Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Hi,
    
    I too have recently had to start packing a lunch for my daughter.  I
    was sooo pampered at her other school, they took care of everything
    even down to giving me a monthly calendar of the meals to be served.
    I try to use that as a basis.  you know what your children like to eat,
    try to make it as simple as you can but as balanced as you can.  here
    are some of the things that I pack for my daughter.
    
    Balogna & cheese (one of the least expensive meats)
    Tuna
    Egg salad
    Hot dogs (cut up into small bites, 1/2 moon size, so as to prevent
    		choking)
    devil ham spreads (one can, can make up to 4 sandwiches)
    Peanut butter & jelly or fluff
    
    the Lunch Buckets or Microwave meals come in handy if you are running
    late and forgot to prepare the lunch ahead of time, plus, my daughter
    loves the Chef Boyardee(sp?) meals (find out if your childs school has a
    microwave oven first) so I give them to her when she asks for them.
    
    I also buy the containers of applesauce and fruit cups along with
    cutting up fruit at home. 
    My daughters school sent home a list of items that they would like you to
    try not to send in because they were high on the choke list.  Ask your 
    school if they have any helpful hints that can help also.
    
    Along with the above I give her a treat.  She loves the String Cheese,
    also the Cheese and Crackers (the ones you can buy 5 for a dollar) that
    come in one package.  Another of her favorites is the "Shark Bites or
    "Berry Bears" (they are a take off from Fruit Roll-ups), I don't mind
    giving her these because they are fruit chewys.  At her school, the
    teacher does not just hand them their lunch boxes and say help
    yourself, She know which item comes first and so on, and she gives each
    child their food, one item at a time.
    
    The thermos that I have found best are the ones that come with a pour
    spout (less mess).  The only problem that I have encountered, is that
    When I get home at night with the thermos and open it up I have found
    out that her school does not believe in rinsing out the thermos.  So I
    am stuck with a thermos smelling like old milk (yuk!!)
    
    Well, I hop this helps you.
    
    Good luck
    
    Julie
    
    

My 2-yr old's favorites:

Peanut butter & Jelly,
Frozen pizza slices (Ellio's : I pop 'em in the toaster oven in the morning and
		bake them, then wrap in foil)
Toasted cheese
Turkey sandwich
Ham & cheese

I always send in fruit, milk, and a "vegetable".  Usually the vegetable is a
pickle, but sometimes I send in corn, beans, or leftover potatoes, rice, or
macaroni&cheese. (I know, macaroni&cheese is not a vegetable!)

� �ori �

    Meat too expensive?  I find 60 cents worth of sliced ham, or the like,
    is more than adequate for sandwiches for both a 4 and an 8 year old. 
    At 30 cents per kid, it's not dominating the cost of the meal.  Mine
    like the cheese _outside_, so they get a hunk of cheddar, and a sliced
    carrot or the like on the side, plus fruit and milk.  I substitute PB&J
    for the meat now and again.  It's been roughly the same sinvce they
    were toddlers.  Most kids don't _want_ much variety.  I remember going
    about 3 years in elementary school where I would take nothing but a
    jelly sandwich (couldn't stand PB, then).
    
    As to yucky thermos at the end of the day ---  If you tried overseeing
    the lunching of a dozen or so pre-schoolers, I'd bet you wouldn't rinse
    many thermoses either!  I got to realize that it is a minor miracle
    when the right pieces even come back in the right lunchbox.  When
    they're even assembled roughly right so as to cut down on the dripping
    of the leftover milk, that's a real unexpected plus!  Just let the
    thermos and top sit in the sink a few minutes filled with water, and
    then wipe them out with a sponge.
    
    		- Bruce
    
    p.s. - labor saving tip.  When making two sandwich lunches, I normally
    make a single large sandwich, and give half to each kid.

Re: .1

About those "fruit chewies" - they are largely sugar, and sticky sugar as
well.  Yes, they have fruit in them, but don't pretend that they are any
better than candy.  My son Tom loves these as well, but I have significantly
reduced his consumption of them.


Tom would be happy with PB&J every day.  You may want to consider avoiding
"luncheon meats" such as bologna because most varieties are almost all fat.
You can get low-fat sliced meats, or use turkey or chicken chunks or
slices.  Include fresh fruit and/or vegetables.

As for drinks, those single-serving juice "paks" are very convenient, but
they are horrible for the environment, since they are composed of several
layers of plastic, paper and adhesive, don't decompose and can't be
recycled.  Unfortunately, most kids thermos bottles tend to be of poor
construction and leak if you look at them crossways.  You may have to
experiment with different models.

