I was just reading an article on back to school lunches that ended with some wonderfully sweet, not at all guilt-inducing line about the importance of sending your kid to school with eggplant souffle, fresh bread you baked yourself and homemade hand churned butter because “making kids a homemade lunch is one more way to show your love and devotion as a mom.” Or something like that.
I came upon that article innocently enough when I was looking for practical tips and suggestions so I don’t default to the ham sandwich, cheese sandwich, jelly sandwich spin cycle that I often find myself in. As for exotic lunchtime fare, my kids might eat edamame and watercress salad if I dip it in chocolate, cover it in rainbow sprinkles and make it into the shape of Micky Mouse. And that’s still a gigantic maybe.
Who are the kids in the article that eat bean and corn succotash and tuna salad pinwheels? If you are lucky enough to have kids like that, please let me know what you charge to rent them by the hour. I will hire them to peer pressure my kids into trying new foods.
At our house, we keep it simple. I have a couple criteria for packing lunches:
- healthy mix of food groups
- no blue dye
- they will eat it
- it all fits in the lunchbox and can be crammed in with the freezer pack
- it can be replicated times three
Which really boils down to: they will all eat it and it is not bad for them.
If you have suggestions on how I can pack three inspired lunches (five times a week for roughly 8 months out of the year; you can do the math but please don’t tell me the total number) that are healthy and kid-friendly and don’t require me quitting my job to spend my days harvesting crops, send them my way. I am really good at following directions.
