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 Here are enough healthy ideas to fill all the lunch boxes at Moscow Charter School. Phot by author. |
Meals Kids Might Eat:
Lunch Box Ideas
by Jyotsna “Jo” Sreenivasan, from the November 2006 newsletter
When my older son was a preschooler, he’d eat almost anything. I’d pack his lunch with chick-pea curry and brown rice, or leftover baked tofu, and he was happy.
Then he discovered school lunches, and it was love at first bite. During first grade, we made a rule that he could get two school lunches per week. But last year, when he was in second grade, he refused to eat any home lunches at all. The lunch I carefully packed would come back almost completely uneaten. He complained that the sandwich was “smelly” or “mushy.” In an effort to make sure he got something to eat at lunchtime, I let him get school lunch almost every day.
This year, we decided to try something different. I wanted him to take lunch from home at least sometimes, because I think the organic food we buy from the Co-op is better for him than the food they serve at school.
Here are some things that are working for us in terms of packing a school lunch that actually gets eaten. I also asked several friends for their advice and tips on packing a school lunch.
Use an ice pack
This has transformed my son’s lunch experience! Instead of having his
food sit around at room temperature and get soggy or smelly or whatever, he
can now have a cool lunch! I bought a lunch box with two compartments, so I
can put a small ice pack in one, as well as food that needs to stay cool. In
the other compartment I put chips, crackers or other things that don’t
need to be cool. Instead of an ice pack you could use a frozen juice box.
A Snack Lunch
Instead of a “sack” lunch, pack a “snack” lunch: crackers
and cheese, for example, instead of a sandwich. My friend Katie Bell has found
that her school-aged kids (ages 8 and 6) prefer to eat small amounts of a wide
variety of foods, instead of just one big sandwich. Another advantage to a
snack lunch is that after school, if they are hungry, they like to eat any
lunch leftovers. See the box for ideas for “snack” lunches.
A “Hot” Home Lunch
My friend Lesley Griffel’s school-aged kids, ages 11 and 9, also don’t
really like sandwiches. Instead, they enjoy a warm lunch from home. Lesley
bought some wide-mouthed thermoses (she suggests getting the ones without the
glass liners, so they won’t break if dropped). She heats the thermoses
by filling them with boiling water for 10 minutes. Then she dumps out the water
and puts in a warm burrito or a pocket sandwich (available in the frozen section
of the Co-op) wrapped in foil, so the food doesn’t stick to the sides
of the thermos. The food stays warm until lunchtime.
A few years ago when her oldest son, Zev, still ate sandwiches in his lunch, Lesley would give him just half a sandwich with twice the filling. “He didn’t want to take the time to eat a whole sandwich,” Lesley says. “But he’d eat half.”
Zev can’t drink cow’s milk, so Lesley bought a Rubbermaid screw-top bottle with built-in straw, and fills it with soy milk.
Helping Older Kids Make Good Choices
My friend Katrina Dasenbrock’s children are fifteen, ten, and seven—old
enough to prepare at least some snacks and meals for themselves. Katrina posts
a list of acceptable snack and meal choices on the fridge, such as tuna fish,
peanut butter and jelly, any fruit or vegetable, yogurt, cottage cheese, and
crackers. The kids are to choose from the list when they are hungry.
Alternative Sandwich Ideas
My kids tend to prefer sandwiches made in a pocket pita or rolled up in a soft
flour tortilla, instead of on regular thick bread slices. The Co-op has both
white flour tortillas and whole wheat. I thought my kids wouldn’t eat
the whole-wheat kind, but they are soft enough to be acceptable.
Here are some ideas for rolled sandwiches. You just spread the fillings on the soft flour tortilla (we use the 8-inch ones) and roll!
“Snack” Lunch Ideas
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