School is out and the kids have been home long enough that you are out of ideas. Not only that you are tired and you have half the summer left before school starts again in the fall. What are you to do. Take it easy. Open up a few magazines and look through the pictures. Check the adds in the paper. You will be surprised, what is in the sales adds that are already on your shelf and you have forgotten. Ask the kids what they want for lunch. And, No! You cannot go to McDonalds every day. If you don’t get responses that you have on the shelf, you may get ideas for your next shopping list.
Check the internet. Key in summer lunchions for children. You will be surprised what you find. Ask your children what the would like. Ask them what they have at school that they really like. Here are just a few ideas. Most of all have a fun summer with your children. Enjoy them, they will be gone before you know it.
Ham Salad Wraps are a delicious make ahead sandwich recipe perfect for lunchboxes. You could use canned salmon, chicken, or tuna in place of the deviled ham.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup whipped salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1-1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 2 (4.5-ounce) cans deviled ham spread
• 6 (8-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
Preparation:
In bowl, beat cream cheese with salad dressing until smooth. Beat in mustard and honey.
Stir in corn and ham spread. Spread tortilla with softened butter, then spread with ham mixture. Roll up and cut in half. Serve immediately, or wrap and freeze. To thaw, let thaw in refrigerator overnight, or place in insulated lunchboxes with frozen gel pack.
If you aren’t going to freeze the sandwiches, you can include other vegetables in this filling, like chopped green or red bell pepper, sliced summer squash, or chopped tomatoes. Serves 6
Healthy Mac n’ Cheese
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni(don’t worry, they’ll never know the difference)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup skim milk, warmed for 1 minute in the microwave, or heated on stove
8 ounces low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 1/4 cups)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Cook elbow macaroni until it is al dente, see package for al dente directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the milk. Whisk in the flour. Whisk until the mixture is well combined. Bring it to a steady simmer, whisking constantly. Keep whisking until thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Drain the pasta in a colander. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the cheese, and stir until the cheese melts. Immediately add the hot, drained pasta and stir until well-coated. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and salt.
4. Serve and enjoy!
Pepperoni Pita Pizzas
Ingredients:
4 small pitas (you can use white or whole wheat)
14 oz can of petite diced or crushed tomatoes (depending on your texture preference)
6 slices of pepperoni, cut into strips
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Run a sharp knife just inside the edge of each pita and follow the outline to remove the top layer of bread and create a border for the pizzas. Place the pitas directly onto the top rack of the oven and cook for two minutes to crisp.
2. Meanwhile, place the canned tomatoes in a sieve to remove all the excess juice.
3. Divide sauce evenly among the pitas and spread over the entire cut-out surface.
4. Divide half of the pepperoni strips evenly among the pitas and scatter them over the sauce. Sprinkle ½ cup of cheese over each of the pitas. Top the cheese with the remaining pepperoni strips, dividing them equally among the four pitas.
5. Bake the pitas directly on the oven rack for eight minutes or until cooked.
6. Cool slightly, serve and enjoy!
• Actual time for eating lunch at most schools only lasts for 15 to 20 minutes and is filled with distractions. Make sure the lunch foods you pack are easy to eat, packed in easily opened packages, and don’t require peeling or special tools.
• Small children may not eat very much at one sitting. Think about packing appetizers instead of a large sandwich and whole banana. You can also include more choices if the quantity of each is smaller. Fill a mini muffin tin with small amounts of foods, wrap with foil, and pack into the lunch box.
• Small foods are not only easier for children to handle, but they are more fun to eat. Cut sandwiches into smaller pieces, use tiny tortillas for wraps and small sandwich buns, serve baby carrots and peel and cut fruit into smaller pieces to interest your child in the foods you pack.
• Think about different types of bread for sandwiches and dippers. Try crackers, mini waffles, rice cakes, mini croissants, pita bread, mini muffins, small bagels, tortillas, focaccia, raisin or cinnamon bread.
• If your child wants the same thing day after day, go ahead and pack it, as long as the overall meal is nutritious and you are sure your child eats it. Kids don’t like a lot of change in what they eat. Did you know that it takes 10 to 12 introductions to a new food before a child is usually willing to even taste it?
• Take some time to look at the prepackaged lunches in your grocer’s refrigerated section. These appeal to kids, but aren’t very nutritious. You can pack the same types of snack foods, but use healthier choices for more kid appeal.
• Salsa, hummus, bean dips, or fruit dips with baked chips and veggies or fruit are good lunchbox choices, since these foods contain more vitamins and fiber.
• Make sure to think about food safety. Freeze juice boxes or small gel packs and place in the bag. The juice will keep other foods cool and will thaw to just the right temperature and consistency by lunchtime. Use an insulated thermos for hot foods like soups and stews, and cold salads too. For best results, rinse out a thermos with very hot water to heat it before adding hot soups. Rinse it out with ice water to chill the thermos before adding cold soups.
• If you make your own snack mixes, you can include healthy additions like dried fruits, unsalted nuts, pretzels, and baked crackers. Kids love to munch on something crunchy and sweet or savory.
• Instead of making sandwiches, consider packing individual sandwich ingredients to let your child make their own sandwich at lunch, or eat the ingredients separately. Many children don’t like to eat more than one food at a time, since their sense of taste is very intense.
• Cereal bars can pack a lot of nutrition into a food kids love to eat. Include raisins, currants, or other dried fruits in the recipe for additional flavor, color and nutrition.
• Make sure to include something fun – a sticker, cookies wrapped in plastic wrap with a ribbon tie, sandwiches cut into playful shapes, or meats and cheeses or fruits threaded on a caramel apple stick (which is safer than a traditional kabob stick).