Schools in and the most challenging thing other then getting the kids out the door on time is coming up with
fresh ideas and ensuring that you are are packing a healthy lunch that your child will actually want to consume.
Metro Ontario helped out
momstown Milton moms this month at our
Junior Chef program by sponsoring the groceries. The moms and tots had the opportunity at a hands on experience to assemble some quick and simple lunches that allowed the kids to sample some new tastes to stimulate their palates.
We had four stations set up and each child got to visit each one and try all of the goodies that were set before them. The moms were skeptical at first stating "my child won't eat veggies" or "wraps and avocado hummus are not the staples of my child's diet" but were willing to give it a try.
We rotated through four stations. The Sandwich stop - which consisted of:
Selection Whole Wheat Wraps
Carrots
Cucumbers
Selection Marble Cheese
Selection Cream Cheese
Selection Raspberry Jam
Black Forest Ham
Avocado Hummus
Roasted Red Pepper Spread
The kids made raspberry and cream cheese sandwiches and cut them into flower and star shapes. Getting rid of the crusts and having cute shapes was enough of a change for them to devour their creations before they even got into the bags. The wraps were piled high with shredded cheese, shredded carrots, cucumbers, hummus and ham. The kids took pride in their creation and I strongly believe that was the reason why so many of them ate it with out a fuss or hesitation. Food for thought: making the time to let your kids participate in lunch prep could be the key to ensuring that their lunch bags come back empty!
The snack station was set up in an assembly style format. Bowls of:
Selection mini marshmallows
Stick Pretzels
Quaker Corn Bran Squares
The kids got to measure, scoop, and count the the number of spoons they put into their bags and couldn't wait to get it filled so that they could shake it up to see the assortment of colours and shapes. The Sweet and Salty mix was also a great combo since it was sure to have something that each one would enjoy. Variety seemed to be key at this station and textures with soft, chewy and a crunch blend kept it interesting for all.
The Fruit Kabobs Station was a crowd pleaser. So simple yet so good! The kids got to practice their hand eye coordination threading the bite size pieces of fruit onto their skewers and the moms had fun trying out the handy dandy apple slicer that cored the apples within seconds.
Apples
Cantaloupe
Grapes
Strawberries
The assortment of colours made for a very bright finished masterpiece and was loads of fun to take apart bite by bite. Keeping it fun is a sure way to make sure that there are no leftovers.
The final stop was our drink and craft station. After all their hard work, most were ready for a bottle of water or Selection summer blend or apple juice boxes.
For our crafts, we made glam lunch bags using sequences and hearts and of course since we were building awareness of the
Metro Do the Math promo, we had pricing stickers and numbers to add as the finishing touches.
The moms could not believe that all of the groceries at the event totaled just about $100! We had over 20 little ones, plus mamas and there were leftovers..... What a deal! Even better, the moms got to take home reusable lunch bags and a $10 Gift Certificate to help out with the already great savings that
Metro has to offer.
Don't forget to save your receipt and get on line to the
Metro Ontario Facebook Page and enter their Daily draw. Each day one lucky winner will be awarded $1000 for yourself, $1000 for the school of your choice and 1000 air mile points.
If you are a mom in
the Milton or surrounding area we encourage you to check out
momstown Milton for a 6
week
free trial membership. During your trial you can join us for as many
programs as you like. After that it's only
$45/year to become a member.
Click here to
register!
