Making Lunch Fun and Practical

I have recently discovered some blogs that focus on bento box style lunches. While I seriously doubt my lunches will ever rival ones like this or this, I did discover a new lunch box system that will work great for the kids and the environment.

The kids are really excited about these. Making lunch fun will help, particularly with the picky eater, the transition from their eating hot lunch every day to eating healthier food from home.

I can't wait to get started!

$2 Lunch Challenge: Day Four

This is not the call you want from your brother: "I've been diagnosed with pertussis (whooping cough), and since we spent Thanksgiving together, your family has been exposed and needs to get put on antibiotics."

Whoo-eee. Fun times. So, off to CVS I went to collect four rounds of antibiotics. Right next to CVS is a new Natural Market. And then, it was amazing, I found myself INSIDE the store. How did that happen?

But it was okay, because you know what? I found the makings of the Day Four lunch for the kiddos.

• Organic Valley cheese, $0.56
• Organic Golden Delicious Apple, $0.66
• Grape Tomatoes, $0.11
• 2 Slices of Whole Wheat Bread, $0.40
• Peanut Butter, $0.06
• Organic Fruit Spread, $0.22

Total, $2.01 for my daughter's and $1.90 for my son's (no grape tomatoes).

This is what called out my name from the shelves (okay, okay, so I had some mommy guilt from the junk jelly from yesterday):



The bread is made locally, and guess what? Look at the ingredients:
The cashier told me it was amazing bread. I ate a slice in the car on the way home. He was right. It rocks.


Now, for what's on tap at the school, for $4.25:

Baked Chicken Nuggets, 200 calories
Macoroni & Cheese, 161 calories
Steamed Broccoli, 32 calories
Pineapple, 66 calories
Dessert, 124 calories
Totals, 582 calories

$2 Lunch Challenge: Day Three

Today I went with the standard peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The bread and peanut butter are from Whole Foods. The jelly: not so much. It's leftover from before the big organic makeover. So, admittedly, it's not great. It's total junk, actually, but I only used a small amount. I'm going to rationalize this so I feel better. Avert your eyes.

Here's the breakdown of my daughter's lunch that cost $2.07:

• Bread, $0.25
• Peanut Butter, $0.06
• Jelly, $0.02
• Fruit Salad (organic apples, tangerines and kiwi), $0.80
• I drizzled local raw honey on the fruit, $0.04
• Raw organic veggies (celery, carrots, radish, grape tomatoes), $0.33
• Ranch for dipping, $0.05
• Wheat thins, $0.30
• 2 strawberry yogurt chocolate pretzels, $0.22

My son's lunch was the same, except I didn't include the raw veggies and ranch. I included more wheat thins and pretzels. His lunch totaled $2.03.

Had my kiddos eaten at school, I could have parted with $4.25 each and they could have eaten:

Crunchy Tacos, 387 calories
Savory Spanish Rice, 67 calories
Refried Beans, 126 calories
Fresh Melon Slices, 86 calories
Dessert, 124 calories
Total, 791 calories

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it's odd that dessert is exactly 124 calories every single day? Is it the same dessert each time?

$2 Lunch Challenge: Day One

Ms. Q from Fed Up With School Lunch and Liz Snyder started a challenge: to make a healthy, nutritious lunch for less than $2. The challenge was for this entire week, so I told my kids they weren't having hot lunch at school.

My son is a very picky eater, so you will see that his lunch is a little less well rounded than my daughter's, but it is food that is healthy and that he will eat.

I purchased all of the food you see at Whole Foods or got it from my Urban Acres share. It is all organic. The Urban Acres produce costs $50 for 30 pounds. I got a digital scale, weighed each item of food and multiplied it by the per ounce cost of the share to come up with the total.

The crackers (Wheat Thins) were purchased at CVS Sunday night (I was there getting the digital scale) when I realized that I didn't have bread and my son won't eat a tortilla. I could have gotten a better cracker at a better price at Whole Foods, but I was in a hurry.

My son's lunch, total $1.97:

• Crackers $0.51
• Peanut Butter (from the bulk food aisle at Whole Foods) $0.12
• Half of an organic granny smith apple $.30
• Half of an organic banana $0.27
• Sliced organic baby carrots $0.09
• Organic Popcorn (2 cups) $0.25
• The dark chocolate and strawberry yogurt covered pretzels from the bulk bin at Whole Foods $0.43

My daughter's lunch, total $1.91:

• Raw veggies (carrots, radishes, broccoli and grape tomatoes) $0.30
• Turkey and cheese rollups (tomato tortilla) $0.68
• Organic golden delicious apple $0.63
• Organic popcorn $0.25
• Ranch dressing $0.05

If I was able to send them to school with something hot, that would stay hot, that would expand the possibilities immensely. At this point, I don't think this will be that difficult.

Had they eaten lunch at school, they would have been eating this, which actually isn't that bad, but it would have cost $4.25:

Grilled Chicken Sandwich, 300 calories
Baked Beans, 176 calories
Carrot & Celery Sticks w/ Ranch, 189 calories
Fresh Sliced Apples, 36 calories
Dessert, 124 calories
TOTAL, 824 calories

Our school's food provider just recently started posting nutrition information with the menu items. In addition to posting what I pack for them, I'll post what they would have eaten at school. As far as their school goes, they are trying to make foods healthier, which is a very, very good thing.