21 Healthy Back to School Recipes Kids Will Love

Aug 18, 2022| By JOI team

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Aug 18, 2022| By JOI team

21 Healthy Back to School Recipes Kids Will Love

Looks like the start of the 2022-23 school year is going to look pretty darn back to normal.

With no more home school / zoom school to supervise, perhaps you've got some time to actually focus on healthy meals and snacks for the kids as everyone jumps back into the school routine.

With a few stand-by recipes in your back pocket, you can start tweaking and substituting to keep things fresh, tasty, and easy so your young scholars always have the brain fuel they need to ace those lessons. Read on for a few of our go-to, kid-approved, nutrient-packed recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack-attack in between.

Breakfast

It really is the most important meal of the day. Your kiddos are busy growing, and after those 8-12 hours of sleep their systems need fuel to get and stay focused in the morning (not to mention avoid becoming moody little monsters).

These six simple breakfast recipes are not only packed with blood-sugar balancing complex carbs and protein and brain boosting nutrients, they’re also deceivingly delicious. We won’t promise bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but we’re pretty darn confident you’ll see a reduction in breakfast table tantrums and eye-rolls with these easy morning meal options made with JOI.

Vegan Apple Almond Breakfast Bars
Apple breakfast bars

Dairy-Free Berrylicious Smoothie Bowl

Energizing Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

Perfect Fall Vegan Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding

Immune-Boosting Cashew Turmeric Granola

Boredom-Busting Make-Ahead Overnight Oats

Lunch

Lunch is an especially tricky meal to plan for this school year. The school cafeteria may not be as appealing of an option for all those young students, so why not pack a lunch for them instead?

In fact, make it a double and you've got lunch for yourself sorted too.

Either way, make-ahead is the secret here. These three JOI-ful options keep the hassle to a minimum, and are guaranteed to get better reviews than the cafeteria stand-by’s.

Della Bowl’s Not-So-Secret Secret Yellow Sauce to Up Your Bowl Game

Make-Ahead Cold Sesame Cashew Noodles

Vegan Poppy Seed Dressing on Kale and Cranberry Salad

Dinner

We’re all doing our best to just make it til dinner time most days. Cooking an elaborate meal is nowhere near priority after a chaotic day of work and the inevitable scramble of picking kiddos up from school or activities. Reward yourself with something even better than take-out--a super simple, super healthy dinner that you and your kids will love.

These 5 weeknight dinner options made with JOI have all the indulgence factor of a meal you labored over, without the time, effort, or through-the-roof calorie count. Be sure you put the kids on dishes and clean-up duty.

Vegan Cashew Pesto Flatbread with White Beans and Kale

Gluten-Free Cashew Coconut Curry

Vegan Tacos with Avocado Crema

Creamy Vegan Romesco Penne Pasta

Comforting Gluten-Free Vegan Korma

vegan korma

Snack and Smoothies

How many times have you heard a little (or not so little) voice crying out about how ferociously hungry they are?

Anyone with kiddos (or a partner with hanger tendencies) knows that ‘hanger’ is real, and it is best dealt with swiftly and surely, especially when focusing on (school) work is the priority. We’ve got you covered for all of those between-meal snack emergencies. These seven treats are all powered by JOI, all secretly healthy, and all guaranteed to satisfy even the choosiest child.

Perfect Dairy-Free Banana Berry Smoothie

The Pink Smoothie Made With JOI, Pitaya, Goji Powder, and Chia Seeds

Crave-Worthy Vegan Queso

Creamy Dairy-Free Caesar Dressing and Dip

Healthy Key Lime Pops

Gluten-Free Date-Sweetened Blondies

Healthy Avocado Fries with Cashew Aioli

Parents, we are sending you all our good vibes for a return to (some) normalcy this fall. Tag us @AddJOI with the recipes that are keeping you and your young scholars fueled up at home this fall, and check out our complete JOI recipe collection for even more inspiration!

1 comment

I want to try all of these!!! Thank you

Sharon MacEachron October 4, 2022

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