Episode 31: School Nutrition

Welcome to the Beauty of Better podcast, where we help moms thrive in health and faith.

Hey, Beauty of Better mamas, welcome back.

Today, we're gonna be talking about all the back to school food items, and how that looks for different schedules.

If you're, you know, if your kids go five days a week, or if they go three days, or if they're homeschooled, and we just want to share some tips and tricks with you on how to, you know, save time and get them healthy food that they'll actually eat in their lunch.

And so I think Cristiana is gonna kick it off today for us.

Yeah, well, we've got four kids.

So we started the lunch pack game when they were in preschool, right?

So we had had to figure out a system that would work.

So what we've done is that we kind of typically pack lunch, you know, when they're preschool, like they were sometimes going three days a week or two days a week.

So kind of that rhythm, we pack it the day before.

We tried packing on the weekend, but not everything's fresh.

So we typically pack it the day before.

And typically we pack it if we're home that day right after they eat lunch.

So they have a full belly.

And then we could do it, or we'll do it right after dinner.

So they're not like eating all the food that we're packing, because that had been an issue.

And then we have these little bento boxes.

I think they're called yum boxes.

We're trying a different one this year.

And they have a case like that you can put the different things in the little bento parts, but those are washable.

And then the outside case that it goes in are different colors.

Everything's color coded.

And then they each have their color.

And so we can dishwasher, put little bento thing in there.

But essentially what we do is I'll cut up like two to three different vegetables, two to three different fruits, get out a couple of protein options, and then grains are easy, because those are a lot of snacky things, or maybe it's like bread.

And then we just kind of almost set up like a buffet and we're like, okay.

Like that's how we did when they were little.

It's like you have to pick like one from this group, one from this group, and one from this group, and then here, you know, here's some grain options.

And so they're kind of like, we started really young of being like, let's get every food group.

So they would kind of be like, oh, I want cherries, or I want cucumbers, or I want this.

So like, they just know that like high fiber nutrient dense foods are part of what they're going to eat, so that they like, that's just what we do as a family.

Proteins can be tricky.

Sometimes it's leftover, sometimes, you know, because if there's different allergies at your school that you go to, we just have to get creative.

But that's one thing we've done now.

My kids will come back, and they'll have some comments.

They'll be like, mom, did you know that other people's parents pack their lunches?

And I was like, oh, what do you think of that?

And they're like, I don't like that, because then I don't get to make choices.

And I was like, oh, okay.

So the system, actually, there is buy-in at the beginning, when they're younger, they're like, why do we have to, you know, like, why are we doing this?

I'm like, but...

Can I ask a question?

Yeah, definitely.

So I know your kids are in a hybrid program.

Is hot lunch even an option for you, or do you have to pack lunch?

So hot lunch is an option like once a month for them.

And so, yeah, we do kind of have to pack.

But my olders are three days a week, my youngers are two days a week.

And so, but one of the days is an early release, so that affects things.

But yeah, so we don't really get to have that.

But when they were at public school before, we would do hot lunch maybe once a week.

But now it's like, it's an option all the time.

So, yeah, so I guess our path is a little tricky, because we just are kind of forced to have to pack.

But yeah.

I love that buffet style.

That's actually a really good way to start making them responsible for their own choices.

And also, I think it's that a lot of times it is that element of control with especially younger kids.

They just, I'm like, okay, well, I want to pick it.

And oftentimes, if you have kids too, that are picky eaters or food aversions, like giving them that sense of control can be a great way to help them maybe eat those foods that they struggle with.

But yeah, we kind of, I kind of have an approach that I'm not, I'm surprisingly, being a nutritionist, you would think that I'm like, have those Pinterest worthy, like, lunch boxes and stuff.

But I really just think, you know, moms need to take the pressure off themselves to like, have these like, you know, cookie cutter, like flower shaped cucumbers and all that kind of stuff.

Because you know, in the busyness of life, like realistically, a lot of times that just doesn't work out.

And just taking the pressure off yourself with that.

But you know, there's kind of a simple formula that I kind of go by with our kid school lunches.

And I'll just read it out.

We'll probably post it on our Instagram.

But so it's protein, carb, veggies, fruit, and a fun treat.

So just try and get those elements.

We do the bento boxes too.

And so honestly, like I've really tried to simplify things.

I don't do fancy like pasta salads.

But I mean, for some people, if that's your thing, you know, then and then do that.

But you know, with four kiddos, honestly, we're just trying to find these things, you know, using those.

So once again, that was protein, carb, veggies, fruit, and a fun treat.

And so, you know, that's really worked well for us.

But also with our kiddos, oftentimes I find, so they go to the public school up the street from us.

Sometimes they're so like busy at lunchtime talking to friends.

I'll check their lunch boxes when they come back from school.

I'm like, like, what did you eat?

You ate a couple raisins?

Oh, and like, they come back like ravenously hungry.

