How can I make more appealing school lunches?

Q. My fourth-grade son asked me if there were any cookbooks for kids' lunches. I think he is trying to give me a nice subtle (not!) hint that I need a little help in the lunch department. Should I let him do the school lunches? They really do not look all that healthy.

A. I might get in trouble here, but I would recommend making your child's lunch whenever possible. Kids really want to eat quickly, and standing in long lunch lines cuts down on their time to play. Also, if you are packing the lunch, you know what your child is eating and if it is healthy.

At snack time, send something nutritious and substantial, but again something the children can eat quickly so that they have time to play. Homemade granola bars make wonderful snacks. Yes these might take some time when you bake a big batch, but you can freeze them so that they are ready to grab and cool to eat by the time snack comes around.

Store-bought items like bagel thins with cream cheese or peanut butter, lunch meat rolled around a piece of cheese, or some fruit and yogurt would also be good examples of balanced, quick snacks. When making lunches, look at the question below for some packaging tips, but have fun with different ideas.

Your son is old enough to explore some websites with you and choose items he would like to eat, and also some he might like to make himself. My two favorite recipe sites for school lunches are www.school-lunch-ideas.com/ and www.amazingmoms.com/htm/baglunches.htm.

Q. My daughter's teacher next year already posted a challenge on her webpage: Summer's end Challenge: Go Green, and show me ways you can reduce your waste this year in your school snacks and lunches. She will be in a fourth-grade GATE class and is very competitive. We are not the "greenest family," but we really wanted this teacher so now we need to embrace it. Any ideas on the angle this teacher is trying to take so we can impress her?

A. Your daughter could research starting a composting system for her school. This is a big endeavor, but your daughter could explore it with research to present to the teacher and principal.

There are some ways to "go green" when packing your child's lunch. Try wrapping your children's lunch items in aluminum foil rather than plastic baggies. When the children unwrap sandwiches in this, it makes a little plate for them so they do not get things dirty on the lunch table. Also, after, they can bring this home and recycle it.

You can also use washable containers for food rather than disposable items. We all know by now that the plastic water bottles we buy from the store are not supposed to be reused. You can recycle them, but you can also buy BPA-free plastic water bottles to use over and over.

Also, when sending lunch items, send homemade, real food rather than prepackaged items to reduce the amount of packaging waste as well as reducing the amount of preservatives your child will be eating. Even though you say your family is not very "green," I bet you are doing some of these things already.

Contact the writer at www.goasktheteacher.com.