PANAMA CITY — Back to school means back to pack lunches.
Though some of us have been packing children’s lunches for summer camp, this only means they are even more likely to already be burned out on old stand-bys.
Since my son started grade school, I have kept a shelf in the pantry — and half of one in the refrigerator — reserved for his lunch bag items, including Horizon organic chocolate milk boxes and pretzels. This helps when planning the night before, as I go ahead and bag up room temperature items, such as pretzels, and put them in his lunch bag with a napkin and Post-it note (which will probably start embarrassing him at some point). Then, right before we leave in the morning, I just have to grab the plastic Batman freezer packs and his refrigerated items and add them to the insulated bag.
Considering only 30 minutes is allotted for school lunch, important criteria in packing a lunch are whether the containers can quickly and easily be opened without help from an adult. (Don’t assume children know how to open everything or that the straw on the milk box extends before being inserted to reach all the chocolate at the bottom.)
Getting children to try food often has a lot to do with presentation, because if it looks fun, who isn’t more tempted to play with and eat it?
Area stores have numerous reusable lunch box options available for condiments and dips, as well as containers with built-in freezer packs to keep cold foods cold. Some containers are even made especially for salads and dressing. A Thermos is best for keeping hot foods hot, and also can keep cold foods cold.
“If it has a potential hazardous food like cheese or meat and vegetables cut up, it needs to be kept cold,” said Marjorie Moore, Bay County Extension director and Family and Consumer Sciences agent at UF/IFAS Extension, who warns bacteria can breed in the danger zone, “between 41 and 140 degrees.”
Though parents can freeze juice or milk boxes to add to a lunch bag, “the best thing to do is have ice packs,” said Moore, who added parents can be assured it will stay cold without having to worry if the drink thaws in time.
Kathie Riley, owner of My Best Friend’s Kitchen, 401 E. 23rd St.in Panama City, has Kid Meal Ideas on her website, MyBFK.com.
Cutting food into bite-size cubes makes it look more appealing, she said, whether it is cheese, fruit or brownie bites.
Riley suggests sticking to a formula, such as main dish, vegetable and something sweet, for packing lunches. (For something sweet and salty, we like to make our own trail mix with banana chips, unsalted peanuts, pretzel sticks, raisins and M&Ms.)
She said children can get involved by writing out items from the three categories they would like to include in their lunches, and parents can come up with alternatives for unhealthy choices.
Main dishes could include sandwiches, roll-ups, a Pizza in a Blanket; quesadillas or kabobs with cheese, chicken, grapes and strawberries.
“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is good because it doesn’t require refrigeration,” said Moore, who added that meat and cheese sandwiches can be frozen ahead of time before being packed the next morning to thaw by lunch.
Though my son doesn’t eat traditional sandwiches — even without the crust — he does like quesadillas.
After attending another Just for Kids cooking class June 24 with Hannelore Holland at Somethin’s Cookin’ in Panama City, he has had me step in as his assistant to cook his version of Miss Hannelore’s Chicken Quesadillas, which include only a tortilla and chicken.
“If they don’t like vegetables, that’s fine. Some do. When they get to choose themselves they are more likely to add them,” Holland said. “They can also try it with ground beef or leftover turkey.”
When I don’t have leftover cooked chicken, I take a few pieces of Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken Breast Strips from the freezer and sear it in a pan with a little oil and salt and pepper until it is slightly brown.
“Or you can use store bought rotisserie chicken,” Holland said.
When the quesadilla is finished, it resembles a little empanada, perfect for dipping in sour cream (I use plain nonfat Greek yogurt) and our homemade salsa.
For another nontraditional option, Holland suggested packing pork tenderloin on a ciabatta roll — “that’s good cold,” she added.
Riley said even small dinner rolls and hot dog buns can be the bread for sandwiches, as well as “mini pita pockets and mini bagels to keep it interesting.”
Holland’s recipe for cold pasta salad can star as an entree, as well as be adjusted to children’s tastes.
“Interestingly enough, pasta salad is a good thing for children,” she said. “It’s a starch and you can add chicken or some people like shrimp. You can add any vegetable.”
Her recipe includes red pepper, green onions, carrots and black olives.
“If they don’t like a vegetable, you can leave it out or add something else,” Holland added. “Sometimes if you don’t tell them and just let them taste, they will eat the vegetables.”
The pasta salad stores in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Skip the starch altogether with chicken lettuce wraps.
“Just take Romaine lettuce and wrap up cold cooked chicken, and you can drizzle it with any type of Asian chili sauce,” said Holland said. “What kids also like is just a roll up of ham or turkey or with fruit. We want our kids to eat healthy, no processed cheese.”
