Top 5 Tips For Packing School Lunches
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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - As parents one of your biggest homework assignments of the new school year is packing your kids a lunch they will actually eat that won't take you all morning to fix.
Chef Steve DeShazo, the director of El Centro College Food & Hospitality Institute, said knowing a few simply culinary techniques can make preparing a sack-lunch easier, faster, and more enjoyable.
Here's our top five tips to preparing your student's lunch.
1. Don't peel, cut an orange
Chef DeShazo said properly cutting an orange, rather than peeling it; will improve the taste of the orange – making it more likely that your child will eat it.
To supreme an orange, you want to remove the skin, pith, and seeds. You can do this by simply cutting off the skin and then cutting it into wedges.
2 . Rubber band an apple
To keep apple slices from turning brown some people soak them in citrus juice. For an even easier solution, try putting a sliced apple back together on its core and holding it with a rubber band.
3. Freeze just about everything
Researchers from the University of Texas looked at more than 700 packed lunches of three and 5-year-olds and discovered more than 90 percent of the perishable items inside their lunches were in the temperature danger zone by lunch time. From their research came the recommendation that not only should you include an ice pack in your child's lunch, but the night before you should freeze things like their yogurt, string cheese, along with a juice box that can double as a second ice pack.
4. Make a big batch of sandwiches
To save time instead of just making a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich, make 20 of them and then individually bag the extras. Experts say you can keep the extras in your freezer for up to six weeks.
5. Make a turkey sandwich like a master chef
Chef DeShazo said a couple simple tricks can dramatically up the flavor of an otherwise plain sack-lunch turkey sandwich. First, mix together two tablespoons of mayonnaise and a teaspoon of pesto, then spread it on both pieces of bread. Add the turkey and cheese, but to prevent the sandwich from becoming soggy pack the lettuce and tomato separately. DeShazo said wrapping the vegetable toppings in a paper towel will also preserve the quality of the vegetables.
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