Last week was a tough week

Brandon was out sick for half of the week. I will post pics and add in info this week to catch y'all up on the lunches we did make and the lunches his beautiful sister enjoyed. 

Funfetti Monday

Monday Muffin

Friday Pizza Party

Todays Lunch Consists of:

*Boboli Flatbreads Italian Herb (1/2 of one bread)
*Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Oven Roasted cubes
*Colby Jack cheese slices
*Pepperoni (in Brandon's lunch)
*Classico Pizza sauce for Brandon (mixed with 1tsp hemp seed nut and 1tsp chia seeds)
Hidden Valley ranch in Elliauna's lunch
*3 mini orea bites
*Boost 1.5 for Brandon and Capri Sun for Elliauna


The Break Down for Brandon's Lunch (CF):

Calories—847
Carbs—75
Fat—50
Protein—36

The Break Down for Elliauna's Lunch (non-CF):

Calories—578
Carbs—49
Fat—32
Protein—27

Making the kids a part of making lunches helps them feel excited about their food! Options help them feel like they are in control of their food. Today they were given options as to what meat (Chicken, Pepperoni, or both) they wanted as well as what sauce (Pizza, Ranch or both). To make sure certain foods didn't touch and add a little flare I used muffin cups. At the moment we have white cups, but your kids can help pick out their favorite colors or patterns to decorate their lunch.

Food for thought:
—for the dipping containers make sure your children can open the lids. Screw off tops seem to be easier than snap tops.

Other Options:
—Brush oil on the flatbreads to add calories (add parmesan on top of oil).
—Melt cheese on breads
—Get creative with your toppings...bacon, sausage, ham, shredded pork, broccoli, tomato, peppers, olive, ect.

Have a great weekend. Lets Do Lunch Again on Monday CF!
Amber

Thursday Pinwheels

Todays lunch boxes consisted of:

*Turkey Pinwheels with hemp, mayo and lettuce
*Broccoli
*Half of an apple sliced
*1 Lofthouse Farms shortbread cookie
*Boost 1.5 for Brandon and Capri Sun for Elliauna

The Break Down For Brandon's Lunch (CF)=

Calories—767
Carbs—91
Fat—42
Protein—31

The Break Down For Elliauna's Lunch (non-CF)=

Calories—482
Carbs—70
Fat—24
Protein—21

Today the only difference between our CF and non-CF lunch were the beverages. If you would like to order the Boost supplemental drinks you can find them on Nestle's website @ nestlenutritionstore.com. Also depending on your insurance company you may be able to get these covered as a supplemental medical necessity. If your Insurance does not cover them, there are organizations out there that specify in helping cover costs such as these. Talk to your clinic's social worker, if they do not know of them they can find them.

Other options are: add extra hemp seed nut to your CF'ers pinwheels. 1 TBS= 53 calories (give or take due to brand). Just to clarify these are not nuts.
add extra meat
mix ranch season packet to mayo
add powdered milk or rice/soy/whey protein to mayo
add avocado slices

Let's Do Lunch Again Tomorrow CF!
Amber

Let's Get Started

The supplies! 

I first went and found fun containers for lunches. It will help separate foods cutting down on time unwrapping and cleaning up in the lunch room. 

Today I had lunch with Brandon to see how the lunch room goes. Yes, they do have 30min. for lunch. The time frame includes lining up, getting to and from the cafeteria, as well as unpacking and cleaning up. 

Elliauna, my first grader told me "it's like we only have 10 min. to eat." After spending time in the lunch room her statement was nearly true. Kids eat slow, and they are distracted by everyone sitting around them. 

I witnessed, during clean up time, kids dumping majority of their uneaten food. Both school lunch and packed lunch. Two children had whole apples and spent most of their lunch time focused on that one item and throwing out their sandwich. 

The school doesn't have time to monitor our children's eating, so how can we monitor how much of those calories and dollars are being thrown out daily?

Using reusable containers helps us monitor what is actually being consumed, as well as regulate portions so our children are getting square meals. 

When it comes to the food itself, it's about getting creative and resourceful. 

Let's have fun with this, and Let's Have Lunch CF!

Welcome

I would like to start by introducing myself. I am Amber Plum, author and mother. My son Brandon, who is five years old and in kindergarten, has Cystic Fibrosis. I also have a daughter, Elliauna, who does not have CF. Our family has always struggled with meal time and with weight gain for Brandon. He is very picky and not a fan of many textures. 

I am an advocate for healthy eating. When Brandon was younger it was easier to have him drink his calories, but that too has become a struggle. He got bored and wants to eat like other kids do. It seems that we do okay until he hits a growth spurt and then his BMI drops. 

The looming feeding tube conversation reappears and we pump even more calories into Brandon's diet. So, what do you do when a child passes infancy, and the toddler years?

 You grow up with your child. I am learning and trying new things and I have always been aware that Brandon's best meal is lunch. He has always eaten his best at lunchtime. 

Now he is at the mercy of multiple distractions and limited time to eat at school. This has been our biggest problem, adjusting to independent eating. I am a researcher, and I am good at lurking from site to site. I have found so many great ideas to implement into a fun way to do lunch for my children.

 I have decided to jump start my action plan and document it on this blog for other parents struggling to get their children to make the most of their school lunch time. 

I want this to be an interactive site for parents to get great ideas and share them with each other. I will be posting pictures of the lunch boxes for my children and include any needed recipes. I will also calculate calories to the best of my abilities, but I assume no responsibility if they are incorrect so please do your own calculations to make sure they meet your child's needs. Also I will not post specific allergy information. This is intended to be a hub of ideas to make lunch time easier for parents and children alike!

 With that said welcome and enjoy. Let's Do Lunch CF! 

Amber Plum