Laptop Lunchbox

Chef Ann, Renegade Lunch Lady, recommends packing nutritious and environmentally friendly lunches for our children using the Laptop Lunches system. I had heard of this and poked around to find out what it was all about. First of all, it's a lunchbox with several small inner containers which allows you to pack small amounts of a wide variety of cold foods for your child's lunch. Healthy choices is the goal. Here's an online resource to buy one http://www.laptoplunches.com/.

I recommend reading Biggie's lunchinabox.net blog, which is solely dedicated to helping you build a great lunchbox for your kid(s). She blogs about Bento boxes, which are the original laptop lunchboxes still popular in Japan today. Biggie won the 2007 Food Blog Award for best family/kids food blog so you know she's certified good stuff. Congratulations Biggie.

Here's a quick fruit dish to add to the lunchbox:

Baked (I mean microwaved) Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:

• 1 apple per child


• cinnamon


• vanilla


• sugar in the raw


• low-fat ricotta cheese (optional)

Preparation:

1. Wash, core and slice (1/4") one apple per child and place in microwave safe bowl. Avoid peeling unless your child will only eat it peeled.


2. Let your child sprinkle the apple with cinnamon and pour a small amount of vanilla on top, say 1/4 tsp. per apple.


3. Cover and microwave on full power for 3 minutes.


4. Remove from microwave, stir and check to make sure they're fully cooked. You should be able to pierce them easily with a paring knife. If not, continue microwaving at 1 min. intervals. Replace cover and allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you prepare other items.


5. Remove the lid, stir and allow to cool.


6. When cooled, transfer to laptop lunch system container, spoon a heaping teaspoon of ricotta on top and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. Yum! Be sure to put a cooler pack in the lunchbox to keep it chilled for safety.