For packing sandwiches, Rubermaid makes "Serving Saver" plastic containers
that are the right size for a sandwich, and this can replace disposable
sandwich bags.

				Steve

re Thermos(R) bottles,

Lynne just got a heavy-duty steel Thermos for Elspeth last week.  They're
expensive; but it didn't cost any more than we've already spent over the
last few years replacing broken glass Thermoses, and it should last
forever.  Also, it's a quart rather than a pint bottle, so it will do
its share for family outings, picnics, etc.

Definitely a case where economizing earlier ended up costing us in the 
long run.

	-Neil

    Neil - I would think that acquiring an expensive steel thermos was
    equivalent to requesting a demonstration of how easily a thermos can be
    _lost_.  I can't imagine using a glass-lined thermos any more, for any age.
    
    My major trauma was usually acquiring an exceptable lunch BOX, itself. 
    I couldn't stand sending a kid into the world as a walking
    advertisement for He Man, or She Ra, or the Something Boys hotrod cars
    (these days I suppose it's Ninja Turtles).  Digital's ACO parking lot
    probably still has a strange red splotch were in desparation one fall I
    spraypainted a new box a solid color (it took 3 coats!).  After a
    variety of plain soft-sided "boxes" (some of which also provide good
    insulation in summer) I found a store in Cambridge that has nice solid
    color (and very solid construction) plastic boxes, which also have
    pretty good thermoses.  And they last much better than the usual metal
    boxes.
    
    One thing I learned to avoid like the plague is those thermoses with
    flip-up pour spouts.  They are virtually impossible to keep clean (and
    even the model where the spout is removable is a big nuisance).
    
    		- Bruce

    I had to provide lunch in several daycare arrangements.  I had a dilema
    in that I wanted my children to eat nutritionally balanced meals, even
    if they did not eat everything, and I didn't think the daycare
    providers were required to force feed my child a "healthy" meal.  
    So I sent, at least twice a week, *meatloaf*.   Of course, the recipe 
    varied, but I always included meat, cheese, cabbage or spinach (yup), 
    and oatmeal, in ratios that were adequate - I sent fruit or juice with 
    that, and I had a compact,  fingerfood lunch.  Some people teased me that 
    I was like Bill Cosby (remember the chocolate cake breakfast??), but my 
    children thrived on it.
    
    One other hint - ask the daycare center/person if they would kindly
    send home any uneaten portion of the lunch.  That way, you know what
    the child likes best, *and* you know what you need to feed more of at
    home.
    
    
    -m

    
    About thermos bottles - why bother now?   A hot meal is not really
    required midday, and juices come in the new paper containers - not too
    expensive, biodegradable, and you don't have to worry about washing.
    
    -m

    For what its worth, I've heard that a good trick for the juice
    boxes is to store them in the freezer and pop them into the
    lunch frozen.   They'll defrost but still be cold by lunch
    and provide some refridgeration for the rest of the lunch contents
    if necessary.
    
    Carol

Biodegradable?

    
    My thermos bottles are for milk (which is all my kids drink at lunch or
    supper.  Juice is for breakfast [orange] or snack).  I've never sent a
    "hot meal" in their lives.
    
    As pointed out a few back, juice boxes are an environmental disaster in
    routine use, as well as hyper expensive, and nutritionally marginal. 
    In fact, the original entry said "a full juice container for the day,"
    which I take it is not a juice box.
    
    		- Bruce

Re: .5

> re Thermos(R) bottles,

The Thermos Corporation lost its trademark privileges to the name Thermos
a few years ago.  Now you know why companies (DEC included) fight so hard
to get people to use their trademarks correctly.

			Steve

    Alright, since juice boxes are being bludgeoned (though Mott's and
    McCains both offer 100 % apple and apple-grape combos that are
    probably as nutritionally sound as the stuff Bruce's kids are getting
    for breakfast or snack),  I also think it works out great to make
    sandwiches on frozen bread which thaws by lunch time and offers some
    (albeit minute) refridgeration value.
    
    Back to the basenote, however, some nutritional lunch box ideas
    might be:
    
    raisins
    carrot & celery sticks
    cold pizza (I *prefer* it cold!)
    muffins/breads (like low-sugar banana-nut etc. if your kid doesn't like 
    			sandwiches and you want to include some grains)
    yogurt
    
    If your daycare has a microwave available, then your possibilities
    are endless!   I second the noter who suggested having the daycare
    return unused food.   I'd like that if I was in the situation (which
    I'm not, by the way, as my son's sitter makes his lunch).
    
