Put a little life in child's lunchbox

By Debra Samuels
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

DECEMBER 28, 2000 LIFE AT HOME SECTION

Is your child tired of the same old lunchbox fare? Have you had it with one more request for a Fluff sandwich? Are you suspicious that your children might be trading their carrot sticks for corn chips? Are you sure they couldn't care less about any effort on your part?
We lived in Japan when my elder son was a first-grader. It was an education for all of us, not least of all when it came to the preparation and presentation of lunch for a 7-year-old. The Japanese moms made Rembrandts out of rice balls and fruit. Their masterpieces were not only nutritionally balanced, but also made your eyes water: mini. franks cut into the shape of an octopus, hard-boiled eggs cut to look like tulips. With a snip and a slice, the apple wedge became a bunny rabbit. W ith a tuck and a roll, a colorful spiral sandwich emerged. All the food groups were covered. Every child brought a folded cloth napkin and perky pals on the thermos in a handmade drawstring bag.
Needless to say, this did not go unnoticed by my son. It was great being the only American in class, but coming to school with peanut butter and jelly, celery sticks, banana, and juice box in a brown paper bag was demoralizing. To save his face and mine, I bought "100 Ideas on Children's Obento" (portable lunches), just one of dozens of books and over sized how-to magazines in my local bookstore. Dazzling lunches are serious business for Japanese children and for their mothers, who would no more dream of creating an unplanned meal than their children would consider not eating every last morsel.
My son barreled through that book and chose the first of many edible art projects I would make that year: a sandwich in the shape of a little boy's face complete with bologna bangs. Endless minifranks and fruit and vegetable ménageries later, I realized children did notice and did care. And yes, he did eat the whole thing.
Of course, I don't recommend going to these lengths, nor do I subscribe to the concepts of guilt and obligation that underlie this.
(Well, maybe I do, but just a little.)

In Japan, however, there is a down side to all this: competition among the children and among the mothers. Moms are not just feeding their children or impressing them and their pals with their efforts. The teacher and other parents doing their PTA duties notice, too. Tongues cluck, children talk, and the teacher might even make a call home about a child's being embarrassed and teased due to a mother's insufficient effort.
Since 60 percent of Japanese women work I thought perhaps it was only the stay-at-home moms who had the time to do this. Wrong again. For everyone, working or not, there is internal and external pressure across educational and economic lines to make attractive, well-balanced meals with at least the appearance of their being homemade. Sure, plenty of women buy little salads, but before they go into the lunch box they are placed in a foil cup, and those store-bought meatballs are speared with a colorful plastic pick with a flag on top.
Even for someone like me, who loves playing with food and torturing little hot dogs into another species, this is way over the top. I did learn a great deal about the value of planning lunches and making them look appetizing, though. Children were delighted with their meals and ate with gusto.
With just a bit of effort and a few new ideas, you may be pleasantly surprised to find those lunch boxes comming back empty because the contents actually have been eaten, not fed to the trash.

(P.S. My sons never traded their meals when we came back to the States - they sold them!)

Apple Bunny

Cut and core one apple into 6 wedges. Slip a paring knife under the apple peel and slice carefully about two thirds of the way up. Cut a V into the apple skin flap and remove. You now have two ears. Add a splash of lemon juice to a small bowl of water and dip in the apple bunny to help prevent browning.

Octopus Franks

Cut each little frank almost to the top. You now have two pieces attached to the head.
Carefully slice each flap into thirds. Place in boiling water until the legs begin to curl up.
So this marine mollusk has six legs? Who's counting?

Little Known Lunch Fact:

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino remembers this about his early school lunches: "In first grade, every day, I took bologna, except Friday, when I took tuna fish."

Pinwheel Sandwich (Makes 4 servings)

4 slices of smoked salmon, turkey or ham
Bean sprouts, red or green pepper strips
4 slices of cheddar cheese or cucumber strips
12 slices of white or whole wheat bread, crusts removed
½ stick butter or margarine softened
¼ c. light mayonnaise(with 1 teaspoon mustard and or tarragon)
4 leaves of loose-leaf lettuce plastic wrap, washed and dried

Place 3 slices of bread in a row leading away from you on top of a sheet of plastic wrap.
Flatten the bread with a rolling pin. Spread with butter or mayo mixture and overlap the slices ¼ inch on the tops and bottoms. Press them together.
Place the lettuce on the two slices of bread closest to you. Place slices of salmon, turkey, or ham on top of the second slice of bread and the cheese on the third slice.
Add the sprouts (or other vegetables) on the salmon.
Lift up the first slice of bread and roll the sandwich forward, away from you.
Enclose the roll in the plastic wrap and chill overnight or for at least 2 hours. Slice into 4 rounds.
Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Make this the night before and slice in the morning.
Also try roast beef with spiced cream cheese, but avoid tuna and egg salads, as the bread will become soggy.

