School lunches

[Stacey Jewell Stahl]

Alannah takes her lunch to school every day, and she's done so for the past 2 years. She's a little bored with PBJ and ham or turkey sandwiches, and now that she has a dairy allergy she can't add cheese to her sandwich or take yogurt.

So last week I asked her what she'd like to take in her mini-thermos for lunch and gave her some suggestions. She decided on chicken noodle soup, chili and spaghetti. We also planned some baking: oatmeal cookies (with soy butter and apple sauce for moisture), apple tarts and mini muffins.

So today we had our shopping list and we made:

1. PENNE: Two boxes of penne pasta with three jars of sauce and 2 pounds of ground turkey. This gave us 14 lunches for her.
2. CHILI: 1 pound of ground turkey, 4 cans of beans (pintos and kidney beans), 1 can of corn and chili seasoning. This gave us 10 lunches for her.
3. CHICKEN STEW: 2 chicken breasts that Michael grilled on the smoker yesterday, 1 big can of chicken broth, 1 pack of Mrs. Grass's dry chicken soup, noodles and brown rice. This gave us 8 lunches for her.
4. MINI MUFFINS: Michael burnt the mini muffins - - - we have to start over! I buy Fiber 1 muffin mixes.
5. PANCAKES: Michael made a big batch these with Silk instead of milk. These will be a quick breakfast for her.
6. APPLE TARTS: 2 tubes of crescent rolls and some apple pie filling were the main ingredients here. Brush with egg white and sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar. This made 16 desserts for her.

I also made a huge pot of chili for our family using 4 chicken breasts that Michael grilled on the smoker, 6 cans of beans, 1 can of cheddar cheese soup and half a cup of sour cream. This will be 4 meals for us.

So we spent about 2 hours shopping and cooking for a months worth of lunches for her, plus 4 meals for ourselves. We have a deep freezer, so we freeze everything. I push all of the air out of the Ziploc bag and lay each one flat. They freeze fast like this and unthaw quickly.

We are going to do this once a month, and I'd love to hear your suggestions for future meals for both Alannah's lunch and our family dinner. I'm looking to brown 5-10 pounds of turkey and make and freeze meals with it or have Michael grill 12 chicken breasts on the smoker.

I have to get organized to do this, but when we do, wow, does it feel good! Less clean up, less shopping, less food wasted, less worry, more in the freezer. I'm tired now, but I love that we are stocking up!

[MomtoEVE]

Great ideas. Emily is 7 too and very picky so rarely eats school lunches. She is a fruit and veggie girl - not much of a meat eater at all unless it is chicken nuggets or patties. but loves cheese and yogurt. She will eat vegetarian soups and chilies (she loves beans) Libby with eat just about anything and Tori is a lost cause who has already trimmed her diet to ramen noodles and frozen pizza! She is not an meat either only for the most part (but more than Emily)

I have a baked spaghetti recipie from taste of home and after it is in the pan can be frozen before the final baking step and that is great (but requires aluminum pans for freezing. Lasagna is much the same. I love the crock pot, but those are more just plan ahead rather than cook ahead. I will have to think of more ideas to try my self, since I need to make lunches for ME for work.

[Stacey Jewell Stahl]

Dana, I don't make lasagna much anymore because I have been unable to find a soy version of shredded mozzarella. But I thought of another great dish to freeze in an aluminum pan: Mexican lasagna - - - I use whole wheat tortillas for the layers, chili and soy "Colby Jack" cheese.

I make a sandwich or leftovers every day for lunch. I don't mind the routine of that.

[Amy Eileen]

I have a cute school lunch story I could share!

Normally I pack Connor a lunch for school but this week I was so busy that I gave him lunch money. He started at a new school this year and the lunch program is run differently. Last year he paid the teacher and someone would bring him his lunch. This year he pays his teacher, she gives him a ticket and he is suppose to go to the lunch room, hand the ticket in, and they give him lunch. No one explained this to him so when he came home from school the other day, we had quite a laugh.

I asked him what he had chosen for dinner and he said, I had a donut. (I had given him one for recess.) I asked what else and he said nothing. I asked him why he didnt eat his lunch and he replied, They didnt give me one. They gave me a ticket and I cant very well eat a ticket, now can I! LOL Poor thing. I explained to him what he was suppose to do. Thank goodness I thought to put an extra snack in the box for him. I wrote his teacher a note so he will be getting his lunch tomorrow instead.


For Connor`s lunch I pack him things like different sandwiches, cheese, fruits, veggie sticks, yogurts (I know she cant have them), Jello, baked goods which are usually whole wheat products because of my own issues, soups & stews, wraps made from leftovers, etc..

Check out these fun sandwiches!

http://www.funkylunch.com/gallery.htm

[Bek, aka opeysmama]

I can't read this whole thread right now because I have to go JOG! ACK! But I'll be back to read, and to suggest...

[Bek, aka opeysmama]

K I'm back.

Well, I'm the world's worst cook, and I hate cooking. So dinners I'm not good at! But for lunches, here is what we have been doing...

Soup, sometimes when I make soup Olivia will take the leftover the next day, or if no levtovers she likes chicken noodle.

Lasagna, the chef boy r dee kind. I despise the stuff, but she seems to love it. She won't eat any of the other types, like spaghetti, only the lasagna.

Carrot sticks, celery sticks, sugar snap peas, with ranch dip. Sometimes green pepper slices. Oranges, raspberries, etc...they love fruit!

Sub sandwhiches, they love ham, pepparoni, cheese, mustard and pickles.

We do begels sometimes, but not often. Olivia likes them sometimes, Tommy hates them. (Tommy is SO picky!!!)

Yogurt. Always a fav.

They also like those little pre-packaged ham/cheese or pizza kits you can get in the cooler section, I don't often buy them but I do on occassion. I do send my own ham/cheese/cracker home made version with them and they love that too.

Pudding...

Some of that stuff of course is snacks. At their school they have to take a snack and a lunch.

Amy, that story about Connor is so funny, but I feel bad he was probably hungry because he didn't know about the ticket!!

[Bek, aka opeysmama]

Oh darn I forgot salsa and chips, because I make my own salsa all the time and they love it! I make a special version for them with no hot peppers

[Jeanye aka neetdesigner]

Wow Stacey! This is awesome! I need to do some of this for DH and I. Then he can take stuff for his lunches and we can just grab something from the freezer and heat up for dinner! Thanks for the idea! I wish I had some ideas for you but, unfortunately I don't. I am just going to steal your ideas......

[Stacey Jewell Stahl]

Well, the reason I had to do this was because of Alannah's dairy allergy. We can no longer send yogurt or string cheese or a ham and cheese sandwich or even a once-in-a-blue-moon Lunchable. No Chef-boy-ardee stuff either. No Cheezits.

With the success of her school lunches, I am now planning a huge cooking event for DINNERS! I'll post in a separate thread.

[Amy Eileen]

Stacey, when you buy your muffin mix and pastry dough, are you checking the labels for dairy?