Back-to-school: Nutritional snacks, meals and recipes to start the year

It's coming. Kids will grumble and parents will silently cheer as the big day quickly approaches.
It's the first day of school. Kids and their parents are beginning the yearly ritual of preparing for the fast approaching first day of school.
If you're out and about doing any shopping at this time, you can easily spot the school shoppers. Mom's will be calmly (or not) explaining to their children why they can't have the clothes they've picked out. The younger kids will sulk and the teenagers may be having what looks like mini-meltdowns. And then, after a little compromising the task of clothes shopping will be behind them and they will move on to the easier task of picking up the school supplies.
For the most part, parents allow their kids to pick out their own back packs and lunch bags. Supplies such as paper, pencils, crayons, etc. is pretty standard and usually determined by the teacher. So this part of the back-to-school preparation should be just routine and stress free.
Now that you've clothed them and filled their back packs with school supplies, it's time to plan the meals and snacks.

Photo courtesy of ALDI

What and when you feed your family will probably change when the kids make their way back to school. More and more you hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day - and especially for kids. Studies show that kids who skip breakfast have a higher rate of tardiness and absenteeism in school. Everyone, and especially kids, need a nutritious breakfast to give them that much needed brain power to begin the day.
Most parents are looking for quick, yet nutritional snacks and lunch items when packing their child's lunch And there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of all the pre-packaged meals and snacks being offered at your local grocery stores and markets. A lot of these items are both nutritional and easy on the wallet.
If you shop at ALDI's, you already know they offer all these items and more. If you haven't shopped at ALDI's - you're missing out.
Here's a few lunch and snack items that ALDI's is offering to help with your back-to-school lunch needs:.

Lunch Mate Honey Turkey & Oven Roasted Turkey (16 oz.) – from $3.29 to $2.99 

Happy Farms Deli Sliced Cheddar & Pepper Jack Cheese (8 oz.) – from $1.99 to $1.79

Lunch Buddies Turkey & Cheese or Ham & Cheese Lunches (8.9 – 9.1 oz.) – from $1.99 to $1.79

Nature’s Nectar 100% Apple Juice Boxes (8 – 6.75 oz.) – from $1.99 to $1.49

Lunch Buddies All Natural Fruit Snacks (19.2 oz.) – from $3.69 to $3.49

Lunch Buddies Chocolate Pudding Cups (13-14 oz.) – from $0.89 to $0.69

Benton’s Animal Crackers (13 oz.) – from $1.29 to $0.99

Photo courtesy of ALDI

And parent's are not only looking for cost savings. Making sure kids are getting the proper nutrition and will eat what you prepare, is top priority.
Here's a couple recipes from Chef Jonathan, courtesy of Aldi Test Kitchen to consider when packing lunches or preparing a healthy snack: 
This is healthy and tastes great too!

Fruit and Hazelnut Panini

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Courtesy of ALDI Test Kitchen

Yields: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

½ cup sliced strawberries

½ cup raspberries

½ cup blueberries

½ cup Berryhill Hazelnut Spread

4 ounces Happy Farms Cream Cheese, softened

8 slices L'oven Fresh 12 Grain Wide Pan Bread

2 bananas, sliced in quarters lengthwise

Directions:

Preheat sandwich press or waffle maker.

In a medium bowl, mix berries together.

In another medium bowl, combine hazelnut spread and cream cheese.

To assemble sandwiches: Spread 1 tablespoon of hazelnut mixture on each slice of bread, place 2 slices of banana on each bottom slice, top with mixed berries, and top each sandwich with 1 slice of bread.

Place 2 sandwiches in sandwich press or waffle maker, cook until bread is crispy and hazelnut spread is melted, approximately 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining sandwiches. Cut sandwiches in half diagonally or in quarters.

Kids can help to prepare this after school snack and can be made ahead.

Frozen Fruit Dippers

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Prep time: 10 minutes (plus 2 hours, 10 minutes to freeze)
Cook time: 2 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Dippers:

Courtesy of ALDI Test Kitchen

½ pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 banana, peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces

1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved

½ cup raspberries

Dip:

½ cup Baker's Corner Real Semi-Sweet Morsels

¼ cup Peanut Delight Natural Creamy Peanut Butter

Directions:

Line a sheet pan with wax or parchment paper. Place all fruit in a single layer.

Place sheet pan in the freezer for 2-4 hours.

Microwave chocolate and peanut butter for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir; continue microwaving in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted and smooth.

Using your hands or a toothpick, dip the fruit halfway into the chocolate mixture and place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Place into freezer for 10 minutes or until ready to serve.

TIP: Kids can help make the dip by combining the chocolate and peanut butter and pushing the microwave buttons!

And here at Grandma's house, you can't go wrong if you always have a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, no matter what you're serving up for breakfast.

Try this for a nutritional breakfast before school, it's always a favorite with my grandkids. Serve as finger food.

