Back to School, Back to Lunch Packing

Now that the boys are back in school, I'm back to lunch packing. I thought I would share a few of my lunch packing tips I've developed over the past few years.  I pack lunches for my boys every day for school.  One of my goals when I pack a lunch is to make them as trash free as possible.  All the supplies I normally use for lunch packing is re-usable.

Menu
I have a weekly lunch packing schedule that I follow to make things easier on myself but to avoid packing the same old lunch every day.  Sometimes I mix the days up a bit if it would be easier to pack a hot lunch another day or we're out of bread on Monday, but generally I keep to the schedule.  Sides could be fruit, veggies with dip, pretzels, crackers, cheddar bunnies, a muffin, granola bars.

Monday:  sandwich (Nice and easy for a Monday!)
Tuesday:  tossed salad with dressing in a small container
Wednesday:  hot lunch in a Thermos (Nine times out of ten, I make my kids' favorite pasta the night before to have leftovers for lunch)
Thursday:  creative lunch. Ideas include sandwich sushi, waffles with cream cheese, cold meatballs with marinara dip, cold pizza, cold quesadilla, mini quiches, corn dog muffins pitas wedges with hummus.
Friday:  lunchables style "snacky" lunch

Supplies
We have two types of lunch boxes.  Both of them are divided containers so that once the lid is opened, the child can have access to everything at once and just dig right in.  I have visited school during lunch period and witnessed many other kids having trouble opening parts of their lunches, which really wastes valuable eating time.

The ones that I use the most are Ziploc divided containers that I bought at Target.  These are not perfect as a package of them usually only lasts for about one school year before they start to fall apart.  I really like them though because each compartment seals completely, keeping everything separate.

We also have two of the Pottery Barn Spencer Bento Boxes.  These are nice because there are a lot of compartments and they can fit more variety of food.   These are big boxes and require a big lunch bag to fit them and a drink.  The latch is a little questionable and seems like it could break, but both of ours have held up for now.  

For drinks, I usually send a reusable juice box container filled with water and a little squirt of Dasani Drops.

Other supplies I use are silicone cupcake liners, Thermos brand food jars, re-usable food picks, and small cloth napkins.  

When the kids are done eating, they know to stick everything back in their lunch bag and not to throw anything in the trash at school.  This helps prevent losing supplies that are not disposable.

Some Lunch Examples

Lunchables lunch Friday: ham, a pumpkin muffin, granola balls, cheese squares, fruit,  crackers, and a treat

Lunchables lunch Friday: 3 sour bears, crackers, cheese, pepperonis, strawberries, and a Trader Joes granola bar

Salad lunch Tuesday:  Salad, dressing, a leftover rhubarb bar, and a hard boiled egg with a tiny container of salt

Sandwich lunch Monday:  Sandwich, muffin, fruit, and Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Creative lunch Thursday:  pitas with hummus, raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips, watermelon, and crackers

 For more ideas, visit my favorite lunch packing blog, Wendolonia.

Our Visit to Barn Brasserie in Muncie for Lunch

Yesterday a new local restaurant opened in downtown Muncie, Barn Brasserie.  Being the curious diners that we are, the boys and I hurried down today to check it out.  We love non-chain restaurants and this one sounded pretty intriguing.  The menu is described as American style food with French influences.  Many of the ingredients are locally sourced and everything is made from scratch.  

The restaurant is located in the spot where White River Landing used to be.  The new restaurant is quite a bit different from the former fishing/outdoor theme.  The wood paneling on the walls is about the only aspect of the old decor that remains the same.  Even the layout is a bit different.  

Our verdict is that all really LOVED the food and can't wait to go back again!  

Andrew tries out some mandarin key lime soda.  When he finished that one, he chose strawberry rhubarb soda for the refill.

Robby decides to start with a watermelon cream soda

While waiting for our food, I grabbed a crayon and started drawing on the butcher paper coving the table.  The kids freaked out at first - they've never eaten anywhere that had coloring paper covering the tables.  I'm a terrible artist, but this is my attempt at drawing the meal I ordered 

Robby ordered the special of the day, gyro panini with tzatziki and fries.  Included with each meal is choice of one house-made sauce.  Robby selects the ketchup.

Andrew ordered the kids' fish fingers plate.  He refused to wait until I photographed his meal before he started eating.  His fish was all gone faster than I could believe!  He also selected the ketchup for his sauce.

I ordered the brasserie burger and fries.  For my sauce, I chose the ranch.

For dessert, we shared a slice of lemon chess pie.

Robby says this is the "best pie in the world!"

I attempted to take some photos of the menu, but I see now that they didn't turn out very clear.  I recommend visiting and seeing the menu in person.

Pasta with Zucchini and Easy 5-Minute Sauce

Ingredients for our favorite easy meal

One of my family's favorite meals for nights when I need to get supper on the table fast is pasta.  Throw in a vegetable or two, perhaps some meat, and we can even make it a complete meal if there is no time to make side dishes.

A couple years ago, I noticed that almost all of the jarred sauces available at the store came with high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of other ingredients I didn't want or need in pasta sauce.  I tried a few different recipes to make my own sauce, but most of them required a long time to simmer.  Then, I discovered 5-minute sauce.  Not only is it fast, we all like it better than any other sauce we have ever tried!  (My 10-year old regularly tries to lick his plate clean when I make this sauce.)  I regularly send leftovers of this pasta dish in Thermoses with my kids in their school lunch.

