Lunch for Monday, 02/10/14 in Fud

I've been asked why I'm not doing the daily lunch pictures any more. I got stuck in a rut and felt like they were boring and pointless, but I'm going to make more of an effort since at least four people are apparently interested. ;) Need to come up with some new ideas for lunch!

A big part of it is prepping the food the night before. Having more time to get things ready makes it a lot easier to go with homemade. I just hate doing it. Wah, wah. Better than while trying to get out the door in the morning, I suppose.

Clockwise from top left:

• steamed jasmine rice w/vegetables

• nitrate-free hot dog

• raw carrots

• vanilla Greek yogurt w/strawberry jam

• Cheddar Bunnies

• clementine

Trying the vanilla yogurt with jam, I would rather buy large cartons of yogurt for cheaper and split them up than individual portions.

Clockwise from top left:

• clementine

• raw carrots

• steamed jasmine rice w/vegetables

• nitrate-free hot dog

My son - oh, my son. We have been waging an epic battle with him the past few months when it comes to lunch. It feels like he becomes progressively pickier and more difficult, at the same time sneaking in junky cafeteria treats whenever he can.

I don't want to wage food wars with him so I've decided not to pester him to eat what he's given. We are limiting what he can get at school and if he decides not to eat what he's given, then he can go hungry. Eventually things will even themselves out. I did ask him for a list of what he does like to eat and I'll do my best to work with that. At the same time, we have asked him to eat what he's given for the day and then tell me that evening if there was something he really didn't like.

The problem is he's become needlessly particular about stupid things, like not wanting ("not having time") to peel his clementine to then not wanting any white pith to remain in order for him to eat it. I peeled his tonight and had him try a piece to prove that it is sweet and delicious (I tried it first) so we'll start there, then work toward him peeling his own fruit. He saw what I prepared tonight and said, "But they'll be dry by tomorrow" and I replied that he doesn't want to peel them, so this is his alternative and he needs to suck it up and deal. Every little thing is a battle like that. It's exhausting.

So I've decided to stick to the tenet of "You don't have to eat it," but not allowing him to supplement with foods of his own choosing, either. Fingers crossed. He claims he really likes this rice and so he may be eating a whole lot of it in the coming weeks, either that or PB&J.