First Day of School Lunch

It's been a really, really, REALLY long time since I've updated this blog.

I'm not sorry. 

I mean, I wish it hadn't been neglected, but I've finally come to the realization that I don't owe this blog to anyone else.  It's supposed to be something I enjoy, and if I'm not enjoying it, then what's the point?

Anyway, now that I'm here, let's move on, shall we?

Today was my daughter's first day of school as a first grader.  Holy crap!  How did that happen?  *sobs uncontrollably*

AHEM.  OK. 

Moving on again.

When she started kindergarten last year, I began packing her lunch most days, because let's be honest...public school cafeteria food is fucking gross.  In an attempt to encourage her to eat more of what I was sending, I devised a plan for both of us to get what we wanted.  She wanted appetizing morsels for lunch, and I wanted her to eat healthy, homemade food.  Surprisingly, it can be difficult for those things to coincide, but with a little teamwork, we came up with an effective plan.

A few times during the last school year, and again right before this school year began, my daughter and I sat down together at my computer and looked at a few food blogs and Flickr photo albums featuring other people's school lunches.  The websites I chose were ones I had looked at previously, so I knew that the food depicted was in line with the way we eat at home- homemade, healthy, very little packaging.

As we browsed through dozens of photos, she pointed out things in the pictures that she thought looked appetizing, and I made a list.  I wrote down about a page and a half's worth of specific items, generalities, and combos of things that she deemed worthy of midday mastication (that's a fancy word for "chewing," you sick bastard).

This year, she proclaimed that she wanted sushi for her first school lunch of the year- sushi with shrimp.  And strawberries.  And hummus and pretzels. 

OK then.  It's a weird combo, but who am I to complain about such choices?  They're pretty damn good ones.

And so, yesterday we went to buy some pre-made sushi from our local grocery store.  It ain't fancy, but SHE'S SIX.  They were unfortunately out of shrimp varieties that didn't have spicy sauce, so she settled for a California roll.

The control freak cook in me normally would've balked at sending something pre-made for her lunch, but I'm calmed by the inclusion of hummus, which I not only made myself, but cooked dried chickpeas for.

So here it is.  My first post in however many, many months, and my kiddo's first lunch of first grade. 

 

Also, I'm learning to sew with a machine, so I made her some cloth napkins last weekend to match her new lunch box. 

 

 Thanks for stopping by.