Lunch Ideas For Kids

Find tons of kids lunch ideas that will have you cooking easy and healthy kids lunches right away!

Bow ties with spring veggies and bacon

Happy Spring!

Aren’t you glad it’s springtime?

Though we’ve had a mild winter…

And it’s a bit chillier here than it’s been all winter…

So I’m pretending it’s spring.

And this will make you feel like spring…

A delicious and quick pasta that the kids will adore!

Mom and Dad too!

Feel free to add grilled chicken or shrimp to make it a heartier dish.

recipes for kids kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes featured dinner    Bow ties with spring veggies and bacon

Bow ties with spring veggies & pancetta

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 box bow tie pasta

4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped

1 1/4 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces

1 scallions, thinly sliced

8 ounces crimini mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup heavy cream

3 T extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 T lemon zest

1/4 cup italian parsley, chopped

1/4 cup basil, torn

WHAT TO DO:

Heat a large pasta pot over high heat.  When boiling add salt and cook pasta until al dente. Drain, but reserve 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Set aside.

Pour off all but 1 teaspoon drippings from skillet. Add mushrooms to the drippings.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Add asparagus, scallions, and garlic to the mushrooms in skillet and cook for 3 more minutes minutes.  Remove from heat.

Add veggies, 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid, 1/2 cup Parmesan, cream, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, basil, and S&P to pasta.

Mix well.  Add more pasta water if necessary.  Sprinkle with bacon and more cheese if desired.

Tasty Tidbit – Kids not asparagus fans?  Try this dish with frozen peas!

Holiday Gift Week – Soup in a Jar

Back by popular demand…

Some of our favorite make at home gifts.

Looking for a new and unique gift idea?

Something different for neighbors, friends, teachers, coaches, and anyone else on your list this holiday?

How about a home cooked meal?

soups recipes for kids kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes holidays featured crafts appetizers    Holiday Gift Week   Soup in a Jar

Beef Noodle Soup in a Jar

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes

Mason Jars

Ribbon

Colored cloth/fabric

Decorative paper for instructions

¼ cup red lentils

¼ cup green split peas

¼ cup barley

1/3 cup beef bouillon powder

¼ cup dried onion

2 T. parsley flakes

1/3 t. thyme

1/3 t. pepper

1 t. basil

1 t. garlic powder

½ t. celery seed

S&P

3 cups tri color pasta, separated into colors.

soups recipes for kids kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes holidays featured crafts appetizers    Holiday Gift Week   Soup in a Jar

Layer ingredients neatly one by one into a large mason jar.

soups recipes for kids kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes holidays featured crafts appetizers    Holiday Gift Week   Soup in a Jar

Close jar tightly and cover with fabric.  Tie with ribbons.  Affix instructions:

1 jar holiday gift soup

1 22 ounce can crushed tomatoes

8 cups water

Bring water and tomatoes to a boil in a large stock pot.  Add soup mix.  Simmer covered for 15 minutes, or until noodles are tender.  Enjoy.  Happy Holidays.

soups recipes for kids kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes holidays featured crafts appetizers    Holiday Gift Week   Soup in a Jar

Let the kids help you with writing the instructions and be sure to let them sign their names!

Girls Night Zucchini & Corn Pancakes

I love Girls Night Out.

You really need it from time to time.

healthy snacks for kids memoirs from mommyville kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes side dishes featured dinners on a dime 2    Girls Night Zucchini & Corn Pancakes

Recently we’ve switched girls night out…

To Girls Night In.

healthy snacks for kids memoirs from mommyville kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes side dishes featured dinners on a dime 2    Girls Night Zucchini & Corn Pancakes

We gather at someone’s house…

Everyone brings a dish.

And a bottle…

And then we really dish.

And you know me…being Ma and all.

I have to try and make the best offering.

This is my latest…

It was a hit!

Had to take advantage of all that zucchini in the garden…

Not to mention the boys gobbled these up…

And didn’t even know they were loaded with veggies!

healthy snacks for kids memoirs from mommyville kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes side dishes featured dinners on a dime 2    Girls Night Zucchini & Corn Pancakes

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 medium to large zucchini grated

2 T grated red onion

1 cup corn off the cob (I slice mine from leftover grilled corn)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

6 – 8 T flour

1 t baking powder

S&P

1 T butter

Olive oil

 

Toppings:

Smoked Salmon

Creme Fraiche

Chopped Scallions or chives

Capers

 

 

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine zucchini, onion, and corn.

Stir in your eggs.

Add about 5-6 tablespoons of flour, the baking powder, and S&P. (If the batter gets too thin from the zucchini liquid, add the remaining flour.)

Heat a large  pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil together in the pan. When it’s hot lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of the zucchini batter into the pan.

Cook the pancakes until browned on each side…about 2 minutes apiece.

Remove from pan and set aside on a sheet pan…you can keep warm in the oven. They’ll stay warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes.

Serve hot.

healthy snacks for kids memoirs from mommyville kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes side dishes featured dinners on a dime 2    Girls Night Zucchini & Corn Pancakes

Top with a dollop of creme fraiche, a bit of smoked salmon, some scallions and a caper.

