How often do you give lunchables for school or camp?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like many PPs said, the challenge is that they really are supremely unhealthy. See this entertaining but sadly accurate column about them:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-f-jacobson/children-nutrition_b_1163253.html

Not quite as fast, but here's my equivalent and it takes me about 2min to throw it all in a multi-compartment lunch container:
One or two slices of organic turkey or ham (I buy Applegate brand) rolled up
Piece of organic string cheese, or if I've bought a block of organic cheddar then I precut that into cubes
Handful of crackers. My kid happens to love Ritz and eats a pretty good diet overall so I don't stress on this part, but you could do even better with whole-grain crackers.
Fruit, veg, or both

Basically the same composition as a Lunchable, but more economical and also far healthier in terms of the individual components.

It kills me how much more expensive the organic string cheese is compared to conventional.

[Anonymous]

I might not be able to save the planet, but WE all can. The short-sightedness and selfishness you just displayed is astounding.

[Anonymous]

Ghetto and white trash laziness. Start an oven and cook a hot meal you lazy shit parents

[Anonymous]

I guess all the crazy people start posting to this thread riiiiiight after midnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Horrified moms- please post your unprocessed menus.

Hummous with whole wheat pita bread and carrot sticks for dipping, apple slices, Manchego cheese with crackers, yogurt.

Homemade Mac and cheese in a thermos with sliced peppers and carrots on the side, grapes.

Peanut butter on whole grain bread, cantaloupe slices, homemade oatmeal cookie.

Caprese salad w vinaigrette dressing in a Tupperware, fruit salad, dried seaweed, homemade cookie.

My son loves dried seaweed but he came home one day and told me never to pack it in his lunch again. Apparently some kid loudly said, "Ewwwww" and other kids chimed in that seaweed was gross. DS was embarrassed an now will only eat dried seaweed in the privacy of our own home. Otherwise, lunches look pretty similar to these. The veggies almost always come back uneaten, so I've been sending less of them.

My son loves dried seaweed and doesn't get that reaction from his lunch table. It's too bad about the other kids.

I try to send something for DS to dip the veggies in, which seems to help wrt him eating them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horrified moms- please post your unprocessed menus.

Usually sunbutter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread. If we have leftover pasta or pizza or something from the night before, I'll send that instead. Some kind of veggie (carrot, red pepper, if we're out of fresh stuff i'll thaw out some frozen peas and corn (today he got leftover edamame)). Some kind of fruit (grapes, cut up apples, raspberries, today he got strawberries and blueberries, if we're out of fresh stuff i'll send a dole cup of mandarins in their own juice). A piece of cheese - usually string cheese or babybel - occasionally we have cracker cut cheddar in the house. Water - occasionally I'll send a thermos with milk or chocolate milk. DS has asked for the horizon boxes but I can't stand the idea of paying $1+ per box.

So much cheaper and better than lunchables, and it takes about 5-10 minutes to throw it all together. DS is almost 4.

[Anonymous]

We don't do lunchables, but my son used to ask for them because other kids would get them.

I am no sanctimommy, but I am a little picky about lunch meat. On the flip side, I give my kid a canned Campbell's soup about once a week (Scooby Doo or Mario). He LOVES it. The rest of the time I send items like others have posted - sandwich, fruit or vegetables (sometimes both), maybe some seaweed chips or dried fruit. A homemade cookie or mini muffin every other day or so.

We are lucky b/c our school has a wonderful hot lunch program that we make use of a few times a week. I love summer but hate making camp lunch day after day!

[Anonymous]

We do sunbutter and honey on whole grain bread, handful of roasted edamame and a fruit.
Cheese, whole grain crackers and fruit
turkey rollups with whole grain crackers, some shredded cheese and fruit.

Mine is not a big veggie eater at lunch time but sometimes I throw in a couple of baby carrots or cucumber, sometimes it gets eaten and sometimes it comes home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horrified moms- please post your unprocessed menus.

1. Turkey and cheese sandwich or roast beef and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread. I buy the bread at the farmer's market or the bakery because it doesn't have preservatives or extra sugar in it. I buy the turkey or roast beef or ham at the grocery store deli.
2. Peanut butter or sun butter sandwich. I look for peanut butter or sun butter that doesn't have added sugar.
3. String cheese or a yogurt, if they don't want a sandwich. I look for yogurt with a lower sugar content.
4. Grapes or carrots or an apple or a banana

DS buys a carton of milk at school or drinks water.

There's nothing extreme in that menu, but it's a lot better than a Lunchable. It has less added sugar, fewer chemical preservatives, and less fat. It doesn't have a candy bar or a cookie or a sugary drink in it. The fat content for a turkey sandwich or a roast beef sandwich on whole wheat is a lot less than the Lunchables ham and crackers. It has more fiber, which offsets the natural sugar content.

We also pack leftovers in Tupperware for lunch. Lots of things will stay warm if you microwave them and put them in an insulated lunch sack.

[Anonymous]

Oh please, all you posters need to quit fanning yourselves as though you've got the vapors. My kids get it once per week (during the school year) on Fridays, their "special treat". Otherwise, M-Tr, they get their homemade lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ghetto and white trash laziness. Start an oven and cook a hot meal you lazy shit parents

Don't label it ghetto or white trash just because you think it 's lazy. I agree it's lazy or nutritionally ignorant. But I grew up in the ghetto and my mom didn't feed us crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No bottled water! Send water in a reusable bottle. Come on! Let's stop trashing the Earth for "convenience"; do it for your kids and grand kids.

Get over it. Nothing wrong with using bottled water. I prefer it and my family likes it too. I sometimes even reuse the water bottles and refill them. You're not going to save the planet by bitching about bottled water on dcum.

Np. Gotta start somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh please, all you posters need to quit fanning yourselves as though you've got the vapors. My kids get it once per week (during the school year) on Fridays, their "special treat". Otherwise, M-Tr, they get their homemade lunch.

I don't have vapors but I just don't understand why anyone would feed that crap to their kids. Did you see the Huff post article that someone else posted? Those thing are foul and barely food. How can that be a "special treat"?

[Anonymous]

Never. I wouldn't eat it so I wouldn't feed it to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horrified moms- please post your unprocessed menus.

I work part time (35hrs) so I have a bit more time to cook from scratch.
I don't buy deli meats or any precooked packaged meats. I'll grill a bunch of chicken breasts and use that for wraps.
My child prefers leftovers in a thermos. Home made soups, salads, dinner leftovers.
Fruit. Veggies and homemade hummus. Cheese.
I think it's impossible to have nothing processed, everything is to an extent. For her treat portion of her lunch she likes bear paws and gold fish crackers.
We aren't perfect, but try to have more good than bad.