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Believe it or not the kids start back to school this week and that means, among other things, school lunches are back too. Now if you are the kind of parent that makes your child’s lunch for them, bravo to you. And if you are the kind of parent that wants to make sure that your child eats a well rounded meal with actual hot foods and pays for school lunches, bravo to you to. But there are a few things you should know about what it is that your kids are ACTUALLY eating.
School lunches might as well be fast food, and for all intents and purposes, they are. And it’s not the fault of the kitchen workers in our schools. It’s our fault, collectively, for allowing someone else to manage our kids and what they eat. Chicken nuggets, hot dogs and hamburgers (from seriously suspect “meat”), corn dogs, nachos and flavored milk with the much needed added sugar are the norm. And if you think that what you are putting into your kids “homemade” lunch is any better, think again. Most of your Super Market “deli” meats or cold cuts are full of nitrites, corn sweeteners and freakishly high levels of sodium and fats, even beyond what is common in cured meats.
A typical school lunch for a child has between 800 and 1000 calories, nearly ½ or more of what they should be taking in. 20% of that is from fats, and not necessarily ‘good’ fats (remember those chicken nuggets mentioned above). Sodium levels are more that 200% of RDV in one meal, and if your kid eats breakfast there too, watch out. There is plenty of information out there for those of you that want to do the research, I am not going to be preachy about this and especially not here. The choices are yours to make, not mine. I am here to help offer you some choices for those of you that want to make sure that your kids are getting the proper nutrition and something tasty to eat during the school day.
So what can you do to help make you kids lunch both nutritionally sounds and eaten? Ask your child what they would want in their lunch, you’ll probably be surprised by the answers. Then, take their “not so good” answers (chocolate cake, cookies, French fries) and drop those for the once or twice a month category. Then look at the things they suggested that make sense, and use those, carrots, fruit and foods that are nutritionally dense but without the extra sugar, fat and salt. So plan your kid’s lunch in a way that makes sense following some simple rules.
1)Fill your tank in the morning not at night. Your body’s metabolism regulates how much “fuel” is used up during the day. Those with a faster metabolism require more fuel (think gas guzzler engine) to get through the day than those with a slower metabolism (think fuel efficient engine). If you get 40% of your calories in the morning, 40% at lunch and 20% at dinner your body will begin to regulate itself better (and you might actually see some weight loss, adults). Remember after dinner your biggest activity is sleeping for the next 6 to 8 hrs.
2)Carbohydrates are complex sugar molecules that the body breaks down into usable sugars for muscle fuel. Too many carbs in your diet can lead to a buildup of sugars in the blood and or in the body (stored as fat) and can also cause your body to falter on its production of insulin resulting in diabetes (read up on this). Carbohydrates combined with fats is the double whammy, think French fries, great once in a while but disastrous on a regular basis.
3)Condiments should be used sparingly. They alter your perception of flavors and they add sugar, fat and salt into the diet in large quantities. Ketchup is mostly sugar. Ranch is mostly fat. Salt is, well that should be pretty obvious. Use accordingly.
4)Remember that processed foods rely on adding fat and salt to compensate for lack of flavor. Lunch meats from the Super Market should be treated like cookies and such, once or twice a month. If you want lunch meats there are better options out there. Don’t assume that just because it says “Turkey” that it was raised or processed in a way that would make you want to eat it if you knew how it was done. Smoked products have higher levels of carcinogens than non smoked products. Skip the lunchables and boxed drinks.
So what’s left? The BEST solution is to have a good menu plan set up; I know lots of extra work. I am going to help you out by providing some examples. We will have a more detailed menu that you can work from in the coming weeks.
Monday) Cold steak sandwich from Sunday night’s steak. Garden fresh tomatoes or good cherry tomatoes. Fresh fruit. Carrots or celery with or w/o peanut butter (not a commercial one).
Tuesday) If you make pasta ever, cold pasta is a great option in lunch and if you have one of those thermos things you can keep it hot for hours. Small salad with some quick vinaigrette on the side.
Wednesday) Middle of the week is the tough one. Give them something they like, like PB&J or BLT. Include some veggies like carrots or celery and something fun like popcorn (homemade, not microwave)
Thursday) Again go with something from the leftovers drawer. Hot or cold it breaks up the monotony of sandwiches. Include something unusual like kiwi or mango as a treat.
Friday) Knowing that the chances of them having fast food is going to increase on the weekend, plan accordingly. Great day to add more veggies (cucumbers, bell peppers)and “other” (hummus, couscous) foods into the diet, even things like cheese (not the orange stuff from the Super Market).
Things to avoid, anything that is labeled “low fat” a sure sign that they are trying to get one over on you. “Sugar Free” is also a bad one, chances are they have added in things worse than sugar to compensate for lack of flavor. Read the labels, and do the research. Knowledge is your best weapon. Cheers.
Simple Vinaigrette for Salads and Veggies
EVOO (you all know what this is by now, right?)
Juice of 2 or so lemons
Salt and pepper
Whisk all ingredients together and taste to make sure there is balance of flavors, have you kid taste it too, if they don’t like it they won’t eat it.
Chicken Salad
With or without bread this is always a favorite and moderately healthy.
Chicken thighs, on the bone, with skin (yes, really). About 5 or so lbs
Mayonnaise, making your own is the best but there are good ones on the Super Market shelf too.
Dijon mustard.
Apple, preferably pink lady or suitably tart variety, diced (brunoise is best 1/16 x 1/16)
Walla Walla Sweet Onion, diced like apple
Celery, 4 stalks, diced as above
Apple cider vinegar
Sugar, 1 TBSP +
Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil chicken with bones and skin in a large stock pot with 2 TBSP of garlic powder until chicken is falling off the bone, about 1 hr. Remove chicken and cool. Reserve your weak chicken stock and use this to make soup from later (soup keeps well in a thermos) follow previous recipe for stock. Once chicken is cool enough to handle shred into small pieces, saving skin and bones separately (you can use this again in your next stock just roast the bones at 200 until lightly browned or brown them on the stove top in your stock pot with the skins). Combine chicken with 2 TBSP mayo, 1 tsp Dijon, apples, onion and celery. In a small mixing bowl add sugar to vinegar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Taste, if too sweet add vinegar, if too acidic add a bit more sugar. Add this 1 TBSP at a time to chicken, tasting until flavor is where you want it. This will make a large portion of salad and will keep for several days to 1 week. Toast some good Oat Bran bread and viola. Additionally you can save some of the chicken and make tacos, enchiladas and a bunch of other dishes for home or lunches too. Cheers.