 

 

Back to School Week – Totem Poles

Brady is not a huge fan of the bread on the sangies.

I’d make them for him but he always just strips off the meat and eats it plain.

He loves roll ups so I came up with a new way to serve him lunch…

Voila, the Totem Pole…

kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes healthy eating for kids featured    Back to School Week   Totem Poles

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

8 slices deli turkey

8 slices deli ham or salami

12 1 inch cubes cheese (any variety)

8 whole yellow cherry tomatoes

1 apple cubed

4 chopsticks

WHAT TO DO:

Lay out your turkey and ham in two piles on a cutting board.  Cut each pile into 4 even long slices. Lay out the rest of your ingredients around your cutting board so you can build your totem poles in a little assembly line.  You have 1 set of strips of turkey and ham to work with for each totem pole.

 

Take your first chopstick and push a tomato down over one end.  Slide it all the way down leaving about 1 ½ inches from the bottom.  Then slide down an apple followed by a piece of cheese.  Take the first set of turkey strips, roll them into a pinwheel shape and push the chopstick through the meat.  Then add another apple, a piece of cheese, etc.  Do the same pinwheel process with the first set of ham and add it to the chopstick followed by a piece of cheese, apple, and finally top it off with a tomato.  Repeat process for other totem poles.

 

Serve these with veggie chips or some couscous cooked up quick with chicken stock…Yummy!

 

Noteworthy Nugget:  You can get creative with these totem poles and give them faces by adding peppercorns for eyes or even using condiments like mustard to draw on faces.  Your kids will get a huge kick out of them.


 

Back to School Week – Chicken Roll Ups

I know the school year is just starting…

But I love to start things off with a bang when it comes to lunches.

This is my boys favorite…

So I decided it needed a little bloggie love.

Check out these delicious chicken sammies!

 

kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes healthy eating for kids featured    Back to School Week   Chicken Roll Ups

Chicken Rolls Ups

WHAT YOU NEED:

4     whole Spinach sandwich wraps
1      cup Cooked white rice
1      cup Grilled chicken thinly sliced
½    cup Carrots thinly sliced
½    cup Red peppers thinly sliced
½    cup Alfalfa sprouts
½    Avocado sliced
Mayo or mustard (for sticking)

WHAT TO DO:

Lay out the wraps on your cutting board. Spread just a thin layer of mayo or mustard over the wrap to help everything stick.

Lay half of the rice down into the center of one of the wraps and press it out so it thinly covers the center of the wrap. Do the same for the second.

Evenly distribute your chicken between the two wraps laying it in an even row over the rice. Be sure to keep it in a single line.

kids lunch ideas kid favorite recipes healthy eating for kids featured    Back to School Week   Chicken Roll Ups

Follow suit with your carrots, red pepper, sprouts and avocado. Now fold in the right section of your wrap over the ingredients and slightly pull then back toward you, then continue to roll over and make your self a tube.

Cut your tube into sushi roll looking slices.

You can cut them straight or on an angle then arrange them on a plate. Serve these with edamame or even edamame chips! You’ll have your kids yelling Arigato.

If you don’t have spinach wraps you could use whole wheat ones.

Or, if you have a kid like Brady, you could skip the wrap all together and just roll up your goodies inside a big piece of romaine lettuce!

 

Delicious Dessert Breakfast Sangie

So you all heard how I joined a new club, right?

I joined the crew at the

The Secret Recipe Club

 

healthy snacks for kids kids lunch ideas kids desserts kid favorite recipes featured dinners on a dime 2    Delicious Dessert Breakfast Sangie

And I love it!

And today is Reveal Day!!!

And I got to to choose from the many delicious recipes at

From Chapel Hill to Chickenville

The lovely and talented Aimee is busy whipping up deliciousness for her 4 kiddos…

And you know that makes me smile!!

I loved checking out all of Aimee’s fantastic recipes but the one that caught my eye was

Peanut butter, apple and bacon sandwiches

They sounded awesome.

But lo and behold the hubs had finished the Peanut Butter

So I made mine with Nutella.

Love Nutella.

And I didn’t grill ours, I made them on english muffins and therefore my friends,

Breakfast is served!

Nutella, Bacon, and Apple Sandwiches on English Muffins

healthy snacks for kids kids lunch ideas kids desserts kid favorite recipes featured dinners on a dime 2    Delicious Dessert Breakfast Sangie

What you need:

12 slices bacon, cooked

4 english muffins

4 T Nutella spread

2 Granny Smith Apples

WHAT TO DO:

Split and toast your english muffins to your liking

Spread each muffin with 1 T Nutella

Top each with thick slices of bacon and apple

Serve…and prepare to be amazed!

healthy snacks for kids kids lunch ideas kids desserts kid favorite recipes featured dinners on a dime 2    Delicious Dessert Breakfast Sangie

Thank you Aimee for this fantastic idea…and please be sure to go check out all the yummy things she is feeding her brood!

And check out all the other fantastic dishes the Ladies of the Secret Recipe Club are serving up!

 

 




healthy snacks for kids kids lunch ideas kids desserts kid favorite recipes featured dinners on a dime 2    Delicious Dessert Breakfast Sangie

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