It’s time to think outside the Lunch Box! Whether you are planning to pack a sack lunch every day, feed your Homeschool family, or just need something delicious for your Preschool age kids, THIS is the post for you!
Come on over to see me at Marathon Mom today!
~T
We talked yesterday about ways to keep lunch fun for your kids. Today can be about keeping lunch fun for Mommy. 🙂
I rotate lunch choices, sometimes eating what the kids eat with them, sometimes picking something else and waiting to eat until the house is quiet and they are all resting.
For a couple of weeks I will be on a salad kick. So I’ll stock 3 kinds of lettuce, shredded carrots, and have cucumber, red pepper, and tomatoes diced and ready to go in the fridge. While Dale is home on the weekend and grilling anyhow, I have him grill me a couple of chicken breasts or a steak to go on my salads all week.
The next rotation might be sandwiches with the kids, I get fun kinds of mayo like the A1 sauce version, yum! I also like to buy unique kinds of cheese like Smoked Cheddar, Muenster or Provolone, to keep it interesting.
Sometimes I like to do Oven Nachos in my toaster oven: a layer of chips, cheese, taco sauce drizzles, shredded taco chicken, cilantro and lime juice with a dollop of sour cream and some tomatoes on top after it comes out of the oven.
Within these rotations, I am also eating supper leftovers with the kids some days. Sometimes we just don’t have enough leftover for all of us to eat the same thing.
So, the other day, I found a new lunch to add to my rotation….
Oh man, I loooved these when I was preggo with Paxton. I had forgotten all about them, until the other day when a friend posted a pic of her Super Bowl Snacks.
Move over Pigs In A Blanket, because here comes Pickles in a Blanket! The lunch of choice for pregnant (and not-so-pregnant!) women everywhere.
{click title for easy printable}
Spread slices of ham with 1 tablespoon of whipped cream cheese. (like what you put on bagels) Add a whole pickle and roll.
Easy, right? Enjoy this lunch when everyone is laying down for nap time. Tastes great with a good book. 🙂
I’ll share a few more simple lunch favorites of mine in the days to come!
Happy Lunch Making!
Another recipe coming your way tomorrow….
~T
Blog reader, Rachel, posted a great dip on my Facebook page when she saw this photo. It is found here and looks AMAZING! It’s the dip version of the above pickle and ham deliciousness.
It’s been one week since the Media Detox post, so, how’d it go? Did you notice a change in your home and how your kids played together? I think a reset is good for all of us once in a while. I’d love to hear from you, or just leave a comment about how it went!!! So on to today’s post…..
I feed 3 of my 4 kiddos lunch at home every day. It’s pretty easy to get into a rut, so I did an experiment this month and it was a SMASHING success!
{Pax CLEARLY was not impressed with me snapping his picture mid-apple bite}
We typically have sandwiches or supper leftovers for lunch, with some fun ones thrown in to the mix. I will be sharing those with you today as well as the results of my mini-experiment!
The experiment was, if I take the same lunch items, but change-up shape and size, would it be more fun again?
The answer was a resounding YES!
For our sandwich days, meat and cheese or PB&J I changed bread shapes:
Flat bread
Whole wheat hoagie buns, mini whole wheat cocktail buns and the flat sandwich bread circles.
I also changed veggies, rotating between celery, snow peas and broccoli. Carrots are always a staple at our house, so I rotated between big ones peeled, regular baby carrots and petite carrots. {Don’t forget those wafer chip carrots, too! Not pictured}
Sometimes veggies are served with ranch, sometimes not, because I want them to learn to eat them both ways.
They were so excited for lunch again, you’d have thought I was coming up with a whole new menu!!!!!! Who knew it would be that simple?
Here are some of our more “fun” lunches:
Mini Pizzas with a small salad
Pita bread dipped in Hummus, with carrots and grapes
Cheese Roll Ups with cherry tomatoes
Bean Burritos with chips and guacamole
Tuna Bunwiches with carrots and chips
Egg Salad Sandwiches or served on Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers with cheese cubes, raw veggies and apple
Lots more ideas for simple and unique lunches on this blog post!
More lunch ideas coming tomorrow,
Hugs, T
4 little Fergusons 