desperate times, desperate measures

Well, we missed last week. And by "we" I mean "me", and since I'm normally a stickler for meeting deadlines you can tell how bad this Winter That Will Not End is grinding me down.

My kids, after brief forays into interesting lunches, have retreated to "ham & cheese sandwiches every day, except Thursday, when we have pizza at school". I am so booooored with packing lunches. SO BORED IT IS TIME TO BE DONE NOW PLEASE.

On Monday morning I went to make lunches and realized I had completely forgotten to take a loaf of bread out of the freezer. I briefly toyed with the idea of keeping them home (nope) or heating up some canned soup and throwing it in a thermos (oldest would have loved it, middle would have starved, youngest would have needed a bath after lunch).

Obviously, none of these ideas would work. In desperation I boiled half a dozen eggs. Each of the three kids got a boiled egg or two, some cheddar cheese cubes, whole grain crackers, and cherry tomatoes. The usual two pieces of fruit to accompany it and a small yoghurt cup, and we had what I thought was a nice-looking lunch.

All three kids ate every crumb in their lunch. I was feeling pretty smug. I mean, that lunch was practically Bento-box worthy! Perhaps I would be freed from the tyranny of ham & cheese sandwiches.

Alas, it was not to be. Although 8yo and 5yo both said the lunch was "delicious!" and "tasty!" and "fun!", when I asked what they'd like on Tuesday they both said "ham & cheese sandwiches, please".

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

***

I have a trick that I've been playing on my kids for years, and even though two of them are now old enough to know that I'm totally snowing them, they still love it.

I buy plain, live-culture Greek yoghurt. No added sugar, no weird preservatives I can't pronounce. I drizzle it with a little honey and tell them it's just like Winnie-the-Pooh's favourite snack of condensed milk and honey.

Now, I know that condensed milk and plain yoghurt taste absolutely nothing alike, in any universe... but when they were very young, they didn't. All they knew was that if Winnie-the-Pooh would eat white dairy stuff with honey, they would too. The tradition has stuck. They call it "pooh-snacks" and take great delight in freaking out their friends by asking me for some after school.

This is a snap to throw together, cheaper and healthier than 'lunch box ready' yoghurt products, and endlessly customizable. Give it a try!

Pooh-Snacks

1/2 cup plain, live-culture Greek yoghurt
1 tsp honey
a handful of your favourite fruit

Mix it up, serve it. Make sure you call it a Pooh-snack or the magic doesn't work.