Wednesday, July 27, 2011

what's in your lunchbox today?

Those nutritional experts who go on about kids taking healthy lunches to school clearly don't have any actual kids.
Or they have one child, who willingly wears knee-high socks and enjoys playing croquet with Father after dinner of an evening.

My kids, on the other hand, would happily have a Nutella sammitch every day of every week for an entire school year. And sometimes it's really tempting to let them, because the reality of making healthy lunches for two children with varying tastes is a head-doer-innerer.

For example -- this morning, making a ham-and-salad sandwich, I must remember that:

Mr 9 does not eat butter. Under any circumstances.

The Princess loathes lettuce.

Mr 9 won't have one even tiny skerrick of cheese.

The Princess won't have dijonnaise. Mr 9 will, but it has to be next to the ham.

Happily, they both like grated carrot, and cucumber, so they get plenty of that.

Now -- fruit.

The Princess likes RED apples. Easy.

And Mr 9 likes GREEN apples, but they have to be really green, and tart, and the supermarkets just don't sell them like that. Grannies are now quite sweet, and often floury, and Mr 9 spits them out. But he also likes mandarines, and happily we have plenty.

A snack for recess? -- ahhh -- Bad Mummy gives them a slice of cake. Not even remotely healthy, but really, what's the point to life if you can't have a little slice of chocolate cake once in a while? At least they didn't get it for breakfast!

10 comments:

  1. Ugh! Healthy lunches are doing my head in. Mr C will only eat cut up capsicum, carrot etc if it is REALLY cold and crispy, and it just doesnt stay that way in his lunch box. $13.00 cool pak or no. I was sending him with a vegemite sandwich, tiny teddies and a piece of fruit because I figured it was better he eat what he takes then not eat all day.

    Well, that isnt good enough. She reccomends wholegrain breads, salads and protein. No fruit, because they have fruit there. My 4yo is not one of the ones that will sit and eat a salad sandwich..

    So we were sending him with salami sticks, cubes of cheese, ham sandwhich, olives and yoghurt, except all the boys bags go outside. In the sun. So even with the cool pak his yoghurt was warm by the time he got to eat it, so he stopped eating his lunch. We've now settled on all of the above, minus the yoghurt and in its place we have a baked goodie.

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  2. oh how FRUSTRATING!!! Cornerstone had fridges for every class, so the kids' lunches stayed cold, and it was great, you could send stuff and not worry about it getting warm or going off.

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  3. Fridges in classrooms????
    We got to eat melted sandwiches in summer and room temperature stuff in winter. It was the 60's and no-one cared what you brought for your lunch as long as you had something.
    I say if they like nutella sammitches, then let them have them. You make sue they get a healthy breakfast and dinner, so what the heck does lunch matter?

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  4. Sounds like a typical day at the kitchen bench to me! Plus I also make sandwiches for my husband and his work colleague (how the hell did that come about?) but they just get what I give them whether they like it or not. Kids though ... well ... no butter on one, butter on the other, no mayo on one, mayo on the other, oranges for one, apples for the other, no ham on one, plenty on the other ....Sound familiar?

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  5. Yes, Leanne, you and I need something like a menu board in the kitchen! :)

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  6. lol at the kid who wears knee-highs and plays croquet... I got a great visual of a guy i went to school with. he was so ridiculously smart, but somewhat socially inept.

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  7. Bloody fussy eaters... or any eaters, really. Does my head in too.

    Mine get a cheese or ham or honey sambo or tuna sushi or mini ham quiches / cucumber tomato carrot / cut up apple or pear or rockmelon / cherries or strawberries or grapes / homemade biscuits or mini muffins or scrolls all made with wholemeal flour.

    We go okay. x

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  8. My kids get Lunchables, pre-made lunches from the supermarket. I'm a FT working single mom. Bite me Martha Stewart.

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  9. LOL. bite me, too Martha Stewart. Healthy food is only good for you if it DOESN'T go in the bin

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  10. No posts for ages, Toni! Been missing you!! x

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