Two Easy Lunchbox Recipes

Happy Friday! I get so excited on Fridays!  Not only is the long week over, but I also get to share the post that takes all week to pull together. Today, I have two easy recipes you can whip up for using in lunches. Sandwiches and roll-ups can get a little monotonous at times. These recipes let you get it done beforehand. Make a big enough batch of them and you can keep it around and use it all week!

Let's start with what I've been packing:

Tuesday:

Ham and cheese rolls ups with a twist. I added pickles and mustard in the middle. And, boy, my cheddar did not want to roll up. Not pretty, but she ate every bite and said they were the best. Also, grapes, trail mix, carrots, cucumbers and ranch to dip.

Wednesday:

Peanut butter and banana sandwich. Trail mix. Grape and kiwi fruit kebabs. That only too a few extra minutes to do, but she was super excited about them. Completely worth it!

Thursday: 

Pasta salad, trail mix and grapes.

Friday: 

Half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut out like a dinosaur, as requested. Applesauce, peppers (yes, that red one is a sweet pepper!) cheese and raisins. This is another day she planned to eat school lunch and changed her mind on me at the last minute. She loves my lunches!

Two Easy Recipes: 

         Trail Mix

As you just saw, I packed this almost all week and everyday it got gobbled up. Trail mixes are too easy to make with ingredients you already have around your house. I bought nothing special for this. I looked in my pantry and went off of what I had. You could probably look in your pantry and whip up something similar.

Whole Hearts, Craisins, Pretzels, Pecans, White Chocolate Chips. 

This is what I put into it. No measurements. Just stick to a formula to make it easy: A cereal, dried fruit, something salty, nuts for protein, something sweet. Add mostly cereal, then slightly less fruit than you did cereal , then slightly less of your salty than the fruit...get the picture? Easy! I also sat around and snacked on it, too. It was good. It looked like this: 

Since this had the white chocolate chips in it, I considered this her dessert everyday. She also had fantastic behavior at school all week and no fruit snacks with high fructose corn syrup or artificial dyes. Coincidence? Possibly. I'm just sayin'. 

Italian Pasta Salad: 

I wanted to send something new. I gave it to both my husband and daughter and got good reviews from each. I was in the kitchen a little longer that night, but it was worth it. 

Ingredients:

6 oz. Spinach or Veggie Pasta

1/2 c. pepperoni, sliced in half

4 oz. cheddar cheese, cubed

Small can sliced, black olives

1/3 c. chopped bell pepper

1/3 c. Italian dressing

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Rinse with cold water. Combine with the rest of the ingredients  Stir well and refrigerate overnight. Makes approximately 4 servings. Add more or less dressing to suit tastes. 

To be honest, I didn't measure. It's just not something I do when I'm throwing ingredients together. Everything above is approximate. I taste as I go. My husband liked it, too. This is what he took that day: 

Looks good, right? He sure liked it! Those mini sweet peppers? We're big fans! They're delicious and easy to pop in a lunchbox. I keep them on hand for packing in his lunches. He prefers them over carrots any day. 

What did you pack this week? Anything you made in advance so it was easy to pack? Hope this is helpful if you are doing your grocery shopping and planning over the weekend. Look out for next Friday. I'll be back with ways you can disguise veggies into your kid's lunch! 

Mixes and Hugs, 

    Cindy