Wednesday, August 21, 2002
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Wednesday, August 21, 2002 |
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Lunchbox packing tips Now that the new school year is about to start, it's time to plan ways to send your kids off with safe, appealing, and maybe even fun lunches. Kids are notorious picky eaters and getting them to eat (and not trade) their lunch is a challenge. Keeping it simple helps. Making the sandwich on bread cut in the shape of a bunny (or whatever cookie cutter shape is handy) can entice your child. Giving the bunny a raisin nose and eyes is even better. Roll a piece of ham around a carrot stick. Slice veggies with a crinkle cutter and add a container of ranch dressing. Create your own version of a "lunchable" by using a Glad or Ziploc-type divided plate and add things like grapes, melon balls, and carrot sticks with a sandwich. This is especially good for kids who don't like anything mixed together. Get creative and have fun. Don't forget safety when packing your child's lunch. Scrub up before you prepare and pack lunches. That means washing your hands, washing your fruits and vegetables under running water, and washing your containers after each use. Don't use the same cutting board for meats and poultry as for breads and vegetables. And don't prepare raw and cooked foods with the same utensils. If your child carries a lunch sack or uncooled lunch box, the following are safe items to pack: Bread. Lettuce. Commercial mayonnaise, salad dressing. Hard cheese such as cheddar. Applesauce. Dried fruit, raisins, dried vegetables and jerky. Crackers, granola bars, candy, cookies, cake without perishable fillings or frostings. Pie, except cream pie. Juice, soda. Raw vegetables. Raw whole fruits (cut up fruits need refrigeration). Peanut butter. Nuts. Jelly, catsup, mustard, pickles. Do not pack cured meats such a bologna, ham or smoked turkey in uncooled lunchboxes. These foods used to contain large amounts of salt and nitrate so that microorganisms that cause human illness could not grow in them. They are now made using different recipes and must be refrigerated for safety. For safety as well as variety in your child's lunches, make the lunch box a mini-refrigerator. Pack a frozen solution container (such as Blue Ice) that will hold the temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but keep in mind that this temperature can only be held for about 3 hours until lunch time, and won't keep foods cold enough for your child to eat leftovers on the way home 7 hours later. To keep the box safely cool in most room temperature situations you will need a frozen solution container of 1-1/2 inches by 6 inches, so make sure there is enough room left to hold the food. Not all of the soft-sided insulated lunch boxes hold the cold temperature as well as the hard sided ones (a thin layer of foam doesn't do well). Try one of the following recipes to add a healthy touch to your child's lunch.
Apple Dip You can add peanut butter, nuts or chocolate sauce, or try using strawberry flavored cream cheese. 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix well until all of the brown sugar has been blended into the cream cheese and vanilla. If the mixture is too runny for your taste, add a small amount of brown sugar to the mixture. If the mixture is too thick, add a small amount of vanilla extract.
5 stalks celery 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup raisins Cut the celery stalks in half. Spread with peanut butter. Sprinkle with raisins.
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