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New
school lunch ideas for a new year
August 25, 05
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Another
school year, more lunches to pack.
For those of us with schoolchildren, it won’t be long
before you’re tired of the same old lunches. All year
long, I field pleas from family and friends for ideas for
something different to pack in school lunches.
So, here we go. Some of these suggestions are admittedly unusual,
but the aim is to push beyond PBJs and ham and cheese.
I’ve tried all of these at one time or another and can
vouch that they taste good and are good for you. The ideas
are simple enough for parents to make quickly and, better
yet, your kids can assemble many of these lunches themselves.
And keep in mind, these ideas aren’t just for kids.
Adults can take these meals to work, too. They’re better
for you and, in most cases, less expensive than frozen entrees
and restaurant meals.
For starters, try these sandwich fillings:
* Almond butter topped with thinly sliced Granny Smith apple.
* A cooked veggie burger patty with mustard and ketchup.
* Cashew butter with peach slices.
* Peanut butter mixed with chopped bell peppers and green
onions.
* Avocado mashed with grated carrots and a little salsa with
one slice of reduced-fat cheese.
Vary the bread. Peanut butter mixed with honey and mashed
banana tastes great on a cinnamon raisin bagel, and hummus
with grated carrots is a whole different sandwich rolled up
in a whole wheat or spinach flour tortilla. Use whole wheat
hotdog or hoagie rolls to make a sub sandwich using nonfat
or very low fat cheese, lettuce, tomato slices, green pepper
rings, sliced black olives and ground black pepper. Try a
banana bread PBJ.
While we’re being creative, it’s worth mentioning
that there is a long list of sandwich fillings you can whip
up in no time using nonfat or very low fat cottage cheese
as the base. My favorites:
* Cottage cheese mixed with chopped walnuts, cinnamon, dates
or raisins and a little maple syrup.
* Cottage cheese and apple butter or mashed banana.
* Cottage cheese mixed with fresh vegetables such as chopped
cucumbers, bell peppers, celery, green onions and grated carrots.
Then there are pita pockets, the answer when the sandwich
filling is messy enough to fall out from between two slices
of bread. What to put in a pocket:
* Baby spinach leaves tossed with grated carrots, mushrooms,
garbanzo beans, red onions and sunflower seeds. Optional:
Add dried cherries or cranberries. Drizzle poppyseed dressing
immediately before eating.
* Scrambled egg whites with sautéed peppers and onions.
I make my own using tofu in place of egg and scramble it with
peppers, onions, turmeric and a little soy sauce.
* Hummus, grated fresh vegetables such as carrots, yellow
squash, green onions and bell peppers.
* Refried beans with cooked rice, chopped lettuce and tomato
and a scoop of salsa.
Beyond these ideas, give some consideration to making a meal
of soup or a large, cold salad more often.
Buy yourself a new Thermos or other insulated container and
take along hearty soups such as potato leek, lentil, split
pea, navy bean, tomato and rice, and minestrone. For fun:
Take alphabet soup.
Convenient salads have the dressing already mixed in: fresh
fruit mixed with plain, vanilla or lemon nonfat or low fat
yogurt, grated carrot, pineapple and raisin salad, vinaigrette
cole slaw, pasta salad and three (or four) bean salad. Take
big, meal-sized portions.
This fall, think outside the old lunchbox.
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