Rate my kid’s lunch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My second grader eats the same thing for lunch every day. She has a variety for dinner. She’s not a picky eater; she just likes routine for lunch. Here it is:

Half a sandwich on wheat bread—either cream cheese or peanut butter and jelly
Baby carrots—about 4 or 5
Sliced apple
Almonds—about 10 lightly salted
A small bit of breakfast cereal in the “dip” container in her lunchbox—e.g. 5 or six fruit loops or kix, which she considers her treat.

That’s it. Every day.

She has a good snack when she gets home from school (cheese and crackers, fruit, a scrambled egg or something else with protein).

What do you think of this lunch?

She likes it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

[Anonymous]

My 5th grader uses a Bentgo Bento box too. She’s mad on Nutella right now so I’ve been putting that in that small dip section with pretzel sticks in the long narrow section. Occasionally she has cold rotisserie chicken in the big section, ketchup in a small one and fruit in the medium size section.

[Anonymous]

HaHa. Not at OP. Just that I grew up in 60’s, junior high and high school in the 70’s. Every day (that I didn’t do school cafeteria) had a baloney sandwich with cheese and mayo, with the occasional left over pork roast or meatloaf sandwich, chips and banana or apple. By 14 or so, fruit was replaced with a candy bar.

My two siblings and I, along with classmates survived, and most of us are still healthy and going strong. Not saying it was healthy and I’m guessing most of eat differently now. But it’s ok. Really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A cream cheese sandwich? I disagree with everyone saying that's a good lunch, especially if she's eating that everyday, all year.

+1

Cream cheese = empty calories

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A cream cheese sandwich? I disagree with everyone saying that's a good lunch, especially if she's eating that everyday, all year.

+1

Cream cheese = empty calories

You’re imposing weird adult diet culture in a child with this. Cream cheese has very little “bad” stuff in it — low in sugar, sodium. It has the good kind of fats, a little protein, and a little calcium. It’s totally fine if served with other things. Kids need a ton of calories because they burn through them so fast. Cream cheese on a sandwich or bagel will get the kid to eat it, fill them up, and give them energy. Your second grader should never worry about “empty calories”, just try to avoid the junk items like candy, chips, soda, etc. But all those things are loaded with sugar, salt, trans fats, and preservatives. Cream cheese is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

Yes, this sounds incredibly OCD. The whole post. Why only half a sandwich???

[Anonymous]

You and she are fine, OP!

[Anonymous]

0/10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

When I read that I was like FOOD CONTROL ISSUES HERE WE GO AGAIN

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

When I read that I was like FOOD CONTROL ISSUES HERE WE GO AGAIN

Wow you guys are triggered.

Oh, you’re 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A cream cheese sandwich? I disagree with everyone saying that's a good lunch, especially if she's eating that everyday, all year.

DP. What’s wrong with a cream cheese sandwich? Just like peanut butter or ham sandwiches, it has fat, protein, fiber, and also has some calcium.

Cream cheese doesn’t have any significant amount of calcium (0%) and 2gm protein for an ounce which is probably more than what is on her daughter’s half sandwich. So really it isn’t a good source of anything other than some fat. I would do a regular cheese sandwich or PB (the natural kind)

Not OP. My kid won't eat regular cheese sandwiches and we aren't allowed to send PB to school. We do cream cheese on protein enriched bread sometimes. Dave's Killer Bread makes bagels that have 11gm of protein plus they don't use high fructose corn syrup in their breads. It's a decent substitute for a PB sandwich when my kid gets sick of other nut butter substitutes like sunbutter or wow butter.

We also use cream cheese to make veggies more palatable on sandwiches. Cream cheese with shredded carrot, squash, or cucumber, for instance, is a great way to get a serving of veggies into a lunch for kids who won't eat them on their own.

PP here. I did mean to sound criticizing, sometimes you just have to send it what they will eat. I was just pointing out cream cheese isn’t a source of nutrients beyond fat and calories.

[Anonymous]

I tried hard to get my picky vegetarian to eat cream cheese…until I actually read the nutrition label and realized how little protein and calcium there actually was in it. For my DC, I would want something more substantial because I have to pay closer attention to her diet due to her pickiness. But if your kid gets plenty of calcium and protein otherwise, then NBD. As others have said a bagel and cream cheese is fast and filling, which is perfect for school lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My second grader eats the same thing for lunch every day. She has a variety for dinner. She’s not a picky eater; she just likes routine for lunch. Here it is:

Half a sandwich on wheat bread—either cream cheese or peanut butter and jelly
Baby carrots—about 4 or 5
Sliced apple
Almonds—about 10 lightly salted
A small bit of breakfast cereal in the “dip” container in her lunchbox—e.g. 5 or six fruit loops or kix, which she considers her treat.

That’s it. Every day.

She has a good snack when she gets home from school (cheese and crackers, fruit, a scrambled egg or something else with protein).

What do you think of this lunch?

As long as she's gaining weight/staying on her curve, it's enough food for her. I read that you should offer an orange and a green vegetable every day to kids - I don't think I eat those myself everyday, but I thought it's a good rule of thumb when thinking about what to feed my kids. I send my 4 year old a very similar lunch. If you want to introduce some variety, but keep consistency, could you cut the sandwich or apple slices in a different way (triangles in stead of squares or spears in stead of slices)? You could also try swapping just one thing for something similar - another nut for almonds, cucumbers for carrots, pear for apples, etc. But I don't think it's necessary if not otherwise a picky eater - your lunch hits all the major nutritional groups. I remember taking a pb and banana sandwich to school for lunch basically every day when I was in 4th grade and used to be picky but now eat almost anything. I would not worry.

[Anonymous]

Sounds pretty good and healthy. My 11yo and 9yo pack their own lunches, but they have to have a main, fruit/veggie, salty, and sweet (and sometimes an extra snack.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

Yes, this sounds incredibly OCD. The whole post. Why only half a sandwich???

New poster -- my kid would never eat more than half a sandwich when he was that age, either. Bread is really filling. Assuming there were other parts of the meal there, like fruit or veggies.