Brenda Bradshaw - Good Food to Go: Healthy Lunches Your Kids Will Love

Other books by Brenda Bradshaw

The Babys Table
(with Dr. Lauren Donaldson Bramley)

The Good Food Book for Families
(with Dr. Cheryl Mutch)

PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA

Copyright 2011 Brenda Bradshaw and Cheryl Mutch

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in 2011 by Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited.

www.randomhouse.ca

Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Bradshaw, Brenda (Brenda E.)
Good food to go : healthy lunches your kids will love / Brenda Bradshaw and Cheryl
Mutch.

eISBN: 978-0-307-35898-1

1. Lunchbox cooking. 2. ChildrenNutrition. I. Mutch, Cheryl II. Title.
TX735.B72 2011 641.534 C2010907212-X

Cover Design by Paul Dotey

v3.1

To our children, Charlie, Chelsea, Ashley and Elliotte,
and to our mothers, Val and Janet

In the 20 years that I have been practising pediatrics, many of the most frequent questions raised by parents revolve around their childrens nutrition and eating habits. As I reflect on my own family, nutrition is something my wife and I discuss with regards to our childrenand we dont always agree! The issue of school lunches is a frequent source of debate in our home. The media is full of advice and dire warnings about what you should and should not be giving your children, but this advice is often based on current fashion more than good evidence or sense.

With the great progress and advances of the last 50 years, family life and schedules seem to have become more rushed and hectic. So many choices are available for children, and school and extracurricular programs fill the day while parents battle to find the time to cook and prepare meals. Families are bombarded with easy fast food options and accessibility on every cornerand sometimes even in the school itself. Children today have an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as they spend more and more time in front of a screen and less time playing outside. This situation is compounded by increasing exposure to unhealthy food choices, which has contributed to a tripling of the rate of obesity in children over the last 30 years in North America. We are starting to see a rise in the appearance of diseases that were previously restricted to adults in younger and younger children. We need to start thinking more carefully about what we are feeding our children, and what they are munching on at school is a good place to start. In order to do the right thing, we need some practical, affordable and easy strategies for packing nutritious lunches within the confines of our already busy schedules and tight budgets. We also need a bit of information about what is going on in our children developmentally and how to use this knowledge to help get them interested and invested in making good food choices.

There are many things that I like about this book. It is full of practical and nutritionally sound advice. In a straightforward fashion the authors share many pearls regarding the what, the how and the why of good food and, specifically, healthy lunches. They share some great strategies for making feeding your children fun, healthy and a lot easier. The book is organized in a reader-friendly manner, making it easy to find what youre looking for and providing so many ideas and options in each category. The recipes look appetizing, easy to prepare and nutritious. The lists and resources are helpful and well researched. The authors bring their years of training and experience in nutrition and pediatrics to the reader in excellent, scientifically sound bite-size pieces.

The household I grew up in must have been similar to that of the late American comedian Buddy Hackett, who said, As a child my familys menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. Lets hope that times have changed for the betterand so should lunches.

I have a feeling that this book is going to become an invaluable resource for parents for years to come!

Jeremy Friedman, MB. ChB, FRCP(C), FAAP
Head, Division of Pediatric Medicine,
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Author of Canadas Baby Care Book and
Canadas Toddler Care Book

If you are like many parents, the thought of packing healthy, homemade lunches day in and day out fills you with dread. With increasing awareness of the need for healthy, balanced meals, this task becomes even more important. Your childs lunch should meet the recommendations of Canadas Food Guide. Yet it also needs to be hot enough, cold enough or crisp enough to withstand a morning in the cloakroom. The lunch should be safely packaged and in environmentally friendly containers. And with peanut allergies on the rise many schools are now nut free, eliminating a favourite and easy standby: peanut butter.

Obviously, you want your childs lunch to be homemade and healthy but your time is limited. More importantly, the lunch needs to be kid friendly and delicious because, after all, the healthiest lunch isnt very healthy if it goes uneaten.

Take heart. You are already on the road to creating healthy, environmentally friendly lunches that your children will devour. Good Food to Go fuses the how-tos of creating wholesome, homemade lunches with the latest information on food and nutrition. Our practical tips will help you make environmentally conscious food choices and eliminate lunch-box waste. This will help your family eat for a healthier future.

Instead of making an old-school sandwich, try our pita pockets, wraps, bagels and picnic style lunches. On winter days hot meals will warm hungry tummies, and homemade baked goods will have your kids grinning from ear to ear. Turn favourite dinners into delicious leftovers for tomorrows lunch. Alongside the easy-to-prepare recipes, we will provide you with the latest nutritional information to ensure your kids are getting what they need to thrive.

As working parents ourselves, we understand how busy life can be. We offer advice on how to involve your kids in preparing food and packing lunch boxes, ultimately freeing up your valuable time. Many of our recipes outline what can be done the night before, while others can be made in bulk and frozen, facilitating easy, last-minute lunches. Our meal planners will guide you through the week, providing your kids with a healthy variety of tasty and nutritious lunches.

Given that children consume approximately of their daily calories at school, what goes into your childrens lunch boxes is vital to their well-being. Eating a healthy lunch will improve their attention span, behaviour and learning ability. They will experience less fatigue and will have more energy to work and play. Furthermore, healthy eating provides the building blocks for growth and development and reduces the possibility of developing nutrition-related diseases. Congratulationsyou and your children are on the road to a healthy and happy school year!