This story ran in the Boston Globe on 12/28/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

Hot cereal brings comforting start to the day

WHETHER you call it porridge, gruel, mush, or hot cereal, there is a world of wonderful grains for hot breakfast on a cold New England morning.

Some gag at the thought of hot cereal. Others drool thinking about brown sugar, a pat of butter, and milk melting into a creamy bowl of steaming oats. Carol Halewood of Lexington shudders as she recalls how her mother held Carol's nose and force-fed her oatmeal when the weather dipped below 40 degrees. She won't go near the stuff today.

Carol Bohmer of Cleveland, on the other hand, smiles thinking of her Sunday semolina supper. Growing up in New Zealand, she remembers, ''after a big midday meal, we were given hot cereal for dinner. The best part was the square of chocolate my mum put into our bowls. We watched it melt and made spirals with our spoons.''

A wide variety of hot cereals is on grocery shelves. Quaker Oats are smooth and creamy, while McCann's Irish Oats are crunchy. Wheatena is toasty and textured, while Farina is bland but satisfying. Cream of Rice looks like wallpaper paste, but adding milk, a smidge of butter, and brown sugar is great for a hurting tummy. Wolff's Buckwheat Kasha is often eaten as a side dish and makes an earthy porridge. Remember Marky Maypo who bellowed, ''I want my Maypo!''? This instant, maple-flavored, presweetened combination of oats and rye is deliciously nostalgic.

Grocers put the ''pure'' stuff on the top shelf and place the flavor-enhanced (artificial), presweetened, individually packeted items at eye level. These are adorned with pictures of vanilla beans, cinnamon buns, and apples. One oatmeal brand even contains ''dinosaur eggs.'' A candy egg melts and a candy dinosaur emerges.

With all the hype, you can't be sure just what you are buying. Ingredient lists consist of multiple, multi-syllabic words and sugar in its varied forms (dextrose, sucrose, guar gum). Compare this to the one or two ingredients listed on the packages you can barely reach.

Most of us eat hot cereal with something on top. Adding your own salt, butter, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, granola, or raisins gives you some control, and you can at least pronounce what you are eating. One teaspoon of brown sugar is 15 calories, raisins add iron, cinnamon a little flavor, and maple syrup about 50 calories per tablespoon. Nutritionists turn to hot cereals when looking for good sources of fiber and iron, especially for women. The cereals are naturally low in cholesterol and fat.

Cooking time is determined by how much the manufacturer has processed the cereal. The larger the oat flake, the longer the cooking time. ''Instant'' means fairly small and very processed and requires 30 to 90 seconds; ''quick cooking'' needs about 3 minutes; and ''old-fashioned'' will take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. Grits and Irish oats are in the ''eternity'' category at 20-30 minutes.

John McCann's Irish Oats (available at Trader Joe's and Bread and Circus) are prized by oatmeal aficionados. Their crunch, grainy texture, and nutty flavor attract devotees. The whole-grain groat (inner part of the oat kernel) is not rolled flat, but cut into two or three pieces, leaving little nuggets, which is the reason for the 30-minute cooking time.

McCann's Web site offers shortcuts, though. Soaking oats overnight, chopping the oats in a food processor, toasting them in the oven, and microwaving all save time. Basically, you are doing the processing. The microwave takes about 12 minutes for two bowls, and can leave a big mess if the oatmeal overflows - but the crunch remains.

One suggestion is to put the oats in a crock pot overnight on the low setting (one cup of oats to four cups water) and add raisins and cinnamon. You wake up to a wonderful aroma and a pot of delicious hot oatmeal. The problem is that the crunch disappears. If you like creamy oatmeal, this is a great idea. Make enough for several days and store in individual containers in the fridge. Just add a little milk and reheat for 2-3 minutes in the microwave. However, to enjoy this cereal as it is intended, there is no substitute for standing at the stove, stirring occasionally, and eating right away.