I already send him to school every day with juice and 3 snacks, but nothing substantial enough to be considered lunch. So today, when his teacher pulled out his lunch bag and saw there were only snacks inside, she assumed he would be one of the children receiving a free lunch.
Well, today's free lunch was chicken nuggets. Ack!
Thankfully, she remembered that we are vegan, and didn't allow The Boy to eat any chicken. It was an issue, though. He saw all the other kids eating chicken nuggets and wanted to eat some, too. He thinks he eats them at home, but it isn't real chicken, of-course. Unfortunately, because he's a special needs kid, I can't really explain the difference in a way he'll understand. At least not yet. So now I need to come up with some creative lunches to pack for him. Perhaps, when the school lunch menu becomes available, ones that mirror what the other kids will be eating so he doesn't feel left out.
When he's home, I cook for him and he eats a hot lunch. Sometimes he'll eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but most of the time he gets a freshly cooked meal. But, they don't have access to a microwave there and, beyond PB&J sammies, I'm at a loss as to what sorts of things I can send him to school with. If anyone has any experience sending your veg kids to school with packed lunches, I'd love to hear what sorts of things worked best for you.
In the interim, I ordered the following two books:
Better Than Peanut Butter and Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love by Wendy Muldawer and Vegan Lunch Box: 150 Amazing, Animal-Free Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love! by Jennifer McCann. I'm hoping I'll get some groovy ideas from these babies that'll help me come up with things The Boy will eat and enjoy. As we experiment, I'll report back on what works and what doesn't. This should be interesting and hopefully, fun. So, expect to see a couple book reviews and some lunch box food porn here in the near future and wish me luck. I have a feeling I'll need it.
