Posts Tagged ‘lunches’

What do you get when you mix delicious deli meats, gooey cheese, fresh rolls, and a healthy amount of butter?

The most delicious baked sandwiches ever!

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And just wait until I show you how easy these are to make… perfect for a quick weeknight meal and delicious school lunches the next day.

For starters — just make up a dozen {or more!} of your favorite meat/cheese sandwiches on Brown ‘n Serve rolls. I know I always preach how almost all my recipes are easily customizable for the ingredients you have in the house, but I must admit that the Brown ‘n Serve rolls {or store brand equivalent} are what make these sandwiches. Other rolls don’t get crispy enough on top!

Then mix up the delicious, buttery sauce {recipe below}.

Pour the sauce over the buns…

Then bake them for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are nice and crispy.

Besides that fact that this is one of the easiest recipes in my recipe box — you can make it even easier by preparing these sandwiches in the morning {or the night before} and then simply baking them when it’s time to eat.

I’ve tried them both ways — baking right away and letting them sit for several hours — and you can’t taste any difference, so just do whatever works best for you.

Also, these are delicious the next day for school lunches… so you might want to make an extra dozen or so!

The Recipe for 1 Dozen Sandwiches:

{print this recipe}

Sandwiches:

• 1 dozen Brown n’ Serve rolls
• 1/2 to 3/4 lb. sliced deli meat
• sliced cheese — enough to fit on each bun

Sauce: 

• 1/2 c. butter
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. mustard
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T. Poppy seeds

Directions:>

• Put sandwiches together and place in a 9×13” pan
• Boil sauce until bubbly and pour over sandwhiches.
• You can either bake immediately or let sit for several hours or even over night.
• Bake in a 350*F preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and crispy.

Leftover sandwiches are perfect for lunch the next day and taste great cold or warmed up again.

Make sure to visit the Simple Organized Living Recipe Box for lots more simple, delicious, family friendly, budget conscious recipe ideas!

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The next few weeks are going to be CRAZY busy for me. I’ll be busy traveling quite a bit for my business, finishing up house projects, preparing for the upcoming arrival of our two international students, and trying to juggle everything else I do on a weekly basis — oh, and I’m 23 weeks pregnant!

And since Dave isn’t huge on cooking {he does the dishes} we’ll be eating lots and LOTS of leftovers!

I know some people hate leftovers, but here in our house — we love them and eat them regularly throughout the week as delicious lunches and quick, easy dinners.

Here are some of our favorite leftover foods:

Any Type of Meat

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Whenever I make a roast, chicken, or really any other type of meat; we chop up the leftovers and use them for sandwiches {think pulled pork, ham, roast beef}, soups, stews, casseroles, or even just to put on a salad. There is always some way to use up even the smallest amount of leftover meat.

Pasta

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Obviously lasagna or ravioli just need to be reheated for a few minutes in the microwave.

However, when I make any other type of noodle and sauce, I often mix the leftover noodles with a little milk and one egg to “glue” it all together. Then I mix in the extra sauce, pour it into a baking dish and top with cheese. It’s a delicious meal for later in the week — and hardly even tastes like leftovers.

Casseroles

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Casseroles are some of our favorite ways to use up leftover meats, potatoes, veggies, beans, etc. — and sometimes I think they even taste better warmed up the next day! {so is that like eating leftovers for leftovers?}

Pancakes and Bacon

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I often make some type of pancakes, bacon, and eggs for breakfast or dinner at least once a week — and I always make plenty of extra pancakes and bacon to eat as leftover later on. While leftover eggs don’t make the cut in our house, the pancakes and bacon taste perfectly delicious warmed up in the microwave and paired with a side of fresh fruit.

Tacos, Quesadillas, and Enchiladas

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I’ve professed my love for “Americanized Mexican” food many times already, and as long as it’s not too spicy, I’ll pretty much eat anything with a Mexican taste.

I’ll often cook up just a little extra ground beef or turkey and then use it to make taco meat. Or we’ll use extra chicken to make chicken quesadillas. I always keep plenty of beans, rice, chips, cheese, and salsa in the house so I can whip up a tacos, quesadillas, and enchiladas in a snap.

Eating leftovers for a couple of meals each week is not only a HUGE time saver, it’s also a great way to lower our food budget — win, win!

Do you eat leftovers? What are some of your favorites?

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About a month ago, I got 3 free coupons for packages of frozen burritos. I was excited to try them out and figured they would make quick lunches since they only took 2 minutes in the microwave.

Plus, we LOVE Mexican food, and I LOVE anything that’s free!

However, I was sadly disappointed by their tiny size, their lack of filling, and all the preservatives that were on the nutrition label. So I decided to make and freeze my own burritos…with a lot more filling, a lot less preservatives, a lot more flavor, and a lot less cost.

Thankfully, my experiment worked!