On this day, I diced up two leftover grilled Italian sausages and added them as well

Pasta with Zucchini and Easy 5-Minute Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb pasta
1 medium-large zucchini/yellow squash, cut in into 1/2 inch cubes
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 tsp. dried basil or 1 TBS chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano or 1/2 TBS chopped fresh oregano

Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta.  Then, chop up the garlic and get the ingredients ready.  When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions.  Add the diced zucchini to the pasta pot during the last 4-5 minutes of cooking.

While the pasta is cooking, combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic in a medium (3 qt) saucepan.  Stir while you heat up the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute for a minute or so until everything is fragrant.  [If you are using dried herbs, stir them in at this point.]  

Mix in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer. [If you are using fresh herbs, add them at this point.]  Turn burner to low and keep the sauce hot until the pasta is finished.

Drain the pasta and zucchini and toss with the sauce in a large serving bowl.

*Note:  If you use the Trader Joes Tortellini pictured, it only needs 12 minutes to cook (not the 16-18 minutes listed on the instructions.  I really wish they would get that fixed.  If you cook it for 16 minutes, you will have pasta mush.

Adapted from Five Minute Tomato Sauce

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

One of the best things I get to do every month, without my kids, is attend my Ball State Women's Club activities.  I'm a member of their Ladies' Gourmet cooking interest group, which is just so much fun.  Each month, 4-5 of the members take a turn cooking a themed dinner for the rest of the group.  We've had some awesome themes such as South American, Egyptian, Southern Hospitality, and Taste of Barefoot Contessa.

Tonight, our group is having its end of the year bring-a-guest potluck.  Normally, I attend this potluck solo since getting a babysitter on a weeknight is not something we prefer to do.  But this year, my Dad is visiting me from Minnesota for the week, so I am delighted to bring him as my guest.

The theme of this year's potluck is "Take a Page From Your Favorite Cookbook".  I would have to say my favorite cookbook is a binder of my own recipes that I have adjusted and tailored to my tastes.  I rarely use any other cookbook since I get most of my recipe ideas from the internet.  So, tonight I'm bringing a double batch of my Southwestern Quinoa Salad from my binder.  Its one of my favorite dishes.  I love it so much I think I could eat it every day!

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

·      1 cup quinoa

·      2 cups water

·      1 can of no-salt added corn, drained

·      1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

·      4 green onions, sliced

·      2 TBS lemon or lime juice

·      2 TBS cider vinegar

·      4 TBS honey

·      1 tsp salt

·      1 tsp ground mustard powder

·      1 tsp cumin

·      3 TBS chopped cilantro (optional)

Place the quinoa and the water into a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until all water is absorbed (10-15 minutes). When done, the grains will appear translucent. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and let cool.

Put the corn, black beans, green onions, and cooked quinoa into a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon or lime juice, vinegar, honey, salt, mustard powder, and cumin.  Stir the dressing into the salad.  Mix in the chopped cilantro, if using.

Chopped tomatoes and/or bell peppers can also be put in this salad, if you like them.

Fancy After School Snack

Last Saturday I went with a group for lunch at The Ruby Pear, a tea room in a historic home in Noblesville.  I really enjoyed the experience and I look forward to taking the boys sometime for an extra-special outing.  The tea I had there was the best tea I've ever had in my life!  One of my favorite parts of the lunch were the cucumber tea sandwiches.  They had an herbed cream cheese on them that made them much more delicious than any other cucumber sandwiches I've tried before.

Since we had leftover cream cheese, plus a cucumber on hand from a previous produce delivery from The Downtown Farm Stand, I thought today would be a great day to re-create that cucumber sandwich for my lunch.

In my mini food processor, I blended 4 oz of cream cheese with some fresh dill, a few chives, and a couple shakes of garlic powder.  That herbed cream cheese spread on some bread with some thin slices of cucumbers really hit the spot on this warm day.

After school I turned the remaining herbed cream cheese, cucumber slices, the dill, and some whole wheat crackers over to the boys and they had a great time making little after school hors d'oeuvres with them.

Weekly Produce Bin

So fun getting a weekly "present" of produce at our front door!

Ever since the start of the year, Thursdays have become one of my favorite days of the week.  That's because I decided that this year we would subscribe to a weekly produce bin delivery from The Downtown Farm Stand.

Having a bunch of produce delivered to my house is not only convenient, it forces me to find ways to include all of this healthy stuff in our menu each week.

The kids love discovering
what's in the box each week!

Every Monday the lovely delivery assistant, Mary, at the Farm Stand e-mails me to let me know the list of that week's bin contents is available on the website.  I just cruise over to the list, look it over, and if there is anything on there I'd rather not get that week I fill out the form at the bottom of the list to let them know what I would prefer instead.  This week I opted out of lettuce and bananas because we already had those on hand and got green beans and lemons/limes instead.

The other awesome part of this deal is that if I find I'm out of any other groceries that the Farm Stand carries, I can just add them to my bin through their website and the groceries will be delivered to my house with my regular bin contents.

Thai Peanut Sauce

Earlier this week, I mixed up half a batch of Thai Peanut Sauce and put it in a jar in the fridge.  This has made it it really easy for me to quickly prepare myself healthy and delicious lunches at home several days this week.  I've been cooking up one serving of linguini or sobe noodles and then tossing the noodles with some of the sauce and some fresh spinach and then topping it all with chopped cilantro and green onions.  With a side of fruit, this is a fantastic meal!

If you make this sauce, I recommend doubling the coconut milk.