It's just lunch — a brown paper bag with a simple sandwich, chips and an apple. So why does packing it feel like such a chore?
"It dawned on me one evening that I loved to cook, but I absolutely dreaded making lunches," says 43-year-old Kelli Kirk, a self-proclaimed "foodie" and human resources manager from Seattle who sometimes enters baking contests for fun. "Why is it that I can bake 27 cakes for the Puyallup Fair, but I don't want to make a peanut butter sandwich?"
It's a common refrain in kitchens across America as parents gear up for another school year. Packing lunch is tedious, boring, uninspired. But the alternative — being at the mercy of the school cafeteria ( home of the dreaded chef's surprise )— is worse.
What's a parent to do?
