What's For Lunch Today?

I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying a Hostess Zinger. Man these buggers got smaller since I was a kid.  Yes, I realize I'm older and bigger(ahem...taller) but these are literally the size of a Hot Wheels semi, maybe a wee bit bigger.

I bought these for my kids' lunches. I pack them some pretty good lunches too if I may say so myself. I may skimp on name brands when it comes to clothing or shoes or paper towels, but when it comes to my kids' lunches I want to make sure they eat what I pack so I will cave and buy the name brand lunch meats and peanut butter and jellies to make sure they eat what I pack for them.

I can't believe though how expensive lunch meat is.  For the cheap off-brand lunch meat, usually ham or turkey it's $5.49 a pound; the "good stuff" costs anywhere between $8.99 to $9.99 a pound.  Yeah, ten bucks for about 20 slices of one pound of a dead pig.  

That's insane. 

But that one pound makes four days worth of lunches for three kids and myself.   Then there is the peanut butter...it's about six bucks for one tub of crushed and creamed peanuts.  Choosy mothers choose Jif, and so do dirt poor mothers who want their kids to eat everything they pack for them in their lunch boxes. 

I also put Gogurts that I stick in the freezer for them in there, along with some Jello Pudding Cups, some variety of a snack size potato chip bag(i.e. Doritos, Sun Chips, Cheetos, or Cool Ranch Doritos), a fruit or vegetable(Strawberries, Grapes or Baby Carrots) with ranch dressing on the side, and a cupcake, Zinger, or other sugar-laden confection to appease their palettes.  

I also throw in a bottled water and a juice box to wash it all down.

Now some moms would argue that what I pack isn't "healthy" enough. Or it's loaded with too much processed junk food.  To that I say, "Well, if you would love to pay my grocery bill, I'll stick in some organic vegetables, soy milk or almond milk and some organic muffins to help their hunger go away."

It's expensive to eat healthy.  And in my opinion, fruit snacks and puddings and chips aren't that awful for kids their age. I ate them when I was younger and you didn't have to roll me down to my desk in grade school. 

I was an active kid. I played in that virtual world of long ago called, "OUTSIDE", and it allowed all the calories I consumed to dissipate(not so easy for me these days however).  And I didn't have any cavities, nor did I ever have any ADHD or any of that crap that supposedly comes from kids who eat too much "junk". 

I remember field trip days.

I loved when mom packed up lunches for field trip days.  My little paper bag looked like it was just about ready to burst.  She had packed us so much stuff in there that even other kids around me wanted to swap lunches.  I had a sandwich, chips, candy bars, cookies or a snack cake from the infamous Little Debbie, and a Soda.

YEP! THAT'S RIGHT....A SODA!! A soda loaded with caffeine and sugar.

Still never lost a tooth.  

Or got fat. 


Because I went OUTSIDE!

I ran around. I did things that didn't involve sitting in front of a TV screen and being a couch potato. 

I had an incident at my daughter's school a couple of years ago, when I had packed her a lunch with a Gogurt, PBJ sandwich, juice box and chips. The first thing my daughter did was open her lunch box and attempt(unsuccessfully I might add) to eat her Gogurt. The lunchroom Nazi,  cafeteria monitor told her to put it back in her lunch box and eat her sandwich.  Needless to say she came home that evening, and when I went to clean out her lunch box for the next day's lunch, I found a warm and flimsy Gogurt still in there.

She explained what happened and let's just say, those Gogurts aren't cheap. And I was NOT a happy camper. I called the school the next day and talked with the principal. I told her that I pack my kids lunches and they can eat their lunch in whatever order they so choose. I chose what goes in those boxes and if they want to eat the snack cakes only, that is their choice, NOT the school Nazi's choice.  

She was very understanding and assured me that she would handle the problem.  Needless to say, the Cafeteria Nazi is long gone and lunches are a lot smoother running these days.  

It's a lunch for crying out loud, not breakfast, not dinner....lunch.  It's like having a picnic in the park only indoors versus outdoors.  I pack fun picnic items, not boring tofu-laden, organic whatever you call it type of lunches with a soy milk to wash it all down.  If you don't like what is in my kids' lunches, don't watch them eat it then.

Also, to all these people hell-bent on kids eating healthy, instead of concentrating on telling parents what to feed their kids because of our children's supposed "obesity problem", how about telling the kids to get off their lazy, technologically addicted asses and go swing a bat (at a ball that is, not at another kid), or kick a ball, or jog a little, or take poor Scruffy your neglected dog for a walk.  

Kids only emulate what they see their parents doing.  So if you're glued to your Ipad, or Kindle or cell phone, I can guarantee you're partially to blame for their weight as well.  Unless your kid has some type of medical condition(thyroid, diabetes, etc...) you need to kick them off the couch and get them moving.  And even if they do have a medical condition, a little bit of low-impact exercise will do them good.  Not only is it good for muscle development, but  it's also good for their lungs and heart.

Gets the blood pumping...ya know?





I guess I'm just getting tired of people telling me what to do when it comes to my kids, especially where lunches are concerned.  If I want your advice, I'll ask for it.