Mixing Up the Lunch Menu

School is in full swing and menu planning just kicked back in gear.  I wanted to start off the year with organization for breakfast, lunch AND supper - not just supper.  I've been trying to mix it up with breakfast so we are not just having cereal every morning.  I have also tried new things for lunches because my Fish Sticks are not peanut-butter-and-jelly-every-day kind of kids.  I don't blame them.

So I came up with a guideline to help me keep lunches creative.  This guideline helps me in my grocery planning also.

Mondays:  Sandwiches
Tuesdays:  Wraps
Wednesdays:  Soups
Thursdays:  Frozen packaged
Fridays:  Finger foods / Kabobs

Here's what we've tried so far in the last 2 weeks: 

M - peanut butter and Nutella, turkey & cheese, tuna salad
T - leftover chicken salad in a wrap, bacon bit and cheese quesadilla, and salmon & cheese quesadilla
W - leftover beef stew, canned ravioli
Th - Bagel Bites & Pizza Rolls (I'm not one to buy the frozen packaged stuff but we don't do any of the lunch meals at school so this a treat for my kids)
F - the picture below left today in their lunch boxes - It's pizza in a bowl with a side of crackers- they had it last week too and it was a big hit!

I'm always on the lookout for good lunches that don't hurt my grocery budget and don't take too long to prepare.

turkey ham, pepperoni, bell peppers, cheese cubes, olives & cherry tomatoes

Leftovers Again?

I found myself with more leftover roasted chicken and searching through my cookbook for creative ways to "hide" the leftovers with a yummy makeover.

Chicken A La King

In saucepan melt 1/4 c. butter, blended with 1/3 c. flour and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Add 1 c. chicken broth and 1 c. milk all at once.

Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens and bubbles.

Add 2 c. diced cooked chicken, 1 small can of sliced mushrooms (drained) and 1/4 c. chopped canned pimento.  Heat through and serve over toast points.

You can make this with turkey as well. I had leftover whole-wheat biscuits that we poured it over and I left out the mushrooms because I didn't have any and only 1 Fish Stick actually likes them.  I happened to have a jar of pimento in the fridge, so I just added a spoonful and not the entire jar.  Usually I don't have this on hand and keep it out.  The hint of green you see in the photo is a TB of dried parsley - mostly to add color.  Fish Sticks loved it and it wiped out my leftovers which I had tried to warm up a few nights before with no takers.  Score for Mom!

More Leftover Ideas

 I posted a while back about using leftovers to make fried rice. Here's another idea....quiche.  I had leftover broccoli and ham in the fridge. I added some black olives, 5 eggs, a little bit of cheddar and mozzarella, some milk, salt, pepper, basil and ground mustard.  Poured it into a pie shell and baked it at 350 for 45 minutes.  It was gone in no time.  I think it would have made a good breakfast too.

 Added a side of mixed greens with 1 avocado, half of a cucumber and a spoonful of feta cheese.

Baby carrots with leftover dill dip and hummus and it was a quick, easy meal and 

helped me clean out the fridge.