Kids’ school lunches: French-style lunch bag ideas
When we were living in the US with our children, I was faced with the the task of preparing school lunches for my children ages 2 to 5. As one with some French culture in my background, I say you are what you eat, and eating nutritious, balanced and great tasting lunch boxes is a must, including for children. That meant also having hot lunches for my children, which was often a problem in US day cares and schools since they rarely had a microwave available for reheating. I managed, with the help of a small round thermos.
Here are some lunch ideas and techniques:
- I prepared a menu for the week everyweek, which did not vary very much. There was enough to do just preparing the meals!
- For desert, I ‘d most often give them:
- > Unsweetened Yogurt,fruit, raisins, unsweetened applesauce ( in an individual serving). Whole Foods has those.
- > Or mild cheese like Gruyère, Comté or unprocessed cheddar and fruit.
- Here’s what main courses of a weekly menu were like:
Monday:
Peas, cooked, with butter or cream, with small pieces of ham mixed in. Stored in a small round thermos.
Tuesday:
Tuna, rice, corn and tomatoe salad, with oil and vinegar dressing.
Wednesday:
Green beans, cooked with butter, and pine nuts, with some pieces of meat or fish.
Thursday:
Squash with butter and some meat or fish
Friday:
Pasta with fresh tomatoes and pieces of chicken. That was real chicken that I ‘d bought raw and cooked , not the bleach white kind unfortunately found in many Caesar salards in US restaurants…
So there you have it. Alternatives are broccoli with cheese melted on top, whole potatoes with cheese or butter, etc… It takes a little time to prepare but you can plan in advance and you it spares you the thought of what sort of chemicals your child will be eating that day at school!
I do wish I’d had a service that prepared these sorts of meals for me, and remember a person in San Francisco had started doing this but cannot find her name again now.
