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Back-to-school crunch

Published:Thursday | August 30, 2012 | 12:00 AM
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Innovative wraps are great for special occasions.
Chicken patty.
Start introducing your children to fruits and vegetables, thus luring them a way from sugary snacks.
These lunches are ideal not only for children but also mom and dad.
Toasting the bread prevents it from getting soggy. - Contributed
Use all the colours of the rainbow in your child's lunches.
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Parents are on a mission - the annual back-to-school crunch. So be sure to include the sound of crisp fruits and veggies in those lunch pans.

Here are a few suggestions that help keep things easy.

First and foremost, pack lunches from the night before and enlist the children's help. Getting them to help with meal preparation at a young age will give them an interest in food for life. Working ahead means less rush in the mornings and more time for spelling, math, and English revision.

Keep a dish of cleaned and pre-sliced carrots, celery, sweet peppers, de-seeded cucumbers, even cho cho (yes, they are sweet and delish raw) covered in water in your fridge. Grab and go when preparing lunches or for snacks. Blanch bite-sized bits of broccoli and cauliflower and also add to the mix. Jazz up plain yoghurt for a healthy low-fat dip with a squirt of lime, salt and pepper, chopped herbs, if you have them. Remember last week's tzatziki sauce recipe? It's perfect for dipping.

In fact, yoghurt can be the healthier choice, instead of mayo, in any salad spreads you concoct. Try it with tuna, sardines, franks or chicken, seasoned your way.

You can also pre-prep shredded cabbage and carrots for a quick coleslaw to go right on sandwiches or as a side. Make a seasoned vinegar and oil dressing.

Remember the profusion of colours in the pencil crayons you just bought for school? Think variety of hues when assembling lunch. Eating from the rainbow ensures a balanced intake of vitamins and nutrients.

As a nation, we are thinking healthier - don't you love to see the vendors in their pristine aprons with their bags of peeled oranges and bananas, selling in the morning? You can patronise them as well as pack your own. Steer your children towards fruits and away from fried or sugary snacks.

To keep things interesting and fun, you can experiment with creative wrappings for special occasions. Strips of construction paper can jazz up any foil pack. Of course, a surprise note from mom makes everyone's day.

The ultimate time-saver is to make extra dinner so you have leftovers the next day for lunch. So we've included a few Vibes Cuisine favourites we love to find in our lunch.

Citrus Chicken Skewers

Ingredients

3lb chicken tenderloin or 5 chicken breasts cut into 5 long strips

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Juice of 3 oranges

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbs honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Combine all marinade ingredients.

2. Marinate chicken for 45 minutes.

3. Thread the chicken pieces on skewers and grill on a grill pan for 2 minutes per side.

(If you don't have a grill pan, use lightly oiled skillet; pan-sear on each side.)

4. If your children are very young, omit using the skewers.

5. Serve on a bed of mixed greens with cucumber and carrot spears, and your child's favourite salad dressing.

Vibes tip: Wash the Chinese food containers that you get soy sauce in and reuse for salad dressing containers.