Kids school lunches
RachelMinAus
Posts: 12 Member
I have been on paleo for a week and am loving it. My children (aged 7, 7 and 6) have been doing the dinners with me, but apart from that they are still the same as before i.e. cereal for breakfast, Yoghurt and fruit for morning tea, and a sandwich and fruit for lunch. So not exactly unhealthy, but definitely not paleo. I am just wondering what others do with their kids for lunch instead of sandwiches??? The only other things we have tried for lunch have always had a grain base - like wheat crackers, wraps etc.
My kids LOVE bread and cereal so I am not sure how to tackle this!! Also we are in a tropical area so we can't really have soups etc as it is just too hot.
Any suggestions?
My kids LOVE bread and cereal so I am not sure how to tackle this!! Also we are in a tropical area so we can't really have soups etc as it is just too hot.
Any suggestions?
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Replies
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Great question.
And on a related note, are there any good Paleo recipe sites for kids? My two children eat meat and veggies, but they have their limits... They love cereal in the morning. They love pasta. I'm not looking to eliminate these foods from their diet. They are both extremely active and healthy. But I do want to add more variety, based on Paleo principles.
Thoughts???
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I found this website recently and found it pretty helpful:
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/01/paleo-for-kids.html
I want to give my kids a head start in their life, so I try to get them to eat paleo as often as I can. We're a week and a half into school, and so far I've made all but 2 of their lunches for them. I do leftover meats, cheddar cheese, fruit, sliced cucumbers and baby carrots, nuts (they love pistachios) and whole fat greek yogurt drizzled with honey. I'll send a few of those choices in their lunch box and worry about it being enough, but when they come home they have leftovers because they "were so full"!
It didn't take me (or them for that matter) to notice that when they have a breakfast of bacon and eggs, they can go several hours before getting hungry again. My 10 year old daughter can eat bread like it's candy. But so far, they don't seem to feel deprived with their lunches. I figure if I'm making their lunch all week, and they have a school lunch on Fridays, they're still getting a good amount of good, healthy food and at the same time they don't feel like they're missing out. But, whenever they do have the school lunch, they remember how much they really didn't like it anyway lol0 -
Everyday Paleo, Nom Nom Paleo, and Paleo Pals are all great and Eat like a dinosaur.
Lunches. We do, cold meats, salad, cucumber/carrot/celery sticks, fruit, homemade paleo muffins,
School is a nut free zone
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I usually give my kids lettuce wrapped around lunch meat, their fruit of choice (apples, grapes, tangerines), carrot sticks, and whatever else I can scrounge up.0
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"My 10 year old daughter can eat bread like it's candy."
Because it kinda is - except candy is probably better for you.
Bread was my nemesis when starting this. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Its awesome.
Then I started reading what is does to my body, digestion and nutritional intake.
I'm not a parent... but I'd think what I know now about what grains do to a body, its even more important that growing and developing humans should have less grain than those of us on the downhill slide.0 -
"My 10 year old daughter can eat bread like it's candy."
Because it kinda is - except candy is probably better for you.
Bread was my nemesis when starting this. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Its awesome.
Then I started reading what is does to my body, digestion and nutritional intake.
I'm not a parent... but I'd think what I know now about what grains do to a body, its even more important that growing and developing humans should have less grain than those of us on the downhill slide.
I agree! My daughter's addiction to bread (and sweets) worries me, so that's why I've done my best to cut it out; with the exception of the occasional treat. I've explained to her that, as a parent, I have a responsibility to make sure she gets the best nutrition. She'll usually let out a rather heavy sigh, then concede I'm right and eat her food I give her lol0 -
Yes everydaypaleo.com has a school lunch post and it rocks!0
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There was recently a demonstration on a diet show about how haribo are made, including boiling bones for Gelitine and stuff and I made the kid watch it. He's not touched them since *evil parent*
"My 10 year old daughter can eat bread like it's candy."
Because it kinda is - except candy is probably better for you.
Bread was my nemesis when starting this. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Its awesome.
Then I started reading what is does to my body, digestion and nutritional intake.
I'm not a parent... but I'd think what I know now about what grains do to a body, its even more important that growing and developing humans should have less grain than those of us on the downhill slide.
I agree! My daughter's addiction to bread (and sweets) worries me, so that's why I've done my best to cut it out; with the exception of the occasional treat. I've explained to her that, as a parent, I have a responsibility to make sure she gets the best nutrition. She'll usually let out a rather heavy sigh, then concede I'm right and eat her food I give her lol0 -
Thanks everyone. I will check out the links posted and see what I can create for my little monkeys. They do love fruit & veg thankfully so hopefully it won't be too hard a transition for them! :-) I think i will do a bit of paleo baking so I can put muffins etc in their lunchbox too.0
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Nomnompaleo.com just did 5 days of school lunches. I'm pretty much the same as above. I pack in Planet Boxes which they love. Planetbox.com.0
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Try this website/blog.
http://paleoparents.com/ <<<<<<<<<<<<< Some fabulous recipes that should work well with kids.
These parents switched the entire family over to 100% paleo and truthfully, I think it was probably a good move. I tried keeping bread, pasta and rice in the cupboard but 1. My daughter's seem to have a similar carb addiction that I had. When it's available they can't think about eating anything else, when it's not available they're much more creative. 2. They hit that teenage girl time and despite being very active, they both put weight on. I do have one daughter who is a vegetarian so I do buy tofu products for her (which isn't paleo, but that's a choice we made).
Instead of a sandwich made of bread, we make sandwiches with the leaves of Romaine Hearts (lettuce). They wrap well and it tastes good. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to but it's tasty!
If we want noodles we buy Shirataki noodles (made from konjac flour) or we julienne our veggies/use spaghetti squash etc.
