Lunch Boxes and Unfortunate Old Friend Visits
From 1st grade on, our kids have always prepared their own lunches. They have a lot of freedom as long as there is a fruit and a vegetable, very little junk, and a very infrequent treat. Infrequent meaning maybe once a month.
I still occasional surprise them with the treat of a note on a napkin, but the lunch (and breakfast on week-days) is their responsibility.
They microwave ravioli and scoop them into thermoses. All. By. Themselves.
They prepare pastrami sandwiches, spread mustard and mayo, and yes, rinse and slice tomato, onion, and lettuce to go on it. Avocados, fresh pre-washed spinach, and onions often make the cut as well.
Every once in a while, if they are in a rut, I make a "menu" of lunches for the week. They choose one for each day.
It reminds them that cottage cheese and peaches works.
They remember that whole wheat wraps and hummus are just as good as peanut butter and jelly.
They grow bold with the freedom to make their own tuna salad with nuts and dried cranberries being a favorite.
They grab handfuls of smoked almonds or grape tomatoes as a snack.
Lox on a bagel sandwich? Why not!
They are chided to bring a drink--usually a water bottle from home or sometimes a water bottle with milk and chocolate syrup--all three of them somehow always forget hydration.
CG and I have always felt we are setting them up for independence and good eating habits. They don't eat the froot snacks and rice crispy treats and chips and cookies and fake cheesy crackers--the pre-packed crap of their generation. There is little to no artificial colors or preservatives. Mostly whole foods. Always whole grain/100% whole wheat breads. The closest we get to pre-packed are the bags of pre-sliced apples and string cheeses which make preparation faster.
Yes, an occasional slice of leftover birthday cake makes it into the boxes, but so does fresh salsa (PB's favorite) replete with tomato, cilantro, lime and onions as salad dressing over a tupper of pre-washed spring greens mix and slices of yellow peppers (Yes, from Costco: Hee!).
No go-gurts here. They instead peel the whole carrot, find the plain yogurt and add granola, throw the handful of dried blueberries in a Ziploc, and yes, even spread peanut butter on crackers if they want something that looks like the pre-packaged junk of their peers.
And, when given choices?
Those choices make them less picky-not that they ever were allowed to be in this family.
They still end up eating all of the choices offered, but on their time line and in the meanwhile they realize Trader Joe's curried naan tastes delicious as a substitute for sandwich bread.
They also get the thrill of choice since we rarely let them choose the junk offered in the school hot lunch menu.
Don't get me wrong. We are no food nazis. They are allowed candy. We go back and forth with organic foods. We have pizza once a week from Papa Murphy's. Annie's Macaroni is a staple. Ice cream (Only the Good Stuff) is a staple in this house.
However, I think our kids have also developed quite a mature palate that can only do them well once they hit college years and adulthood.
They fight over the left overs from dinner the night before of Tikka Masala with huge chunks of onion, broccoli, red peppers, and carrots with basmati rice to be put in their thermoses.
They gladly eat whatever is put in front of them when they are guests at friends' homes as opposed to the wrinkled noses we often have over here.
However, there is yet one thing they have still yet to learn.
CG walked by the kitchen today whilst little mouths chatted and little fingers prepared.
There was a pungent odor.
A fetid, most foul odor.
Have I mentioned my sense of smell has been compromised decades ago? I raised my eyebrow over at the kitchen table as a he made gagging noises.
Time to investigate, me thinks...
Well, turns out cleaning out the washable insert/liner in their lunch box had been a duty neglected.
Turns out PB had spilled some peach juice on the removable zip out liner of her lunchbox weeks ago.
Turns out there was orange, green, and yes, our old friend BLACK mold growing in the fabric portion of the zipper.
Nasty!
Bleach, soap, scrub, and repeat and it was all better.
On a whim, I checked out Li'l Man's lunch box. Ahh...seems he was growing a colony of his own.
Bleach, soap, scrub, and repeat...
Okay, okay, I get down off my high horse. Perhaps they have some learning to do when it comes to cleanliness and food preparation:
Mainly? Mold where one's Nutella goes is not a best practice.
Note to Myself: Pack bleach spray in kid's suitcase when they go off to university.
Sigh.
I still occasional surprise them with the treat of a note on a napkin, but the lunch (and breakfast on week-days) is their responsibility.
They microwave ravioli and scoop them into thermoses. All. By. Themselves.
They prepare pastrami sandwiches, spread mustard and mayo, and yes, rinse and slice tomato, onion, and lettuce to go on it. Avocados, fresh pre-washed spinach, and onions often make the cut as well.
Every once in a while, if they are in a rut, I make a "menu" of lunches for the week. They choose one for each day.
It reminds them that cottage cheese and peaches works.
They remember that whole wheat wraps and hummus are just as good as peanut butter and jelly.
They grow bold with the freedom to make their own tuna salad with nuts and dried cranberries being a favorite.
They grab handfuls of smoked almonds or grape tomatoes as a snack.
Lox on a bagel sandwich? Why not!
