Camp lunch #1

As a working mom, I've been particularly fortunate to have have Sophie at a school with a lunch program that includes mostly organic, mostly homemade, mostly delicious meals. The program wasn't as good this year as it has been (the cook seems to be crapping out on us and really soon retire), but all the food is made there at the school each day instead of being prepared at district facility and shipped out wrapped in plastic and then heated at the school. And whereas I'm not thrilled with even homemade nachos being considered a lunch (nachos are an appetizer for christsake), we are spared corn dogs and chicken nuggets. I've been even more fortunate to have a kid who will eat what is served at school. I've encouraged her in this over the past few years by refusing to make her a home lunch, adhering to the message accompanying dinner: This is what we're having. Eat it or go hungry. 

I'm foiled though by summer camp, which serves neither lunch nor snacks. I need to send with Sophie all the food she will eat during the day while she is there. We've got the snacks down pretty well—fruit, crackers, yogurt, etc.—but lunch has put me into quite a spin. She does not really like sandwiches. Quesadillas, which she is happy with at home on weekends, come back cold, hard, and uneaten. Soup, also a weekend favorite, is not practical. And we have found that another weekend favorite, canned sardines (called "dines" by Sophie and her dad) make her unpopular with others. Apparently not everyone finds food that smells like catfood attractive (when feeding the cat, Sophie draws in a deep breath over the can . . . "Mmmmmm!"). 

So we're doing a little experimenting. First up, the wrap. 

I spread a flour tortilla with goat cheese, ham, and pesto (I confess—I was doing a little fridge cleaning here).

Looks very nice rolled up and sliced, no?

And the result?

SCORE! Nothing left but a few cornichons, which she insists she does like but was too busy to eat. 

Today's lunch is leftovers from last night, summer pattypan squash filled with seasoned lamb and topped with feta and tomatoes. She like it last night, and it's one of those things that's probably even better the next day.

In the meantime, I think we're on to something with these wraps. I'm thinking of all kinds of other things we could put inside: tapenade, grilled eggplant, fava bean spread . . . It's going to be such an exciting summer [add sarcasm—I'm not that crazy].

Any summer camp lunch ideas you've found to work well? And if you're thinking about Lunchables, that's fine. Just don't tell me.