School Lunch
Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 6:00AM 
There you go. Official first day of school picture. Reagan isn't in it because Reagan was in bed. Upper classmen don't report the first day so that freshman can find all their classes without getting pummeled.
The rest of us are a little bitter about her extra day of sleeping in.
Probably we'll get over it.
Eventually.
On to the main event: lunches.
Nutritionally speaking, the lunches our school serves are pretty good. But that's only IF the kids eat the fruit and the veggie and drink the milk. Very, very few of them eat all of that.
Also? I'm sorry, but the school lunch usually doesn't taste so good. All the food is delivered to the school pre-made and frozen. The lunch ladies heat it up and serve it. No actual cooking takes place. The flavor profiles are bland and brown.
Of course, some days are better than others. My two younger kids like to eat on French Toast Sticks day. They also like the pizza and nachos. All in all, they usually eat hot lunch about once a week. Their lunch accounts are set up so they can only buy meals so they don't just eat a la carte junk every day.
Reagan is in high school where, in addition to the cafeteria food, they bring in Pizza Hut and subs from Blimpies. While these may taste better, the nutritional value is lacking. For Reagan, I put cash in her account and let her spend it as she likes on the days I don't pack lunch for her.
I don't ask what she eats.
I don't want to know.
Now, I know that all three of my kids are absolutely able to pack their own lunches. In fact, it would probably be good for them to pack them. Unfortunately, the control freak in me won't let that happen. I want to know what is going into that lunch.
I want the power.
Here is a typical packed lunch at Our Front Door.
A sandwich on whole wheat bread, some kind of sturdy fruit (never bananas or peaches - they get smushy), string cheese, sugar-free flavored water and a treat. In this case, it's cookies. Generally I pack either a dessert or a package of goldfish or baked chips.
I'd love to tell you I get all creative with their lunches, but I don't. And know what else? They don't care. They want PB&J most days with ham and cheese occasionally for variety.
Here is the proper way to prepare Peanut Butter and Jelly for a packed lunch.
It is key to spread the peanut butter on both slices of bread.
This keeps the jelly from seeping through and making the sandwich soggy. Kids will not eat soggy sandwiches.
I use reduced sugar jelly (two strawberry, one grape) and then put the sandwich together. When we eat at home, I cut the sandwich in half. For school though, I leave it whole. Again - this prevents sogginess and helps the sandwich avoid getting smushed.
Smushed is mostly a concern for Reagan who refuses to carry a lunch box.
Lunch boxes? Not cool.
She carries a brown paper sack.
Brown paper sack = hot, smushy lunch, but whatever. Image is everything in high school.
Hayden does not care what looks cool. Hayden is very concerned with lunch food integrity and temperature. He is a big fan of ice packs. His is the square lunch box with dividers.
Faith? Faith is all about cute. Those are her polka dots.
The only other tip I can offer is that I nearly always have dessert in the freezer. I'll make a big batch of cookies or muffins or bars and then package them into sandwich bags and put them in the freezer so they're easy to pull out and pack.
What about y'all? Any school lunch wisdom or wizardry you'd care to share?
Reader Comments (21)
It's possible that not having to make packed lunches first thing every morning might be my favorite thing about the empty nest.
Amen Joyce. I dream of such things. That, and only having two loads of laundry a week.
Its not my tip per se, but my father used to do this for all the kids...He'd make up an entire weeks worth of lunch so that all he had to do in the morning was build the sandwich (to avoid the soggy!) and toss all the rest in. Although it looks like you are pretty much there already. Since I eat salads for work lunch (yay for brown bagging it into adult-hood) I do the same thing. 5 bags per week and 5 little cups of salad dressing. VERY fast to get out the door with my lunches.
I make my son's lunch everyday before school. My son refuses to eat anything "hard" or crunchy...or chocolate...or peanut butter...or anything with crust. You get the picture. He is only in Kindergarten, but he has been like this since birth!! Difficult!! Picky!! He gets it from his mother. I'm ok with it. So, since I understand his "issues" with food, I get up a little earlier each school day so I can make his lunch. It usually consists of either a ham sandwich with no crust, plain ham, or chicken fries that I heat in the microwave and put in a thermos. Then, he gets some combination of applesauce, pudding, yogurt, or string cheese. I try to send at least three items each day along with a drink of either water, orange juice, or maybe a juice pouch of some sort. Occasionally, I will throw in a small pack of fruit snacks for a treat. This is about as "easily" healthy I can pack a lunch for him. But the alternative would be him staring at a full school lunch tray. I'm not willing to take that risk. I dream of the day that my son will eat a crunchy cracker...and LIKE it! :)
I make my husband's lunch everyday and he refuses to take his lunch in anything else but a brown bag!
Kuddos on putting the peanut butter on both sides of the bread! When I was around 5-6 years old, and not quite old enough to make my own lunch, my parents would make my lunch for me. When my mom made the PBJ, I noticed it got soggy (PB only on one side). When my dad made it, the sandwich stayed perfect (he always put PB on both slices). Once I figured this out, I would protest when mom started to make the sandwich and say I wanted dad to make it. Mom seemed to delight in this, and happily turned over the peanut butter jar to dad. Do you think she did that whole soggy-sandwich-routine on purpose? Surely not. But to this day, I always put PB on BOTH sides of the bread. I am my father's daughter.
Thanks for the PB&J tip, I get annoyed with soggy sandwiches too, but didn't know what do to about it. It's been a great series this week. Thanks!
Holy Peanut Butter, Batman, I didn't know about that tip! I'm on kid number FIVE and didn't know it. It just goes to show you that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
Alex ONLY eats PB&J, but usually makes his own (at home) If I ever have to make another one, it will be with the PB on both sides.
Alex swears he'd prefer the lunches at school. However, I'm afraid of the thing you just mentioned. Processed and frozen foods. I don't have them in my house (except on rare occasion) and I don't want him eating that stuff at school. I'm just afraid he'll be in the hamburger/pizza line every day and will never eat a vegetable.
That's a whole other post.. what veggies to get into this growing boy.
I feel like I have learned a wealth of knowledge from you today. That PB&J thing will be stored in my brain forever.
Marla @ www.asthefarmturns.wordpress.com
Remember how life changing the whole bacon on the grill was for me? PB on both slices just rocked my whole lunch making world!
I absolutely love that brown paper sacks are what is cool.
I shall now make a note of it.
The sandwich process?
Brilliant.
Can you pack my lunches for me?? lol
Are you a choosey mom? Do you choose JIF???
Also, I LOVE Blimpies... we don't have one of those 'round these parts anymore. Sad face.
okay i had NO idea about the peanut butter on both sides thing. what would i do without you? seriously. that lunch looks beautiful. homemade desserts? i am so impressed and not at all surprised. i always turn to little debbie for my school lunch needs.
love the first day of school pic. the plaid with the knee highs: amen and amen.
Missy, don't you know that Little Debbie is the antichrist? She is slowly, yet inexorably, converting everyone to love Little Debbie snacks rather than God. It's true. Excuse me while I adjust my tinfoil hat.
Only one piece of advice.
Let them have the Hawaiian Haystacks when the cafeteria serves them.
Manna of the gods...
What about those fruit cups with peaches or applesauce or something? Will your kids eat those? I'm tryign to figure out how to make a "jelly" without sugar...once I get it figured out I'll let you know.
SUT - Yes, I use those in the winter when fresh fruit is harder to come by. They love them.
For the rest of my life I'm going to use your PBJ tip.