As a plant-based nutritionist, I swear by these healthy meals to prep my son’s school lunches and dinners

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dr. Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical inpatient dietitian at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center.

After a relaxing summer, getting into the rhythm of back-to-school can feel a little overwhelming at first. Especially that first week, everyone’s grappling with the same stuff like supply runs, being on time, and after-school events.

I try not to stress as best as I can. There are so many things in life you can stress about, but I try to remember that my kid doesn’t need me to be perfect.

My husband and I both work and have a son who is 11. One thing that helps us all manage the hectic back-to-school season a little better is simplifying our food choices like making sure we have easy-to-prep lunches and batch cooking dinners on the weekends.

That way, during the week, we’re not completely stressed out trying to get dinner on the table or figuring out what to pack for lunch.

My go-to lunches for back-to-school

We eat a plant-based diet. Lunches for school typically consist of a sandwich and a couple of snacks like hummus cups, avocado sushi rolls, or trail mix.

For sandwiches, I’ll usually make one of the following:

• Peanut butter and jelly
• Hummus with some lettuce or onion
• Avocado toast

And then trail mix is usually a mixture of almonds and cashews with maybe a little bit of chocolate chips and craisins (my son hates raisins). It really just depends on what he’s in the mood for. Sometimes, we’ll just buy the big bag of trail mix at Costco.

We also make sure to always have healthy food available in the house, like fruits that are easy to peel and fruit-and-nut bars that our son can throw in his backpack. We have a lot of healthy grab-and-go type stuff like that.

About half the time he decides he wants to get the school lunch because he’s bored of our food and the cafeteria has something more interesting or different. There’s always a vegan option like Impossible Burger or Impossible Chicken. Yes, it’s processed, but he’s doing a pretty good job of making mostly good choices on his own, so I’m OK with it. You can’t ask for perfection; perfection is the enemy of good.

My 3 go-to items for back-to-school

• Bento Box lunch containers with three compartments for a sandwich and two snacks, like fruit and a spoonful of hummus and carrots.
• Large casserole dishes for batch cooking dinners on the weekend. Having reheatable leftovers saves a lot of time, effort, and stress during the week.
• A Google or Outlook calendar with notification reminders set up for 30 to 60 minutes before an event.

My favorite dinners for batch cooking

For dinners, my husband has a really good tofu and black bean enchilada recipe. It takes a long time to make, so he’ll prepare two humongous casserole dishes on the weekends and then all we have to do throughout the week is pull a portion and reheat it.

We also like to use those casserole dishes to make big batches of veggie lasagna, black bean burgers, falafel, and homemade veggie pizza (heavy on the veggies). We’ll batch make soups, like chili, too, which are super simple to heat up and put on the table.

The one thing I do spend time making each weeknight is a pretty big salad. It’s quick to whip up. I use lettuce and add avocado, red onion, and usually either some fruit, like beets, for a sweet salad, or olives and veggies if I want to make it savory. The dressing is simple: I use olive oil and then either a little balsamic vinegar for a fruity salad, red wine vinegar or lemon juice for savory, and top it off with some pepper.

For dessert, we usually have a piece of fruit, a fruit popsicle, or occasionally vegan ice cream.

We pretty much avoid supplements for our son since he has such a varied diet. Every now and again we’ll suggest he take a Vitamin D or B12 supplement since he eats minimal animal products, but that’s about it.

On the flip side, if all your family eats are highly processed foods, because that’s all you can afford or that’s all you like, then you might want to consider a supplement.

The other thing I can’t live without during back-to-school

When I was younger, I used to be able to remember every appointment and activity. As my son gets older, though, and more stuff crops up in life, I definitely need my Google Calendar to track it all. If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not in my mind, and it may not happen because I’ll forget.

I also set up notifications that remind me 30 to 60 minutes before an event, like picking my son up from school or sports, to leave enough time to get there without feeling stressed or rushed.

If I’m reminded just five minutes before, all of a sudden, I go into fight-or-flight mode, so I make sure I give myself at least 30 minutes’ notice so I have that extra window to calmly wrap up what I’m currently doing.

Ultimately, it’s going to take time to get into a rhythm of back-to-school. Just remember to be graceful and forgiving to yourself. Your kid doesn’t need you to be perfect; they just need you to be there, present, and able to help them as best you can.

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