Desperate for school lunch ideas - problem vegetarian child!
I hope y'all can give me some ideas. My 17 year old son is vegetarian (eats dairy and cheese). I have a number of issues I have to work with, not the least of which is that he's SO DARN PICKY:
- he's in the 10th percentile of weight (at 5' 11"), so we have consulted with a nutritionist. ... I need to boost his caloric intake to at least 3,500 a day
- he's allergic to PEANUT (ugh!) ... and he just "doesn't like" other nuts (although he has eaten cashews in the past and used to like them)
- he doesn't like soy butter (tried that today)
- when he buys his lunch in the cafeteria, he buys fries and a gatorade (ugh!). There's not many non-meat options
- he'll take his lunch but he wants the packaging all disposable, therefore no reusable containers, thermoses, or lunchbox/bag with a cold pack
So my options have been ULTRA limited. He has been taking a sandwich of tofurky with cheese and lettuce, a Clif bar, and a soy milk. But he's burned out on that. Today, we tried the soy butter with jelly, some homemade "trail mix" (with dried fruit, soy nuts and sunflower kernels) ... and a Krispy Kreme apple pie (I know ... but it was a GREAT punch of calories).
I have suggested egg salad, but he doesn't think it'll keep without refrigeration.
I have PLENTY of higher calories soups and chilis I could send him in a 10 oz thermos, but he doesn't want to take anything he has to carry back to his locker and bring home. So everything needs to be able to survive non-refrigeration, pack a lot of calories, and all the nutrition he needs for a meal.
I'm about to go crazy. I'm going to rifle through the recipes on this site, but if anyone has some tried and true suggestions for me, I'd be EVER so grateful.
We had a similar problem with my middle son, who is autistic, and will occasionally stop eating altogether. Our GI doc recommended Ensure or another similar produce. It has tons of protien and fat, and is vegetarian, but does contain dairy. The chocolate shakes are good, and there are tons of flavors. They work chilled or at room temp. There are times when my son lives on Ensure, but the doc says at least the calories are good, and it has a good amt of protien and vitamins as a meal replacement.
And I used to take egg salad for lunch all the time, it stayed ok till lunch, since it was chilled at home till I left for school, it only sits for about 3 hours till lunch time.
what about full fat yogurt, supper yummy.
I also add butter and oil much more generously to all of my son's meals, pile up the cheese on pizza, also a good cold option.
Make your own waffles, muffins etc, use healthy fats like coconut oil, eggs etc. Its actually fiun to cook full fat, the flavor is intense. Get him involved in the cooking process, at 17 he is old enough to understand that he needs to eat, he is hurting his body by being underweight.
At 17, he should be able to give you ideas about what he does want, instead of just what he doesn't. Have him check out www.peta2.com for ideas, recipes, etc. Have you spoken to him/his doctor about eating disorders? Why doesn't he want to have any containers? Is is b/c it's not cool to take a lunch at his school and only nerds have lunchboxes or something, because he is really limiting himself. He'll need to know how to prepare some things if he's ever planning to go to college/move out. Maybe that angle might work w/ him. At any rate, check out the stroller derby board for lots of lunch ideas, and here are some:
There are lots of sandwiches that go beyond tofurky. BBQ seitan, baked tofu, hummus, and portobello mushroom all are good proteins. Have him make a garbanzo bean salad(instead of tuna or chicken salad). Veggie burgers can be prepared and eaten cold. Add avocados and cheese for calories. There are lots of good snacky things that can be packed in a baggie. Fruit and veg., sesame sticks, pretzels, chips, seaweed strips, cookies and muffins, lots of different kinds of bars(granola, clif, lara, luna, etc.) There are puddings, both vegan and not, that don't need refrigeration. Have him go to the store with you and pick out a couple things to try. Good luck, good mama!
Has he looked into bento? Being a teenager, I know he's probably having issues with his "image" if he has to lug a thermos around or any other reusable lunch items. The thing about bento is that it's actually "cool" and they have bento boxes with various characters that include manga, anime and they are popular and cool among the teen scene. Just Google bento and have fun! Hope this helps with your dilemma.
when I was in HS I lived on fries every day... and I'm alive... but my parents didnt even notice so kudos for you. haha..