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INGREDIENTS:

{print recipe}

• 2 lbs. ground beef, turkey, or shredded chicken
• 2 small onions
• Two 1.25 oz packages taco seasoning
• 12-16  8″ soft tortillas
• 1 15 oz. can refried beans {I accidentally put two in the picture}
• 1 c. of your favorite salsa
• 1 c. shredded cheese

DIRECTIONS:

• Brown meat and onions until meat is no longer pink — drain
• Add taco seasoning and water {cook according to the directions on the taco seasoning}
• Assemble according to directions below

ASSEMBLY:

• Spread about 1 T. of refried beans over the surface of the tortilla {this helps everything “stick”}

• Top with 2 T. of meat, 1 T. salsa, and 1 T. cheese

• Fold in the ends and roll up into a burrito shape.

At this point, you can put them in a 9×13″ pan, top with some type of sauce and cheese, and then bake them in the oven.

OR, you could package them individually and put them in the freezer. I packages half in individual ziploc bags for lunches outside of home, and half in the original tortilla bag for lunches at home.

Once they are frozen, it’s SO convenient to simply pack one in your kid’s lunch {or your own lunch}. They are usually defrosted by lunch time, and should only take about 45 seconds to heat up.

If they are still frozen, it will probably take closer to 2 minutes in the microwave.

These are so delicious and can be altered to fit your family’s taste buds — swap out chicken for beef; go meatless and add more beans and cheese; use spicy salsa, mild salsa, or no salsa; add in more veggie, etc. etc.

Either way, it’s a simple, quick lunch or a hearty snack on the go!

What do you think…would your kids go for these frozen burritos?

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It’s nearing the end of the school year, and I’m guessing you’re probably sick of packing lunches every. single. day.

NEWS FLASH: I have a hunch your kids are sick of eating those boring lunches every. single. day. And if you pack a lunch for yourself — chances are you could use a few new ideas as well!

If you’ve fallen into a boring lunch rut, here are a few very simple ways to mix things up a bit.

1. Leftovers

Leftovers are my all-time favorite lunch option, and I almost always make extra food for dinner so we can take the leftovers for lunch the next day. We simply pack our lunches as we clean up the dinner dishes and then we’re done thinking about it for the rest of the night.

Obviously, you would need access to a microwave {or be willing to eat your lunch cold}, but nothing hits the spot when you’re hungry for lunch like hot soup, stew, pasta, casseroles, baked potatoes, or whatever else was for dinner last night.

2. Pizza

I’ve mentioned it before, but Dave and I are big pizza fans. We pretty much like any type of pizza — especially homemade pizza – which is a great alternative to boring sandwich lunches and can easily be eaten cold and without any silverware.

3. Salad

I LOVE a good salad in my lunch — and even kids can appreciate a salad if you give them kid-friendly toppings like chopped up meat, cheese, croutons, bacon bits, and their favorite dressing. I like to load my salads up with dried fruits, nuts, and veggies; Dave still prefers meet and cheese!

And if you don’t want a lettuce salad, you could always make chicken/tuna salad, pasta salad, avocado salad, or this Improvisational Michigan Salad.

4. Wraps

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I know, it’s practically the same thing as a sandwich, but there’s just something about eating your meat, cheese, and veggies on a tortilla instead of between bread!! Wraps are a great way to mix things up without a lot of extra hassle.

I also like wrapping up refried beans, cheese, and salsa in a tortilla to make a mini burrito {warm or cold}

5. Meat, Cheese, and Crackers

Again, kind of the same general concept as a sandwich, but isn’t it more fun to stack your meat and cheese on  crackers instead of eating it with boring bread??

And if you’re really creative, you could cut the meat and cheese into shapes for the kid’s lunches!

6. Muffin Tin Lunches

Ok, so these might take a bit more creativity, but aren’t they fun!!!

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The idea is to take a bunch of different finger foods and put them in the individual muffin compartments. Then use the muffin tin as your plate. Seriously, what kid {or adult} wouldn’t LOVE this?  It’s also a really great way to get the proper amounts of fruits, veggies, dairy, protein, etc.

You can click here to see more photos of really creative muffin tin lunches.

And if you want to take your muffin tin lunch on the go — you can use these fun Bento boxes for a simliar concept to the muffin tin lunches.

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7. Random Finger Foods

On days when I’m really struggling to come up with lunch ideas, I go with a variety of finger foods.

• Fruits {I especially love apples and peanut butter}
• Veggies and dip
• Muffin or slice of quick bread
• Yogurt
• Granola Bar
• Cheese cubes
• Pretzels
• Etc. Etc.

You can tailor these finger foods to each person’s individual tastes — and clean out your fridge in the process!

More Ideas:

Here are a few more lunch ideas {especially good for at-home lunches} from my friend Racine over at Flavor and Freedom.

Mandi from Life…Your Way has nine Healthy and Fun Lunch Ideas

I love this blog — all about Healthy Lunch Ideas…tons of great info there!

So with only a few more weeks of school left, make an effort to be creative and “think outside the bread”!

{top image credit}

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Packing lunches day after day can get old — especially now that the school year is half over.

We always try to pack our lunches the night before, but even so, I often find myself dreading this task because I don’t know what to pack… and somehow the 47th PB & J sandwich just doesn’t sound good to me!

