School is just around the corner. New shoes, underpants, and socks have been purchased. Lincoln Public Schools provide all the necessary school supplies, so that's nice. I bought new book bags last year when they were on clearance. We'll buy new jeans later on toward Autumn as to not have a repeat of last year when Dade grew out of all his jeans before he even wore them.
So, what's left? Planning to fill those lunch boxes.
Any parent knows that kids eat, and they eat a lot. Keeping bellies filled with food that is both tasty and of reasonable nutritional value can be difficult. No Lunchables. No Cheetos. No Pop Tarts. What's a mom left with? That's a good question.
The kids' lunch bags are usually filled with a rotation of sandwiches, homemade granola bars, fruit, veggies, and a few acceptable store bought goodies (baked chips, sweet potato chips, granola bars, fruit snacks). Brody usually eats the school's hot lunch, believe it or not, and finds few complaints with it. Dade would eat school lunch every day, but he spends $6 a day eating brownies and Gatorade and Cheetos from the ala carte menu. Not happening, dude.
In an effort to make lunch a little more interesting, I'm trying out a few new lunch bag friendly recipes. Today's effort is bacon and cheddar corn muffins. Dade said he would take them in his lunch. Evelyn ate two, but I'm not sure where she fit it all in. Soren and Brody didn't like them. Next time I'll use a better quality can of creamed corn, and I may consider adding more bacon (I only added 6 slices to the batter, and it make 18 muffins). They had a bit of bitterness that I think came from the off-brand corn, so I might add just a little more sugar. We all like sweet cornbread anyway.
I also made hummus today, and I know that's something Dade will take in his lunch. Problem is, when I send him an ice pack to keep stuff cool he loses it. Damn ADHD has cost me about $15 in ice packs (and about $15 in new lunch bags). There must be a deep pit somewhere with 4 or 5 lunch bags and ice packs belonging to my family because said family member has no other explanation as to the location of said bags. They are not, apparently, in the lost and found box at school which means they are casualties of an adolescent boy. Sigh.
If I can find something that 50% of the starving natives will eat, I'd call that a success.
Now, it's 3pm, and I have yet to take a shower. Off I go.
1 comment:
Our general policy is hot lunch once a week, or if mommy is having a crazy morning. At $2.15 a lunch I'm not paying over twenty bucks a week for school food, especially since Käthe is a mostly-vegetarian. I have thermos mugs for the girls - Ella has been good at taking leftovers and I think Käthe will be happy to do so. Kate would live on hummus and peppers, and she likes salads too. I inherited a giant box of sterile 2 oz breastmilk storage bottles when my cousin had triplets; they are the perfect size for dressing and I don't cry if they disappear.
For cold things I have some of these containers where the ice pack snaps into the lids, I think I got mine at Target:
http://www.shopfitandfresh.com/detail/TCL+276FF
You may end up losing the ice pack and the lid though, so who knows :) I wonder if you could freeze hummus into cubes and throw them into a container to thaw until lunch. It might separate a little bit but I think a quick stir and you'd be good to go. School lunch and a revamped dinner plan are looming large in my mind these days...I think once school and all the activities start it's going to back to crazyville here.
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