Parents preparing school lunches straddle two countries: The Island of Ideal and The Land of the Real.
The first nation is where the lunchbox is brimming with colorful veggies and fruits, a little high-quality protein, and a lot of whole grains and seeds. The contents are, of course, local and organic, and definitely full of fiber and good fats. At the end of the day, one tiny stem from a homegrown heirloom tomato is the only evidence there was food in the container at all.
Once we leave this dream world and re-enter the land of actual children, we're on rockier terrain.
My 7-year-old daughter loved the colorful multigrain penne with organic edamame and cherry tomatoes in a sesame-soy-ginger sauce when she tried it at home. So I sent it in her lunch the next day. Not only did every last noodle remain untouched, making for a miserably hungry child at the end of the day, but the container spilled open, making a mess in the lunchbox. Just because a child liked something yesterday doesn't mean she'll like it today, or possibly ever again.
Yet a lot of us keep introducing wholesome new foods anyway, because that's how we get kids to expand their culinary horizons and improve their diets. Waste aside, we know it's the right thing to do.
"Foods eaten in childhood can have lasting effects on the way your child's body grows and functions," writes Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and co-author of Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health.
Obesity has become epidemic among children. Whole-grain pasta salad is probably not the culprit.
I needed some new menu items, foods that were nutritious but child-friendly. So I contacted Susan Roberts for suggestions. "Send what they will eat," she e-mailed back. "You don't want your kid hungry, embarrassed at parents sending weird stuff, kids who swap your healthy stuff for junk, etc. So it has to be something they will like, something their friends at the lunch table won't gross out on, and that hopefully also contributes to daily good nutrition."
Instead of fancy, fussy salads and other unrealistic lunch items, she provides simple — and manageable — nutritional guidelines. School lunches don't have to be perfect, she says, but when combined with other food in the day, "they should add value."
She suggests semi-whole-wheat pizza with veggie and maybe chicken toppings; peanut butter and jelly on oatmeal bread; fruit and yogurt; veggie sticks with ranch dressing; pasta with sauteed vegetables and grated cheese; maybe even chocolate milk.
In other words, find that happy middle ground between whole-grain pasta with veggies that won't get eaten, and marshmallow creme on white bread that will.
So, I came up with Plan B. I replaced pasta salad with whole-grain pretzels that could pass for normal at a glance; both my kids loved them. Next, since I couldn't completely give up my grandiose ideas, I tried out a side of herbed white bean dip. Unlike the pasta, this one got eaten, although the vitamin- and fiber-packed carrot sticks were used to spread the dip on crackers — and then discarded.
Finally, for a treat, we made pumpkin bread, adding in whole-wheat flour for fiber, olive oil for healthy fat and a handful of chocolate chips. Our school lunches may be new and improved, but we're still living in the real world.
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