Can you relate?

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I knew I needed to do something to make lunch packing simpler, so for the past few weeks I’ve been pre-portioning a bunch of snacks at the beginning of the week to save us time and energy every night when it’s time to pack our lunches.

So far, it’s working great!

Fruits and Veggies

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I’ve been using snack-size bags to divvy up different fruits and veggies so we can just grab a bag for each lunch.

I try to make the bags whenever I get home from the grocery store, and then I keep them in the produce drawer so they’re ready to go when it’s time to pack lunches.

Yogurt, Pudding, Jello, and Applesauce Cups

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I’ve been making big batches of yogurt, pudding, Jello, and applesauce and then separating them out into several smaller containers that stack nicely in our fridge. {I really like these Rubbermaid containers with screw-on lids. Nothing spills!}

I also make up little bags of granola to eat with the yogurt.

Other Snacks

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I try to keep lots of healthy snacks {and some unhealthy snacks!} ready to go in individual containers as well.

• Bags of chips, crackers, and cookies

• Bags of sliced cheese to go with the crackers

• Bags of nuts, dried fruit, or trail mix

I know Dave’s parents would even make all their sandwiches at the beginning of the week and put them in the freezer. I haven’t tried this yet, but it would be a good time-saver.

How is it working?

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I couldn’t be happier!

Now that everything is pre-portioned and ready to go, it only takes me a minute or two to quickly throw these items in our lunch bags!

I do spend about 30 minutes cutting, washing, and pre-portioning the snacks at the beginning of the week, but I feel it is time well spent since lunch packing is much less overwhelming now!

Do you have any secrets for quick and simple lunch packing?

Share them with me…please!

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Photo Credit: More Style Than Cash

I started packing my own lunches back in 5th grade. My mom would have done it for me, but I was too stubborn, head-strong, and organized to let her.

Fifteen years later, I’m still packing lunches — and I’m still stubborn, head-strong, and organized!

Lunch packing definitely is not one of my all-time favorite activities; it can be more work than going out to eat or buying school lunches. However, after realizing how much money I can save and reading that school lunches are linked to obesity, I figured it was probably worth the time I spend packing lunches every day.

And since it’s THAT time of year, I figured it would be fun to share some lunch-packing tips, tools, and inspiration from other like-minded, frugal bloggers.

Lunchbox Ideas and Inspiration — Life as Mom + 38 link-ups

Simple School Lunches — Simple Organized Living

Packing Lunches for 6 Kids — The Morris Tribe (yup, she’s organized!)

Thrifty School Lunches — The Coupon Challenge

Dishing Up Healthier Lunches — Going Green Mama

Cheap, Easy, and Healthy School Lunches — More Style Than Cash

Creative Lunchbox Ideas — Mom’s Toolbox

What are you waiting for? Go check them out!

What are your best school lunch ideas, tips, tools, and resources?

linked to: itscome2this.com

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School is just just around the corner — which means school lunches are back — again.

Packing homemade lunches for your children can get old. real. fast. especially if they are picky eaters! However, homemade lunches are totally worth it as they will ultimately save you lots of:

Time: packing lunches the night before will save lots of time during your morning rush.

Money: homemade lunches are so much cheaper than prepackaged meals and fast food.

Calories: skip the calories and sodium in prepackaged food and pack fresh fruits and veggies instead.

Waste: we use washable storage containers and reusable lunch bags/boxes to help “save the environment”!

We’ve got into the habit of packing lunches right after dinner, which is convenient because we already have storage containers out and we like eating the leftovers for lunch the next day! I love crossing this off my list {actually, I love crossing anything off my list} but when the lunches are packed, it’s just one less thing I have to think about in the morning when I’m rushing…and I do rush!

So now that you’re all motivated to pack your darling children delicious lunches, where do you start?

I would suggest heading on over to AnotherLunch.com. Melissa is all about homemade lunches and you have GOT to see what she manages to come up with every day…she’s amazing!

Here are some of the super fun, creative, and waste-free lunches she prepares for her children.  Most of the lunches below are actually part of a Muffin Tin Monday series over at MuffinTinMom.com {Yup, it seems there really IS a website for everything!}

A Meal Fit for a Princess:

Breakfast for Lunch:

Stars!

Mexi-Meal:

Laptop Lunch: (with Bento Buddies)

OK, so if these don’t  have you inspire you to get a bit more creative with lunches this year…I don’t know what else I can do!

Here are a few more resources to help you simplify the lunch-packing routine.

• EasyLunchBoxes.com: lots of fun product to help you pack lunches quickly and easily.
• LaptopLunches.com: Eco-friendly, products to simplify and organize your lunches.
• TheLunchPunch.com: Really cute sandwich “punches” to make eating lunch just a little more fun.
• Epicurious.com: They just posted this great blog article with 9 of their favorite lunch-packing tools this year.

What ideas, tips, or tools do you use to simplify school lunches?

linked to Things I Love Thursdays at The Diaper Diaries and Life As Mom

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