We are getting really tired of lunch! Please give us some new ideas for lunches that are quick, filling, contain basic foods, budget friendly, and don't take a long time to fix. I know that is asking alot so if you can cover any of these requirements, that would be great. By the way, we have been eating alot of sandwiches and pizza lately because I have been uninspired. Please help!
One of my favorites to do is make up a tray containing a meat, cheese, veggie. Sometimes I'll make up one with little sandwiches and fruit. A yogurt afterward for dessert is nice also. Noodles and salad. Pasta with veggies. Muffins, apples and milk I am interested to see what others post too because I am really tired of chicken noodle soup lol The kids don't like other soups. It's getting a tad dull to say the least.
At your kids' ages, I'd enlist them to help make lunch. I did that with my ds14. He was able to learn how to cook that way, too. We started with egg dishes in all forms. Then we went on to pastas. Still not a lot of variety, but just having a change in the routine can help. We plan our menus based on what we have stored from hunting and the garden and any deals I get at the store on clearanced items. I like to use sites like All Recipes and do an ingredient search to come up with ideas based on what we have available. It helps keep our pantry from piling up with the things we don't love.
Dressed up sandwich We like to take a wheat tortilla wrap (Extreme Wellness, High Fiber, Low carb) & put our sandwich fixin's on them & roll them up & slice them as many times across as we like. My 11 yo likes to have hers in about 6 slices, (they remind her of coins so she is eating money). My 12 yo. only wants them cut in half. -Dress them in sandwich meat with toppings of your choice. -Dress them with p.b. & j. -Dress them with p.b. & a banana placed whole on the p.b. then roll it up with the banana as center of the wrap. Have fun with them. -We actually slice wraps like a pizza then put them in an iron skillet (with olive oil) for a moment to crisp them. This makes 'chips' to eat with salsa or have a taco salad with them. -We use them as an actual pizza as well. Stick them in the oven whole for a moment until they get a little stiff, put on sauce, cheese & other toppings, then back in the oven for heating of toppings & melting of cheese. The brand that I mentioned above is all I use. My 11 yo DD is type 1 diabetic so these are great. They have 5 grams carbohydrates & 12 grams of fiber. That is a large dose of fiber for such a little food. We are BIG on low carb, high fiber. It is very important to her diabetic health to have both of these aspects focused on in her diet. Hope this helps. Oh yeah, popcorn (popped on stove top, old fashioned way, with olive oil) is a decently healthy replacement for store bought chips @ lunch. As Brooke said, DEFINITELY have them help or even make lunch (both my girls make their own lunch). I assist them verbally on needed things but they pull it together. It can be part of their lessons if you choose. Math, science, home ec... Aside from my faith, healthy food & exercise for my family is my number one focus. What good is anything else (education, work, or play) if you haven't got your health? God bless!
I give my boys dinner left over a lot. It stretches a buck, helps with left overs, and taists great the second time around. - pin wheels- Penute butter and jelly rolled in tortilla, and cut. Very fun for them. finger foods: Hard boiled egg, string cheese, fruit, crackers with cheese (my boys love making cracker sandwitches)
We do a lot of the finger foods too. My girls love to make veggie trays and meat/cheese trays to nibble on. We like to make burritoes, toastadas, and taco salads too.
Pizza: on a bagel, or a pita bread or French Bread grilled cheese, change up the types of cheese, add sliced tomato or ham chicken nuggets or toquitos Quasidillas pancakes! Egg rolls Fruit salad Pita pocket sandwiches cocktail winies in biscuits corn dogs quich
A variation on the tortilla pizza...we wrap a mozzarella stick in a tortilla, warm it in the microwave and dip it in warmed spagetti or pizza sauce. Another filling favorite is grilled banana and peanut butter sandwiches. Here's the link... http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/grilled-peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich/Detail.aspx
Great ideas, friends. I printed this out and stuck it on my fridge as a reminder. Cool idea about the mozzarella stick in a tortilla w/spaghetti sauce.
Left overs!!!! lol I like to make extra at dinner so I can just reheat the next day. Other suggestions ~> 1.ham (or turkey) and cheese rolls take refrigerated croissant Dow, fill with meat & cheese fold over and cook till done 2.cracker sandwiches crackers,meats,cheeses, veggies like lettuce or tomato . just layer with toppings and eat 4. Broccoli mac and cheese make mac and cheese and add steamed broccoli
Tanner lunch favorites: *Deli Wraps (tortilla's, dressing, lettuce, meat, cheese) *Homemade 'Lunchables' (a homemade version of the kid-friendly Lunchable...Tanner usually loves salami or ham, crackers, and fresh cheese...much healthier than the stuff you get in the box) *Soup and Sandwiches *Buttered Noodles *Chicken Nachos (tortilla chips, cheese, shredded chicken, otehr toppings) Aiden is picky...he will eat peanut butter sandwiches for every meal if he could!
Three my kids always liked: Hamburger soup - brown a pound of hamburger. Drain. Add some beef broth and frozen mixed veggies. Heat. That's it! Gorp - mix nuts, cereal, dried diced fruit, raisins, coconut, whatever you have on hand in a bowl. You can even add a little regular rolled oats, chocolate chips or chocolate sauce, mini marshmallows for a treaty lunch! My kids always loved it when I made Gorp. It surely wasn't an every-day occurrence, but was a great way to help beat the "blahs". English muffin pizzas - Split Eng. muffins in half. Top with pizza sauce (I always just used tom. sauce and oregano), meat or veggie toppings if desired and cheese. You can bake or stick in microwave or toaster oven. Very easy and very versatile.
Google 'Muffin Tin Monday' or 'monkey platter' for some awesome ideas, esp for little kids. My kids just had a muffin tin for dinner. They had meat, dairy, whole grain, fruit and veggie It's not often I can get all 5 food groups into one meal for my oldest (sensory issues=extremely picky eater), so they work great for us.
Oh my goodness! I just looked at Muffin Tin Monday and its amazing! How fun is that?! Love it~love it~Love it! Thanks for the idea. That will really shake things up for my dd6. Did ya see those pink bunny pancakes? Too cute!
