Summer Lunches

[wishesuponastar]

OP, here's what we do (and no kids... but I do have a DH...and well, you get the idea )

*PB and J Sandwiches.
*Pasta Salad with whole wheat pasta, frozen bagged organic veggies, and dressing out of apple cidar vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. DH likes to heat it up and put pasta sauce and cheese on it, but I eat it cold as is.
*Hummus wrap- whole wheat tortilla, chopped veggies (any!), hummus.
*Avocado wrap- whole wheat tortilla, avocado slices, salsa, canned beans.
*Rice and Beans- canned beans, brown rice, salsa, topped with cheese.
*Frozen Bean and Rice Burritos
*Frozen Veggie Burers (we like Dr. Praegers)
*Chili- 3 cans of beans, drained and rinsed, mixed with 1/2 jar organic spagetti sauce, 1/2 c of water, chili powder/cumin/Franks Red Hot sauce to taste. Simmer a few minutes. Freezes well. Top with cheese, eat with chips or alone. I sometimes like to add organic tempeh to the pot.
*Soup is a good make-ahead and freeze meal.
*Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (rarely, but a good treat sometimes)
*Salad (make ahead)- organic bagged lettuce, chopped veggies (any kind!)
*Stuffed Baked Potatoes- bake a potato in the micro (or in the oven), layer with beans, salsa, cheese, and put in the fridge. When the kids are ready, they can pop it in the micro to heat.
*Egg Salad can be made ahead and put on bread with lettuce. Made with mustard instead of mayo, it's a pretty low cal lunch with lots of protein.


Hope that gives you some ideas!!

LOVE your ideas!! thank you

I try to find tasty and healthy food to make my family and i don't like it one bit when the kids make a fuss when they don't want to eat it when i know perfectly well that they have eaten it in the past. i do not tolerate picky kids! that's what grandmas are for LOL

 

[StitchBuddy]

We have been eating lots of sandwiches for the past 2 weeks, but no one is complaining, because I got an awesome deal on Hawiian bread and everyone loves it. I'm sure the sale will end and then we will be back to regular and I will get complaints. The pp's have some good ideas though.

 

[Soarin_04]

Kind of in the same boat here, but with a twist -- The soon-to-be 14 year old is "kid sitting" his 11 year old brother, so I had to come up with easy lunches he could throw together and nuke that were relatively healthy. He and I figured out the kinds of things they'd eat that would require minimal doing and cleaning up time.

I made and froze BBQed chicken quesadillas (think I originally got the recipe from once-a-month-mom; easy and really good!), some bean-beef-cheese burritos, and I boiled up some chicken breast, cut it into smaller pieces and flash froze it. This way, he can pull the cubes out and toss them into a salad or toss them with BBQ sauce and chuck them on a bun. They both also requested the usual sandwichy stuff -- PBJs and some lunch meat. Another thing they stumbled upon -- those Arnolds flatbreads? They cover them with a little olive oil and garlic powder and mozzarella and stick them under the broiler for fake white pizza or they do the traditional thing with sauce and cheese.

But, as others have said, we're big into using up what's in the fridge in terms of left overs the next day...although, with two growing boys, the left overs are becoming less and less of a problem.

Good luck!

 

[SDSorority]

LOVE your ideas!! thank you

I try to find tasty and healthy food to make my family and i don't like it one bit when the kids make a fuss when they don't want to eat it when i know perfectly well that they have eaten it in the past. i do not tolerate picky kids! that's what grandmas are for LOL

You're welcome

 

[aprilgail2]

Kind of in the same boat here, but with a twist -- The soon-to-be 14 year old is "kid sitting" his 11 year old brother, so I had to come up with easy lunches he could throw together and nuke that were relatively healthy. He and I figured out the kinds of things they'd eat that would require minimal doing and cleaning up time.
!

My 11 year old is babysitting the 3 year old next door during the summer-the mom is supposed to be leaving food prepared to feed him though-I am hoping its all cold because I would really prefer her not be using a microwave!

 

[java]

We are going to be instituting a Cooking Class Wednesday! Every Wednesday this summer they (4 kids aged 6-17) will all be my sous chefs for the day- we're going to make dinner together. Hoping that the 17 year old really picks up on the skills he'll need soon.
They can all do basics like make a grilled cheese or a quesadilla- or scrambled eggs.

Our first meal is going to be chinese pork dumplings with dipping sauce. There is enough peeling and slicing and pouring and mixing to keep everyone busy.

Lunch can be brutal. Sandwiches get old quickly, I tried bento last year. We have dipping veggies. Hummus was a surprise hit. We stir fry a lot. rotfl2: and we are not chinese! seeing that most of our meals are asian)

We have breakfast fried rice
Pizza
Pasta salad

 

[momxx5]

All my boys.....14, 16 & 17 can cook.

My 14 yr old has been cooking for years. When I work nights he usually is the one cooking. A lot of the time he grills, but he can use the oven & stove.

My biggest problem is budget. With DH's job elimination we qualified for the free lunch program....to which we were so thankful for. Now all 5 are home for lunch and snacks, it really adds up.

One thing about teenagers....they sleep in, so sometimes they eat a bigger breakfast at noon.
I do have to keep an eye on what they are eating midnight snacks.

They are all big boys....and hungry all the time.

 

[luvmy3]

We are going to be instituting a Cooking Class Wednesday! Every Wednesday this summer they (4 kids aged 6-17) will all be my sous chefs for the day- we're going to make dinner together. Hoping that the 17 year old really picks up on the skills he'll need soon.
They can all do basics like make a grilled cheese or a quesadilla- or scrambled eggs.

