Lunch Time's in Session

Lunch has always been the odd man out in my opinion. Breakfast is delicious—runny yokes, crispy bacon, fluffy pancakes, fresh squeezed juice, and potatoes fried to perfection. Dinner is my favorite meal—I take more time to prepare it, Adrian’s home from work, and I get to enjoy the meal with my entire family unit at the dinner table. But lunch? I’d be content skipping it altogether, if I didn’t have little ones to feed. It’s usually rushed and, more often than not, consists of leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. Boring! But seeing kids start school on social media and reading about parents wanting ideas for healthy lunches got me thinking about how little attention lunch time gets in our home.

Liev starts Kindergarten next week (cue the sobbing mom soundtrack). I’ll be homeschooling him, which means I don’t need to think about packed lunches, but I decided that lunch time needed a morale boost in our home.

We’re constantly telling Liev that eating is one of life’s great pleasures, and I hope that my boys grow up to really appreciate food—GOOD food! With that in mind, I’m constantly trying new recipes, introducing foods to further develop their palates. I also strive to make food fun…food should be fun! It should be a treat for the tongue AND the eyes. It should be colorful and well presented—think of the top five best meals you’ve ever had and try to think about what made them so good. That’s what I try to recreate as a home cook.

I know, I know…they’re kids! What do they care how it looks or how perfectly it’s plated? They just want to eat quickly and get back to playing, right? Wrong! Kids like food that’s had a little time put into it. They notice the fancy stuff and they enjoy it. And why shouldn’t they?! And why shouldn’t we encourage that?! We’re are striving to create little foodies, right?

Well, with all this mind, I set off to revitalize lunch time for Liev and Silas. I bought cute, colorful sectioned plates from Target and stocked up on all sorts of yummy things to create delicious and fun lunch-time meals. They noticed right away! Silas sat and stared at his plate for a long while…probably wondering if he’d been given the wrong plate. Liev asked what we were celebrating. *Palm to forehead* Had lunches been THAT bad before now? Had their plates been so boring that dinosaur shaped pb&j signaled celebration?! Good grief!

We’re going on week three of our new “fancy-pants” lunch time and the boys are loving it. I’m loving it too because it’s allowed me to dress-up and sneak in all sorts of things that had been previously shunned. Lunch time is now Liev and Silas’ favorite meal of the day! I’ve written out some of the lessons/tips I’ve learned during this endeavor.

*NOTE: I know I’m planning for home lunches, but all these tips and techniques work for packed lunches as well.

1. Stick to the Classics

*PB&J, fresh berries, raw veggies and ranch dip, chocolate chip Teddy Grahams

Don’t think you need to shy away from the classics. The PB&J is a classic because it’s delicious! I make myself PB&J’s occasionally, because they’re yummy. Just jazz it up by cutting it into a fun shape they’ll recognize.

2. Hide the Good Stuff

*Turkey and Havarti sandwich, cherry tomatoes and pickles, apples and peanut butter, Trader Joes windmill cookies

There’s lettuce in that sandwich and Liev ate it!! It’s a miracle because he hates all leafy greens!! I’ve learned over the past few weeks that when food looks fun and exciting, they tend not to question what’s inside. Just remember to keep it inside with no evidence protruding from the sides. Protruding evidence WILL be discovered and immediately removed, prompting further inspection and ultimately complete removal of said “healthy thing”!! *rolling eyes*

3. Give Them What They Want

*Chicken quesadilla, cherry tomatoes and avocado, bananas and blueberries, gummy worms

A cheese quesadilla doesn’t scream “healthy” but since I know he enjoys them so much, I had him try a cheesy quesadilla with grilled chicken and sautéed bell peppers. He ate the entire thing and asked for another one! Now, if he’d hated it, I’d have made him a plain cheese quesadilla and made sure he finished all the other good stuff. Then maybe next time try just chicken, or chicken and sautéed onions (which I know he likes) and gradually work him up to a more lively quesadilla option.

4. Try New Things

*Avocado toast with radish, yogurt parfaits, dark chocolate bark

I like to introduce new things when I can, and this meal’s “new thing” was radish (Liev only…too spicy for Silas!) He knew what they were because his dad eats them like apples, but I made it fun by saying they were alien spaceships trying to land on Planet Liev…it worked. He ate five or six pieces of toast before he got a spicy bite and proceeded to remove all remaining spaceships. No worries, at least he tried it.

5. Have Them Help Prepare the Meal

*Flatbread pizza, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, plum and kiwi, M&M trail mix

Let them in on the action of meal prep. They’ll be proud of their work and all the more excited to eat it. Together, the boys and I made homemade personal pizzas using store-bought flat bread as our base. They got to add whatever topping they wanted and watch as they cooked in the oven. They were rewarded for their work with some pretty darn good pizzas. They had a blast!

6. Copy Someone Else’s Work

*Chicken and Waffle sandwich, fresh berries, cheese cubes, baby carrots and ranch dip, chocolate and coconut covered almonds.

When we were living in Vegas, we fell in LOVE with they place called Bruxie. They served chicken and waffles in sandwich form…A-MA-ZING!! We went there at least once a month!! One of my favorite things to eat on The Strip (which is saying something because the Vegas Strip is a foodie’s paradise!!) Anyway, I made fried chicken for dinner one day and decided to experiment with the leftovers and a couple of Egg-o waffles. I sliced the chicken thin enough so the boys could eat it easily, toasted some waffles, added a little garlic aioli I had in the fridge and served it. It was a hit! It would be better with homemade waffles and maybe some bacon, lettuce and tomatoes, but I’ll improve the recipe over time. Ain’t no shame in the restaurant copy game!!

7. Don’t Disregard the Almighty Leftover

*Leftover penne with meat sauce, orange and banana, gummy worms

You slave in the kitchen making a delicious dinner and think it’s not good enough for the next day’s lunch?! Not I my friend…we thrive on leftovers! Adrian takes leftovers to work every day and while I felt bad about this when we were first married, I soon realized it was a wonderful thing. He would come home talking about how jealous all his coworkers were because his food smelled and looked so good and they were all running to pick up drive thru. I started taking pride in those leftovers and was tempted to start a meals on wheels sort of program for his office. My point is, don’t feel bad about re-serving last night’s delicious meal.

8. Don’t Forget the Dessert

*Teriyaki Chicken and carrot sushi, orange and kiwi, cherry tomato and cucumber with rice vinegar, gummy worms

We try to limit the amount of sweets the boys eat (not crazy limitations) but I like to give them little treats after meals…almost like a “good job for eating all your food” reward. The boys know they have to eat ALL their food if they want desserts to keep showing up on their plates, and that’s also a good thing. We like to raid the chocolate section at Trader Joes because they have so many options—they have a lot of snack and dessert options in general, so it’s a good source for lunches.

9. Don’t Kick Yourself for the Bad Stuff

*Kraft mac-n-cheese, cherry tomatoes, pickles, applesauce, dark chocolate bark

Some days you’re just NOT going to have it together, and that’s perfectly ok. Throw a pre-packaged meal or a bunch of mismatch snacks in their lunch boxes and call it a day. Never beat yourself up for those days. Just pray they’re few and far between. And remember, just like breastfeeding…a FED baby is best regardless of how the feeding gets done! Better a crummy lunch followed by a doubly nutritious dinner, than no lunch at all.

10. Don’t Forget the Dip

I’ve noticed that my boys are more likely to eat ALL their carrots if there’s a little ranch dip on the side. Same goes for apples, they like to dip slices in peanut butter. Ketchup is another big one for us. Dipping makes food fun as well.

Happy Lunching!