Another school year is off to a roaring start here in Sunny So-Cal, and, for us, that means another year of "What shall we pack for lunch?" Sure, my kids could buy lunch, because I believe most schools in the area stipulate now that they do, in fact, offer vegetarian choices. Unfortunately, their vegetarian choice is cheese pizza ~ that's really the only one I have ever seen offered ~ AND there is no guarantee that there will be any left by the time my children get through the line, and they might be stuck with the other option of the day, which will not be vegetarian. Besides which, my kids aren't big fans of cafeteria food. So, we pack our lunches.
Now, my kids are not big sandwich-eaters, either. Well...hmmm...let me take that back. Two of my kids LOVE sandwiches, assuming they make them at home and eat them immediately. Last night, for instance, was Sandwich Night. I have decided, this year, to have a Sandwich Night for dinner once a week. More about that in another entry. Kid # 3 likes things that other people put on sandwiches, as long as they never touch each other, so she'll eat, say, some peanut butter, a slice or two of bread and a banana, but the idea of a peanut butter banana sandwich totally shocks and appalls her. What it comes down to this: we don't often pack the traditional sandwich in a bag for our kids' school lunches. There are some exceptions, and I'll let you know about them in another entry, also. Suddenly, I have so much food to blog about. Where to begin...? Well, I decided that, today, I will write about today's lunches. That seems elementary enough, does it not, My Dear Watson?
As I mentioned, last night was Sandwich Night. Naturally, we had a lot of leftover sandwich fixins, and three lunchboxes to pack...and three kids who aren't big sandwich-eaters. Convenient, non? We decided to make one of our favourite lunches ~ or should that read SOME of our favourite lunches, since there were actually three of them? ~ our own, homemade version of the ever-popular Lunchables. Now, Lunchables are super convenient, and kids seem to like them. In fact, I even used to be able to find a vegetarian version years ago, and I am sure I could find it again, if I felt like searching for it. The thing is, they don;t always contain EXACTLY what each kid likes. We have special dietary needs to consider, even beyond the vegetarian aspect ~ one daughter has a milk allergy, another is allergic to strawberries, we have one with some serious food aversions, etc. ~ so, for us, it works best to make our own, using ingredients each child likes.
This year, I lucked out and found some super-cute and convenient divided containers that fit perfectly in to the cute new lunch bags. You can also use a variety of small containers and pack things separately, but I have to say, they look extra fun and appetizing packed up together, just like a real Lunchable. If you have a divided container, like ours, you might want to pick up some little paper cups or smaller containers that will fit inside, to separate the ingredients and make it look (and taste) more appetizing. Check out bento boxes online. There are a lot of interesting varieties of containers, and the possibilities of what to pack inside them are endless. Visual appeal really does matter. I have found children, like most people, are far more likely to eat food if it looks good. Not surprising, if you think about it, since children are actually just fun-sized humans, and I know I don't relish eating yucky stuff.
So, once you have your containers, you just need to choose which ingredients to include. In future entries, I will revisit this idea and share other school lunches packed in the same way, so you can get an idea of how fun, interesting and varied these lunches can be. This time, I will just show you what the girls took for lunch today:
First, Justice's "Lunchable"-style lunch, which contains vegetarian "ham," soy cheese, red grapes and 12-grain crackers.
Next, Kaia's, which contains soy turkey, American cheese, 12-grain crackers (she loves those, too) and yogurt-covered raisins.
And, finally, Hallie's. In one side of her neat little box, she has a mixture of diced tomato, garlic, basil, ground black pepper and a tiny bit of red wine vinegar & olive oil. In the other side, she has two slices of fresh mozzarella. We also packed red grapes in a small round container and sliced bread in a waxed paper bag.
The girls also have snack breaks during the day, so, today their bags included a Z-bar for Justice and one for Kaia, and a fruit gel for Hallie ~ and, of course, the all-important canteen full of water.
So, that's today's lunch. Stay tuned for more exciting, foody, vegetarian news from the place we like to call "Little House in the Big Yard."
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