There is lots of excitement around here as the children are preparing to go back to school. The backpacks are getting dug out and packed and the lunch boxes are starting to appear.
That got me thinking about what is going to go in those lunch boxes. We don’t just have one or two lunches to pack, we have 7 or 8! So we can’t just start to think about lunches the night before as it takes a bit more planning.
I decided that this week we would spend some time making some lunch box items. This morning we were going to work in the garden but it started to rain so we changed our plans. I quickly remembered that we could get a start on our lunch items that could go in the freezer.
We started out with Bacon Egg muffin sandwiches. We scrambled 10 eggs and poured them into our electric frying pan. As they cooked we put our bacon in the microwave. By the time the Farmer’s cheese was sliced the eggs and bacon were all cooked. So we just needed to assemble all 12 of them and wrap them in foil. They smelled so good but no one was allowed to taste them!
Next we made Mac n Cheese muffins. Mix all these ingredients together.
2 cups cooked macaroni, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 eggs beaten, 1 cup milk, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper, 2 cups shredded cheese, 1/2 cup bacon ( fried and crumbled). Grease muffin pans and fill them with the mixture. You could also put 2/3 cup bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons butter on top if you wish. I just sprinkled more cheese on top. This made 23 muffins for us.
Then we decided to make beef and bean burritos. We fried 2 pounds of beef with some onions and then added taco seasoning. Then we added 4 cups of refried beans that we had made last week. We then put the meat on our tortillas. After we sprinkled some shredded cheese on them we folded them up and wrapped them in foil. That made 23 burritos.
Yesterday when we did peaches we froze over 60 small cups of diced peaches for lunches. This may sound like lots of food but when 7 or 8 lunches get packed a day it disappears very fast.
A day or so before school starts we plan to put some filled snack bags in the frig also. Maybe some carrot sticks, celery sticks, and grapes. My son also requested that we make a big bowl of snack mix to be put in bags also.
What are you favorite and handy things for lunches?
These are such great ideas! I don’t have to pack lunches since I home school (and the last two years when they were in a Christian school, they got lunch at school) but even with home schooling, lunch can be such a challenge! It’s almost harder when there is just one or two at home, because who feels like cooking for just one or two? 🙂 I will try some of these ideas, for sure! They will be great to pull out of the freezer in the morning and have for a quick, easy, decent lunch!
I should do the burritoes – we have them frequently for supper and the leftover get wrapped for lunches. Those pizza tortillas I mentioned the other day work well too.
The boys LOVE when I make these: http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2012/08/pretzel-dogs-and-time-keeper.html But it isn’t QUICK. I haven’t made them for awhile.
I’ve also made hot pockets using a variety of ingredient. Again, it isn’t quick but sure is handy! I have a recipe for a dough that is very nice to work with. Breakfast hot pockets are a favorite.
One year we simply made a bunch of ham n cheese sandwiches and wrapped them in foil and froze them. We’ve also made sandwiches that they don’t like to eat warm but still freeze them for quick lunch packing.
I freeze LOTS of fruit in those small containers: strawberries, blueberries, applesauce and peaches. We have 400 total done for this school year. I use the 4 oz cups that stack really nice and take up a little less room. No one has complained about the size so far.
Wow, you do have a lot of frozen fruit. I would love to do more but I don’t have much freezer space. I need to get your hot pocket dough recipe. I just make them from the canned biscuits and it is quick and easy.
I got the recipe from Brenda Burkholder but I this is the same one: http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2009/06/hot-pockets.html
Yes, the fruit takes space. I fill the freezer of my extra fridge, and about half a shelf in an upright freezer. So this time of the year my freezers are stacked well and filled to the top!
These are great ideas. I hate to admit it but I’m already dreading the lunch packing when school starts, and I only have three lunches to pack every day. Every summer I freeze fruit slush in cups like you use for your peaches. It is a mixture of peaches, pineapples, grapes, apples or any other fruit the kids are hungry for in an oj concentrate mixture. They love that for their lunches.
I also like to make the fruit slush. I still have some in the freezer for lunches as I make that all year. The peaches are special since I usually only freeze them when I do peaches and they don’t last long.