Anonymous wrote:People b*tching about leftovers must be crappy cooks. Who doesn't prefer delicious leftovers to a sad sack sandwich?

+1000 My kids would take leftover pasta or a rice dish over pbj any day.

Also, sandwiches with mayo on them get soggy after a while. Yuck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Smart ones do. Sorry your mama raised an idiot .

+1 Who throws out lots of leftovers when it could be eaten instead of wasted? We teach our kids to not waste food as much as possible. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?

A fresh sandwich? PBJ is worse than leftover pasta (which is better the next day actually).

Anonymous wrote:Indian kids at my school who brought roti "rolls" or boxes of rice or dosa or whatever definitely got made fun of. But things are more "culturally" sensitive now esp in DC in the 2000s. Parents would start crying bullying if someone said something about someone else's lunch.

Our school is over 60% Asian kids. 25% are white. My kids just take for granted the things a lot of things that I wouldn't have-- nothing to do with anti-bullying initiatives! I can't be the only American whose daughter frequently requests idlis and chutney, or who loves rice wrapped in seaweed. I keep coming back to this thread for more ideas...

People b*tching about leftovers must be crappy cooks. Who doesn't prefer delicious leftovers to a sad sack sandwich?

Anonymous wrote:School cafeteria on France provided balanced, hot meals. Normally included things like grated carrots, followed by chicken, veggies and rice, followed by a piece of cheese or yogurt, then a piece of fruit.

That doesn't answer the question.

The question is what people PACK.

I am Russian and my DS favorite school lunch is russian salami (specific brand) with crackers. It is not very healthy so he only gets it on Fri. Otherwise it is standard american fare (ham, cheese sammies, veggies etc.)
At my school growing up there was always decent hot breakfast and lunch to purchase, but the school released at 1 pm, so most kids just went home for lunch.

We are a French family living in the DMV. I proudly pack my DC left overs. DC1 did get teased her first week because all the other kids at her table had lunchables. She asked for one, I bought one at the store and let her eat it at home one afternoon and she declared it was gross (it was the pizza one). We eat traditional French foods, as well as other international type foods.

Her favorites to take for lunch: Osso bucco with bone marrow bones and bread, sushi, risotto with mushrooms and chicken, Laos chicken and rice noodle soup/pho, ratatouille, Thai shrimp and rice, Chickpeas with homemade tiki Marsala sauce and whole wheat Naam, homemade soups such as potato leek and butternut squash with brown rice added.

Basically I make more than I need for dinner and pack leftovers. I eat leftovers for lunch myself. People harping on left overs must be trolls.

Ha, that's a good one. Dcum is full of funny people today. I don't even think a sandwich made in the morning is fresh enough for my child so I'd rather she eat a slice of pizza straight out of the school reheating oven. Voila! The rest of you are just selfish!

Joking. Leftover simmered balanced homemade anything, of any cultural origin, with more than 4 ingredients, having taken more than half an hour to make, is an amazing advantage to the education and health of a child, and I envy those families who do that frequently. My child gets a healthy balanced variety of much simpler foods in her lunchbox. I simply don't have the time and energy to cook more before (no time), or after (no energy) the kids' bedtime, and I have a lot of guilt for not feeding them more sophisticated dishes often enough, like I was exposed to in the French public school lunches. I would go home and tell my mom about the foods I had at school, and complain that she never made that for me at home. Beets, salsify, endives, quenelles, freshly made soups, a different cheese every day (seriously, it must have been a rotation of at lest 8 different cheese). And everything from scratch.

My opinion is that realistically, the schools should have on-site kitchens, great cooks and great menus. We just can't do as well with the limited amount of time working parents have to devote to cooking, hell, with the limited amount of time parents have outside of working, commuting, parenting, and sleeping.

I volunteer at my child's ES during lunch. Kids who bring rice and other grains make a huge huge mess. There is literally like 2 minutes beTween K classes leaving the cafeteria and 5 th graders coming in for lunch. Please be mindful that young kids will create unprecedented messes with your Elaborate lunches. Also keep in mind, that young kids will struggle with difficult to open containers and that they have 20 minutes for lunch (mcps) and then they start lining up for recess.

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Oh please. A fresh sandwich combined of animals that died god knows how long ago, were combined with god knows what preservatives to allow them to sit in plastic in a deli counter until you bought it and assembled it for your kids lunch. Ew

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Who packs leftovers?

Well, everyone here who says they do, just to start with.

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Agreed. It's incredibly lazy. Not to mention the nutritional content of food declines as the minutes tick by...

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Yeah keep telling yourself that your 200lb 8 year old eating PBJ and Mac and cheese every day is healthier than my child who eats leftover rice and meat and veggies for lunch.

Anonymous wrote:Also, all the posters saying they pack leftovers are far worse than American moms who at least bother to make a fresh sandwich. Who lacks leftovers for kids???? Yuck!!

Smart ones do. Sorry your mama raised an idiot .

Pack*