So actually, this year, I started, I heard some other moms do this, and I started implementing this, where I actually feed them a meal, almost like an early dinner, right after school pickup.

And so it's like a substantial meal.

And we've kind of just started shifting to this, and so it's a little bit newer, but it's actually working really good.

And it's sort of a, I'm using it as like a centering time for after school, and just we all sit down and kind of eat this meal together, and we get to hear about their day.

And I'm kind of liking that rhythm.

And then we kind of have a lighter dinner after that.

Like once my husband gets home, we sort of have a lighter dinner together.

And so that's something that we've kind of changed up.

So I don't know if any other moms out there, like they have the same situation, but feeling like your kids just don't eat when they're at school, and then they come back around and say hungry.

So maybe even trying that, giving them a really substantial meal kind of right after school.

And I really boost the protein.

So like hard-boiled eggs or cut up cheese, well, because they can have peanut butter at home.

So like peanut butter on toast, things like that.

I really boost that protein, because oftentimes, they've held it together all day.

Their blood sugar drops once they get home, because they let down that, their adrenaline drops.

And so that's why you get those after school meltdowns.

So definitely focusing on the protein for kiddos after school can help restore those, normalize those blood sugar levels, and just help them there.

So that's kind of something that we've done.

Also, you know, sometimes our kids will have the school lunch.

One of my daughters, so apparently, they have this share table that like kids, if they don't want like the sandwich, they put it on these tables.

And my second born always sneaked something from that table.

I don't know what they do with that food.

But anyway, she always sneaked on, she puts them in her backpack and gives them to her brothers after school.

I'm like, well, I love the generosity, but I don't know about a ham sandwich that's been sitting in your backpack all afternoon, if that's the best choice.

But I think that's so sweet.

But you know, so sometimes we let them have that as well.

But you know, it really is just finding, knowing your kids, what's gonna work for them, and like being okay with that.

And if that means like having school lunch five days a week, I know, like there's those documentaries about the amount of sugar and stuff in them.

But, and there is, I've worked as a substitute teacher in public school, so I do know that some of the stuff they feed them, you're like, oh.

But don't have guilt on yourself too, if you decide that like, that's the best option for you, is to have your kid have hot lunch every day.

So yeah, those are just some tips we have.

But Danielle, do you want to share?

Yeah.

You know, the school lunch process has changed so much over the last 15 years.

And I know they keep trying to make it better and better.

So they do try to have like fruit with it and vegetables with it.

Sometimes the meat, it's okay.

Sometimes it's not, and that's okay too.

But if you look at it in the big scheme of things, it's five meals a week out of how many.

So really you're looking at five meals, probably out of, what, 21, if you do three meals a day, seven days a week.

And so it's not the majority.

And so if you need to get hot lunch for your kids because that's what fits for you, like complete freedom in that.

I just typically make lunch for my boys, but they have very different schedules, and they're at very different age groups with lunches and early release.

So my youngest, I started Bento Boxes this year, actually.

I bought them last year, and they didn't fit in his lunch box.

So I bought one that was too big.

So it didn't work well last year.

But this year, I'm trying something new.

So I got Bento Boxes for him.

And as you guys have both mentioned, just a protein, usually some kind of cracker he prefers, like a meat with a cracker, and fruit and vegetable, and pack it up.

And I love how it just stays in that little container, and nothing touches, because he doesn't like when his food touches.

So those are my easy lunches that I make for him, but if it's a hot lunch that he likes, I let him get it, and enjoy a day off from packing a bento box.

My older two, one of them has early release every day, so we just realized it's easier to just come home and eat lunch here, and just have a snack, because he just has lunch period, and then like a half period, and then comes home.

So he just has a snack during lunch, and then eats a real lunch when he gets home.

And then my other son has an early release day and a late day, so on the late day, I make him a sandwich.

That's what he prefers, and it's the easiest for him to just eat.

My two older boys just don't get hot lunch because the line is chaos.

They both go to really large schools, and if you're not the first one out of your class and first in line, good luck.

So that's just not even an option for them.

So I just pack a sandwich for my oldest, and it just usually has vegetables, and he likes everything in it.

So that's usually what I do for him.

But yeah, and snacks, I just try to really give them something semi-nutritious.

Again, I'm not like super uptight about this, but sometimes it might be pretzels, or sometimes I feel like they don't eat cheese sticks.

So I try to pack protein, but by the time they get to snack time, it's like warm and soggy, even if there's an ice pack of like cheese sticks at work.

So it's more I'm trying to get them, especially one of my boys, trying to just get calories in him and fill his belly.

And so it's not always protein, but it's just like, get a snack that you'll eat.

Yes.

And just make sure you're maintaining like you're eating during snack time and during lunchtime so that you do sustain your energy throughout the day.

And then I just pack water for them.

I don't pack sugary drinks or anything like that.

It's just you drink water during the day.

And that's that.

Every now and then they'll sneak a chocolate milk at school, but I also love you guys that...

