The Boy's Breakfast & Lunch Meals

Our son must be kept on a good nutritious diet .. or else.  Else what?  He feigns headaches, low grade fevers, low white blood count, rashes and lethargy (I believe from a leaky gut).  Grains exacerbate his health and are kept to a minimum.

Age 12

Our morning routine begins with a shot glass full of berry or citrus kefir.  He's afraid of 'shots' .. but this one he downs like a pro in one gulp.

You will find no boxes of cereal or frozen packages of waffles on our kitchen counter (unless I'm away and the Mr. is in a bind).

Farm fresh eggs are fixed most mornings in a variety of ways:  Veggie or apple pancakes (grain free), scrambled with spinach and a little grated cheese, fried .. or baked frittata style.  Endless ways really.

Some mornings he gets sausage patties.  And .. for good measure .. a banana in hand on the way to the bus stop.

Age 16

While he's enjoying his hot breakfast, I am busy whipping up a hot lunch: 

• Spaghetti sauce over green beans (in place of noodles), packed in his trusty stainless steel thermos .. or,
• Freshly made bone broth soup (keeping homemade stock on hand in the freezer and shelf stable in the pantry makes this easy peasy).  I add to the stock any left over meat and veggies from the previous night's dinner, dried herbs, sea salt and pepper.  One day he'll have chicken, turkey or beef based stock in his soup.
• Every day he gets a green salad that includes lettuce, cucumbers, carrots & red pepper, along with a little (tiny) bottle of homemade salad dressing.  This is made in batches every few days and may include: balsamic-olive oil vinaigrette, homemade ranch style or Italian dressing.
• Fruit:  banana, small apple, orange slices, tangerine, or a small cup of diced peaches or applesauce.  The peaches and applesauce are canned in our kitchen during the summer and stored away for those days we don't have fresh fruit.
• Once a week I give him a treat and make French bread pizza.  This is simply made from a few slices of sourdough style bread I bake a few time a week.  The bread is buttered and spread with a little marinara sauce and topped with grated cheese .. placed on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven until it's a little bubbly and starting to brown.
• Each lunch contains a small container with a fermented sour pickle.  Fermented foods aid in digestion and help boost immunity.

I don't believe in all of the disposable packaging .. so limit its use.  He gets a cloth napkin and thrift store utensils .. and his food is packed in reusable lidded containers.  Usually my husband will comment that it looks like a b0mb went off in the kitchen .. but that's the price for eating healthy .. it's certainly not 'convenient' food (LOL).  Really .. how convenient is illness?  Food for thought.

Beware Of The Food Police - Update

As promised, I said I'd post an update:  I called the principal to find out exactly what was up with being charged for fruit .... and that my kiddo was sent to school with an appropriate lunch prepared for him each morning.  He said they do not check homemade lunches to see what everyone is eating. I probably sounded a bit peeved and alarmed.  I also spoke with the teacher after school.  The paper noting charges for fruit was supposedly meant for another student that eats breakfast at school.  However, it was written on my child's take home communication report.  And .. funny, ha-ha, that I just happened to receive the note the day after such an uproar about another student that was given a crappy school lunch as her lunch from home was incomplete according to the new school lunch rules.  So, I rest my case and will have an ever watchful eye on the situation as I'm sure this is just the beginning of a new dance (parental rights food fight).

Today I was checking my son's backpack and came across a note from the school that we owe $ for daily fruit at school.  I assumed this was fruit the government says kids have to eat for proper nutrition at lunch.  Now I'm all for our children eating fruit.  I'm all for healthy lunch.  What I'm not for is the government telling me that my home made/packed lunch is not balanced and adding fruit and handing me the bill.

Each day I get up early and make a nutritious whole foods lunch.  It always included a veggie and/or salad, and a few days a week, a piece of fruit.  Milk is drank at home .. whole fat milk .. not the bluish water they call milk at school that's often soured and/or served warm .. or loaded with chocolate and sugar/high fructose corn syrup.  Nathan has to limit his fruit due to medical reasons.   Most of his colon was removed after it ruptured at birth.  If too much fruit is eaten, he has loose bowels.  Eating five extra pieces of fruit a week .. well lets just say that might be why his teacher is wondering why he needs to use the bathroom more often.

You can be sure I have a call in to the school to object and to give them a piece of my mind. Believe it or not, I still have plenty of mind left ;)

Nathan drying dishes .. does he look healthy or what? :)  Obese .. ??

I just had commented to hubby last night about the food police after reading this story.  And to find out they are out in force across the nation (you can bet this is on the horizon).  Let parents have control over their kids lunch box food.  The government already provides 'free' (someone has to pay for) lunch and breakfast at school .. that have been atrocious in years past.  Get the heck out of my kids lunch box.  Parents need to put a stop to this government intervention.  I will not take part in the intrusive hand of big brother. This statement I will stand by!

Nathan enjoys eating cookies. Saturday was spent at a little friends home. The two were to decorate gingerbread men. He has a mind of his own and insisted on keeping his undecorated ;) He's truly a plain and simple guy. Perhaps he's Amish :). Come to think of it, his bedroom decor is nothing other than a simple wooden headboard, a dresser and a night stand. Not one thing hangs on the walls ... a simple window shade and a plain red valance dress his window. Plain white or well worn flannel sheets, a soft blanket and a bed quilt. A true 'give me simple comfort' type of fellow.

(Nathan is my 13 year old son that has Down Syndrome.)