For a vegetable side, Riley suggests cutting up raw veggies — broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber slices or grape tomatoes — to dip in ranch or hummus.
“Most of the time, you don’t take vegetables in a lunch unless it is a raw vegetable,” Moore said. “For kids, depending on the age group, a half cup of vegetables is usually a serving. Younger kids can have a fourth of a cup. A serving could be a cup for older kids.”
Getting James involved in the kitchen always makes him more likely to try something new. On Sunday, he helped me make hummus, then used a spoon to eat what was left in the bowl. He gave it “10 million thumbs up.”
Each serving of hummus is packed with fiber and protein from the canned organic chickpeas (Wild Oats Marketplace from Wal-Mart), as well as a healthy dose of olive oil. I used the olive oil I had on hand, Organic Chemlali from Emerald Coast Olive Oil in Pier Park, and I found Mediterranean Tahini Sesame Paste from World Market.
Though my husband and I liked dipping the hummus with Pretzel Crisps, our son preferred a spoon. We also made baked pita chips by cutting a whole pita bread into eight triangles, brushing them with olive oil, sprinkling with a little garlic salt, dried basil (originally from our herb garden), and then baking them for seven minutes at 400 degrees.
“Your fruits are certainly a good choice for school lunches,” Moore said. “Make sure they have been washed. Peaches, apples, pears, even grapes have to be washed. Just rinse them in water. When we talk to restaurant managers, we teach they have to wrap the fruit, because many hands will touch it. For a lunch bag, it probably does not have to be wrapped, as long as the lunch bag or box is clean.”
To clean the lunch bag, she recommends using warm soapy water.
“Sometimes you can use bleach water to kill any bacteria, one or two tablespoons of bleach to a quart of water,” she said.
That might be a good idea if the lunch bag accidentally gets left at school overnight, or if someone forgets to take out leftover food after school.
Pizza in a Blanket
1 can crescent rolls
1 pack pepperoni
1 bag mozzarella
Preheat oven to 350degrees.
Roll out and separate crescent rolls. Put cheese and pepperoni on each one. Roll into individual crescent rolls and place on baking pan. Bake for 11-14 minutes.
Can be made ahead and frozen. Try it with chicken, cheddar cheese and broccoli.
Source: Kathie Riley, My Best Friend’s Kitchen
Fruit Roll Ups
Whole wheat tortilla
Strawberry or blueberry flavored cream cheese
Fresh blueberries or strawberries
Spread cream cheese on tortilla, making sure to cover all the way to the edges.
Top with fresh blueberries or strawberries.
Roll tortilla until tight and cut into slices for easy packing or eating.
Source: Kathie Riley, My Best Friend’s Kitchen
Chicken Quesadilla
1 tortilla
Cooked chicken breast
Canola oil
Sear chicken breast strips in a pan over medium heat with a little oil and salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, remove chicken from the pan when golden brown and put it on a tortilla. * Wet the edge around the tortilla, then fold it over the chicken and press the edges together to seal it. Press the sealed edge together down with a fork. Add about a half-inch of canola oil to the pan over medium heat, then add the chicken quesadilla. Brown on each side until golden, then remove and drain on a paper towel.
Serve with salsa and sour cream.
You also may add grated cheese or other desired toppings on the tortilla.
Inspired by Just for Kids cooking class by Hannelore Holland, Somethin’s Cookin’
Our Pasta Salad
1 box medium pasta shells
1 cup red pepper, diced small
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 cup shredded carrots
½ can black olives, sliced thin
1 tablespoon lemon dill sauce mix
2/3 cup canola oil
½ cup Altmeister Vinegar
4 dashes Maggi seasoning sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon champagne mustard
2 teaspoons water
Cook pasta shells in salted boiling water until soft; drain and cool. Add red pepper, green onions, shredded carrots, olives and lemon dill. Now mix together the canola oil, vinegar, Maggi, sugar, champagne mustard and water; shake well in jar. Pour over pasta; toss lightly. Taste and add salt and pepper.
Source: Hannelore Holland, Somethin’s Cookin’
Hummus
¼ cup tahini or less to taste
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (three small lemons)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons water
Dash of paprika for serving
In a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice. Add olive oil, garlic, cumin and salt and combine. Add half of the chickpeas and combine. Add the rest of the chickpeas and water and process until smooth. (If the blade is not moving, and the ingredients don’t seem to be combining well, stop processing and open the top and scrape the sides and move the ingredients, then put the lid back on and resume processing.)
Drizzle with olive oil and paprika.
Makes about 2 cups.
Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Source: Slightly adapted from Smooth Hummus Recipe on inspiredtaste.net