| I got custody of my grandchildren this summer. Their ages are 6 and 4 in grades 1st and preschool. They attend 2 different schools, but in the same school system. They post the menu for the entire month. I show the children the list for the week and ask them if they want to eat in the cafeteria or if they want to take a lunch that Nana made. So far, they have wanted my homemade lunches. It is my understanding that I can prepay for their cafeteria lunches and they would just need to punch in a code known only to them if they do get cafeteria food. It costs something like $1.75. The menu is also posted online. Today, the children would have had hamburgers, baked beans, fruit, and milk. My GKs say they love my homemade lunches in their cool lunch boxes better.
I usually pack a juice box, chips, a fruit bar or cookie, a sandwich, yogurt smoothie, apple wedges, raisins or or fruit, and some cheese cubes.
I usually buy a block of cheese and cube it myself. I buy a large bag of chips and put them in portion sizes in baggies each night before school. I buy the yogurt smoothies instead of regular yogurt. The younger children seem to have a more difficult time opening the regular yogurt, eat it with a spoon, and then tossing it in the trash. They would have to keep up with the yogurt and the spoon. With the smoothies, the children tell me that they use the straw that comes with their juice to punch open the smoothie and then they just drink the smoothie. The sandwich varies from day to day. Sometimes I make fried baloney and cheese, almond butter and molasses, honey, or jelly, tuna salad, and so on. The reason I get the almond butter is because it looks like peanut butter, tastes like peanut butter, and looks like peanut butter. Their schools do not allow any products with peanuts in them. The almond butter allows them to enjoy the pbj experience without endangering students who are allergic to peanuts.
|