Dear american friends I’m writing this post because the lunch box “issue” is something that came into my life as an expat.
The fact is that in Italy we don’t have the lunch box: you eat at home or you have the kitchen in school. Never in my life I had to deal with that and it was kinda shocking when I moved to US and my son began Preschool…
They handed out some papers about this famous Lunch Box and my face went blank.
So I need to prepare the lunch for my son??? Seriously??
So when I tell my hometown friends that every morning I wake up and while I drink my espresso I have to prepare the lunch for both my kids…. they look at me like I’m a superhero. A crazy one.
Because if you tell an italian to cook…even it is for a lunch box….they take it seriously. For us that thingy called “peanut-butter and jello” is an insult itself and even a simple sandwich has to have the best prosciutto ever.
So that is why I felt the urge to create a post for all the italian moms around the world or anyone who wants some hints on how to prepare something good :-D.
Of course I happily adopted some of the ideas and recipes from my international friends and I’m glad if you want to share your ideas too!!!
I decided to be more organized in this past month and to try different menus. I took pictures and decided to write about it!
First of all some rules for the perfect lunchbox that I would like to remind of:
- do not try new food : the lunchbox is not the right moment to let the kids experiment new food. I heard so many teachers struggling with kids who didn’t want to try food they never have seen before! Try not to complicate things, please!
- do not prepare food you know your kids hate! It is simply mean. Really mean. They will arrive at lunch so hungry and they’ll open their lunchbox and will find exactly what they hate. Please don’t do that.
- you really don’t have to be everyday a MasterChef, trust me. And you really don’t need to create the Frozen Castle with the rice and carrots in order to make your kids eat!Cmon! let’s be simple and healthy ok?
- do not put hot food in plastic container. It is unsafe. There are lots of containers designed for hot lunches!
- it is more than ok to buy prepared food. Don’t go crazy with that. I prepare most of their food but I also know my son loves sushi and salads (he especially loves the Trader Joe’s ones!), hot dogs, meatballs, pizza, etc. Just be sure it is a good one and nutfree.
- NO chocolate, nuts, sugar. First of all because there might be kids with allergies. I leave the sugary snack for when I pick them up at school. A little treat after school makes everything easier!
- the night before prepare all the containers, utensils, cleaned lunchbox and already know what you will give to them. It will avoid the stress in the morning. I still prefer to prepare pasta and other food in the morning because it tastes better but leftovers are perfect. Having everything ready in the morning really helps a LOT!
- I know this is a little bit too much for some of you BUT don’t use plastic utensils but “real” ones and fabric napkins. I learned that from my son’s Montessori school in Las Vegas and I think is a good habit that also helps the earth 😀
- juices and milk yes but NOT ONLY. Always give your kids some water. In Italy we don’t drink milk during lunch or dinner (it is just really weird for us) and juices usually are for parties, breakfast or snacks. So we are used to drink always water and that should always be in the lunchbox.
- Have some easy-lunch ready. Mine are bread with prosciutto or leftover risotto. These are my 2 days where I do not have to go crazy and I feel more relaxed. No I do not prepare sandwich every day for my kids, just a couple of times a week.
- do not throw away anything : pizza and some good food from the restaurant that your kids didn’t finish? Good lunch-box material!!!