And I don't know if every state is like this, but I love that school lunch and school breakfast is free for everybody.

And I love that they've reduced the stigma around that, just as a whole, so that students can just get free food, because there are families that rely on those breakfasts and lunches.

And so the fact that it's free and kids can just go get it, I feel like, what a gift.

So even having that perspective of, what a gift that you can get free food at school, and two meals a day if you want it, like you could do breakfast and lunch, but.

Yeah, that's awesome.

I'll just, I'll share a couple of tips that we've used.

I feel like I've been getting tips listening to you guys.

This is Kelsey, we have the younger kids.

So my oldest has gone to preschool, and he's in pre-K right now, but we're actually homeschooling him this year.

So all of our lunches are at home.

But when he did preschool, I think I started off with this really ambitious idea.

And then I realized, kind of like Danielle said, he was only going two days a week.

This is literally two meals a week.

And I just need to make it simple and pack him things that he's gonna eat.

And typically we would do it while he was eating breakfast on the morning of his school.

And we would just talk about like, hey, like for protein today, do you want like a ham roll?

Or would you want like a cheese stick?

Or do you want, I don't know, whatever else was in the fridge?

And so we just tried to keep it simple and actually put stuff in there that he would eat, trying to get at least one fruit or veggie, trying to get some type of fat.

I think we talked about pistachios before on a previous episode, and I feel like all kids love pistachios.

So typically those end up in there.

But I think for me, being a more type A person, just like letting go of that, like it has to be a perfect lunch every single day that they go to school.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

And if they're going to eat it, that's probably more important than having like a nice looking vegetable in there that's just going to sit there that they're never going to touch.

So, and most of the time, if I involved him in it, and it was the morning of, I found that to be more successful than me packing it the night before, after he was in bed, and then he wouldn't really be interested.

So I think, yeah, there's lots of good ideas that I feel like people have shared today.

Kathleen, we've also tried the earlier dinner thing recently, and that has...

Sometimes it's worked, and sometimes it hasn't, but I think we're still just figuring out the rhythm we eat pretty early anyway.

But I love that idea, like just having a bigger meal after school, if your kids aren't really interested, or you're doing your best with their lunch, but they come home and they let everything out, and they're tired, and they're hungry, and they just, there's mom or dad, and let's give them some good food.

So, I love that.

There's so many cultures that the main meal is the mid-day meal.

Around lunchtime, like in Germany, a lot of the kids go home and have a big meal for lunch, and then they go back to school.

And so, I don't know, it's something that we're just experimenting with to see like, hey, could this rhythm work for us?

And I happen to be home at that time, so it works for me to cook a meal at that time.

And then, you feel a little less pressure.

And also, we've found that it's like, you know, that dinner time, 5 to 7 p.m.

can often be crazy, especially with little kids.

And so, I find if they've already had a big meal, then I'm like, okay, I know they've gotten one good meal onto them, then it takes a little of that pressure off of that 5 to 7 hour.

And yeah, can really just help with that pre-bedtime stuff.

So, but yeah, anyone else have any other tips?

This is so helpful.

I know I took some tips out of this conversation today.

I think that I'll just throw in one thing we've been trying since I have all three kids at home.

We have been making lunch the bigger meal.

And so, I'll try to just, instead of doing something quicker, I will actually like cook for them in the morning, and then we'll have like the biggest meal of the day at lunch.

And then dinnertime can be simpler, and it just kind of takes some of that stress away.

But I think also just, you know, finding that rhythm that works for your family.

If I know that we're going to like take a field trip or like an outing somewhere, I'll just pack it after breakfast, and we'll keep it simple.

And I'll involve them again to make sure that they're like, you know, interested in what I'm going to bring.

And also, like some days, I don't involve them, and I just pack it myself, and we just do that.

So I think you, I don't know, I found that you can put a lot of extra pressure on yourself as a mom trying to do everything perfectly.

And sometimes it's okay just to do good enough.

Like it doesn't, it literally doesn't have to be perfect.

It can just be like a little bit better than it was the day before.

So maybe that means you give your kid a choice with like what fruit they want, and then you pick what protein goes in there.

So I think just for me focusing on how can I make this like a little bit better, that's like our company's slogan, right?

The beauty of better.

How can I make it a little bit healthier, but also like maybe just make it a little bit easier on myself, and that could be better too.

So that's what I was just going to say.

Like a little bit better might be that you need to let your kids get hot lunch that day because you need less stress, because you have a lot to do, and that could be a little bit better for you, because it's less stress in that moment.

So mamas, we just hope you're encouraged with this, and we just hope that you've got some good tips, and just feel freedom, and that you're able to bring nutrition to your children, and just really transition in this new school season.

And we hope you get to take the next small step to becoming better.

Thanks so much for listening to the Beauty of Better podcast.

If you liked today's episode, don't forget to subscribe.

Connect with our community and check out other resources on our website at beautyofbetter.com.

We hope this podcast helped you take the next small step to find the beauty in becoming better.