chef’s corner COPY & RECIPES BY MARK ELLIOTT ELLIOTTS ON LINDEN
T
he same ole same ole day after day…pretzels, carrot sticks and PB&J. Yet somewhere the nutritious if not predictable bag lunch has been usurped by prepackaged, processed sugar and fat-laden lunchables. Lunchables have turned the food pyramid into a tasteless get-rich scheme. Fancy packaging and entrees promising the moon fail to deliver on any account. They are an expensive placebo for parents on the go. But the question remains, how to win over a child to new tastes? The answer is simple: give the child the freedom to make her own lunch. It’s a proven fact that if a kid helps grow it, harvest it, collect it or prepare it, the kid most likely will eat it. Spicing up lunch can be as easy as whipping cinnamon and honey into peanut butter; dressing up apples, carrots and pretzels with a gourmet
honey mustard dip or substituting hummus, the Mediterranean equivalent to peanut butter, and a pita for sandwich bread. Making lunch easy starts with a fun, easy-to-clean, multi-purpose lunchbox. There are a number of new lunchboxes on the market. Laptop Lunches Bento stand out because of their durability, longevity and materials that are environmentally safe. But there are creative ways to update old lunchboxes. Cupcake foils are a disposable alternative to separating foods placed in an airtight container. If you pack a child’s lunch, she will complain each and every day. If you stock up on fruits, veggies and nutritionally fun foods and let the child pack her own lunch, she will learn to make healthy choices for a lifetime. Within reason! Who says chocolate isn’t good for you?
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