Hot lunch
Hot lunch, you can scream and shout
(To the tune of "Hot Legs" - that one's for my mother, the only fan Rod Stewart has left.)
The kid starts school in a few weeks. She was in 4K last year, which was only half days. Now she'll be the big mouth on campus all day long. That means I need to figure out what to do about lunch (unless maybe her father is planning to take care of it . . . . ha ha! Oooh, my side is splitting! I kill myself!). My initial thinking is that I will have her buy the school lunch on days where there is a decent meatless option. On days when there is not a meatless option, I will send her with a lunch. But, what to send?
At home her lunches often consist of veggie "chicken" nuggets, which aren't too tasty unless heated (and I'm assuming it won't be feasible for her to heat stuff up at school, even if she did know how). Same with veggie hot dogs. I often pair these items with black beans, apple sauce, and other side items.
I chatted with a mom whose daughter just finished kindergarten at the same school, so I asked her for some details on how the lunch program works (it's nice that they have pre-paid accounts these days so that kids don't have to carry/lose cash). I feared I wouldn't be able to send peanut butter but she told me that I can send peanut butter - I just have to make sure A doesn't sit at the peanut-free table in the lunchroom.
So, a question for the veg people and carnivores alike: what can I send in my child's lunch? I am pretty sure she will quickly tire of peanut butter sandwiches and cheese sandwiches. I am totally down with tofurkey, but short stuff is not. I would love to hear some creative ideas! Remember, though, even though she is a vegetarian, she is still a five-year-old who would happily eat macaroni and cheese three times a day.
Comments
PS - You're Mom's not the ONLY Rod Stewart fan left. DH has Dani loving the Rhythm of My Heart song so much she knows all the words and sings along all the time.
Spaghetti in a thermos is a great idea too.
PS-my mom loves Rod Stewart too. It's so embarrassing.
I've put veggie and beef dogs, when he ate them, and "Chicken" nuggets in a hot thermos for Josh to take to lunch. You have to put boiling hot water in the thermos cap it and let it sit while you do the rest of your morning routine, empty it and dry it toss in the "chicken" or veggie dog and surprisingly it's still hot at lunch time. We did a test run on the weekend.
I also send pasta and sauce in the thermos the same way.
The veggie bento box lunch's are great. When you order one of the boxes they include a recipe book with some great ideas.
I think it's great your school offers a meatless lunch. Our school specializes in feeding the kiddos crap- McDonald's, Chik-Fil-a, Taco Bell. Josh only orders on pizza day and it is the only meatless day.
I like Rod Stewart and I now have this image in my head of your Mom singing and dancing to Hot legs.
cream cheese and jelly
cream cheese and olive
hummus and/or cucumbers and/or tomatoes
egg salad
(or often I'll just pack an egg with some olives and cheese on the side)
Sometimes I make french toast the night before and then cut it into 3-4 strips for "french toast sticks". Those can be eaten at any temperature really.
We have a peanut free school so it's not part of the sandwich rotation, but we still usually find lots of options.