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MarilynW
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I am working on our rhythms and routines and schedules for the next school year. My children have a tendency to be a little um ... too "European" and stay at the table for hours!! - I need to keep lunch preparation and eating fairly short especially for the fall. My dd and I are brainstorming quick lunches. I am thinking a variety of sandwiches - french bread, tortillas, regular wholewheat bread with cheese, lunch meats, also grilled sandwiches. I would serve with potato chips and fruit and water/juice/tea/milk.
Please share any ideas you have.
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kozimom
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Well, I had this lingering on and on problem too. And also just eating and eating. So we actually made each child a bag lunch. It included a sandwich, 1 piece of fruit, maybe a cookie, and a drink (water or milk in a drinker). They hated it! But it helped.........
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DominaCaeli
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MarilynW wrote:
| My children have a tendency to be a little um ... too "European" and stay at the table for hours!! - I need to keep lunch preparation and eating fairly short especially for the fall. |
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My kids are like this too (they will just go on and on), so I look for foods that are easy to chew and that fill them up more quickly than average snack-type foods.  We usually do sandwiches here, but dinner ideas that can be adapted for lunch would be good too...
Quesadillas
Homemade pizza
Baked mac and cheese
Pasta with meat sauce
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Bookswithtea
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I've been trying to find something different for our lunch list.
I just recently added dried tortellini to our lunch menu. With a jar of sauce and some chopped olives in the sauce, and then I added finely chopped broccoli to the tortellinis 2 minutes before draining. Everyone ate it...even the toddler. Its pretty quick. I am all for less mess meals. Trader Joe's sells a cheese tortellini fairly reasonably priced.
The other thing I added that is not the usual is egg and cheese burritos (scrambled eggs in a tortilla with shredded cheddar).
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SusanJ
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My kids can go for months on pita pizzas for lunch. Just top each pita with a spoonful of sauce, some shredded cheese and a veggie or meat and put it in the oven until the cheese melts. I got so fast at these last year and I liked that when life was slower I could make the same meal with all homemade stuff but also go the convenience route when things were crazy.
Susan
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Mimip
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Our Lunch is the biggest meal of the day for us because of DH's schedule but our dinner is on a strict "lunch like" schedule.
Monday: Sandwiches (ham and cheese, tuna, turkey, PB and J, grilled cheese) served with fruit, chips or other side.
Tuesday: Pizza (homemade or store bought depending on the week)
Wednesday: Chicken nuggets and Mac and Cheese
Thursday: Leftovers (these are from our other meals)
Friday: Pasta (tortellini, raviolli, fettucini)
This has really helped our family with meals. I know its not the healthiest meals all the time but I throw in a ton of fruits and veggies as snacks and our lunch meal is our more balanced. I found that the schedule really helped. Also my kids are starting to take over meals. My DD (9) loves to make the sandwiches and allows me do change the baby and to a quick clean up.
The mom who gave me this schedule had assigned each of her 4 oldest boys a day and she took the Leftover day. This allowed her to be out of the kitchen at noon time and assess the day's schedule.
HTH!!!
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LucyP
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I never cook at lunch time, unless it is Sunday - so we have sandwiches, or more usually toast + jam/cheese on toast/fish on toast/boiled egg rarely. Sometimes maybe a cheese quesedilla (sp?). Usually some fruit to follow and a cup of milk. That's it.
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MarilynW
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Thanks for the ideas everyone. I will post my menu plan when I do it in the next couple of weeks.
On the "keenwah" angle - we did actually know the pronunciation - we used to eat it a lot a few years ago because of the high protein content - Trader Joe's always had a big sign telling everyone how to pronounce it!!
I am adding to my list
- pita pizzas
- bacon and egg burritos
- quesadillas
- Annie's organics mac n cheese
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TracyFD
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I am often tempted to send the kids to public school for a week or two just so they learn to eat lunch in 10-15 minutes flat!
I have learned to use the timer. When it dings, the kitchen is CLOSED!
I also tuck a timer into the jacket pocket of a child when they go outside before or after lunch. They all come in without complaint!
Enjoying the menu ideas - one favorite around here are the Morning Star meatless corn dogs. Low in fat, less expensive if you can buy at a case discount.
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LLMom
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we eat quite a lot of bean (refried) and cheese burritos. Quick and easy in the microwave.
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I just made up a lunch rotation that my 7 and 8 yo are in charge of......
Cheese/Bean Quesadillas
Egg Salad Sandwich
Tuna Salad Sand
French bread or Pita w/Cheese and Ham
Bagels w/cream cheese, fruit,veg
PB & J
And, of course.....leftovers....which I do.
