If you flipped through Real Simple this weekend while waiting in line at Target like I did, you saw lots of ideas about what to pack in your kid’s lunch. I personally eat these articles (or blogs) up, as I am always on the lookout for brilliant, innovative ideas on getting real food into our kids.
If it seems like a good idea we could have at Choicelunch, I write myself a note (often on my hand which grosses some of my coworkers out). If it is an entrée idea, I look for recipes our Chefs can try. Sometimes the ideas are snack items or other concepts that will require a little Sherlock Holmes action. Who makes this snack? Where does it come from? What are the nutritionals? How could I order this for close to 20,000 daily lunch eaters this year?
When I’ve hit on a possible somethin’ somethin,’ samples start coming in. We are talking hundreds of boxes of samples. You’d be amazed, once a food company knows your name; it is like Christmas every day when Fed Ex arrives in our office. Most of this stuff is not something we want. We get samples of nuts (Note to Sales Reps: we are nut-free!) or full of junk we don’t feed our kids. We are VERY strict and most of the samples that cross my desk go straight to the break room and are marked “Free Food!”
But, just last week, two samples of snacks landed that might work. One is a small package of seaweed, a sea vegetable that Dr. Weil is always touting. Another is a dried apple snack that has two ingredients: apples and cinnamon. Love ’em!
But will the kids? We did a taste test last Friday (yes, another one) and the seaweed was either a love it or hate it. I am calling this week “Snack Week.” Basically, I won’t be eating anything but all of these snack samples that are stacked around my workspace. I want to make sure next year’s snacks are nourishing complements to our school lunches which kids will love and which I’ll feel proud to offer. (I am a Mom, after all!)
So, when you start feeling that anxiety of, “ughâ¦what should I pack for lunch this year?” rethink school lunch. Try Choicelunch. It’s ridiculously easy because we work hard to make your life simpler. Real simple. School lunch doesn’t have to be a stressor; you’ve got too many other things to figure outâ¦like carpool!
