When I became pregnant with Millie, I was living in Pittsburgh, PA. I do not know why, but they love meat (especially processed pork products) there and they had a bizarre way of cooking it. They would take the sausage looking tube of pork product and boil it! ICK! I am from Memphis, and if you do anything to meat, you smoke it, not boil it. Well, because of their style of food preparation mixed with my first trimester morning sickness, meat became an off limits affair. So, between the kidney stones and hormones, I decided to raise my daughter land animal free.
Many many many people would tend to disagree with me on this, however there was something that I read that really stuck me on why not to feed my daughter meat. When introducing meat into their developing diets, it can cause serious stomach cramping, digestive issues and nausea. I just could not do it. All the signs where there to not do this, so I haven't.
To be clear, this is how I do things and would never tell other parents what they should or should not be doing in their own homes. A lot of my recipes can have meat added to them very easily, I just choose not to do so in my home.
One of the places where not eating meat can be difficult socially is the lunch box. I remember going to school and everyone would pull out their He-Man and Barbie lunch boxes to compare all the neatly wrapped goodies. And there was always the "weird' kid whose mother would constantly embarrass him, by sending him to school with a paper lunch bag filled with apple slices and peanut butter. Not the cool pre-packaged, assemble your self lunch kits. I look back on that and think, man did his mother get it right. Apples and peanut butter are awesome, but not when you are a kid trying to fit in. I always think about that when I pack my daughter's lunch for school. So, I have devised ways to make the food fun, interesting and what all the other kids would want in the timeless lunchtime food swap. Also, it is the best way to save money. Whenever you buy those lunch kits, you are paying for the packaging, which is wasteful on your budget and mother nature.
Even if you do eat meat and your kids eat meat, these are some fun ideas for a meatless lunch day. Cheers!
Humus and mixed greens pinwheels
- One large whole grain tortilla
- Humus spread, homemade or bought, does not matter.
- Mixed greens washed well.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Take large tortilla and spread the humus in a generous layer. Sprinkle mixed greens over the humus and then ad the salt and pepper. Wrap the tortilla up in a burrito style and seal the edge with a little more humus so it stays together. Cut the wrap into pinwheels and place in cool container for lunch.
Broccoli cream pasta salad
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
- Four broccoli "trees" steamed till soft.
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Italian blend cheese
- Olive oil
- Penne pasta noodles
Boil noodles until soft, then drain and rinse off any extra starch. In small skillet, combine olive oil and sour cream until perfectly blended. Then in a blender or processor, pour the oil/cream mixture in with the cheese, garlic and broccoli. Process until the broccoli has been broken up into tiny green dots. Add the cream mixture to the penne, mix and store in the fridge over night, place into once again, cool container and send off with your little ones. The broccoli is high in fiber and will sustain your child threw the rest of the school day.
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