Today’s menu: chicken teriyaki, rice (!) with peas (!) and egg bits (!), corn, two slices bread, butter, peach fruit cup
I love Japanese food. So when I stabbed the plastic covering with my spork, I was surprised that the aroma smelled like teriyaki. But upon biting into the chicken, it did not taste like teriyaki sauce.
I was also thrilled that I got rice! I think rice is underutilized in school lunches. If you had a wheat problem, then you could have avoided it with this meal.
THAT LOOKS LIKE FOOD (mostly). Too bad it didn't taste like food? ps You should try twitterfeed.
the one thing that scares me with this meal is that is one big grain fest: corn, rice, bread, and then there's probably a wheat/gluten filler in the chicken. that spells Diabetes and obesity. and that spells unhealthy children and unfocused brains… (spiked blood sugar) 🙁
I am puzzled over slice bread with this meal! HA HA! Thank GOD my school meals were much nicer. I am shocked that yours come in a tv dinner tray will plastic. CRAZY!
mmmmm, yummy! Mechanically seperated, chopped-n-formed meat block 🙂
I'm in agreement with liz here.
I can understand where they were going with it, trying to get all food groups in there, but the glycemic load is intense! Especially because it's white rice, and not whole grain! Besides the chicken filler pointed out by Liz, I would bet anything that teriyaki sauce had large amounts of refined sugar. And without fiber at all to slow down the carbohydrate and lipid absorption.
Not to mention that it looks like it is enclosed in plastic (which was pointed out by "Mama Teaching 2", and probably heated in a microwave, releasing tons of BPA. ScienceDaily (today) :: Why BPA Leached from 'Safe' Plastics May Damage Health of Female Offspring
PS: Twitterfeed is awesome. I use it. Twaitter also has a similar funcion.
Kevin :: Glyco Trainer
On Twitter: @glycotrainer
Official Blog: glycotrainer.blogspot.com
If you have wheat problems, there is wheat in teriyaki sauce! Alas.
My son's school offers gluten free options (usually baked potato with toppings). They also offer a vegan option. Does you school offer anything for special diets?
It didn't even dawn on me until reading your blog that my son only gets 20 minutes to eat too. I've backed off a bit when he doesn't eat his already small lunch (he's a really slow eater).
GingerSnap – You read my mind! Ewww Eee!
Momma S – You make such a critical point. To make time for all the curriculum requirements that need to be taught, the lunch hour has gotten chipped away at. Lunch in most schools is a crunch of 20 – 30 mins to shovel down food and rush out for recess. It tends to be loud and chaotic, leaving no time for mindful eating, nutrition education and, certainly, isnt helpful for slow eaters. Its a dilemma, for sure. I believe recess time should come before lunch. That way students would at least be calmer and lunch would be a more peaceful, civilized experience. Just a thought.
This food doesn't seem too bad. The chicken looks like it is a mechanically seperated patty, but at least with the rice, veggies and fruit, they are trying. Looks a lot better than some of the previous meals, and certainly a lot better than some of the American meals on my site, http://whatsforschoollunch.blogspot.com
It's unfortunate that they served (I assume) white bread with white rice. White breads/rice are nutritionally inferior to brown. I thought school would be the #1 place to be up on this.
Things were looking pretty dismal there with the BBQ rib sandwich and the bagel dog; this lunch seems to have made up for it some.
I still don't get why people are so anti carb here. Asians aren't getting diabetes til they start eating like Americans. They're the ones using meat as a condiment and eating tons of rice, white rice at that.
Though whole grains are better, I don't think the carbs are the issue as much as dairy (and thus fat levels), sugars, excess meat we all eat.
I mean vegetarians and vegans are often thinner and healthier, and they practically subsist on carbs! The vegetarians that get fat are eating excess dairy, sugar and fats.
Yeah, I have to agree with wilde_hare, I don't think it's the carbs that are the problem (although this meal does contain too many in one sitting) it's that the carbs in question aren't usually whole grain and contain mysterious food sciency ingredients.
wow. I remember school lunches (1980s-90s) being similar to this, but was surprised by tv dinner tray will plastic. Not only is the food bad, but all that waist! We even had real silverware at the elementary school (plastic in jr. high- HS).
Thanks for doing this.
Just a thought about short lunch times…often the times are not because of curriculum demands, but because of the schedule for the cafeteria. At most schools you want lunch served as close to the 'lunch hour' as possible for all students AND you need to schedule times so that the maximum number of students can sit in the cafeteria. For us that means six classes at a time. Classes arrive five minutes apart and each gets 25 minutes….That way there's always an empty section of tables for kids to sit. So, it's not so much the curriculum as the space available. We're a small school. I imagine larger ones don't really have much larger cafeterias and have tighter schedules. So what's worse…20 minutes for lunch or lunch at 10am or 1:30pm? Not really a great choice…
Actually, even if the chicken were real, the teriyaki sauce would have wheat/gluten, since wheat is in practically every soy sauce on the market.
I almost threw up when I saw the inside of the chicken particle patty. I don't think I could even choke one bite down. I am praying for your stomach!
Hey, at least it wasn't breaded chicken! This is the first chicken you have had that wasn't breaded/fried right? At least it is an attempt.
It is a good point that the other posters make though that that is fully of simple carbs…probably will still make for a crash.
As a parent with a child who has Celiac Disease (auto immune disorder to gluten) I am so thrilled to see so many comments relating to the sauce and meat most likely containing gluten. The more people who are educated about gluten the less I feel the need to worry about sending my daughter out into the world as she gets older.
I also cannot understand why they don't just serve whole wheat bread/bun, brown rice, and other whole grains all the time. Why give the students a choice?
Momma_S- What school does your son go to?? I wish my school had gluten free options!