Someone posed a question regarding my last blog post, "What's for Lunch?" The mother of a kindergarten student wanted some school lunch ideas for her picky eater.
I know the feeling and have looked into school lunch ideas myself.
I'm sure all if us have had school lunch fatigue; times when we're tired of packing lunches, the kids are bored with the lunch "rotation" or worse, don't like what we've included in the lunch bag.
I've also been surprised with the infamous "lunch trade" that goes on in school (e.g. trading a perfectly good sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread for, say... a bag of Cheetos). Yikes!
I encouraged her to have her son try a "courtesy bite" of whatever she prepared, to get him to at least try different things. Getting your child to help with lunch ideas or preparation may help (kids are more likely to eat what they helped to prepare or plan). I held a taste test for my kids one weekend to see what they might like. I made quarter-sandwiches of egg salad (didn't go over well), tuna fish (really didn't go over well), different lunch meats, PB&J, and a veggie pita (one with cream cheese and one with hummus).
Even if your child doesn't care for something now, it doesn't mean they may not like it at a later date, so continue to offer it to them. Also, including a cereal bar (or another healthy snack) with their regular lunch as a backup may help, (just in case the sandwich doesn't make the cut).
Finally, sending leftovers in a thermos (especially if they liked it at dinner), is another lunch option.
There are many websites that offer lunch ideas for kids as well. I like the Family Fun site (http://familyfun.com/recipes). Look for the school lunch section.
Good luck!
Take care and God bless,
Dayo N. Lanier, M.D.
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