School lunch

This year, in order to save money and perhaps exert more autonomy in what the kids eat for lunch, we decided to bring lunches from home. From the standpoint of the kids, this experiment has been a success; they have not complained about anything, and I think they enjoy what is in their lunch versus a precooked school meal.

Of course the perfect school lunch would involve homemade bread for the sandwiches, which would be made from local, sustainably raised sliced meats. Locally produced cheeses would be painstakingly sliced and included. Of course this isn't happening. We buy meat and cheese, and even bread in bulk from a national warehouse food store. We include pre-made granola bars and cheese crackers, even overly packaged juice.

This brings the dilemma of food choices vs. price out in the open. We are a middle class family getting by on 1 1/2 incomes. Of course we would love to be totally self sufficient, but realistically I do not see that happening. It takes a substantial endowment to live the Mother Earth News lifestyle, sad to say. I do not have the answer; just sayin'.

So for now I'm happy saving a few bucks a month packing lunches myself. The most rewarding part is taking an active role in what my kids eat instead of passively paying money for whatever the school has to offer, which in the end probably is not of any greater nutritional value. I do like the feeling I get knowing I am taking a greater role in their lives in lunch matters anyway.

Breakfast potatoes

I may have inadvertently come across a good way to cook potatoes for breakfast. I usually boil cubed potatoes for a bit, then drain and fry in butter. Good, but I even found a way to improve on that! You see, when I put the potatoes in the pan, which I had previously used to fry bacon, and I had already melted butter in, I forgot to turn the burner on. When I realized my potatoes were not cooking, I turned the burner on high, just to get the heat going (I have an electric glass top stove, just so you know). A few minutes later, I was wondering why everything was browning so quickly. I had forgotten to turn the heat down. But rather than it being a catastrophe, the potatoes turned out wonderfully--crispy golden brown on the outside, melt in your mouth tender on the inside. These were homegrown potatoes, by the way, a yellow variety the name of which I cannot remember! So the lesson learned is, cook them fast!