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Sharyn
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What about Vegemite sandwiches They are good for you!
Actually we have too many Vegemite sandwiches so I have been looking for a sandwich book to beat all sandwich books. And haven't had much success.
I found a few that I'm going to try to get from the library first: Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings: The Best Sandwiches in America by Margaux Sky; Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever--from Thursday Nights at Campanile by Nancy Silverton, and Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini: Sandwiches, Italian Style by Viana La Place.
But I'm not sure these books are going to 'cut the mustard'  
I just want a sandwich book that has lots of simple idea's the majority of which we would be happy to eat, made of things neither exotic nor expensive. It would be nice to have just a little more variety.
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jenk
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TracyFD wrote:
I am often tempted to send the kids to public school for a week or two just so they learn to eat lunch in 10-15 minutes flat!
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LOL! I knew a woman who ran a co-op and wanted to make sure that homeschoolers didn't miss out on anything and since lunch and recess are a big draw for kids, she offered to have them stay through a lunch period. That option disappeared after the first year because she was convinced that homeschoolers (especially as a group) could NOT eat lunch in under an hour.
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kbaldwin
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I like to keep lunches simple. sandwiches, crackers or bread and cheese with fruit and usually something salty/crunchy like pretzels,popcorn or veggie sticks. A few times a week I read out loud at sort of multitasking
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kbaldwin
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sorry about the last post. The baby sent the post before I could proof it. We have also tried the packing an individual lunch,it worked pretty well but mom got burnt out. Maybe we will give it another go this year
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Becky Parker
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Lunch is always a problem here. I have been trying, for years, to come up with a plan that will make the lunch making process simpler and quicker. This year I'm thinking about preparing the lunches ahead of time, like a bagged lunch. To make it a little more fun, I think I will use giant muffin tins. (I actually read about this here, years ago, and use this idea alot when we travel. It makes those rest stop lunches a breeze.)
To start I'm going to give each child a foil muffin tin that has six compartments. I will fill the compartments in the evening for the next day. (If this idea works as well as I hope, I will buy the metal kind that will last longer.) This is especially good for us because we have two on a gluten free diet so sandwiches are out. So, what goes into the compartments? I'm thinking of having a list of choices that I can choose from so it's not too hectic in the evening when I am packing them. Here's my list so far:
1- Protein: peanut butter, lunch meat, pepperoni, ham cubes, refried beans, nuts, GF chicken nuggets, hard boiled egg, ???
2 - Dairy: cheese cubes, yogurt, shredded cheese to sprinkle on refried beans,???
3 - Veggies: mini carrots, Fresh peas, corn, celery sticks, sweet peppers, cucumbers, salad, jicama sticks, ???
4 - Fruits: grapes, apple slices (dip in lemon water), pineapple, canned peaches, ???
5 - Crunchy: pretzels, fritos, potatoe chips, tortilla chips,???
6 - Sweet: Cookie, Dried fruit, trail mix with M&M's, leftover dessert (rare!), ???
I left the question marks because any ideas you might have would be helpful!
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kbaldwin
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I used to do that for toddler snacks in an ice cube tray maybe I will revisit this Thanks Becky
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KackyK
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Becky I have a picky eater and I'm wondering if the muffin tins might just be an answer for her. She eats such little amounts anyways, a sampling of several items, some she likes, some she doesn't necessarily may be the best option to get some food in her!
Have you seen this blog before Her Cup Overfloweth. She has muffin tin Mondays with themed ideas usually for a fun muffin tin lunch (or snack!).
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Kristie 4
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My kids wouldn't survive a week at school- hardly any of them like sandwiches!
We usually have...
Mon: up in the air
Tues:leftover soup from M. dinner
Wednesday: fried rice or some type of lenten dish
Thursday: up in the air
Friday: vegetable soup
Saturday: fresh bagels from the bagel shop
Sunday: potluck at church
For the 'up in the air' days...
-mac and cheese- homemade and so little mess!
-cheese queasidillas
-fish
-rice pudding
-smoothies and bagels
-sandwiches: salmon, pb and honey, mustard and onion (my oldest and youngest, the sandwich haters, can't get enough of this one. I just don't let them have it on our going out days!)
I usually have a side of either veggies or fruit and a cup of water
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I am very lazy for lunch!
During our "school year" I make a big pot of soup/stew/chili on Sunday and we eat that for lunch Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. They get a bowl of whatever I made, a roll, a piece of fruit and some yogurt.
Wednesday is our "out" day. Its my 10 yodd job to pack lunches for everyone that day.
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Topic: Quick lunches for school days?
