Quick Lunch ideas that i can make for school

A good lunch/snack menu for me goes like this;

Small apple, mid morning.

Can of tuna in nonfat mayo, with cut up radish, scallion, celery and carrot bits, and pickle, with 5 or 10 saltines to dip, for lunch.

1 broccoli floret, either raw or blanched and cooled, mid afternoon.

This is great for a work day; I'm not hungry all day, and the whole thing is around 300-350 calories...

Hi Makayla,

When I cook, I use my biggest pots, and I cook for the whole family. For example, here are some of the things I purchase at Costco: dry organic pasta, prego red sauce, alfredo sauce, kirkland bacon bits, shredded cheese, 25lb of blue ribbon rice, chicken tenders, and chicken nuggets. Also, I'll buy their Normandy Vegetables, Fresh Lettuce, Oatmeal, Frozen blueberries, etc.

The key for me is portion sizing. The nice thing about it is that the kids have portioned meals, and they are also on a 'healthy lifestyle eating plan' with me. Additionally, they like being able to heat their own meals when they get hungry. The other great thing is that cooking big meals seems to be more efficient. I get less tired cooking, and there's always healthy, ready to heat, fresh meals ready to go in the fridge.

I have little white casserole dishes in 1 cup and .5 cup sizes. I'll use these for vegetables or desserts. Everyone can grab these side dishes to compliment their main meal.



Here are some of my comfort food meals:

Cheesy Bake:
I'll cook 2 packages of pasta, and immediately portion it out according to 1 serving sizes, I can usually get about 12 bows of 1 serving pasta. Then, I'll add a .25 cup of prego red sauce, and a .33 cup of shredded cheese. Season accordingly. If I want to make it a bit richer, I'll add 3 kirkland meatballs (Costco). Usually with my size family, it takes 1.5 days to finish all the bowls.

Veggie Bake:
Normandy Vegetables (steamed), .33 cup of Kirkland shredded cheese (jack and cheddar combo) with a pinch of salt.

Bacon Bake:
Same serving sizes with the pasta, which equals approx. 12 bowls. Then I'll add .25 cup or less of alfredo sauce, 1 tablespoon of bacon bits (only 35 calories), and 2 or 3 meatballs. Season accordingly.

Salad:
I like these to be real simple: prewashed hearts of romaine (I wash it again and dry spin it so it stays fresher longer :-) , 1 tablespoon of bacon bits, ranch home style dressing (.5 serving size = 1 tbsp.)

Dessert:
Mountain Yoghurt 1 cup, defrosted blueberries .5 cup, cold milled flax seed 2 tbsp., and 1 packet of splenda. This dessert is extremely filling, and very yummy. I often have it for breakfast.

Snacks:
cuties orange, broccoli and a bit of ranch dressing...

Rice and Chicken:
This is good when my stomach is upset, or when I want a low calorie but filling meal.
I make a huge pot of rice, and portion out the chicken nuggets or chicken tenders accordingly. 1 cup of blue ribbon rice, 4 chicken nuggets, or 2 chicken tenders.

These are some of the meals that I cook, which my family loves. I hope you find it helpful.

Best Wishes,
MarriedMama :-)

I like to take half a wheat pita and stuff it full of veggies and some cooked chicken, then add a little low cal salad dressing. I also like to make mini pizzas. Take a whole wheat tortilla, spread a couple table spoons of meat-less spaghetti sauce on it, add low fat cheese and sprinkle with italian seasoning. Then bake it in the oven for a couple minutes until it's melty and warm and enjoy