Back To School Lunch Ideas

This will be my first year sending a child off to school all day long.  That means I will be sending him off to school each day with a homemade lunch in tow.  I have been trying to come up with some easy ideas to try and mix it up a bit for him--he would eat peanut butter and honey every day if I let him.  I've also been questioning my seasoned friends who have been doing the school lunch thing for years.  In his lunch I will include a main dish item, a fruit, a vegetable, something crunchy (chips, crackers, etc.) and a little treat.

I got my son a really great lunch bag at Costco (of course) that came with an ice pack and a stainless steel water bottle.  All for $9!  I also bought one of these.  He loves tomato soup, so it will work perfectly for that.  Some other ideas for the thermos would be:  

Any kind of soup

Hot Chocolate (special treat)

Milk (we always liked it when my mom would send us a thermos of cold milk and then homemade granola so we could have granola cereal--it was the best)

Since I don't want to send him to school every day with a sandwich I got to thinking of some other ideas that would suit his taste.  My friend told me she sends tortilla wraps with her kids.  I went to the store the next day and bought all the necessary ingredients to do a test run.  It was a success!  Here are a list of possible ingredients:

deli meat ( we like the fresh deli meat from costco--ham, roast beef and the herb roasted turkey)

shredded lettuce

spinach

any kind of cream cheese spread that would go well with deli meat (we like the whipped cream cheese and chives)

chopped bacon pieces

peanut butter and jam or honey

The wrap pictured below is one I made for myself, so it has tomatoes in it.  My son does not dig tomatoes in his, but I do.  I use the durum wheat uncooked tortillas from Costco.  I would cook up a bunch and store them in an airtight bag for use throughout the week.  That way you are not cooking one every morning.  Once the wrap is made, roll it up tightly in saran wrap.

Some other main dish items I will send are:

Ham and cheese roll-ups

and

Peanut butter and jam/honey sandwich (of course)

My son won't like me to mix it up to much on him, so I will stick with 4-5 different items to rotate from.

My friend also showed me these awesome containers found at The Container Store.  They are great for dipping vegetables in ranch dressing or any other use you can think of.  Seriously, what child doesn't like dipping carrots in ranch?  

For the fruit part of his lunch I will stick with his favorites.  Cut up apples slices, unsweetened apple sauce, watermelon, cantalope, grapes, strawberries and mandarin oranges (the fresh ones).  I'll have to work with what is in season, but mostly he loves any kind of fruit.

Now for the crunchy items.  I found these reusable snack bags about 6 months ago and love the idea.  I don't own any yet, but plan on purchasing some soon.  I think they are a great way to eliminate overusing plastic bags.  They are easy to clean and easy for kids to use.  They also come in three sizes--small, medium and large--and many different patterns.  Check out Armommy's site for more awesome products.  

Now for my son's favorite part...the treat.  I plan on freezing cookies and bars whenever I make them.  They are really convenient and most anything will freeze well if stored properly in the freezer.  For the times when I don't have something homemade, I will have a little candy stash to pull from.  It will take great self-control on my part to not sneak any away, but I think I can do it.

Oh, and the drink.  I like my kids to drink as much water as possible, but since I'm so awesome, I'll probably send him off with juice 3 times a week.  I like the 100% fruit juice drinks found at Costco.  I can't remember if they are the Kirkland Signature brand or Hanson's.  

That should wrap it up for me.  I'm sure I'll learn as I go of what works and what doesn't, but for now, this is what I have.  I'd love to hear from you mom's out there who have done this before (even if you aren't a mom yet, I'd love to hear any of your ideas).  What do you send in your children's lunches?  

Watch This

My sister sent this to me yesterday.  What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI

Chicken Nuggets

Isn't this gross?!

Recipes: Out With The Old, In With The New

This is one of my recipe binders.  I love this binder from russell+hazel that my husband gifted me a few Christmas's back.  It's full.  Too full. 

Every few months, I pull out my binders and take out the recipes that didn't work and add the one's that did.  I have one whole binder dedicated just to sweets.  I've pretty much stopped buying recipe books.  I'm pretty picky about them.  I like each recipe to have a picture that goes along with it.  Sometimes, that is hard to find. Unless you are awesome like her.  I've found the internet to be my one big virtual cookbook.  

I use page protectors for a variety of reasons.  They wipe clean if I should spill food on them, I can put a recipe on each side and they hold up really well.

Another view.  I have mine categorized.  For my "main dishes" section, I categorize the chicken dishes together, the beef, pork and so on.  This is what works for me.

I really like the band that goes around to secure it shut.

Since I can't afford to have multiple binders like this, I have used this as an alternative.  MUCH cheaper and still looks really good.  It's there for your downloading pleasure.  What do you think?  What works for you?

Love At First Sight

A while back I discovered an apron or two that I absolutely fell in love with.  I asked my mom to try and recreate one of the aprons for me.  She said in a week.  I patiently waited and then I started to bug.  She said it was finished and she mailed it off.  I waited some more.  Then, when my son's birthday package arrived from her, I thought surely it would be in there.  Nope.  I called her.  She tried changing the subject.  Then this weekend I got a package in the mail.  It wasn't from my mom, but there was the most beautiful simple high waisted apron inside.  I was smitten.  My aunt found out that my mom was going to make it and decided to take action.  She said it was the wedding present we never got.  It was the best wedding present ever...well worth the 7 1/2 years of waiting.  wink. wink.  I love the simplicity of it.  It's perfect in every way.

I am aware that my face is not in the pictures.  Let's just say it wasn't a good day for my face. One of these days I will make my debut.  Maybe.  I am also aware that there are wrinkles in the apron from being folded...it is made of linen.  When I tore it from the package, I put it on immediately.  I knew I would be getting some serious wear from it, so I decided I had better take picture fast.  I have barely taken it off since I got it.

Side view.

A top button closure as well as a tie in the back.

The ties are even long enough to tie in the front. I love that!

Recipe Cards

Check this out.  Pretty cool, eh?

See, I'm Not Perfect

I was talking to my sister yesterday on the phone and she asked me "Do you always make really good things for dinner?"  Ha, ha, ha.  Yeah right!  I take about 2-3 days a week and either make hot breakfast for dinner, have leftovers, or sometimes we eat cereal.  Yes, it's true.  You want to take a peek into my life...well, this picture pretty much sums it up a lot of the time.  And to think this is just one side of my kitchen.  Oh, and you really can't get the full effect unless you see two little boys running in circles around the kitchen with swords.  

Yeast

For your information, I like to use saf-instant yeast.  It is quick dissolving, cheap and lasts for a long time.  I store mine in an air tight container in the freezer.  It's hard for me to find in Texas, but if you live near a Winco or Macey's I know they both carry it.  From personal experience, I think yeast has a lot to do with the quality of your bread.

Pictures

Let me just get it out there that I am not a professional in any way for taking pictures of food, people or anything else.  My husband bought me my dream camera for Christmas, so I have been having a little fun with it. By no means do I know what I am doing with it.  My pictures are edited in Picasa because I am too cheap to get Photoshop.  Maybe one of these days...

Thank you for the compliments, though.  I'll do my best.