Back-to-school Lunches Even The Pickiest Eaters Will Like

by Wendy Navarro
Mom of 3 and Owner of Saige Nicoles baby and children's boutique

Slowly, my eyes glaze over as I look through the 24 isles of food at my local grocery store. My head feels light and my thinking is fuzzy as I try to determine how I can possibly create school lunches that are interesting enough and tasty enough for my 3 school aged children to eat 180 days out of the year. For a moment I just stand there – ‘That’s 540 freakin’ lunches!’ I blurt out suddenly, startling the poor man next to me. I quickly apologize, purchase the few things I picked up for dinner and decide that I really need to figure this out before school starts.

I am now on a quest.I scour the internet for lunchbox ideas and turn to our savvy group of mommies on Facebook for their child’s lunchtime favorites. I came across an amazing (sometimes overwhelming) amount of information; from ideas for healthy lunches, fun lunches and no-waste lunch box ideas I’d not heard of before.

My first suggestion comes from my Facebook Friend, Justine Lackey, business owner and busy mom (http://www.goodcentsbookkeeping.com/) who turned me on to bento box lunches. When she first mentioned bento boxes admittedly, I had no idea what they were. So, I decided to educate myself. And I love it!

Bento boxes (obento, Japanese for lunchbox) are sustainable lunchboxes that you use over and over (very eco-friendly). They are generally shallow and seal tightly so that food does not shift or leak. Traditional bento lunches include traditional Japanese staples, i.e. rice or noodles and include a balanced diet of meat, fish and egg in small bite sized portions arranged in an artistic, esthetically beautiful manner. Today, many parents are taking the creativity of traditional bento boxes and packing some amazing school lunches like the one left. 
 Justine’s daughter enjoys her bento box with:

• Dumplings (she suggests the frozen chicken or vegetable dumplings from Trader Joes)
• Cut up cucumber with dunking sauce, and
• Sticky rice molded into cute shapes

The bento lunch box pictured above (hapabento.com) includes:

• Blueberries and bite sized pieces of carrots wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber
• Cherry tomatoes
• Grapes
• Low sodium cold cuts
• Grilled cheese sandwich on whole grain bread. Wheels are cheese cutouts and a sliced pickle makes the window. Super cute!

Try Something New: With three children at 3 different stages in life it’s almost impossible to find get a consensus on what to pack for lunch. They each have their favorites but this year we’re trying out a few new things.

• Sandwich On A Stick: Son, Vaughn, Kindergarten: Bite sized pieces of bread, turkey, cherry tomatoes, cheese, cucumber and lettuce skewered on pretzel sticks. Ice cold bottled water, any fresh fruit mix and a cookie.
• Tuna Pita: Son, Quentin, 8th Grade: Tuna and Swiss in pita bread with shredded lettuce. Separate tuna in different container to avoid sbs (soggy bread syndrome), 1 whole pickle, ice water, red apple and granola bar.
• Chicken and Hummus Wrap: Daughter, Saige, Sophomore High School: Hummus spread on whole wheat tortillas, low sodium chicken breast, lettuce, cucumber, ice cold water, mix of blueberries and strawberries, cookie.

Kathy Russo, mom and owner of Travel With The Magic (http://www.travelwiththemagic.com/) also suggests packing healthy snacks like fruit, granola bars and chocolate milk for a well-rounded lunch and extra snacks if your child will be participating in extracurricular activities.

Food For Thought:

• Take your kids shopping and make them a part of the planning process.
• Pack lunches in insulated, BPA Bisphenol-A free tote like the cute Zoo Animals number (below right) by Wildkin available at http://www.saigenicoles.com/
• Test drive newly found ideas on your children at home.

• Pack cold packs to keep food cool or freeze water bottles. They will end up melting in time for lunch and voila your child has ice-cold refreshing water.
• Choose low-fat or low sugar alternatives.
• Look for brain foods containing omega rich ingredients. Parenting.com has a nice list which includes the yummy Pomegranate and Blueberry Juice by MinuteMaid.
• Remind your children to keep food from prolonged exposure to the sun.

I hope this article provides you and your family with a few new, yummy ideas. If you have any other great ideas please post them.

Resources:
Hapa Bento: http://www.hapabento.com/
Family Fun: Back To School Sandwiches
Parenting.com
Japanistic.com: Cute BPA-free bento boxes