One Menu at a Time

Well, my smoothly planned menu selection didn't go as smoothly as expected. Nothing ever does when hockey and homework and TV and online games are in the mix.

But, we did move forward a bit, and in a totally surprising way. In the midst of getting ready to head out the door for hockey, I asked my oldest if he'd eat salads at school, and if so, what type. The answer? Chicken Caesar Salad.

At first I thought, "Wow, what a sophisticated choice," then it dawned on me that his experience with Chicken Caesar Salad is decidedly not white table cloth and silverware and is instead entirely clamshell and plastic fork. We buy this salad at Costco and eat it family style while perched on white plastic picnic tables in a noisy environment that, come to think of it, feels pretty much like a school cafeteria. The only real difference is the red plastic umbrellas that dress up the Costco tables.

So one menu down, 13 to go...

The Menu:

• Chicken Caesar Salad


• Cherry tomatoes


• Crusty French bread


• Fruit du jour

Shopping List:

• Cooked chicken (leftovers or deli lunch meat)


• Croutons


• Romain or iceberg lettuce


• Grated Parmesian cheese


• Cherry tomatoes


• French bread


• Caesar salad dressing


• Fresh fruit

School Lunches

So, school started last week. Yippee! And I stocked the kid's lunch accounts with enough cash to, hopefully, get them through the month. But, they're boys and going through growth spurts, and the oldest sometimes buys two lunches, so who knows.

Experience tells me that, even with money in their accounts, by mid-October, one (or both) will be tired of the institutional food and will start rooting in the cupboard for something lunch like to throw in his backpack. Usually this is a spur of the moment event and results in a lunch that consists of pretzels, dried cereal, a PB&J sandwich and an apple. Not exactly balanced and exceedingly boring when eaten day in and day out.

So, this year, I'm taking a different tack. This evening, we'll be sitting down after hockey practice and setting our own school lunch menu.

Each kid will get a couple of menu planning pages to fill out and the menu won't pass until he's chosen something from every category...grains, vegie, fruit, dairy and meat/bean, and OK, dessert.

Since I'm fairly certain their imaginations will run out shortly after their three favorite lunches, I've pulled a couple of cookbooks from the library. The Healthy Lunchbox by Marie McClendon and Cristy Shauck, Going Solo in the Kitchen by Jane Doerfer, and I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown. They're fascinated with his show, so this book is a no brainer to get them sucked into this exercise.

There are just two rules... We have to come up with a total of 14 well balanced lunches they'll eat and I have to keep the ingredients in the kitchen.

The bonus with all of this is that I won't have to think so hard about what to pack in my lunch either. ;-)

Have a great week!

Brenda



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