do not over mix. Using a plastic spatula, gently fold in the zucchini just until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Fill the muffin cups three-fourths of the way full. Bake the muffins on the center rack for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If using a mini-muffin pan, check after 15 minutes to make sure you don’t over bake. Let the muffins stand in the tin for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Muffins can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to three days — or freeze them and pull them out as needed.

Per regular-size muffin: 237 calories (percent of calories from fat, 39), 4 grams protein, 35 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 11 grams fat (8 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 480 milligrams sodium.

Catherine McCord’s Roasted Carrot Hummus

Makes 2 cups

• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• One 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or almond butter, sunflower butter or tahini)

Optional accompaniments: cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, pretzel sticks or rice cakes

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Place the carrots and whole garlic clove on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the salt, and toss to coat.

3. Roast for 45 minutes, or until the carrots are fork tender and starting to caramelize.

4. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Note: You can thin this hummus by adding olive oil or hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

Per 2-tablespoon serving: 58 calories (percent of calories from fat, 30), 2 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 152 milligrams sodium.

Recipe from “Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box with More Than 160 Happier Meals” by Catherine McCord; William Morrow Hardcover; $29.99

Catherine McCord’s Banana Dog Bites

Makes 4 servings

2 tortillas (any variety will work)

¼ cup peanut butter or almond or sunflower butter

2 bananas, peeled

Directions:

1. Place 1 tortilla on a flat surface and spread 2 tablespoons of peanut butter on the tortilla to coat it evenly.

2. Place one whole banana near the edge of the tortilla and roll it up.

3. Slice the banana dog into ½-inch rounds.

4. Repeat to make a second banana dog and serve.

Note: If your tortillas are stiff, you can put them in the microwave between two moist paper towels and heat for 15 to 20 seconds, or until softened.

Per serving: 267 calories (percent of calories from fat, 36), 8 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 11 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 248 milligrams sodium.

Recipe from “Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box with More Than 160 Happier Meals” by Catherine McCord; William Morrow Hardcover; $29.99

Like conscientious parents across the country, Melanie Lewis is determined to pack nutritious lunches for her kids.

But the daily routine can prove challenging.

“It can be the most stressful time of day,” admits the Englewood, Ohio, mother of three, who has been assembling take-to-school meals for the past five years. “They’re picky eaters, so it’s a huge challenge to come up with things they like and won’t get bored with, and to make sure they eat what I send.”

But like many nutrition experts, Lewis has discovered some key strategies that have proven successful.

One of the most important is getting the kids involved with the packing process. In the Lewis kitchen, for example, a creative card game allows the 10-year-old twins to choose one card from each food group stack.

“It’s easier for me to do it myself and get it over with, but I remind myself that I don’t want them to leave home someday and not know how to do the laundry, make a meal, or load the dishwasher,” said Lewis, a teacher by profession. “This is a learning experience. I’m teaching my kids how to become independent adults.”

To help families everywhere get their school year off to a great start, we talked to nutrition experts and everyday moms to get their ideas for healthy and creative school lunches.

Why lunch is a priority

Becky Gonter-Dray, a board certified specialist in pediatric nutrition at Dayton Children’s Hospital in Ohio, insists there are a number of reasons why it’s so important for youngsters to get a nutritious lunch.

“The nutrition fuels their brain, which helps them perform well at school, and at the same time we’re providing them good nutrition for growth,” she explains. “And if you’re sending junk food — like Lunchables, Twinkies, Pop-Tarts — you’re not teaching your children about healthy eating.”

Gonter-Dray recommends low-fat milk or a bottle of water over sweetened beverages, including juice.

“If you don’t have a fruit or vegetable in the packed lunch, that’s the time to add a 100 percent fruit juice,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 percent of American children are now obese.

“So teaching our children how to pack healthy lunches and providing them with healthy food will help decrease those children’s risk of becoming overweight or obese,” Gonter-Dray said.

Should parents be concerned if their children eat the same lunch every day?

“As long as it’s balanced and healthy, kids can do that and it’s fine,” said the mother of three boys. “The risk of that is burn-out.”

She urges parents to think beyond the sandwich: pita chips with hummus; peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla; apples that can be dipped into peanut butter; vegetables that can be dipped into hummus.

Food blogger offers tips

Catherine McCord, a trained chef and mother of two, has been helping parents with meal planning since her oldest child, Kenya, was six months old.

McCord, who lives in Los Angeles, is a mommy blogger and the founder of the popular website weelicious.com. She appears on the Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games,” and has written books including “Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box. “

“My goal is to make kids great eaters and to make cooking easier for parents and caregivers,” explains McCord, who said parents don’t realize when they start having kids that they’ll have to cook three meals plus snacks 365 days a year.

She advocates getting kids involved in the cooking process from the time they are infants.

“Have a little garden, go to the farmer’s market together, expose kids to a variety of foods so they feel part of the process instead of feeling they have no control,” McCord said. ” I personally think a lot of picky eating is kids trying to feel in control.”

McCord is still shocked when she visits a school and sees 70-80 percent of the packed lunches filled with white foods — white bread, peeled apples and chips.

“I recommend you start with 10 healthy foods that you keep on hand,” said McCord, who said every school lunch should have a fruit, vegetable, carbohydrate and protein.

Containers count

Emily Heckman, a research engineer for the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is a mother of three who says the worst feeling is unpacking a lunchbox at the end of the day and having an entire un-eaten sandwich fall out.

“My approach in packing lunches, therefore, is to make them healthy, but also visually appealing, easily accessible and something that can be quickly eaten,” Heckman says. One example? Instead of sending a whole carrot or apple, she’ll chop them into bite-sized pieces.

For accessibility, Heckman has discovered that three-section Ziploc containers make excellent lunch containers: she fills them and packs them inside the lunch box.

“The kids can open them easily, and the food is partitioned into visually appealing, separate sections,” Heckman says. “If I include any pre-packaged item — like string cheese or fruit snacks — I always make sure to open them before putting inside the Ziploc container to make sure my child doesn’t have to wait for a lunch helper.”

She’s also discovered reusable silicon baking cups, filling them with crackers, fruit, or other small items.

“They help the contents stay separate and also add a nice visual splash of color that the kids like.”

McCord’s favorite lunchbox is a reusable Bento box container, which allows kids to view all of their choices when they open it.

It’s all about love

Melanie Lewis said it's not unusual for her boys to complain that all of the other kids get more and bigger desserts than they do. Along with a personal note, she'll occasionally include what she calls a "tiny treat" like a piece of chocolate.

“They must have parents that love their children much more than we love you,” she tells her boys jokingly.

But she always follows up with the most important message: “We love you so much that we don’t want you to fill your bodies with empty calories — especially on school days when you need energy to finish the rest of the day.”