Silly Lunch Debate

for who? A child or an adult?

for a child? Soft taco.

An adult? whichever!!

The person eating has to like it. If they don't like salami - another meat. So I would ask the person who it is for - which they want...even a child can make the decision!! :)

I think the taco is more nutritional........ however some beans boiled up and cooked at home (not fried) would really pack a protein punch instead of the cheese.

Nothing wrong with peanut butter.

That salami sandwich you described made my mouth water though....

My thought is option #1 would be better for you.

And I would think plain PB would be better.
Although I'm sure you could find some real fruit spread w/out the added & extra sugar?

Pretty equal.. not great. But the Tortilla with cheese is the better of these choices.

To me, which one will get eaten?

Honestly, if you add in some fresh fruit and veggies any of the three options you mentioned would be ok in my opinion. Some will debate if the tortilla is whole wheat and the cheese is raw, organic. Others will say the salami is bad because it has nitrates and the gluten-free crowd wouldn't eat any of the breads/tortillas offered. Depending on how much it is processed you have to wonder about high fructose corn syrup or GMO's are in these foods! Pretty exhausting just to find something healthy to eat!
Some great websites I follow on Facebook and on the internet are Foodbabe and 100 Days of Real Food. They give a lot of great recipes and advice on what to feed your family healthfully. Good luck!
HTH,
A.

i think whatever the child will eat best. lunch at school is the one meal that needs to have some wiggle room. it can still be a 100 per cent healthy, or halfway there.
out of the two options, my kids would eat both, minus the white bread (replaced with wheat).

They all sound good to me personally - I don't eat much at lunch, so as an adult each choice you describe would give me a nice burst of energy. I'd probably add a side of baby carrots and/or some grapes, and finish off with an iced coffee. Done!

Plain PB, can add add fruit instead of jelly as some posts below mention. Or add honey, for PB and honey.

I see all three as being nutritious options, as long as eaten in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. If you want to make these options more nutritious use whole wheat tortilla, roll and bread, low fat cheese, high quality salami and low sugar jam. Pair any of these choices with fresh fruit and veggies and milk to drink you have a well balanced lunch.

I think the tortilla with cheese sounds the best, but I do hate salami, so I am biased ;). But to me cheese is natural and salami is loaded with salt, nitrates etc. I think peanut butter with a small amount of jelly is fine and a whole lot easier ti get down than just peanut butter on bread personally.

#1, but both options are...unsatisfying.

To answer your follow-up question, jelly only adds no-value carbs which spike energy, leading then to a quick dip in energy (and attention). Better to leave it off. But p.b. and real fruit is a winner (sliced bananas, grapes, strawberries, raspberries)!

I don't know about nutrition but I can honestly say I'd rather have the cheese tortilla.

I don't see one as being more nutritional than the others. I'd consider all 3 options to be pretty weak, nutritionally...

Peanut butter on whole wheat would have more nutritional value than either of the two you listed. Lunch meats and white bread have very little to offer. If you're using low fat cheddar, that would be better. Jelly adds flavoring and sugar, there is no fruit nutrition in jelly.

They both need a 'something else' in there. I'd guess the tortilla, only because the food is less processed, maybe? Neither sounds very filling.

Just look at the information on the package of the different ingredients and do the math.
It doesn't sound like either choice has any (or many) vitamins or minerals, and cheese and salami are both high in salt, so probably the only significant nutrients are the calcium in the cheese and the protein in the salami.
Tortillas and white bread have zero nutritional value as far as I can tell, so those are just empty calories.
And re the jelly, again look at the label. Some jelly is nothing more than pure sugar, and some is made from whole, less processed fruits and therefore maintains a small amount of nutrition.

Whichever one they will eat is what I would pack.
It's a lunch. You can make up the nutrition with breakfast and dinner.

Are these school lunches?
Nutritional value would be the same for a child or adult.
I'd guess that option 2 would be more filling.
Cheese on a tortilla seems like carbs & fat only.
Maybe I don't understand the question.
Is there a context?

The tortilla and cheese is the better option. Those are both simple foods. Salami is a highly processed food, as is white bread.
PB alone is better than with jelly, because jelly is nothing but sugar.

Now that said, I don't put much deep thought into my kids' lunches nor do I tend to judge others.

The only time I take notice is when a kid's lunchbox is full of nothing but junk food. When my son was in Kindergarten I was helping out in class and a little girl's lunch had chips, two kinds of cookies, gummy worms, Kool-Aid, and a chocolate candy bar. This did not make her happy. She wanted things the other kids had. The other kids shared and in the end, she had a milk, a string cheese, a bunch of green grapes, some baby carrots and half a PB sandwich.