What’s on Your Lunch Tray?

Is it just me and my kids, or do you have standard lunches in your homeschool?  I think part of it is that familiar is easy…and then, there’s just the fact that the kids have their favorites.  Some of our standard lunches include:

• Sandwiches — I usually fix tuna because it offers, believe it or not, some flexibility.  Sometimes the kids like a standard tuna sandwich.  Other times it’s a tuna melt, a tuna-stuffed tomato (really yummy in the summer when tomatoes are fresh), or just tuna and crackers.
• Pizza — every Tuesday.
• Ham roll-ups — My oldest usually has Ramen noodles on ham roll-up day because she doesn’t like them.  They’re super-simple:  I just place a couple of slices of ham on a tortilla shell and top with shredded cheese.  Roll them up, brush the tops with melted butter and bake long enough to melt the cheese. Once the cheese is melted, turn on the broiler for a minute or two, just to get them slightly crunchy.
• Macaroni and bacon casserole
• Pizza rolls
• Chicken nuggets with macaroni and cheese — every Friday.

Now, those of you who know me may be thinking, “Wait a minute!  I thought you were losing weight?  Surely you’re not eating that!”

Yeah.  No, I’m not — well, except the pizza (I only eat two slices and pair it with salad) and the tuna (with a strong preference for stuffed tomatoes).  I have a couple of favorites that I keep handy to throw together a quick and easy — and healthy — lunch for me.  My favorite stand-by’s are:

• Tilapia — it usually comes individually packed, so it’s easy to toss one fillet under the broiler for fifteen minutes while I make a salad for a quick, filling lunch.
• Burrito bowls — I have become such a fan of these!  I skip the rice and just top a bed of lettuce with chicken ropa vieja (which I make ahead of time and keep frozen in individual serving sizes) or chicken fajitas, along with homemade pico de gallo, fresh guacamole, and light sour cream.

Also, I’ve gotten to where I try to make sure we always have fresh fruit available for everyone.  Some of our favorites are grapes (Megan wiped out 5 pounds in three days), strawberries, fresh pineapple, apples, oranges, and watermelon.

What are some of your favorite lunches — especially the healthy ones? Leave a comment or a link to your favorite recipe.  We could use some fresh ideas.

Kris is the classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte, mostly socialized mom to her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers who is refusing to be Eclipsed by obesity any longer.

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Tagged as: healthy, lunches, meal time, written by Kris