Sending my son to a kosher camp

[Saucy Girl]

I need some ideas please. I need to send my son with a kosher dairy (nonperishable!) lunch each day to camp. Mind you, he's 3 yrs old....if anyone can help me, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Sharon

[Fat Guy]

Has the camp given you specific guidelines? Different organizations require different levels of kashruth. Some are mostly concerned about symbolism, so there the only rule would be that you not include any meat in your child's lunches. Everything else would be fair game: PB&J, cheese, tuna or egg salad (although I suppose those are perishable), any kind of vegetarian salad/sandwich like hummus, etc. Other organizations will have more detailed rules involving permissible sources of ingredients (e.g., everything you buy from the supermarket must be certified kosher by certain oversight groups). That gets a little more complex, but is still doable.

[Saucy Girl]

hmmm, the sheet says: Please pack a Kosher dairy lunch with a drink (no meat, poultry or shellfish). Please provide non-perishable foodstuffs.

I'll send his lunch in a lunch-pack with ice-packs I guess.

He'll eat PB+J, and he loves chees and cottage cheese and yogurt etc. He's not too keen on tuna yet. It's unfortunate b/c his favorite thing to eat for lunch or snack is Hebre National salami or bologna!

Thanks Fat Guy!

[bushey]

Frozen containers of yogurt, or go-gurt, it will stay cold until lunchtime. Also, frozen juice boxes work well instead of the blue ice packs and your little one won't have to schlep anything home.

My daughter's camp used to prefer brown bags for their lunches, so I got a big supply from the store and used markers to decorate her name everyday -- she really got a kick out of it!

[Fat Guy]

With sandwiches, a good trick is to freeze the bread (in other words, freeze the sliced loaf of bread and make the sandwiches on frozen slices of bread). It will defrost by lunchtime, but also provide a cooling "microclimate" for the sandwich contents.

[touaregsand]

Adorable! I can just imagine your 3 year old at camp. Too cute.

How about pasta? It will keep well with a frozen drink. I'm assuming that at this age, a camp supervisor will encourage and help the little ones at meal time.

[Saucy Girl]

yeah, the camp is from 9am - 1pm at a Temple. My son, Max, currently goes to pre-school there 2 mornings a week, so it's a natural progression.

Thanks for the tips about the frozen bread. That is an excellent idea, as well as the frozen juice-boxes!

I guess in the upcoming weeks I'll have to get him to eat things other than salami and hot dogs for lunch!

[WHT]

With sandwiches, a good trick is to freeze the bread (in other words, freeze the sliced loaf of bread and make the sandwiches on frozen slices of bread). It will defrost by lunchtime, but also provide a cooling "microclimate" for the sandwich contents.

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My mom used to make us cheese sandwiches and freze them in advance as she had time. PB&J also freezes well.

[touaregsand]

I must be a careless mom.

My daughter starts school at 9:00AM and has lunch around noon. I've never really worried about food going bad. I usually pack it in one those insulated lunch sacks or boxes.

[Comfort Me]

We are in year six of Jewish Day School. My wife, Mrs. Me, relies on the following:

Ants on a Log (raisins on peanut butter stuffed celery) or

Red Ants on a Snowy Log (craisins on blue-cheese stuffed celery)

Cucumber sandwiches

broccoli with ranch dressing

peanut butter & pickle relish sandwich (try it before you knock it)

cream cheese & jelly sandwich

canned mandarin orange segments

cream cheese on banana bread

gefelte fish (horseradish optional)

hard boiled eggs

leftover salmon

vegetarian mock liver with crackers &

cheese and crackers (kids love to dip or assemble)

fruit leather

Now we are very lucky. The elementary grades have a "Meat Table" in the lunch room, so he can take kosher pastrami, or turkey or salami or even bagel dogs. That really made lunches much more varied.

[SKinCA]

With sandwiches, a good trick is to freeze the bread (in other words, freeze the sliced loaf of bread and make the sandwiches on frozen slices of bread). It will defrost by lunchtime, but also provide a cooling "microclimate" for the sandwich contents.

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Wow. File this under "why didn't I think of that?". Thanks for this tip!

[Saucy Girl]

Comfort me! Great tips, thanks so much.

My son loves cream cheese on anything.....and he also loves blue cheese and craisins. I'll definitely try the "red ants on a snowy log".

Thanks!

Sharon