The Bear has been brown-bagging (or rather bento-boxing) her lunch this year. Now, while I am super impressed at the bento box art out there… I am not ready for that.
If I were to describe the type of diet that we eat, it would be kind of a Mediterranean/ French style: fish, beans, rice, yoghurt, cheese, fruit, veg and little by way of red meat, and her lunches have been reflecting that. (In fact, as I write this, I am eating my pre-glucose-fast-before-bed-because-I-can’t-eat-until-after-915-Tuesday-AM-snack: Brie, Cheddar, Pineapple and a Pear.) I’d like to avoid falling back on the sandwich-fruit-snack-juice box lunch of my childhood and that means, I have to plan.
Ideally, I like her lunches to be easy to put together and healthy, with a good balance of nutrients to keep her little 5 year old body through the day, but also some variety. So this got me thinking… there might be other parents out there who have the same goals as me, so what if I started posting The Bear’s Lunch Menu for the week? (Now Disclaimer: Some of the ideas are my own, other ideas/ recipes are from the healthy lunch book that I referenced in last Friday’s Quick Takes:
I won’t promise that some recipes will not be repeated because, after all, we all do have our favorites, but I will do my best to really mix up the menus. (Now, ideally, this post should have gone up yesterday (Monday) but you never know when inspiration strikes!) So here’s her menu for this week, always paired with water to drink:
Monday: Smoked Salmon Pate (smoked salmon, cream cheese, lemon, pepper. All pureed together,) Multi-grain crackers, Cheese Chunks, Pear, Carrots
Tuesday: Black Beans and Rice (left overs from Sunday night), Salami, Cheese Chunks, Pineapple, Grapes
Wednesday: Mixed Bean Salad with Veg (Black, Red and White Beans, Celery, Red Pepper, Apple in a Vinegarette), Arugula Salad with Cucumber and Watermelon
Thursday: Spicy Bulgur Salad with Nectarines (Bulgur, Nectarines, Cumin, Cinnamon, Coriander, Pine Nuts, Cilantro,) Celery with Nut Butter, Hard Cooked Egg
Friday: Smoked Salmon Spirals (flatten a piece of whole wheat bread, spread with cream cheese, layer with salmon, roll up, cut into slices.) Plain Yoghurt, Blueberries
(As an aside, The Bear is not a huge milk drinker… actually DH and The Dragonfly are the milk drinkers in the family, so that’s why there is many instances of cheese and yoghurt. Plus the girls drink Kefir with their breakfast.)
The question remains, will I be able to keep this up through the year? With a plan and a schedule… I would think so!
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What do lunches look like in your house? How do you avoid ruts?
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Great menu! I remember when my oldest moved from homeschooling to regular school, it was about when she decided to go vegan. Packing lunches was a challenge.
Even for those of us not sending our kids off to school, you’ve posted some great lunch ideas here. I’m constantly stuck in a sandwich or noodle rut around here. In fact I’m grilling a sandwich right now. Maybe tomorrow we’ll try the mixed bean salad. Thanks for the inspiration!
I totally need help in this department. I pack my kids some sort of combination of apple sauce, beans, spaghetti, boiled egg, cheese stick, crackers, berries, grapes, banana and rice cake.