Food for Thought

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days.....Boy, do I remember school. It seems like I spent almost my entire life in school. I did the usual K-12. Went immediately to college. Dropped out after 3 years to go to nursing school. After I graduated from there, it became a balancing act of work and night school until I finished my undergraduate and then graduate degrees. After I graduated, I got married and I swore I would never, ever go back. A couple of years later, I found myself back in night school. I was bored. So, it was real estate and German classes for about 3 more years. If I add it all up, I've gone to school for over 26 years.

Funny thing is that as I sit here struggling over this assignment, I find that I remember grammar school the best. I remember the paper straws they gave us to drink milk with that went flat if you sucked too hard. I remember hiding peas in my milk carton so I didn't have to eat them. I remember picking up the wrong bag from the kitchen and at noon finding potato peelings instead of my lunch (actually, I didn't do this, I heard it on Art Linkletter's show and thought it was cute, but I think I heard it when I was in grammar school so it should kind of count). I remember Friday lunches of either fish sticks or macaroni and not understanding why (we were Presbyterians). Funny how these memories are all about food.

Well, I think that lunch can be a highlight in a student's day. After all, you aren't expended to learn anything, you get to talk with your friends, and if you are really lucky, you'll get to see someone pass milk through his nose.

I remember that one of the BIG decisions before the start of each new school year was which lunch box to beg for. Would it be the new Barbie one, or maybe the Monkees, or how about the Bionic Woman? There were so many different ones to choose from. The choices seemed endless.

Too bad that what eventually got packed inside them seemed like the same old thing day after day after day. It was bologna and american cheese on white bread or peanut butter and jelly on white bread or.....I don't think there was another "or". We didn't have as many choices back in my days. There weren't individual cartons of pudding. There weren't those "lunchable" things. There weren't cute little boxes of juice. I'm not even sure there were little bags of potato chips.

Even with all the new choices, packing lunches can still be a real struggle for parents. You try to make a balanced, attractive, nutritious lunch and the kids just swap it for somebody else's food. Of course, we could just make the kids responsible for packing there own lunches. Actually, that's not a bad idea. It makes them a part of the process, teaches them that they can make choices and, maybe, just maybe, they will learn something about nutrition.

If you want to give this daring concept a try, read on.....Sometime during the weekend, make up a bunch of sandwiches, pack a variety of fruits and veggies, buy an assortment of those pudding/jello things or cookies or make some snacks, and pick up some of the juice/drink boxes. Each weekday morning ask your little ones to pick one of each and off they go.

You're probably thinking that I'm nuts and that this is more trouble than just packing something quick. You'd be right. It is more trouble than packing something quick, but it's more likely to get eaten than traded this way. And, as your kids get older, you can transfer more of the preparation work to them. Even the littlest ones can pack grapes in a baggie or help assemble sandwiches.

Here are some suggestions on what to pack in the lunch:

Sandwich suggestions:

- Instead of bread, use flour tortillas. Spread with mustard, add a layer of ham and a layer of swiss cheese. Place a dill pickle spear at the bottom of the tortilla and roll it up. Use toothpicks to keep it from unrolling.
- Cut turkey kielbasa into slices. Cube up some monterey jack cheese. Thread them onto a bamboo skewer and you have a little shishkebab. For variety, throw in a couple of cherry tomatoes.
- Spread a layer of peanut butter on two slices of whole wheat bread. Place thin slices of banana on one slice. Top with the other slice. Remember peanut butter sides go in the middle. Less messy that way.
- Cut up a slice of bologna into 4 pieces. Cut up a slice of american cheese into 4 pieces. Add crackers. So, who needs a sandwich?

Fruit/veggie suggestions:

- Apple slices with a mixture of 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of honey to dip in.
- Carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli trees, zucchini slices with a small contain of salad dressing for dipping.
- Schmear a spreadable cheese on cucumber or zucchini slices.
- Toss apple slices with a small amount of cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Skewer chunks of cantaloupe, pineapple, and banana on toothpicks.

Snack suggestions:

- Mix dry roasted peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips together.
- Mix pretzels, cheese crackers, and Chex cereals.
- Pop popcorn the night before and sprinkle with seasoned salt and a little parmesan cheese.