I think the best thing for him and any teenage boy is to figure out how to feed themselves, especially if he is picky.
Can't rely on mom forever kids! Take him grocery shopping and force him to figure it out LOL.
The no refrigeration requirement is tricky. Even tofurkey is questionable if left at room temperature for a couple of hours. The rule for most foods that are normally refrigerated is 2 hours at room temperature is the longest they should go. I would not bring egg salad. In an insulated lunch bag with a gel ice pack, it would be ok. There are many lunch bags that would collapse down small so he could stick it in his backpack when he's done, and a gel ice pack doesn't take up much space and would open up so many more options (soy or dairy yogurt, pasta or bean salads, wraps or sandwiches filled with veggies and faux meats, bagel with cream cheese, etc). Here are some food safety tips for bag lunches: USDA keeping bag lunches safe
As for foods that don't need refrigeration - homemade granola or energy bars (or cookies), muffins, and breads are great. As an alternative to peanut butter, what about sunflower seed butter? That is pretty tasty!
And, definitely get him involved! Others are totally right in saying that he'll need to know how to sustain himself without your help very soon. He'll need to know strategies for grocery shopping and some basic cooking skills. He should take the main responsibility for his lunch, maybe with a little help and supervision from you at first. Helping cook dinner about once a week when I was in high school really helped me develop my cooking skills for when I moved out. Now, about 10 years later, I love cooking and have had no problem making healthy meals for myself over the years.
I have a similar issue with my teenage daughter. I tend to focus on her having a large breakfast, sending her with a decent sized snack for school(granola, fruit, pretzels,muffins, breads, etc.) and then she eats a late lunch when she gets home. THis works well for us because we don't usually eat dinner until around 7. I would be careful with loading his meals up with saturated fat to help him gain weight, no matter how thin he is it will still affect his arteries and health in the long run. Will he do nut butters mixed in a smoothie with protein powder and soy milk?
Hmm...
Your going to have to tell your son he is going to need to take some containers some days if he wants to eat both a variety and be healthy, you cant have your cake and eat it too here unless you want to throw out a truckload of plastic every week. Besides, recyclable containers are becoming "cool" because they are green, at least in my area. Maybe there are better looking containers that are product of the whole green movement out there, anyone seen any?
You should focus just as much on the nutritional content as the calories I think. Try and maximize high quality carbohydrates, protein and good fats as well as all the other good stuff, not JUST empty calories for the sake of calories.
A couple products you might want to try are Sun Warrior bio-fermented protein (used a lot by bodybuilders) and their "aktive" barely. Your son could take these in a ziplock or something and mix into his soy milk. Both are very high quality products and extremely nutritious.
A few lunch ideas:
-Whole grain bread sandwich, pita, or wrap with any combination of hummus, nut butters, tofu, tempeh, falafel, veggie bean burgers, and any and all veggies.
-Burritos with rice, refried beans, avocado, salsa and veggies. Major calories and nutrition.
- Quinoa salad, (I like it with onion, carrot, mushrooms, cucumber and tomato all diced up and dressed with balsamic and oil)
-Rice and lentil salad or couscous or noodle done same as above
- Yam or potato baked "fries"
-Salads
Some Asian grocers sell noodle bowls that are vegetarian--you just need to add hot water. I sent one to school in my 5th grader's lunchbox one day with a thermos of hot water and I believe he put on quite a show for everyone. But I am assuming your teenager has access to the hot water in the cafeteria as a lot of kids like instant noodle bowls. I would send along a small bowl of fresh diced tofu to add extra protein.
You can also send some steamed edamame which has gone quite mainstream and should be able to hold for a couple of hours.
Nate's meatballs in tomato sauce on a hoagie--a bit soggy, but still good.Of course, if he brought a thermos he could keep the meatballs hot and put them on the fresh hoagie bun himself.
Any kind of nut or seed that he will eat (pumpkin, sunflower) would be good. Also look into hemp seeds and try to get him to eat a spoonful or two sprinkled on his food every day.
I am a bit surprised about his feelings on non-recyclable containers. Many schools have aggressively taken this issue on and are educating children about the importance of reducing lunch waste. The amount of discarded aluminum foil, plastic and paper every day due to school lunches is truly staggering.
