Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Lunches (Tips and Giveaway)

Giveaway alert! $100 Metro gift card and lunch kit. Ontario residents only.

CONTEST CLOSED

I had such good intentions when it came to school lunches. I really did.

I read all the parenting magazines and websites and blogs and made mental notes about ingredients and containers and recipes. I was going to tape a list of lunch ideas to the inside of my pantry door, so I’d always know what my options were. I was going flip through magazines with Colum and talk about what he might like to try. I was going to make lunch the night before every single day.

Let’s fast forward to this morning, shall we? We slept in an extra half hour because Ed and I are basically overgrown teenagers who can’t manage to put themselves to bed at a reasonable hour. I rushed downstairs to where the kids were watching TV. (Because they’d apparently forgot that we never watch TV before school?) But it was just as well since all of their clean school clothes were still piled in a heap on the couch. I made them get dressed and eat breakfast and then entered panic mode.

I had not gone grocery shopping over the weekend like I usually do and pickings were slim, let me tell you. I made a HUGE diversion from the ham and cheese sandwiches I slapped together all last week by making …. wait for it … ham and cheese tortilla rolls! (Why I thought we needed the lifetime supply-sized bag of tortillas from Costco is anybody’s guess, but we will be wrapping, rolling or otherwise flat breading everything all week.)

I tucked that into his lunch container with sides of carrot sticks and raisins — literally the only fruit and veg I had on hand. Then I tucked in a few (multigrain!) crackers for his snack. Irene was sent with a snack of, you guessed it, carrots, raisins and crackers. I pretty much threw their school bags at them as Ed pushed them out the door and then they all ran like hell to catch the school bus.

There has got to be a better, less stressful, way to deal with school lunches. I mean, I read the magazines (hell, I write for the magazines!), so I know that there is.

Metro grocery teamed up with celebrity chef Donna Dooher and put together some tips and ideas for “packing lunches that are healthy, cost-effective, time friendly and full of variety.” And then they emailed them to me! I’m pretty sure they’re only one step away from actually making them for me now.

Here are my favourites:

• “Include fresh fruit but don’t shy away from a small treat. Even if your child eats this first, it will whet their appetite and entice them to finish the rest of their lunch.” This definitely works for Irene. Sometimes her pickiness is rooted in actual hunger and eating something, anything, will make her realize she just needs to eat.
  
• “Try to work in protein like chickpeas and lentils as a compliment to the dish instead of the main ingredient to ensure a balanced diet that young taste buds won’t shy away from.” My kids are much more likely snack on a few chickpeas than eat a whole chickpea salad. Brilliant.
• “Purchase in bulk– When shopping for lunch snacks like yogurt or cottage cheese, buying the large container and dividing it into reusable containers each day will be friendly to your wallet and our environment.” The schools are all pushing for litterless lunches anyway, so it just makes sense to skip the single serving sizes.
  
•  “Prepare ahead of time – If you’ve got a busy week ahead, take some time on Sunday evening to chop veggies and fruits so they are ready to divvy up into reusable containers in the mornings when the family is in a rush.” I know, duh. But I still never do it. How much longer am I going to keep paying for my laziness? Sheesh.
• “Ask for help – Allowing the kids to help make their own lunches not only provides them with an understanding of what goes into a well balanced meal, it provides you with an extra set of hands in the kitchen to help speed up the process!” Right, so I’m not going to be doing this one this year because I don’t want making lunches to become my new career. But if your kids are older (or just more mature) than mine it totally makes sense.
• “Mix up the staples – If your munchkins are tired of traditional sandwiches, try swapping out sliced bread for Irresistibles Life Smart bagels, tortillas, raisin bread or pita pockets for a quick fix and a little variety.” Hey, what do you know? Swapping the sliced bread for a tortilla was the right thing to do this morning after all!

And my favourite recipe is Tortilla Sushi and not just because of the metric ton of tortillas sitting on the kitchen counter right now, either.

Tortilla Sushi

INGREDIENTS:
4 – 8 inch
1 cup
2
½
½
1 cup

Irresistibles Life Smart tortilla wraps
Life Smart hummus
carrots, shredded
red bell pepper, thinly sliced
English cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
fresh spinach leaves, chopped

METHOD:
Lay tortillas flat and spread evenly with hummus.
Place the vegetables down half the tortilla.
Sprinkle chopped spinach over the vegetables.
Roll up tortilla snugly.
Cut into 1 ½ inch slices and serve.

This is an incredibly versatile technique. You can use whole wheat, flour tortillas or a gluten-
free option. The sky’s the limit on the fillings; chopped leftover chicken mixed with tzatziki
can be added and you can substitute the hummus with baba ghanoush or your kids’ favourite
spread or dip.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

And that’s not all!

Metro is also giving away a back-to-school essential lunch kit including lunch bag, thermos, water bottle and snacks AND an Air Miles bonus card preloaded with 285 reward miles (which gets you $30 in groceries) AND a $100 Metro gift card.

Leave me a comment with your worst lunch peeve to enter. ONTARIO residents only, sorry. Contest closes on Monday Oct. 1st at midnight. Winner will be chosen using random.org.

We have a winner! Lucky number 1! Congrats, Margaret.