As if the “what’s for dinner, mom?” wasn’t a big enough stressor on those busy weekdays, the new school season brings another loaded question: “What’s for lunch?” For busy parents everywhere packing, a healthy yet well-received lunchbox can be a real challenge. You may want to be better than the white bread sandwiches that you grew up eating in the cafeteria, but with such little time and energy, sometimes it seems there’s no other way. 
Enter cookbook author, avid blogger, and mom of two Catherine McCord. Weelicious Lunches, McCord’s second book, recently landed on bookshelves in perfect timing with the back-to-school frenzy.
Including gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and nut-free recipes, McCord reminds families just how many choices they have in providing healthy and delicious meals. McCord doesn’t just provide a list of soup and sandwich options either; no, Weelicious Lunches offers a range of awesome recipes like crispy chicken bites, peach and pineapple fruit leather, Mexican muffins, and veggie tortilla roll-ups that will surely light up your children’s lunch period—-not to mention strategies for picky eaters and the principles of packing the perfect lunch.
We sat down to with McCord to chat about lunch box surprises, getting kids excited about vegetables, and why it’s best not to do everything for your kids. Enjoy the interview, and don’t miss the recipes from the book that she’s graciously shared:
- Crispy Chicken Bites
- Baked Whole Wheat Raspberry Doughnuts
- Silky Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Crouton Bites
What was the inspiration behind your second book?
It was when I was first taking my daughter to preschool and she was 2 and a half. I saw what the kids were eating–it was a lot of white bread sandwiches. [But] then there were two kids who had these special lunchboxes, and the teachers were just raving about them and how it changed the kids’ lives. I went and bought one of the lunchboxes and started taking pictures of the lunches. It was just for me in the beginning… Four years later, it was [became] an international thing. I became obsessed with school lunch, how and what kids ate, and just everything revolving around it.
How did you develop your recipes for this book?
When I’m developing recipes, I take classics—things that I love—and see if I can reduce the amount of sugar, sometimes fat, and use wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. I like to do different spins on classic favorites. Sometimes it’s seasonal. A lot of it is reader-driven, which is awesome.
When do you prepare the lunches? Do your kids usually help?
Most of the time I prepare everything at night. Sometimes I’ll do a panini sandwich or something similar in the morning. We have a whole thing about surprises. I do something different everyday, so I turn it into a surprise, and they get giggly about that.
As someone who has a crazy sweet tooth, I have to ask you how you feel about desserts.
My principal for lunch is that everyone should include a fruit, vegetable, carbohydrate, protein, and it’s really a lot easier than you think. But I always have a sweet treat. Sometimes it’s fruit leather, sometimes it’s a cookie. I think it’s really important to treat everything with balance.
What would you say to parents who have really picky eaters and can’t get them to eat vegetables? I think it comes down to exposure. I find encouraging ways though to get them to eat vegetables. Last night, for example, we had a lot of beans from the garden, and my daughter wasn’t eating them, so I said, “Let’s pretend they’re trees and eat them.”
What are some of the things that kids can do in the kitchen?
First and foremost, get them involved—let them pick a fruit or vegetable they really want and make something with it. Go to the grocery and say, “You can pick out any fruit and vegetable that you want; let’s put it in your lunch.”
Do you shop organically? How important is it to do so? We try to. We do a lot of shopping at the farmer’s market. Almost everything we buy is organic. I tell people to get one organic food that’s in season a week. I do realize that organic ingredients are more expensive, but in the long run, I’m not sure that doctors trips are going to be a lot less expensive…
Can you speak to presentation when it comes to cooking for kids? Any suggestions for parents that don’t require a lot of time or creativity?
You don’t have to go crazy. Fruits and vegetables in themselves are really bright colors. You don’t have to turn something into origami; sometimes it’s the way you cut something. Textures, shapes, and so forth are important.
So your kids are helping with putting their lunches together and making choices at the grocery store and/or famer’s market, but what about the clean-up? Do they get involved?
Ohhhh, yes. We’re a generation where we’re doing everything for our children. Never do anything for your child that they can’t do for themselves. If they can do something, let them. It’s empowering. I put cups and a stool at their level so they can get their own water; it’s great if you can allow your child a good feeling about independence.
Was there a vegetable that your kids scorned for a period of time until you presented it to them in a way that made them change their minds?
Butternut squash. I always tried to get my kids to eat it, and then one day when I was eating roasted squash with a little syrup, I told my daughter, “OK, I’ll pour you a little dish of maple syrup, and you can dip your squash in it.” They both ate four servings!