I also make paleo cereal, paleo pancakes or coconut greek yogurt with nuts, fruit and honey as alternatives for breakfast.
Just takes planning.0 -
Do you have recipe for nut free muffins...I've wanted to send my son to school with paleo muffins...but I only have almond flour recipes.0
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There's a book full of kids recipes called 'Eat Like a Dinosaur' by Paleo Parents.
Also Sara Fragoso just released a cookbook called 'Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook' that likely has some kid-friendly recipes.
I have neither book (YET!) so can't comment, but they've both had rave reviews.
I like to browse bento-box websites for ideas too. There's just something about cute/fun food that appeals to kids. My kiddo has been picking at his lunch and waiting for snacktime to eat the pretzels and other grain-laden foods they provide in the afternoon. Today, I popped two grapes and a cherry on a toothpick (x3) and snipped the sharp ends off of the picks. He was thrilled! Super easy, yet effective. May need to invest in some cocktail swords. He's into pirates
Good luck!0 -
The preschool my boys went to last year had a no meat and no nuts rule, and packing lunches was a real hassle. I constantly made cheese sandwiches, crappy processed vegetarian "mock" meats, etc. I'm so glad now they go to a different school and I can pack MEAT! They'll even heat something up if it needs to be heated, so I can send leftovers.
Here's the lunch I packed today for my boys (4.5 and 3 yrs), which they helped pack into their Planet Boxes. Semi-healthy.
2 "cheese wraps". Swiss cheese wrapped around ham for one boy, and turkey for the other.
strawberries
stick of string cheese
carrots and hummus for my little guy (he's a hummus fanatic)
Cascadian Farms whole grain "cheerios" for my big guy. I tried for ants on a log, but he wanted "kitty kibbles" so he could pretend he was a cat, and I gave in. Sigh.
Luckily, the pre-school has set a "no juice box" rule, so that has ended the nagging for juice. Somehow, it's so much easier to blame the rule on the school than to just say no. Phew.
The director of the school is a former chef, and he makes a mid-morning snack for the kids. Fruit, smoothies, crackers, etc. Today, I noticed it was a really delicious looking home-baked bread. And, a mom came in after me carrying a big tray of chocolate cupcakes for someone's birthday. So much for limiting sugar and grains. But they'll be in heaven.
:-)0 -
The preschool my boys went to last year had a no meat and no nuts rule, and packing lunches was a real hassle. I constantly made cheese sandwiches, crappy processed vegetarian "mock" meats, etc. I'm so glad now they go to a different school and I can pack MEAT! They'll even heat something up if it needs to be heated, so I can send leftovers.
Here's the lunch I packed today for my boys (4.5 and 3 yrs), which they helped pack into their Planet Boxes. Semi-healthy.
2 "cheese wraps". Swiss cheese wrapped around ham for one boy, and turkey for the other.
strawberries
stick of string cheese
carrots and hummus for my little guy (he's a hummus fanatic)
Cascadian Farms whole grain "cheerios" for my big guy. I tried for ants on a log, but he wanted "kitty kibbles" so he could pretend he was a cat, and I gave in. Sigh.
Luckily, the pre-school has set a "no juice box" rule, so that has ended the nagging for juice. Somehow, it's so much easier to blame the rule on the school than to just say no. Phew.
The director of the school is a former chef, and he makes a mid-morning snack for the kids. Fruit, smoothies, crackers, etc. Today, I noticed it was a really delicious looking home-baked bread. And, a mom came in after me carrying a big tray of chocolate cupcakes for someone's birthday. So much for limiting sugar and grains. But they'll be in heaven.
:-)
Those kinds of rules just make my head spin. No meat-- WTF? I sort of understand the no nuts rule at a preschool level, but meh. Still sucks.0 -
Those kinds of rules just make my head spin. No meat-- WTF? I sort of understand the no nuts rule at a preschool level, but meh. Still sucks.
It's because it is a Jewish preschool, and they make an attempt to keep the school kosher. So, if there's no meat, then they don't have to worry about specifying which meats people can or can't have, and they don't have to worry about telling people to separate meat from dairy. About 10% of the kids who attended were not Jewish, and probably 99% of the Jews who attended don't keep kosher at home, but whatever.0 -
Those kinds of rules just make my head spin. No meat-- WTF? I sort of understand the no nuts rule at a preschool level, but meh. Still sucks.
It's because it is a Jewish preschool, and they make an attempt to keep the school kosher. So, if there's no meat, then they don't have to worry about specifying which meats people can or can't have, and they don't have to worry about telling people to separate meat from dairy. About 10% of the kids who attended were not Jewish, and probably 99% of the Jews who attended don't keep kosher at home, but whatever.
LOL I suppose that makes sense then. My mother (upon converting) informed my (raised Jewish) father that she'd never keep kosher because she liked her bacon cheeseburgers too much. Dad, being a lobster lover, had no issue with this, so we never bothered to even learn the rules as a kid (and we never went to Jewish schools or anything where we would have had an obligation to learn and apply them). 0 -
LOL. Makes me think of that Seinfeld episode where George sneaks lobster in the Jewish girl's eggs. Ha Ha.
I actually got a nice little note from the preschool one day when I included shrimp in their lunch. I forgot that shellfish was a no-no.
I joined a Jewish sorority in college. I had no idea it was Jewish until after I got in, but I learned after that fact that they had scoped me out when I was rushing. I just thought they were all way nicer than all the other sororities. I didn't know it was intentional. It dawned on me that it was a Jewish sorority once I read the names of the girls being initiated.
Anyway, I became good friends with a girl who grew up eating kosher, and I remember being SHOCKED that she had never in her life eaten a cheeseburger! It had never dawned on me the IMPACT of being kosher... No Pepperoni Pizza? Never???0
