Lunch from Home: Lunchables Nachos

Ed Bruske

aka The Slow Cook

Here's another Luncahbles that's sure to draw a crowd: chips with salsa and cheese dip. It's regular party food, no? And you get a pouch of fruit punch to wash it down.



When the other kids at the table see these, they literally stop whatever else they might be eating and stare, waiting for an invitating to join in. When the owner of the Lunchables gives the green light, look how the other kids swarm around. This could be happy hour, except it's lunch.

Unfortunately, there weren't enough chips to finish the cheese. But apparently that's what fingers are for.

Lunch from Homes: Lunchables Pizza

By Ed Bruske
aka The Slow Cook

It took a mad genius to invent Lunachables. Kids love them. They are filled with nothing but stuff that kids adore. Pizza is far and away the favorite food of kids in the cafeteria. This build-your-own version just adds all kinds of exciting possibilities.

Plus, you can see it's not just pizza inside the box, but cookies and Kool-Aid. I suppose this is okay, since the crust, according to Oscar Meyer, is made with eight grams of "whole grain," although the ingredient list--a mile long--merely describes "enriched wheat flour."

Look at all the stuff in here. For some reason, in addition to the bottle of water, there's a tube of "Kool-Aid Tropical Punch Single." I suppose that's for extra sweetness, since the first ingredient listed is sugar. In fact, this meal contains 25 grams of sugar, or about six teaspoons.

But look what fun. First, you get to smear a packet of tomato sauce over the crust.

Then you sprinkle on the cheese,

Finally, add some pepperoni.

You don't need any utensils. It eats just like a regular pizza. Except it's not hot.

Pretty, cool, huh?

Who says meals from home aren't as good as the stuff they serve in the cafeteria?

What's for Lunch: Lunchables Pizza

By Ed Bruske
aka The Slow Cook

Now here's a concept I totally do not understand: building your own cold pizza.

Don't get me wrong. I've been a huge fan of leftover pizza all my life, even though I try to avoid starchy foods now. But this Lunchables one fourth-grader brought from home looks more like wafer crackers with sides of processed cheese, pepperoni and a packet of tomato sauce. Then again, pizza is kids' favorite food.

According to the packaging, this lunch contains 36 grams of sugar--or 9 teaspoon--but I think that comes from a packet of "all natural fruit punch flavored 100% juice from concentrate" and a cherry-flavored Airheads dessert.

Airheads apparently attact kids with their neon colors. According to the company website, the cherry version is made from sugar in various forms, including, well, sugar along with corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrose, modified food starch (corn), artifical flavors, Red 40 and some trans fat in the form of partially-hydrogenated soybean oil. A real treat, eh?

In fact, the little Airheads package is open before the pizza's even been touched.