TPM Tidbit: Preparing for Kindergarten (Part 2)
August 4, 2012 in Paleo at School, TPM Tidbits
My oldest daughter is about to start kindergarten (just 9 more days! ack!). She has always been a very picky eater and continues to dislike most foods. With our switch to paleo, her eating has improved greatly and she is now more willing to eat at least a little of a food she doesn’t particularly like. However, I still find myself anxious about just what to send her with to school. She has trouble keeping her blood sugar levels up during the day, so she needs to eat dense carbs, protein and fat every time she eats. My plan is to pack both her snack and her lunch for kindergarten (she is picky enough that even if we did eat the kinds of foods they will serve for the school lunch program, she is unlikely to eat most of them). This morning, we sat down and discussed foods that would be healthy choices that she enjoys cold that she would always eat if I packed them in her lunch. She decided to write them down and make a list that I could refer to when making her lunch. This is what we came up with:
Even though many of these foods have caveats (like she only eats big blueberries and not little ones), I’m actually happy to see as much variety as there is here, especially with protein and fat sources. I will definitely be branching out from this list (and probably also including some little treats like variations on my Chocolate-Date Squares), but I feel much more confident that I will be able to pack her a balanced lunch that she will actually eat that will provide her with good, steady energy throughout the very long kindergarten day. Yay!
i am quite impressed by the writing of your 4-your-old! Or doesn’t children go to kindergarten when they are 4 year old?
oh sorry, i see that’s she’s from 2006/2007, so she’s 5,5… still impressed though
Thank you! She is 5.5 but has been writing letters well since she was 3. She actually writes entire books now on her own (with a little spelling help) and then illustrates them (it’s her favorite thing to do, actually).
Oh wow! Smart girl! (I guess smart parents too, considering the ph.d
)
What are green eggs?
I will be posting my recipe as a Tidbit this afternoon!
Thanks for posting these updates….it is getting me in the mindset to start prepping for the start of school (we still have another month). I have been using Ali from Whole Life Nutrition’s school lunch menu as the basis for my lunch prepping for the last 6 months, but I am going to tweak it a little bit for this coming school year. Hopefully going back to a written menu (like you have above) will help get my seven year-old out of his lunch rut (same thing everyday, all week).
You’ve probably made eggs every way, but one other fun lunch idea is making egg crepes and rolling them with avocado, spinach, steamed zucchini spears (and whatever else):
http://milkforthemorningcake.blogspot.com/2008/04/go-ahead-honey-its-gluten-free-april.html
http://milkforthemorningcake.blogspot.com/2008/10/pesto-pea-pikelets-for-ghouls-and.html
My daughter loved those (before we found out she was egg-intolerant–bummer!).
We also use Ali’s lunch menu as a jumping off point for picking lunch foods for the week. I have a list of the foods in a clear plastic sheet cover on the fridge and each week, my daughter circles the foods she would like for the three days we pack lunch for school.
Thanks for the ideas. I’m getting tired of sliced turkey, berries, olives, nuts, seeds and cucumbers! I pack carrots and celery to humor myself, but she will not eat them raw. She also takes dinner left-overs for lunch a lot and sometimes that works out well.