Tuesday, June 10, 2008

We tried 'em out... They work!

Day One of the healthy lunch experiment! Well, not really, but Day One with the Laptop Lunch boxes. I wanted to try them out at home to see how the kids would handle them before we hit the road with them. I had a few questions to answer - Could Mister J get it open ok? What would Miss M think about it? Plus, I just needed (wanted!!!) to practice packing it. There was nothing but excitement on their faces as they opened up the LLBs and checked out what was inside! Of course, you know I took some pictures ;)

They had pasta with olive oil and herbs, fresh fruit, veggies and hummus (those are carrots and cucumbers), and Mister J got some cheese bites and a little dessert of 2 Tootsie Rolls (like I said yesterday, healthier lunches - I'm not perfect!).


Mister J had no problem opening the containers - the yellow (fruit) and purple (hummus) containers come with lids. He still needs a little help with the lid to the outer box (the blue part) - mainly because he holds the lid down with one hand while trying to open it with the other - but I am sure he'll get the hang of it soon. Miss M won't be going anywhere on her own for lunch anytime soon, so I didn't test her lid-opening skills. I just set the open box in front of her and let her go to town! She ate most of the fruit, pretty well ignored the noodles (which she had previously enjoyed at lunch 2 days ago....), picked at the veggies, and ate the hummus with a spoon. Then, she dumped two of the inner containers out into the big box and proceeded to build a tower. Mister J ate more veggies than usual (he actually ate some of the cucumber!), downed most of the fruit (left some blueberries), and ate some of the pasta. He asked me to save the leftover veggies for later. They snacked a little before lunch - I was doing some cooking this morning, and they were doing some tasting - so I didn't expect they'd finish everything. However, this was also my first opportunity to see how much the LLBs really hold. It's a LOT! I could pack an entire lunch for myself in one of these, so I probably served a bit too much for their meals. Overall, a fun and interesting lunch, and I'm extremely pleased with today's trial run of the LLBs.

3 comments:

Georgia said...

I'm impressed! Ellie is just really picky right now and like Maggie may eat something one day and ignore it totally the next....kind of frustrating but part of being a kid! I'm hoping that once she is eating at home wiht me it will be more consistent, etc!

Heather said...

How cool and colorful! Heck, I wanted to eat the lunches they looked so good (And while you said you may have served too much, I would have eaten it ALL). I'm very impressed with your new goals to save money and eat healthier. Hmm, perhaps we'll incorporate some of your savvy ideas. Best of luck!

RLR said...

My kids seem to like the more unusual things (hummus, for example), but skip the "normal" stuff like carrots and apples. Guess I can't complain if the stuff they like is good for them too. Jonah loved guacamole until he turned two (go figure).
Have to confess, though, that when Jonah opened his LLB today, he asked where the dessert was - no Tootsie Rolls today. I am trying very hard to make those things special treats, but not totally forbid them.
Thanks for the comments - it's nice to know that I have readers! I'll keep you posted on our progress, and look forward to your insights, as well.