School lunch help | Imamother

amother

Pink

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 10:42 am

We don't qualify for government sponsored HOT school lunches, but can't afford the $600 per kid fee to pay for them either. Does anyone have ideas/experience with making hot (?) home lunches my kids will eat without feeling resentful?

Do I cook the same things the school is having on the menu and buy the school a microwave? (I'm sure the teachers will love me).
Do I buy a thermos and insulated bag?
Do I try explaining to a primary kid and second grader that lasagna isn't in our budget?
Do I try compensating with other (cold) foods (which will inevitably backfire anyway when they are grumpy)?
Do I identify key special hot lunches (ie, pizza) and only pay for those?

Any ideas?

amother

Amethyst

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 10:47 am

My oldest is still in preschool and doesn't generally notice these things, but there is a weekly pizza day and he did express an interest in partaking of the pizza, so for $80 for the year, he can have the pizza once a week like everyone else, rest of the week he gets a packed lunch. If your kids would go for such a compromise (and the school offers the option of paying a partial fee to have hot lunch once or twice a week) I would look into that. You can even ask them, which would be your preferred day to eat the school lunch, that way, they get some choice in the matter.

mummiedearest

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:08 am

you pack what you can. thermoses are useful, but they don't need a hot lunch every day. if they complain, tell them matter-of-factly that these things cost money, and that you can't afford school lunch right now. if they're old enough, they can start saving their money to contribute towards next year's lunch if it's that important to them. my kids want their school lunch, but I tell them that a) it's expensive, b) the lunches offered are not exactly healthy, and c) I'm the mommy and I say so.

children do not NEED a hot lunch every day, nor do they NEED to get what they want. matching the special lunches as a treat is a good idea, but matching the school lunch daily is trying too hard.

LittleDucky

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:40 am

Kids don't need hot lunches- I had a sandwich daily and am happy and healthy. No resentment. Don't stress over matching it daily. And about buying the microwave- I wouldn't. Who will hear your kids lunches up? Their teacher might be annoyed... Plus if you don't have control over it what stops someone from putting the wrong type in? (Meat/dairy). Or if you don't trust the kashrus? Or the janitor using it?

Fox

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 1:22 pm

I am the last person who should give advice about meal preparation, nutrition, or anything related.

That said, my near-adult kids still talk about what great lunches I sent, so I'll contribute my two cents' worth:

I consistently splurged on school lunches.

This was before hot lunches were routinely offered in our schools, but I guess I had rachmones for the long (and often boring) days that kids have to endure. Knowing that you have something really yummy to look forward to seemed to make a big difference.

So I practiced economies in family dinners and bought great kid-appreciated food for lunch and snacks.

Some of the big winners:

* Homemade cookies, which I made and froze in sandwich bags.

* Candy bars

* Cheese sticks

* Horribly expensive mini cheesecakes

* Donuts or cupcakes in bakery boxes

* Oranges or clementines, already peeled

* Israeli salad or pasta salad in plastic containers

* Popcorn

* Orange juice

* Mini-challahs, also made ahead of time and frozen

My experience in general was that the packaging was as important as the food.

I got appropriately-sized containers from Sam's Club and even ordered special containers online as needed. I was able to sneak slightly more nutritious foods in under the cover of glamorous packaging.

Another trick was buying nice lunch bags -- I usually bought a couple of colors and printed labels with each child's name. I used a different font for each child so they could easily tell their lunches apart in the morning.

Like I said, none of this was nutritionally sound in the least. I didn't even make much of an attempt. I figured we'd eat more nutritiously at home.