Lunch Makeover: Part 2

Last week we heard about the 7 million dollars the government spent to buy pink slime (ammonia treated meat scraps) that will be served up in school lunches, and I pointed out the food additives in Lunchables.  Today I’m showing you a lunch that takes just a few minutes to prepare and is full of nutrition.  Fresh, organic lunches can be affordable.  I demonstrated in the “Lunchable Makeover” post that you could make a lunchable without all the food additives for less than the cost of a lunchable.  I’m about to do it again, all organic and gluten-free this time!

If you missed my post on choosing the best egg, go back and check it out.  Today we are adding a hardboiled egg to school, or work, lunch since they are an inexpensive protein.  The price per dozen can vary greatly.  At my supermarket the cheapest conventional eggs were $1.79, or 15 cents per egg, and organic eggs were $3.99 a dozen, or 33 cents per egg.  That’s a small price to pay for 6g of protein, which is equivalent to about 5 slices of deli meat.  They are also a good source of omega-3’s, vitamin B12, selenium, and riboflavin.

I paired a hardboiled egg with yogurt.  I think it is important to go organic as often as possible, especially when buying dairy.  I found a 32oz container of Organic Stonyfield Vanilla yogurt for $3.69.  That provides eight ½ cup servings.  Greek yogurt is another option, but organic greek yogurt will cost almost double.  For price reasons I did not choose the greek yogurt, although I think it is the better option.  The greek yogurt has less sugar and double the protein.  Regardless of which you choose, the yogurt will add protein, potassium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and calcium to the lunch.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are often overlooked when it comes to school lunches.  I added strawberries and baby carrots, both organic.  They added lots of vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber to the lunch.  The organic strawberries were on sale at my supermarket for $2.99 (normally $3.99) and a bag of organic baby carrots cost $1.99.  Both would provide us with enough for 8 lunches.

Like I said in the lunchable post, I think it’s important to give kids water and not juice.  But if you are going to give them juice I found a box of Honest Kids juice boxes.  They are organic and $5.99 for 8 juice packs.

Total for all organic options are:

• $3.99 for eggs
• $3.69 for yogurt
• $2.99 for strawberries
• $1.99 for carrots
• $5.99 for juice

Total of $18.65, divided into eight lunches is $2.33 per lunch!  Skip the juice and send them with water and it is $1.58 per lunch!!  

Here are some ways to change this lunch up:

• Make fruit skewers for them to dip into the yogurt
• Add your favorite flavor of Barlean’s Omega Swirl or Barlean’s Chocolate Greens to the yogurt
• Add granola or dried fruit to the yogurt

Fresh, organic food does not have to cost more or take a lot of time to prepare.  It doesn’t get much easier than boiling some eggs, and dividing up yogurt, carrots, and strawberries.  Do your children a favor and pass up the pre-packaged lunches, fast-food, and the lunch line at school.  Send them with this affordable, organic, nutritious lunch.

Goodbye food additives, and school lunches made with pink slime. You wont be missed. -Victoria