So how did the first week of school go, you ask. How was the first week of lovingly and thoughtfully packed lunches for your middle child, the likes of which your first born has never seen? Could have gone better, I’d have to say.
Here, I wrote down a few lyrics about it. I really wanted to make this into a video, but it turns out that my only two skills are cracking inappropriate jokes and scoring free lunches. Sadly, neither of those skills is useful for producing a quality video. Nor will they help me learn how to carry a tune.
Last night was so wonderful. I bathed the girls, put on their pajamas, brushed their teeth, read them a book, sang them a lullaby and put them to bed. I repeated as needed until they both stopped screaming at me. Then I got Colum a post hockey-practice snack, checked  his homework and sent him up to bed.
THEN I emptied and loaded the dishwasher, washed all the pots and pans, swept the floor, tidied the cupboards and set about making inspired and delicious school lunches. It’s the best part of my day!
Are you buying this at all? Not even a little bit? Of course not. We are halfway through the school year and, let’s face it, if we can pull clean underwear out of the dryer in the morning, that’s a pretty big win for the whole day. I’m not sure how my life turned into a revolving door of, “I can’t wait until the next school break!” and “Omfg, when are these kids going back to school?” But there you have it.
And that is why this idea is pure genius.
You know those few bites of leftovers you have at the end of a meal? The little bit that’s not enough for another dinner but your husband puts in a Tupperware container in the back of the fridge anyway so you can clean out the moldy mess two weeks later? Yes, I think you do know. Why not take whatever’s left over and instead make a tasty sandwich or two out of it for tomorrow’s lunch? I CAN’T BELIEVE I DIDN’T THINK OF THIS MYSELF.
First I made a wonderful chicken caesar salad from scratch and then put it in this plastic take-out container. There was some left over.
I opted for the Ancient Grains bread because it’s my kids’ favourite. Ha!
Caesar salad dressing on both pieces of bread, top with leftover chicken caesar salad.
Ta da! That actually looks better than the dinner did.
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 donât 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 wonât shy away from.” My kids are much more likely snack on a few chickpeas than eat a whole chickpea salad. Brilliant.
“Purchase in bulkâ 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 â If youâve 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 â 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 â 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.
Â
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 skyâs 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 kidsâ favourite
spread or dip.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
And that’s not all!
Here's what you'll get + the $100 gift card.
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.