Our first meal is going to be chinese pork dumplings with dipping sauce. There is enough peeling and slicing and pouring and mixing to keep everyone busy.

Lunch can be brutal. Sandwiches get old quickly, I tried bento last year. We have dipping veggies. Hummus was a surprise hit. We stir fry a lot. rotfl2: and we are not chinese! seeing that most of our meals are asian)

We have breakfast fried rice
Pizza
Pasta salad

What a great idea! I hope you don't mind if I borrow it this summer

 

[3goofyboys]

We do a ton of day trips as well. For those I usually pack some type of picnic lunch. We can't do PB & J because a friend we often go with has a peanut allergy, so I usually make some type of a salad (Rachel Ray's mag had 16 summer sides in the latest edition, most of them look delicious and cooler friendly).
When we're at home, I use the grill a lot. I buy family packs of chicken legs, divide them in to single meal sizes, put them in freezer bags and pour bbq sauce over them. Then I stick them in the freezer and as they defrost, they marinate in the sauce. When it's lunch time I throw them on the grill and ta-da, lunch!
Also, leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. Sometimes we do leftover buffet, with a variety of things from the fridge. The boys love getting to choose different things.

 

[Celidh]

We like eggs at our house. My dd loves to have an "Egg McMuffin", which for her is an egg on an english muffin with cheese (sometimes real cheddar, sometimes a cheese slice). We have also been known to just have scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and toast for lunch. Put it with a glass of juice or milk and some fruit, it's not a bad lunch.

My boys like to have the sub or sandwich type of meat on a hamburger bun with cheese and heat it in the microwave. My older son likes to have wraps in his lunch. I will cook chicken ahead of time or season some ground beef and portion it into single bags and freeze it so I can take it out whenever I need it. I usually take it out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge and it is thawed in time for the morning when I make his lunch for school. Not sure if your kids like wraps. Of course there is cheese on that too. I know it is fattening but it is good for them and all my kids are skinny. I call my daughter a little mouse for all the cheese she eats.

I have also made pancakes with fruit on top or in it for lunch. It is a pretty cheap meal but a little time consuming unless you have a large space to cook more than one pancake at a time.

Of course there is the old standby, Kraft Dinner. My kids like it with weiners cut up in it. I have also had it with cooked ground beef added to it.

I know some of these aren't super healthy but I try to give them a pretty good supper if we have had less than healthy lunch. I think if you try to round it out and give the kids a bit of both, healthy and not as healthy, then they are more likely to eat what they are given.

Also, I agree about not making a bunch of meals. The only time I will make something different is if it is something I know one of my kids absolutely hates that the rest of us love. If it is just a matter of "I don't want that today" but I know it is something they don't mind then my answer is too bad, that is what there is to eat. When they start preparing meals and paying for them, they will get more choice.

I like summer way more than during the school year because I no longer have to worry about planning lunches during the week. They are at their dad's during the day when they aren't at school so it is up to him to figure it out. Of course he just sends them next door to his mother's ( sound familiar, not only does he not feed himself, but he lets his mom feed his kids and countless other things but that is another thread!) for her to figure out what to feed them. Either way, it's not my job over the summer and I love it!
Good luck

 

[mom2val]

!

 

[MinnieForMe]

OP, here's what we do (and no kids... but I do have a DH...and well, you get the idea )

*PB and J Sandwiches.
*Pasta Salad with whole wheat pasta, frozen bagged organic veggies, and dressing out of apple cidar vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. DH likes to heat it up and put pasta sauce and cheese on it, but I eat it cold as is.
*Hummus wrap- whole wheat tortilla, chopped veggies (any!), hummus.
*Avocado wrap- whole wheat tortilla, avocado slices, salsa, canned beans.
*Rice and Beans- canned beans, brown rice, salsa, topped with cheese.
*Frozen Bean and Rice Burritos
*Frozen Veggie Burers (we like Dr. Praegers)
*Chili- 3 cans of beans, drained and rinsed, mixed with 1/2 jar organic spagetti sauce, 1/2 c of water, chili powder/cumin/Franks Red Hot sauce to taste. Simmer a few minutes. Freezes well. Top with cheese, eat with chips or alone. I sometimes like to add organic tempeh to the pot.
*Soup is a good make-ahead and freeze meal.
*Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (rarely, but a good treat sometimes)
*Salad (make ahead)- organic bagged lettuce, chopped veggies (any kind!)
*Stuffed Baked Potatoes- bake a potato in the micro (or in the oven), layer with beans, salsa, cheese, and put in the fridge. When the kids are ready, they can pop it in the micro to heat.
*Egg Salad can be made ahead and put on bread with lettuce. Made with mustard instead of mayo, it's a pretty low cal lunch with lots of protein.


Hope that gives you some ideas!!

Thank you! These are much healthier options.

 

[Bren's Mom]

My ds is a fan of anything 'deconstructed', he's not a fan of sandwiches.

So I often send in his lunch box to school, or serve at home:

rolled up lunchmeat
cheese stick/cheese slices (from a brick)
whole or cut up fruit
whole grain crackers
yogurt
peanut butter or nutella as a treat
cut up veggies
hard boiled egg
sunchips occasionally
granola bar/Clif bar/fruit and cereal bar

And there are tons of variations so you can do this multiple times a week and never the same thing twice. It also means you can prep things like fruit and veggies just once or twice during the week. In the summer I will buy and cut an entire watermelon and store in the fridge.

i.e. Cheddar slices, pepperoni pieces and whole grain crackers with grapes

Another day he might have a Gogurt with apple slices and peanut butter to 'dip' them in along with a granola bar.

Another day he might have a couple of hard boiled eggs, sun chips and cucumber slices.