Yesterday, I was a guest on National Public Radio's Tell Me More show to discuss the new school lunch rules. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that all four panelists agreed that parents are key to keeping kids healthy and we also agreed that parents should be encouraged to take on this role rather than encouraged to cede this responsibility to government cafeterias. I was surprised by this agreement because so often when I discuss this issue in other forums, I often hear the familiar refrain that packing lunches is "too time consuming," or "it's difficult," or I hear that "people don't understand how to pack good an healthy lunches."  While I don't agree with any of those arguments (how hard is it to stick a piece of baloney between two slices of bread and put a banana in a bag? C'mon!), I do agree that parents sometimes run out of ideas and can have trouble getting their picky eaters to try new things. 

Well, now there's help on that front.  One of my fellow panelists on NPR yesterday was Laura Fuentes who owns and operates MOMables–an online source for creative home-packed meals (she's also a mother of three so she knows about feeding kids!). According to the MOMables website:

Each Friday a new weekly menu plan and a shopping list will be available to paid subscribers. You log in, print it, shop, and prepare! It’s that easy. All of our recipes have photos of the homemade lunch showing you what the meal will look like ­— something we parents love. Most of the recipes you’ll make ahead of time saving precious time in the morning. There are no special gadgets needed to make your kid’s lunch, no hard-to-find ingredients, no processed food and no lengthy recipes. MOMables™ is all about uncomplicated yet good food for your kids. In nearly all recipes, you’ll be able to swap ingredients to accommodate for food allergies and ultra-picky eaters. Unlike store-bought lunches, MOMables™ recipes provide kid-sized portions you can adjust based on your child’s eating needs.

It's important to be aware of these solutions and to know that there's help and resources out there for parents who want to provide meals for their kids in a creative and healthy way. MOMables is one great resource for moms and dads. Check out the website here.