As the heading says, I'm completely lost when it comes to lunchtime. I don't like to cook two meals and we don't usually have leftovers. So for lunch we either have sandwiches or pizza. My family doesn't like the precooked frozen stuff and they're getting tired of PB&J...Any suggestions, advice, or recipes would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!
Also, my 2 year old is VERY picky...He doesn't eat what a normal kid would eat (hot dogs, lunchmeat, etc). If he could have it his way, it would be cheese and crackers just about everyday! :)
Egg salad sandwichs are wonderful! Grilled cheese with soup, tuna fish with soup, raviolis, chicken nuggets, quesidillas
I know what you mean! Some really simple things I do are the same as some of the other responses... I also sometimes make bean and cheese burritos (with canned refried beans). You can also buy pre-cooked chicken. I will warm up the chicken, put on a bun with pepperoni and melted cheese. I also copy those "lunchables": do a variety of cracker toppings (my son loves crackers) like pizza (pizza sauce, pepperoni, cheese.)I have also become very attached to my crock pot and skillet. I will throw a few items in the crockpot the night before and it's ready by lunch (skinless chicken wings in BBQ, pork and make pulled pork sandwiches). My favorite is vegetable chili (diced tomatoes, chili and kidney beans, corn, red peppers, onion, and chili seasoning). Usually there are leftovers (which I also am not crazy about) but there is so much you can do with chili: put it on hotdogs, in a bean burrito, on chips with cheese (nachos). For the skillet: dicing chicken with frozen vegetables and sautee. I also really like philly sandwiches, most grocery stores have beef specifically for cheesesteak phillies and they cook in a matter of minutes (throw some peppers and onions in the skillet serve on buns, i like whole grain, and cover with cheese). I also like to make hambugers and grill on my little geoge forman grill (grilled chicken also cooks great). Good luck and thanks for asking -- other people had such good ideas that I am also gonna use!
Have you tried soups or rice. I make a lot of mac and cheese with either chili or tuna. Also, you could give them fruit. I sometimes open a can of applesauce for my youngest and a can of pears or peaches for my oldest. Fresh is better but if you want easy canned is the way to go. If they eat the whole can, they'll be full until snack time. It sounds too simple but it works for my kids. Of course now, I've moved onto the big cans of fruit. Good luck!!
There are a lot of easy things to make that kids like a lot. One thing mine liked were to take a hot dog, wrapped a slice of cheese around it, then wrap a triangle of crescent roll dough (the kind in the tube) around the outside and bake. Packaged salad mix makes it easy to make a salad. Adding chopped apple, walnuts and raisins to it appeal to kids. Homemade frozen yogurt pops are something kids can help with - a pint of plain yogurt whipped together with some fresh berries or bananas or tangerines then frozen in a dixie cup.
Kraftfoods.com has a few suggestions that are fun for kids, easy on moms and not expensive.
Jenn
This one is a tough one for any Mom. Some of my kids favorites are all made with tortillas. You can take pizza sauce, some pepperoni slices and mozzarella cheese and you have a pizza wrap. Or some bacon, lettuce and cheese, a BLT wrap. We have spread peanut butter on the tortilla and then wrapped up a banana. There are probably a million things you could think of to put in your tortillas and I know that my kids love coming up with "wraps" and being able to create their own lunch.
Have you tried the frozen chicken nuggets--their pre-cooked and can just pop in the oven/toaster oven.
My kids like the pot pies. you have to plan a bit as far as timing as they take about 25 min. to cook all the way through. They usually split one and and have a banana or grapes with.
do you make tacos? I make an extra batch of taco meat and put it into containers that I can microwave and then just add to the shell. If you don't want to cut up tomatoes, you can drain a can of diced ones or use a mild salsa. my kids won't eat lettuce or tomatoes, so we have meat and cheese.
Make a batch of mac & cheese. split into containers. I make it with noodles, velveeta, and milk. thus, you can make a huge lot once and freeze.
Do you not have leftovers because you just don't have enough or because the leftovers never get eaten. My husband is bad about overlooking the leftovers. So I put a wipe board on the fridge that listed the leftovers, and all needed to be eaten before the next trip to the store. With the list, it's more readily able to see without much thinking.
have u tried chicken nuggets, mini corndogs,and cold pasta with ham chunks and veggies. these are my boys favorits. i look on sites like kraftfoods.com or FamilyFunRecipe.com for new and easy lunch and dinner recipes.
We do cheese sticks and fruit, cheese and crackers, hardboiled eggs. Nuts and raisins w/ milk. Lots of fruit and different cheeses. I also keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables & fish sticks in the freezer so I can pop some in the microwave when I can't think up anything. Oh and the TINY baby carrots and European(english)Cucumber. Try using the sandwhich "stuff" disassembled like a party platter. Sometimes we do "party" lunch where I make up a turkey, cheese, fruit, and veg. tray and have a party.
I keep lots of fruit ready for eating. I finally (after being a mom for 20yrs.) figured out to slice the oranges into wedges and then slice them off the peel - for the 1 yr. old (never thought of giving a 1yr old orange but he loves it, but I make it little bites)and wedges for my 6yr. old.
Quesa Dias (sp?) they are quick and you really have no clean up.
Oh and since you wrote that you are involved with church we learned about something called the Jesus Diet. Dried fruit, nuts, flat bread ... I think there is a published "diet" that you might get ideas from.
Hi J. T Do your children like other kinds of lunch meat like bologna, ham, turkey, That either on a sandwich with so fresh fruit. This is getting to be a great time to fresh fruits and vegtables. Carrots and cukes with ranch dressing. Ravolis to 123, ABC. Pastas , Soups. You sound like a great mom. Good luck with your pampered chef business. I love your product. Have a great day and God Bless you and your family. K.
My kids love Ramen noodles. They would eat them every day if I let them. They are quick and easy to fix and you can add shredded chicken or beef to them. My kids get tired of the same ol' stuff all the time so I try to come up with something different. They really love mac and cheese with hamburger in it. Sometimes I will put taco meat in it instead of regular hamburger. Another favorite is nacho's. Throw some dorito's or other nacho chips on a plate and let them decide what to put on top...meat, beans, cheese, sour cream etc. Now that the weather is nice, we cook out on the grill alot. Brats, hot dogs, chicken drumsticks, hamburgers, pork chops, boneless chicken breast. I dont know if any of these ideas help but my kids love them. Good luck and have a wonderful mothers day!!
