STEW LEONARD’S OFFERS PARENTS BACK-TO-SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS THAT MAKE THE GRADE WITH KIDS
NORWALK, Conn., August 25, 2004 – As the father of four daughters, Stew Leonard, Jr. has had to pack many lunch boxes in his life. Being in the food business, he knows how important it is to teach children at an early age about eating healthfully. But he also knows that the healthiest lunch in the world is not going to be gobbled down if it doesn’t have kid appeal. How does a parent make sure they pack a lunchbox that gets a passing grade – both nutritionally and with their children? Here are some of Stew’s top tips for trade proofing school lunches.
Building Blocks to a Healthy Lunch
All nutritionists agree that a healthy lunch should contain:
- A serving of protein, such as low-fat lunch meats (turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef), peanut butter, tuna fish, beans or eggs;
- A fruit and/or vegetable;
- A serving of whole grains – such as whole wheat bread/pita/wraps or whole grain crackers;
- 100% juice or low fat milk for a drink; or make a healthy soda by mixing seltzer water with 100% juice in a thermos;
- A healthy dessert or occasional special treat.
“The trick to beating lunch box boredom is to get creative and have fun with the menu. Take your children grocery shopping with you, and get them involved in the preparation. Ask them to create a new sandwich combination,” said Stew Leonard, Jr. President and CEO of Stew Leonard’s. “If they build it, they will eat it.”
Beating Brown Bag Boredom
It does not have to be time-consuming to build a better lunch. All it takes is a little creativity.
It’s a Wrap!
· Instead of making a sandwich on traditional bread, try whole wheat or whole-grain pocket pitas, tortilla wraps, crackers or even leftover waffles or pancakes.
Color-My-World
· Add eye-appeal by packing a palette of colorful foods. Parents can get creative by packing a patriotic lunch with red-white-and-blue colors, or a Shrek-themed lunch featuring all-foods ogre green.
Crunch Counts
· Texture is important, so mix crunchy foods with smooth, such as celery sticks filled with peanut butter, adding fresh fruit to yogurt, peanuts to tuna fish, etc.
Creative Packaging
· A standard sandwich is much more appealing when it is cut into a fun shape. Use cookie-cutters to transform boring bread into stars, alphabet shapes and holiday themes.
· Miniaturize: cut everything into bite-size pieces
· Nip and Tuck: Ziploc, Rubbermaid Thermos and Tupperware all have a host of colorful containers that come in handy shapes and sizes.
Nuts About PB & J
The average American child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by the time he or she graduates from high school. While the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the lunch box standard, parents can put a modern twist on it by using some of the gourmet peanut butters that are available. Stew Leonard’s top-selling peanut butter is Peanut Butter & Co.’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter, which is all-natural and contains no hydrogenated fats. The company has a restaurant in New York City’s Greenwich Village, and provided this tasty variation to the traditional PB&J sandwich that they serve on the menu there:
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl™ Sandwich
Ingredients
2 tbsp Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter; 2 tbsp Stew’s light cream cheese; 1/2 Granny Smith apple; 2 slices Stew Leonard’s Nine Grain Bread; lemon juice
Preparation
1) Peel and core a Granny Smith apple and cut half of it into thin slices
2) Dip the apple slices into water with a little added lemon juice so the slices do not turn brown
3) Spread the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter on to one piece of the bread
4) Spread the cream cheese on the other piece of bread
5) Place the apple slices on top of the peanut butter
6) Close the sandwich and cut into quarters.
For more information on Peanut Butter and Company, visit www.ilovepeanutbutter.com.
About Stew Leonard’s
Stew Leonard’s, a family-owned and
operated grocery founded in 1969, has three stores in Norwalk and Danbury, Conn. and Yonkers, N.Y., with a fourth store planned in East Farmingdale, N.Y. The company was named among
FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in
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