The Giant Company's team of dietitians shared five solutions to help families simplify food preparation for back-to-school lunches.

First, parents should get their children involved. Have children make a list of their favorite foods from each food group - starch, protein, vegetable, fruit, and dairy - and get them excited by bringing them to the store to shop for their favorites. Together, parents and children can build a balanced lunch, making sure children have one item from each of the five food groups. Ideas for a balanced lunchbox include English muffins, sliced ham, carrots, strawberries, a cheese stick, wheat crackers, hummus, sugar snap peas, clementines and nonfat Greek yogurt.

Second, lunches should contain protein. Protein helps keep stomachs full and minds focused. When thinking about breakfast, lunch and snacks, include quick and easy foods like lunch meat, cheese, nut butters, Greek yogurt or hard-boiled eggs.

The third tip is to get colorful. Colorful fruits and vegetables provide a variety of nutrients. Entice kids with daily color challenges to encourage produce variety. For example, Monday's lunch can focus on red foods, Tuesday's meal can feature orange foods, and so on.

Fourth, parents should stock convenience items. Be prepared with pre-sliced apple packs, granola bars, applesauce pouches and trail mixes available for grab-and-go after-school snacks, and load up on frozen waffles and pancakes, fruit cups, oatmeal pouches and drinkable yogurts for easy breakfasts.

The fifth tip is to make dinner easy. Balanced dinners do not have to be elaborate. Keep it simple on busy weeknights with tried-and-true winners like breakfast for dinner or sandwiches with no-cook sides.

Giant's dietitians also offer easy meal and snack ideas and recipes, simplified with five or fewer ingredients, at http://www.giantfoodstores.com/pages/back-to-school-dietitian-picks.

To check out the latest schedule of Giant's free, virtual dietitian classes, which include making dinner in under 30 minutes, creating produce-packed snacks and learning about simple lunchbox ideas, visit http://www.giantfoodstores.com/wellness.