You said in your post he was in the 10th percentile but didn't mention if he had recently lost weight. Maybe he's just a skinny kid. I'd be sure he ate well when he got home. Good luck!
I have similar issues with my 17 yr old omni son. My son walks to school, over a mile, his locker is on the far side of the school, all his classes are either the near side or central so his locker is really a pain in the you know what to use. He carries everything all the time so he really does not want to deal with anything bulky and needing to come home after lunch.
Before the school year, I found 10 pk. 1/4 c plastic containers at the $1 store. They are small so they might come home but no great loss if they don't. they do not seal perfectly so they work for peanut butter, hummus and other thick stuff but not salsa or other liquids. I save every plastic container with a lid that comes into the house to be reused for lunches and tossed at school. That allows us a lot of variety of what he can take as long as he eats it at room temp.
Back when we were not so food safety oriented, my mom packed egg salad for me. I caught the bus at 7 AM and had late lunch, 1:30 PM. The mayo actually works as a preservative and the vinegar in mustard also helps. (not recommending this but tuna sandwiches were common at school back then too) This was before the cold pack things. Now I would never eat this after school, just way too long. According to a nutritionist I worked with, sealed yogurt will keep for the day without refrigeration. Sugar also works as a natural preservative. Any time you go over the recommended 2 hrs without refrigeration, make sure it is really fresh to begin with, no 3 day old leftovers. I grew up eating pizza that was left out of the fridge over night!
All the safety limits on things are set very conservative to avoid legal liability. Be careful but not paranoid at going past them.
I second the Ensure recommendation, also note they can be froze over night, so come lunchtime he has a cold drink.
Ritz now has a new gimmick (Fresh Stacks) for their crackers, smaller tubes in a square box, perfect size for lunches. Can be a good replacement for bread in sandwiches, or added for a snack. I'd make my own 'lunchablesque' with one of those, a couple slices of cheese that could be folded into perfect sized squares, and a small tub of peanut butter.
You can make your own 'disposable' ice packs: soak some paper towels, ring them out, fold, and put in baggies in the freezer. Morning time, put one or two in, come lunch time, they'll be ready to toss. (The environmentalist in me is crying with this, but in a pinch, you do what you gotta do.)
I'd give cashew nut butter a try.
Calzones, if wrapped well in foil can stay good and hot for a long time.
Whole fat yoghurt is an awesome recommendation as well, we like Mountain High's Vanilla (sooo decadent, not sour like many vanilla yoghurts are!), or Nancy's. Both are generally reasonably priced for a big bucket of it. I'd get some of those 1/2 cup containers, they are cheap enough to where if he threw them out, you'd still probably save money compared to the individual packs of lowfat yoghurt, and you get whole fat as well as the ability to make any flavor you want, without the nasties added to it! Also, good to freeze the night before, to thaw as the day wears on.
Bean and cheese burritos, again wrapped in waxed paper, then wrapped in foil, will stay nice and warm.
Utilize baggies whenever possible.
A thought for the containers: propose that he puts them all in his locker during the week, only to take them home at the end of the week/whenever you run low/out at home.
is it actually safe to get so much of your calories from direct fat?
is it actually safe to get so much of your calories from direct fat?
what are you referring to?
As for sandwiches:
Roasted veggies with hummous and lettuce touching the bread, (to prevent sogginess).
Chickpea Salad Sandwich: mush chickpeas, grate red pepper, chop green onions and dill, stir in mustard, apple cider vinegar and hemp oil, paprika and S&P to taste.
BLT, tofu style; there are lots of tofu 'bacon' recipes out there.
Almond butter is sooo good, try it out on him, perhaps with banana or apple on a sandwich.
Wraps are great too, especially because you can put a meal in them.
Put a large lettuce leaf on the wrap before adding anything else, to prevent sogginess.
Some suggestions:
Beans and rice
Hash browns, salsa and refried beans
Nut butter and apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon, even raisins if he likes that sort of thing...
Salad with grated carrots, beets and daikon, mixed greens, bean sprouts, hemp hearts, whatever other veggies and a delicious dressing.
Chana masala
Home made muffins are a nice snack that you can add pretty much anything in to bulk them up. They are easy to carry and delicious. If you use wheat, whole wheat pastry flour works well in providing whole grains along with that light texture that white flour has.