Back to School: Low Sugar Breakfast, Lunch, and Snack Ideas

I was on my local WUSA channel 9 news at noon recently talking about low sugar food options for the kiddos.  Being on live TV is always a bit intimidating…but it’s kinda fun, too.  I’ll admit I was a little starstruck chatting it up with KC Hayward, since I grew up watching her on the news!

The idea for the segment was to replace the traditional high sugar breakfast, lunch and snack options with lower sugar swaps.  We started the segment with switching from cereal in the morning to a low sugar, high fiber option, like KIND Healthy Grains Granola.  I’ll admit, I’m not a big cereal person and I’m usually not a granola person at all. So when KIND sent me a few samples to try I was not optimistic. However, I was pleasantly surprised with their granola…they really try to health it up! They use 5 gluten-free whole grains and keep it pretty low sugar. I love the idea of having your kids start their day with a bowl of quinoa, oats, millet, amaranth and buckwheat.

In addition to the KIND granola, I also recommended eggs, yogurt with fruit, or a smoothie (I love Yasso, too) for breakfast! Not to mention you can also try some great smoothies and Top Juicer Recipes from a great resource compiled by zestycook

For lunch, I suggested switching from a “Snackables” type lunch to a mom-made lunch and swapping the fruit snacks (which are basically gummy bears) with real fruit. Also, send lower sugar options for drinks by swapping out juice boxes for milk (or coconut milk) boxes.  For after-school snacks I suggested “real food” instead of sugary snacks or convenience foods — offer hummus with veggies, fruit with peanut butter or nuts, fruit and yogurt smoothie, a peanut butter sandwich, or a sliced apple with cheese.

I know your kids WANT the sweet stuff, but there’s a time and place for that. I tell my daughter if she’s hungry, she has to eat real food and not sugary snacks that won’t fill her up.  Over time, it makes sense to them.  She’s only five and she already knows the difference.

What low-sugar foods do you offer your kids when they’re hungry?

 

Disclaimer: I worked with KIND as part of the TV segment on WUSA. I was not compensated for this post.