The boys are in year-round school so they enjoy short, three-week breaks every nine weeks. When they are tracked out I plan their lunches differently. They have a lot more meat, veggies, and hot meals. They are in first grade and going through the phase of being sensitive to others' opinions of them. So, if someone comments negatively about the broccoli in their lunchbox, they are reluctant to bring broccoli again for a while.
Peer pressure in first grade actually, it started in kindergarten, is a real thing. I do not want them to get a negative vibe about real food and I certainly don’t want them to feel like they can’t eat their lunch at school.
According to a study in Physiology and Behavior, the environmental influence of peers on youth and adolescents' food choices is strong.
Their lunches during school are what I would call, sneaky lunches. I hide all of the suspect ingredients. They get more homemade bars, muffins, bread, cut fruit, and nuts and seeds. They also love olive oil-baked nori sheets, called sea snax. When they are home for track out, I save all of these convenience and “sneaky” foods and swap out for the actual veggies and sit-down meals. Yes, it is more work, but exposure is the key to encouraging a consistent real food message
William is helping to pound out the marinade for the pastured beef liver. I marinate the liver with oranges, lime, garlic, onion and whatever fresh spices or herbs I have on hand.
I let the liver sit in a ziplock bag in the marinade overnight and pour it all into a large saucepan the next day. I also added a can of diced tomatoes to this batch.
I serve organ meat in some form at least twice a week. Sometimes it is a success and sometimes, not. But, remember… keep trying!
Tuna salad used to be an acceptable school lunch, even one that the boys looked forward to. But, during the last track-in, it would come home in their thermos unopened. They gobbled it up for their snack when they came home.
The dish above has a mixture of three different types of wild-caught, canned seafood: tuna, salmon, and sardines. I sauté whatever fresh veggies I have on hand and add them to the fish along with greens, diced apple, apple cider vinegar, and spices. Sometimes I add a coconut oil mayo (that I found at Costco!). This salad was served on gluten-free sourdough bread along with romaine lettuce, cantaloupe, artichoke hearts, black olives, fire-roasted red bell pepper, and a rosemary olive oil. Pretty as it was… the kids quickly disassembled my beautiful plate and ate the bread first, cantaloupe second, tuna third, and all of the olives and peppers. I was left with small scraps of artichoke hearts.
Here is a sneak peak at the gluten free sourdough! Recipe to come soon!
SNOW DAYS
We had the unusual treat of enjoying some really great snow, TWICE during track out!
We had a couple inches the first time.
And, 7.5 inches the second time.
SNACKS
Snacks are much more fruit and veggie heavy during track out. Here are a couple examples:
Remember, real food color = real food nutrition:
Here we have purple sweet potatoes, one with a grass fed butter, black olives, soaked and toasted pecans, cantaloupe and green peas.
Green beans, dates and soaked and toasted pecans.
One more, steamed peas, roast almonds, olives and a dried fig.
Sources:
Salvy, Sarah-Jeanne et al. “Influence of Peers and Friends on Children’s and Adolescents’ Eating and Activity Behaviors.” Physiology & behavior 106.3 (2012): 369–378. PMC. Web. 20 Jan. 2018.