Quick and Easy School Lunches

Oh the joys of making school lunches! As mothers and fathers we know the joy that comes along with the mundane task of having to come up with and make school lunches five days a week. In our minds as we make these lovely nutritious meals for our children, we picture them sitting around the lunch table bragging about how their parent makes the best ham and cheese sandwich, and how they just love to eat their veggies that make their way into their lunch pail daily. Ok snap back to reality! None of us really enjoy having to make our kid’s lunches every week and frankly our kids don’t like having to eat them five days a week! And we all know that half of what’s in little Billy’s lunchpail gets thrown away, especially the veggies! Well I tried out some different ideas and recipes to help with the frustration and time consuming task of making school lunches.

Ok first quick and easy, yet slightly new and exciting, lunch idea is a Pinwheel Ham and Cheese Sandwich. It takes a classic and changes it up a bit. for this you will need:

  • Flour tortillas, or Flat Bread Wraps
  • Thin sliced Ham deli meat
  • Either shredded or sliced cheese
  • Lettuce, if your kid will eat it!
  • Toothpicks 
  • First Lay out the tortillas or Flat Bread.
  • Spread Mayo and mustard on tortilla
  • Layer lettuce, if using, if not then layer the ham
  • Layer cheese
  • Roll tortilla into burrito shape and slice
  • Push toothpick through each roll to keep together
  • I cut the tops of the toothpicks off so it wouldn’t break through the baggy
  • You can make a large amount and store in the fridge or freezer. I recommend not adding lettuce if you freeze them 
  • Another fun twist on a classic is the PB&J roll!
  • Simply Take a slice of bread and spread peanut butter and jelly on it
  • Cut all the crust off, what kid likes crust anyway!
  • Then roll the bread as you would a burrito! Presto you have a PB&J roll!!
  • I cut each roll in half so my kids had 4 rolls total, which still technically is only one sandwich
  • My kids loved it!! You could even add Nutella for a fun little surprise This next lunch idea had me a little skeptical I’m not going to lie! I stumbled across a picture of it online and thought it looked like a cool idea, so I decided to try it out! It’s what I call a Banana Hot Dog. You’ll need:
  • Hot Dog buns
  • Bananas
  • Creamy Peanut Butter
  • Jelly or Jam 
  • Take a hot dog bun, or in this case a banana bun, and spread the peanut butter on it.
  • Peel the banana, cut the ends so it fits nicely in the bun
  • Spread the jelly or jam to the top of the banana
  • Cover it in plastic wrap and stick it into your kids lunch pail! They won’t know what hit them when they open their lunch and see this!! I actually taste tested this and really enjoyed it! Like I said I was skeptical, but now I’m a believer! Next up is this super easy snack or lunch for the kids that don’t care for bread. This is something that could also easily be an after school snack. It’s a meat envelope! Here is what you’ll need:
  • Deli Meat
  • Cheese of Choice
  • Apple red or green
  • Lay out two pieces of deli meat so they overlap each other. One piece my be enough depending on the size
  • Slice the cheese. I added two slices of cheese side by side. Again if you have a larger slice then one should be fine
  • Slice apple and lay the slice on top of the cheese
  • Fold the deli meat over each other
  • I also folded the bottom portion up too and then stuck them in a lunch baggy. You could also wrap them individually in plastic wrap. This is a quick and easy snack or lunch!Now this has to be the easiest lunch idea on the post! It’s a smore’s trail mix. Here’s what you’ll need:
  • Small size Marshmallows
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Teddy Grahams crackers
  • Use about 1/3 to 1/2 the bag of Marshmallows
  • Add The box of Teddy Graham crackers
  • Add 1/2 bag of chocolate chips
  • Mix together and that’s it!!
  • Divide the trail mix into snack size baggies ready for the week’s lunches! I just keep mine in the fridge and grab them when I add them to my kid’s lunches. Your kids will love this fun snack addition to their lunch!So here is another lunch idea I may have had some doubts about. But once again I became a believer! These are mini corn muffins and they are yummy! Here is what you’ll need:
  • Mini Muffin pan
  • Cornbread mix
  • Hot dogs 
  • First grease your muffin pan. I used Pam to do this
  • Make your corn bread using the mixture from the box
  • Slice your hot dogs into thirds
  • Once you have made the corn bread mixture scoop it into the muffin cups about a table spoon for each
  • Do not fill the muffin cup completely because once you insert the hot dog it will rise…..learned this the hard way!
  • Insert the hot dog into the corn muffin mixture
  • Cook for 8-11 minutes at 375 degrees or until done Mine came out perfectly imperfect! But they were still yummy! My kids loved them. I put a couple in my kids lunches on their first day and they said they were great even cold! I’m always searching for easy and nutritious snacks to add to my kiddos lunches. Well these peanut butter power balls are just that! Here’s all you need:
  • Creamy Peanut Butter
  • Oats
  • flax seed
  • Honey or Agave
  • Chocolate Chips
  • In a large mixing bowl add 1 Cup Oats
  • 1/2 cup Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
  • 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips
  • 1/3 Cup honey or Agave
  • 1/4 Cup Flaxseed
  • Mix all together until combined. Then roll into balls.
  • Place in freezer for 1 hour
  • Keep in fridge or freezer in ziplock bag
  • Caution these are addicting!!I hope you enjoyed this post and got some lunch ideas!! I know its tough to get through an entire school year of making lunches! It gets old for not only for you but your kids too, so hopefully this will give you some new fun and yummy choices!! Please feel free to leave comments below and share some lunch ideas too! Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a post!!

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