Friday, September 3, 2010

If I see another article on bento boxes, I will surely perish

It's not that I have anything against partitioned lunch boxes. I don't. I also have nothing against sushi. If you eat fish, eat it to the gills, I say. Heaven knows, as a vegetarian I've been known to scarf down my fair share of vegetarian California rolls--with extra wasabi and lots of pickled ginger. Tasty-day, I say. What I do have trouble with is the new heralds of style over substance who trumpet the bento box as the salvation to school lunches. Immediately their songs of praise turn sour as they try to convince me that cream cheese sandwiches are better if you take a rolling pin to the bread, slather on the cream cheese, maybe with clipped fresh herbs (it only takes a second), and then add micro-thinly sliced cucumber and carrot with, perhaps, a dollop of avocado, before wrapping it all up sushi-style, slicing it into rounds, wrapping the rounds in plastic to preserve their freshness and then gently plunking them all down into one lonely quadrant of a bento box--usually right alongside a hand-written note of maternal love and misplaced self-esteem boosting, all while the other three empty bento quadrants stare you down mockingly.

Are you kidding me? We are talking a school lunch here. The last I checked, I need to make 5 of these suckers a week, roughly 200 a year AND I have to have them ready and at the door no later than 7:45 am. It's not that I'm not earnest or eager, but a lunch is a lunch is a lunch. And school lunches are about survival not proving you're the best damn parent on the block. If you want to get all carried away with the pretty, save it for Christmas. Alternatively, if you want to extend your sense of guilt and obligation year-round, if you want to build a house of cards around tradition and expectation, be my guest: put those wittle sushi sandwiches and love notes and teddy-bear shaped pb&j's in a bento box. Knock yourself out.

That's not to say I don't believe in making an effort. I do. I believe in making healthy, diverse lunches that my daughter will eat and that won't compromise the health of her classmates, some of whom have multiple food allergies. I believe in batch cooking, my deep freezer, and making the most of the local harvest. I believe in yielding to supermarket short-cuts. I believe in creativity that doesn't become labour-intensive tripe. I believe in growing a healthy child who values nutrition and who can concentrate in class. I also believe in sleeping in as late as I possibly can as often as I possibly can.

My daughter starts school on Tuesday. My posts on this blog will communicate my triumphs, challenges and frustrations. I'll share recipes and survival strategies, and I'm sure I'll vent a whole heck of a lot too. In addition to eating many fine and some mediocre lunches, I'm certain to eat many, many of my own gamey words on the way. My name is Sue. My friends are Beck and Janet. Won't you join us?

16 comments:

  1. I can already tell I am going to like this. Not that I ever had intentions of Bento Box lunching and my daughter's diet of Nutella sandwiches--and that's about it--means I won't be taking advantage of all scrump-diddly-umptiousness provided by you three, but it is all in the attitude. You guys have just my attitude. (Please forgive the run-on sentence that would never end.)

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  2. You already know about my tiny fruit toothpick kebabs, so I won't deny it. :)

    I will also admit to sending multiple "dessert" kind of foods in lunches when we were low on real food.

    Making lunches is a chore. All of the mothers I know dread it before it even starts and creative packaging isn't going to change that reality for most of us. The trick is finding the right balance between healthy and desirable. Seven years into the gig, I'm still working on it. I look forward to you, Beck and any commenters broadening my culinary horizons.

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  3. Awesome. Even though I don't make lunches this year, I like all creative and healthy mealtime ideas I can get. Plus, I really like you guys.

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  4. Janet: I like your toothpick kebab idea. I also don't think it labour-intensive. Plop, plop, plop: cherry tomato, olive, cherry tomato. Done.

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  5. What a fun blog! Can't wait to see more posts.

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  6. since my children are a year or more away from me having to pack lunches and i noted the other day that their school MAY have a large and rather extraordinary looking cafeteria, i am going to sit here happily in my bento box delusions, imagining that someday the house elves will put together aesthetic, nutritious, and magazine worthy spreads in a lunchbox for ME. :)

    and in the meantime, as my fantasies crash towards the earth, i shall continue to read in hopes of finding something simple and healthy that i could actually PUT in a lunchbox should i ever have to pack one for my darlings.

    xo

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  7. My oldest is 1.5 years away from starting school, but when I think of when she starts the part I least look forward to is the making of lunches. So I am all for a blog like this, especially because if it starts now there will be quite a few ideas to borrow by then! :)

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  8. two pieces of bread with a slice of cheese or ham, plus milk and some fruit = ta da! not to mention bang zoom fast.

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  9. This is a fabulous idea! I just finished my 5th day of making lunches for both kids - I have a 4th & 1st grader. I dread making lunches. My son hates sandwiches & wants something tastier, real food-ish & my daughter has a peanut allergy & is eating lunch away from me for the first time. UGH! So far, I've had mixed reviews, & as much as I tried to plan, I still ran out of stuff by today & had to cobble together lunches w/ random items left over.

    I look forward to your posts!

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  10. Amen, sister! I don't have bento boxes for my kids, but whenever I use partitioned plastic, they gripe if every compartment isn't filled! "Mother, you really must stop packing me such meager lunches." I have, like, three tricks up my sleeve, but I will try to remember them and share...

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  11. I HATE making lunch for my 9yo. He refuses to eat sandwiches and will only eat hot food like meat balls, chicken nuggets or hotdogs. He is a very good eater at home, but at school, crap!

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  12. I thought I was the only person to have never sent a sandwich to school cut out in a shape! I always meant to...just never did it. Not to mention neither girl eats sandwiches. I love this blog, great job ladies.

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  13. *waving*

    So do I need to subscribe to your twitter feed to find out about these new blogs of yours? : )

    My kids buy lunch at school (it's VERY GOOD and OFTEN LOCAL school-made food; thank you local school district) but I'll be reading along for ideas for my husband, who is now gluten-free and who works a 10 minute drive from any eatery!

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  14. i'm so excited! i need ideas, support, and conversation about the 10 lunches i have to make a week. ok, well, my husband makes most of the lunches but i do the shopping. :-)

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  15. Hi - Great blog - I have to pack lunch and a snack for nursery school. Snack that they eat at 9, with lunch at around 11. She's there from 8:30 til 11:30. (Seriously, is there any learning going on there?)

    I try to keep the snack food breakfasty and stick to leftovers for her lunches. And I don't do bento, but I do use reusable plastic containers.

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  16. People who make elaborate lunches like this have too much freaking time on their hands. That is the only explanation for the insanity.

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