La Brea Bakery & Managedmoms Sunrise to Sunset Back To School Meal Ideas

Hard to believe that back to school season has arrived, but here in Arizona our kids are in full swing with a new school year. This means creative, oftentimes quick, and tasty meal planning for busy parents. I have teamed up with the delicious artisan La Brea Bakery bread brand to bring you four meal ideas that cover sunrise to sunset. Check out the segment on The Arizona Daily Mix morning show on AZTV7 …Take a look at these fast, simple and tasty creations. I’m wishing everyone a joyful school year ahead! A big thank you to my food stylist, Julie McMillian for her creative touch!

Back To School Breakfast Meal Idea:

Strawberry Bread Spread Breakfast with scrambled eggs and watermelon stars – This breakfast starts the kids off right with a nutritious slightly sweet multigrain bread that has winning ingredients that include honey, malt and even flaxseed. Topped with fresh strawberries, cream cheese and coconut flakes and plated with scrambled eggs for protein and fun hydrating watermelon stars.

What You Need:

1 slice La Brea Bakery Whole Grain Loaf

Fresh strawberries (I like to use organic strawberries)

Plain (or flavored) cream cheese spread

Coconut flakes

Scrambled eggs or eggs cooked kids’ favorite way

Watermelon cut into stars

What You Do:

Simply toast a piece of La Brea Bakery Whole Grain Loaf. Spread with cream cheese and top with sliced strawberries. Sprinkle coconut flakes on top. Pair with eggs and watermelon stars. Cut watermelon into hearts or stars using cookie cutters.

Back To School Lunch Idea:

Go Bananas Memories Sandwich packed lunch. So fun to make a retro sandwich from parents’ childhood. In my case, it was a sandwich made with bananas, honey and peanut butter so that is the combo I use here. Including helpful honey on La Brea Bakery’s yummy French Loaf is great for allergy season. Bananas provide potassium. Make your own favorite from your kid days. Children love to hear about their parents’ childhood experiences. Pair with favorite lunch sides in fun lunchbox. Kids will love the bread because it has a smooth taste with a thin golden crust. Yum!

What You Need:

2 slices La Brea Bakery French Loaf 

1 banana

Honey of your choice

Peanut butter or any nut butter if allergies are an issue

Favorite lunch sides – we used colorful Goldfish crackers, a snack slice of cheddar cheese, blueberries, grapes, mini carrots and one Hershey’s Kiss with a note that says “A Kiss From Mom and Dad” plus we bought the fun booklet with detachable mini pages called Lunch Notes From Me: Riddles & Giggles at Target.

What You Do:

Simply spread peanut butter (or any nut butter) and honey on the La Brea Bakery French Loaf bread. Top with sliced bananas, assemble sandwich and cut into fun shapes to place in lunch box. Pair with sides suggested above and/or your own personal choices.

Creative After School Snack Idea:

Cool Kids Mini Charcuterie Boards – So fun! Dice up delicious La Brea Bakery Demi French Baguette with a healthy hummus dip and add kid favorites. Your kids will love to come home to this unique after school snack that encourages them to munch on healthy foods since parents choose the board contents. This bread is great for dipping with a smooth taste and a crisp golden crust that kids will dig.

What You Need:

Mini charcuterie boards – my food stylist bought her set at Target

La Brea Bakery Demi French Baguette cut into cubes

Hummus or dip of your choice for bread cubes

Desired sides – we paired the bread cubes and hummus with grapes, mini plums, cheese cut into hearts, cucumbers and a mini cupcake.

What You Do:

Simply cut the delish La Brea Bakery Demi French Baguette into squares. Place on mini charcuterie boards with small bowl of healthy hummus. Add your favorite sides or what we suggest above. Have fun observing your kids’ expressions when they come home to this clever and colorful after school snack!

M is for marvelously made simple meal ideas! This picture was taken at our segment rehearsal. Complete recipes and full plates will be shown in my Arizona Daily Mix morning show segment on Wednesday. Tune in! 

Back To School Creative Dinner Idea:

Kid-Approved Dunk In Fun Dinner – Using La Brea Bakery Italian Round Loaf creates a creamy goodness grilled cheese sandwich. Add the surprise ingredient, baked potato chips, and school kids will delightfully dip this super yum sammie into a bowl of tomato soup making this a complete, filling and kid-approved weeknight dinner. I chose the Italian Round Loaf variety from La Brea Bakery for its rich subtle flavor and hearty Italian Loaf crust. Good stuff!

What You Need:

La Brea Bakery Bakery Italian Round Loaf sliced

Cheddar cheese slices (or cheese of choice for grilled cheese)

Olive oil spray

Baked potato chips

Tomato soup

What You Do:

Fill two sliced pieces of La Brea Bakery Italian Round Loaf bread with two slices of cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice). Press together and spray outside of sandwich with olive oil spray. Place in sandwich press and cook until cheese is melted. Open hot sandwich and add baked potato chips. Helpful parenting tip:  this is a fun step for kids to help with and when they help prepare food, they are more likely to eat what is served. Put sandwich back together and cut into strips for divine dipping into a bowl of hot tomato soup. This is a fun kid-approved dunk in fun dinner that kiddos will embrace.

The delicious La Brea Bakery loaves we used in all of the above recipes can be found at Fry’s stores in addition to other markets that include Safeway. To find the grocery closest to you that sells the high quality La Brea Bakery bread, visit the La Brea Bakery store locater page.

Be sure to check the extensive library of fantastic recipes for more meal inspiration on the La Brea Bakery recipe page.

Share your back to school meal ideas in the comments section. Happy New Year School Year out there. They go by fast! Remember to also feed yourselves well, busy parents!

Managedmoms.com is proud to partner with the scrumptious, high quality La Brea Bakery line. Soo good!