    Good luck!
    cj/
    

    
    We always put a small freezer cold pak in Hannah's lunch box.  It keeps
    her lunch nice and cold--and is still cold when we unpack it at the 
    end of the day.
    
    Bonnie
    
    

    How about a pb/jelly variation?  Try sprinkling raisins or banana
    slices or even apple slices on the peanut butter.  More nutritious than
    jelly and kids (at least the ones I know) love it.

    I asked the same question last spring (?) and got some great ideas in
    replies, so you may want to check the last version of this conference.
    
    Now I can tell you what I've learned since then!
    
    Sandwiches:  They love the standby's (what's the plural of standby, all
    you language people?) like PB&J and I jazz them up sometimes with
    cookie cutters.  Sometimes I cut out large shapes and sometimes I just
    press and remove a shape cutter in the middle, like a puzzle.  They love it
    and eat the shape and the "frame".
    
    Weird sandwiches: They go for zuchinni bread with cream cheese and
    stuff like that, when I go on a baking binge.  Carrot muffins with
    ricotta cheese worked too.  
    
    Really weird sandwiches: Spread PB&J on an unbaked crescent roll (from
    the dairy section, 8 to a package), roll it up, and bake it.   This was
    a big hit.  They want raisins added for next time.  
    
    Non-sandwiches: Nonfat plain yogurt + fruit cocktail / raisins /
    granola, etc.  I add a muffin with this one.  
    
    Snack Attack: Any combo of "snack items": cheese, crackers, raisins,
    fruit (cut up - it has to be finger food to count here), chocolate
    chips, etc.
    
    As for packaging, I've had great luck with Tupperware and old margarine
    tubs, etc.  I HATE washing out thermoses (plural?), so we got solid lids
    for our "sipper cups" and pack juice in that.  The cups and the smaller
    containers that take the same lids work fine for yogurt, applesauce,
    etc.  Applesauce is an example of how you can save the price of the
    containers in a very short time, over buying individual servings. 
    Sandwiches go in Tupperware, but Rubbermaid might be cheaper. 
    Everything goes in the dishwasher.
    
    I bought freezeable sealed apple-shaped things from Lillian Vernon and
    use them to keep everything cold.  I found zippered lunch bags for
    $2.99 in solid colors and we sponge-printed them.
    
    It's a pain to pack lunches, but the best part is that they are getting
    good food at lunch so the pressure is off of dinner!
    

    Geez, Jane, mind making my lunch for me??    Great ideas and, even
    as a grown-up, I'd feel pretty special if someone went to the
    trouble of custom-cutting my sandwich!
    
    carol

    How about a combination of various kinds of "finger" foods?  Emily
    loves to have carrots, pickles, string cheese, apples, raw vegies and
    dip, ham rolls with cream cheese in the middle, chips and guacamole or
    salsa, cold fried chicken, etc, etc....
    
    I ask myself what I'd like and pack accordingly.  Bologna sandwiches
    everyday can get pretty boring.
    
    Nanci 

    I'm still new at lunch packing, but here's what I've used in AJ's
    "sugar-free" lunch box:  A brand of cookies called "Frookies", I've
    seen them in all the major food stores.  No sugar, sweetened with fruit
    juice.  He get PB&J, but the jelly is also juice sweetened.  Smuckers
    and Polanaer both make a natural, without sugar jelly which isn't too
    bad, I splurge and get the natural applesauce (without sugar) in cups and
    snackks like ritz-bits with either cheese or peanut butter or
    cheeze-its in a sandwich baggie.
    
    I am told by daycare NOT to send juice boxes, this is provided. and
    recently have had a problem with the Shark-bites being taken away by
    his teacher, she sites they have too much sugar, and the children fight
    over them (another story I'll enter elsewhere, it's already in the
    Learning Disabilities Notes).  I now hold the shark bites as a special
    treat for our 35 minute ride home.
    
    Not sure where it came from but a couple of the kids have lunchboxes
    without the pictures, but shaped like cars, buses etc.  Kind of cute!
    
    Thanks to everyone for all the helpful ideas!
    Lyn
    

    re: .19
    
    saw the bus, police car, taxi, etc. lunchboxes with wheels on sale
    at Lechmere-Greendale Mall for $2.98 which included a plastic
    thermos-type thing!!  i bought one as a toy.
    
    cj/

    A new lunchbox hit at our house is rice cakes (plain large ones or
    small flavored ones) with peanut butter and jelly.
    
    Hard-boiled eggs are also in favor these days.  Kathleen likes them
    sliced and Sally likes to get to crack and peel hers at school.