They are chided to bring a drink--usually a water bottle from home or sometimes a water bottle with milk and chocolate syrup--all three of them somehow always forget hydration.
CG and I have always felt we are setting them up for independence and good eating habits. They don't eat the froot snacks and rice crispy treats and chips and cookies and fake cheesy crackers--the pre-packed crap of their generation. There is little to no artificial colors or preservatives. Mostly whole foods. Always whole grain/100% whole wheat breads. The closest we get to pre-packed are the bags of pre-sliced apples and string cheeses which make preparation faster.
Yes, an occasional slice of leftover birthday cake makes it into the boxes, but so does fresh salsa (PB's favorite) replete with tomato, cilantro, lime and onions as salad dressing over a tupper of pre-washed spring greens mix and slices of yellow peppers (Yes, from Costco: Hee!).
No go-gurts here. They instead peel the whole carrot, find the plain yogurt and add granola, throw the handful of dried blueberries in a Ziploc, and yes, even spread peanut butter on crackers if they want something that looks like the pre-packaged junk of their peers.
And, when given choices?
Those choices make them less picky-not that they ever were allowed to be in this family.
They still end up eating all of the choices offered, but on their time line and in the meanwhile they realize Trader Joe's curried naan tastes delicious as a substitute for sandwich bread.
They also get the thrill of choice since we rarely let them choose the junk offered in the school hot lunch menu.
Don't get me wrong. We are no food nazis. They are allowed candy. We go back and forth with organic foods. We have pizza once a week from Papa Murphy's. Annie's Macaroni is a staple. Ice cream (Only the Good Stuff) is a staple in this house.
However, I think our kids have also developed quite a mature palate that can only do them well once they hit college years and adulthood.
They fight over the left overs from dinner the night before of Tikka Masala with huge chunks of onion, broccoli, red peppers, and carrots with basmati rice to be put in their thermoses.
They gladly eat whatever is put in front of them when they are guests at friends' homes as opposed to the wrinkled noses we often have over here.
However, there is yet one thing they have still yet to learn.
CG walked by the kitchen today whilst little mouths chatted and little fingers prepared.
There was a pungent odor.
A fetid, most foul odor.
Have I mentioned my sense of smell has been compromised decades ago? I raised my eyebrow over at the kitchen table as a he made gagging noises.
Time to investigate, me thinks...
Well, turns out cleaning out the washable insert/liner in their lunch box had been a duty neglected.
Turns out PB had spilled some peach juice on the removable zip out liner of her lunchbox weeks ago.
Turns out there was orange, green, and yes, our old friend BLACK mold growing in the fabric portion of the zipper.
Nasty!
Bleach, soap, scrub, and repeat and it was all better.
On a whim, I checked out Li'l Man's lunch box. Ahh...seems he was growing a colony of his own.
Bleach, soap, scrub, and repeat...
Okay, okay, I get down off my high horse. Perhaps they have some learning to do when it comes to cleanliness and food preparation:
Mainly? Mold where one's Nutella goes is not a best practice.
Note to Myself: Pack bleach spray in kid's suitcase when they go off to university.
Sigh.
8 comments:
It is all I can do to slap some organic PB and J on a few slices of organic bread. Your kids are amazing. I never thought to make my own responsible for their lunches and certainly the variety of foods available to your kids is really impressive.
I'm inspired.
Maybe we'll try something different.
Gulp.
Here I was blithely writing this when I see this: http://bit.ly/95gFBk and it makes me literally want to vomit as a mom. I cannot believe that happens 10 minutes from where I live.
Beth: Believe me, I am no super mom. My husband was a huge proponent of make your own. It works for us, but I do feel ever so guilty because my mom always made my lunch through to high school or gave me lunch money. Li'l Man asks every so often why other moms make his friends' lunches, but I don't?
I go with give a village a fish, they eat for the day. Give a village a fish pole, they eat for life.
It's a little over his head as of yet.
Besides, it gives me more time to blog while I "oversee" lunch preparations. Heh!
~Scout
WHat a great idea! Punky is still too young for school---------but I will remember this!
Congratulations! Applause! Your kids are living proof that children *can* love healthy food. But the mold thing... ewwwwww.
We made our own lunches, but I have to say I always wished my mom made them. Days that my mom put a note in my lunch always were awesome though.
I think it's fantastic that they are making good & healthy choices for themselves!
Those are some awesome lunch choices! And kudos to you, the mom, for doing all the shopping to keep all those choices in the house. I shop all weekend long to have stuff for my kids' lunches. Oh, and the Hubs is so spoiled that I make his lunch for him every day.
P.S. I think that schools should promote all these ideas. Too many parents at our school have their kids buy, or sign up for the free lunch when I know for a fact they can buy healthy items like this.
And here I was feeling virtuous just for giving PB without the J, only on wholemeal bread. Now I am reminded that actually, I suck. Bean is coming to live with you. He will arrive at SEATAC, I expect you to pick him up. ;P
Amelia
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