Mix in bowl and set on table:

Seedless grapes, cut in half

Whole strawberries, sliced

Blueberries

Toast a whole grain frozen waffle, or two for the bigger kids, and cut into strips. Serve with a side of peanut butter or substitute low-fat Strawberry Cream Cheese for dipping for variety or in case of peanut allergies.

This is quick, easy and your kids will eagerly devour this before school.

Teenagers always seem to want to skip out on breakfast. Try having this nutritional smoothie ready to blend of a morning and get their day started out right. One of my favorite smoothies.

Vanilla-Strawberry Smoothie

1/2 cup non-fat Greek vanilla yogurt

2 whole bananas cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups cleaned and cut-up fresh strawberries

1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

1 cup ice

Place all ingredients in blender except for yogurt. Blend until smooth. Add yogurt and blend just until mixed.

If you're looking for more recipes or cost saving products. Visit ALDI's website for back-to-school ideas, recipes and weekly product sales.

Contact Vicki.Arsenault@oakpress.com for food and product reviews.Email your favorite recipe to enter my bi-weekly cookbook giveaway. Follow on Twitter @OCKidsKorner.

 

ALDI's "Switch & Save" could be just what you need for holiday savings

Disclaimer: ALDI's  has not compensated the writer in any way for this article.

If you're looking for quality value without the high cost, you may want to visit your local ALDI market.

Nearly all of the products at ALDI's are sold under its exclusive brand name and manufactured by leading food producers. Its primetime shopping hours, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon. through Sat. and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays and a quarter shopping cart rental system, helps keep overhead cost down. The shopping cart rental system allows shoppers to pay a quarter for the grocery cart when entering the store, which is then given back on return of the cart. The store is then able to pass these savings to consumers, according to the store.

A consumer survey conducted by the world's leading customer intelligence solutions company, showed ALDI’s was chosen No. 1 out of 10 of top competitors by consumers.

In fact, ALDI’s is so confident you’ll love their high quality products, they offer a DOUBLE GUARANTEE that you’ll be 100 percent satisfied.

If you don’t like the product, simply bring it back for a replacement and also get your money refunded.

After a nicely packaged assortment of items arrived at The Oakland Press, I decided to put a few of the great looking products to the test.

I love to bake, so I chose the Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread.

Both packages called for identical ingredients and measurements. Considering I was preparing them at the same time it helped with any possible mix-ups.

Pillsbury Quick Bread and ALDI brand Baker's Corner

I mixed both packages in separate bowls according to the directions, taking note as to the color and texture of the batter and noticing that the ALDI Brand (Baker’s Corner) was a bit lighter in color and the batter slightly thinner than the Pillsbury brand.

After pouring about half of the batter into each baking dish, I opened the cinnamon packets and sprinkled a little more than half the content over the batter. I also noted that the ALDI’s Brand cinnamon packet was both lighter in color and texture, the Pillsbury Brand was definitely heavier, like the difference between white sugar and brown sugar.

I then poured and carefully spread the remaining batter over the cinnamon, topping both mixtures off with their remaining cinnamon/sugar packets. I placed both cakes on the center rack in the oven together and baked for 30 minutes.

After removing from the oven, they both looked terrific and my kitchen smelled scrumptious. The cinnamon/sugar toppings cooked nicely on both cakes and were still easily identified by the color.

From left: ALDI brand; Pillsbury brand

Once both cakes completely cooled, I opened the glaze packets that were included and swirled the contents over the top of each cake.

NOTE: You’ll want to cut a tiny tip off the corner of the glaze packet. What I thought was small, proved to be a little large for the sticky glaze.

Now for the best part – the taste test.
I thought my husband would love to help out with this. Totally engrossed in the Michigan football game, he had no idea which was which but was more than happy to assist.

I cut a small piece from each cinnamon bread and placed them on a plate – asking that he only tells me which he liked best. As he headed back to the other room to enjoy his cake and football game, I also cut myself a piece of both, poured a cup of coffee and indulged.

From left: Pillsbury brand; ALDI brand

The results:

My husband, not knowing which he was choosing, chose the ALDI brand. He thought it had a lighter and slightly better flavor. Me, I thought they were both equally good. Other than the slight difference in color, the texture and taste were basically the same.

With both brands equally good in comparison, why not save yourself 25 percent and choose the ALDI brand.  

Other items featured at your local ALDI discount grocer offers consumers quality products with savings compared to the national brands.
ALDI brand Stonemill Essentials line of seasonings can save you up to 86 percent from the national brand McCormick.

You'll get at least 25 percent savings on ALDI brands compared to national brands on many of their other products, such as: olive oil, cheese, crackers, apple pie, crescent rolls and even your favorite wines.

So if you're making your holiday list and checking it twice - you might want to stop in at your local ALDI's and check out their featured "Switch & Save" items.