UPDATE! The Scramble is giving away the Back to School Survival Kit away FREE to everyone through September 30th! Just follow this link! http://share.thescramble.com/bts/ Thank you, Aviva Goldfarb, and Team Scramble!!! – Megan

With the return of school comes the return of the school lunch. The school my oldest attends doesn’t have a lunch kitchen, so lunch is solely provided and packed by us. I grew up as a school lunch kid, meaning that my parents sent us with money to eat lunch from our lunch kitchen.

I’ve never been a very picky or discriminating eater, which may have been a boon for my time-strapped mother. Unfortunately for me, sometimes that meant that I would gladly eat ANY food, especially the processed, empty-calorie filled junk variety. I’m talking about the Velveta shells and cheese or Pringles chips by the stack, a candy bar from the school vending machine or a grease soaked piece of pizza.

While my eating choices have grown healthier as I’ve grown older, I’ve had to TEACH myself to eat more healthily. To be honest, I also have to constantly REMIND myself to make healthy choices in the kitchen (and at the grocery store, and at the restaurant). I’m going to say it again CONSTANTLY.

Basically this post is to share two fabulous school lunch connections we’ve made in our household this year. The first is our family’s favorite, tried and true meal planning service– The Scramble.

The other wonderful website you should check out (for their school lunch pictures alone!) is 100 Days of Real Food. I simply typed “School Lunch” in to her search box. You can subscribe to Lisa’s meal plans here, and at the very least you can gather ideas from the awesome photos of the school lunch she packs for her girls every. single. day!

So first, The Scramble. A few short days before school began I received a wonderful email in my inbox titled, “Your Free Back to School Survival Kit”. The email included three downloadable lists for Back to School meals. One for Breakfast, one for Lunch, and another for Power Snacks. I was over the moon.

My top three picks from The Scramble Back to School Meals download are as follows:

Breakfast–

1. A toasted whole wheat bagel with almond butter, avocado with a little coarse salt, cream cheese and smoked salmon or a smoked salmon spread.
2. Egg and vegetable muffins such as these Garden Quichelettes.
3. Scrambled eggs, salsa, sliced avocado, baby spinach, and shredded cheese in a warm corn tortilla or whole wheat flatbread or wrap.

Lunch–

1. Leftover vegetarian soup, stew or chili in a thermos (make a big batch on Sunday).
2. Diced tofu drizzled with teriyaki sauce.
3. Pizza bagel.

Power Snack–

1. Edamame: Kids and teens love salted edamame in their pods (sold frozen).

2. Monkey Milkshake: In a blender, combine 1 frozen banana, 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp. peanut butter (or other nut butter) and 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder or cocoa nibs and blend for about 30 seconds.

3. Black Bean Dip: In a food processor or blender, puree 15 oz. canned black beans, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 Tbsp. orange juice, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, 1⁄4 tsp. each of garlic powder and salt, and 1⁄2 tsp. each of chili powder and ground cumin. If too thick, add 1/8 – 1/4 cup water. Serve with whole grain tortilla chips and cut up veggies.