Things my kid wil eat - School Edition

I hate to call him picky when it comes to eating... but Boogie isn't a fan of textures. He gags on oatmeal and scrambled eggs, and raisins are a big ole "absolutely not, Mom!" These are some of the normal foods that kids don't mind eating, but my son turns his nose at. So, I have to get creative. Whether it's meals at home, or lunches packed for school, the ordinary just won't do.

The first thing I'd like to tell you about is his school lunches. In a month's time, he will only buy the school lunch approx. 4 times a month. But are they the normal lunches he'll eat? Things that most kids get excited to see on the menu? Nope!

Pizza from school? No. Cheese or Pepperoni pizza from the delivery guy? YUM - OH BOY!
Watery tomato soup and grilled cheese? Sure!
Hot Dogs? You betcha!

But don't put a cheese burger in front of him, or chicken nuggets, because he'll politely refuse.
Fruit? Only if it's an apple or a banana. Otherwise, he gags. The kid loves Yogurt - but only in the non-fruit-pieces-dwelling-kinds.

So, like I said, I got creative!

I don't have a picture of this yet, but I'll be happy to add one tomorrow after I make this for his lunch:

Turkey Burritos. That's what he calls it. I call it "Whatever it takes to get you to eat your entire lunch". :)

I spread a little cream cheese on an 8" flour tortilla, and then put down an even layer or two of Carl Budding's "turkey" lunchmeat (found in your grocer's meat department) and then a dab of ketchup spread around on top. Then I start at one end and roll to the other. After cutting it into 2 pieces, I put it in a ziplock baggie, ready to go! Sometimes I add grated carrots if it's a morning where I've gotten up earlier than normal and have had at least a half pot of coffee and a whole lotta energy for grating.

(Picture will go here!)

And another thing I do is make my own version of "Lunchables". Our budget is such that I can't justify spending $2.50 - $3.00 on a little dab of meat and cheese and a cookie... So I make "Momables" :)

Oh! And here's where I tell you of a packer's greatest friend: The tiny "take-along" containers from Glad and Ziplock.

These little beauties are a Godsend! Boogie takes them to school filled with goodies and is really good at remembering to bring them home.

I pack his "Momables" along in these babies, and they've proven to be quite handy for other things, too!

Basically, I take a slice of bologna and cut it into thirds in one direction, then flip the plate and cut it into thirds going in the other direction. Then I take two slices of cheese and cut both up into fourths. Starting with the bologna, I layer both cheese and bologna in the container, going every other one. I end with the bologna on top, and then put Ritz crackers in a ziplock baggie for him to make his little cracker sandwiches out of! Perfect!

How do I keep it cool/cold, you may ask? Well, at the beginning of the year, I bought a six pack of Sunny D. It comes in those cute little bottles with the locking drink caps at the top. Each night I wash the day's bottle and put in the drainer to dry, and then grab a clean one from the cupboard. Since my son's picky about his fruit choices, I buy Juicy Juice for him. No dyes to make him hyper, no high fructose corn syrup to make his glucose levels out of whack, and no preservatives! I fill the bottles 1/3 of the way full of the Juicy Juice and then pop it into the freezer. By the next morning, when the juice is completely frozen, I top it off with juice from the fridge and pack it in his lunch. By the time he gets to go eat, the iced juice is pretty much melted, and it's kept all his other food cold in his handy dandy Speed Racer lunchbag. YAY!

Now, going back to those mini containers! Let's talk economics!

You could either buy applesauce in the six packs at the grocery store to send to school with your kid, and spend $2.99 on up for them, or you could do what I do... use the containers I posted about above and then spend $1.99 or so on a big jar of cinnamon applesauce and get about three times that amount! Slap a spoon in the lunchbag, and that portion is taken care of!

I've also used these containers for ranch dressing when I send carrots/celery/broccoli (yes, the child loves broccoli - amazingly) and he scarfs it up!

They're great for making jello in, slap it in the fridge, and then adding to the lunch pack - same with pudding! Cost effecient lil buggers, I'm tellin' ya!

For a change, every once in a while, I make him a bologna and cheese sandwich on boring ole bread (his words, not mine) - but to "spice" it up a little bit, I get out the big ole cookie cutters and cut a sun, flower, car, or star shape for his eating pleasure. He digs it... and to top his lunches off every day I'm always sure to add one key item to the lunch bag.

One of many of the silliest jokes I've come across while googling. :)

And I've just realized something... you'd think I owned stock in Ziplock as much as I've mentioned them just now.