Healthy Back to School Lunch Ideas

I have a child who refuses to eat anything that falls under the category of fruits and vegetables. Finding things for him to eat at lunch has been a never ending challenge. Although I have yet to find something that he will eat, and is healthy at the same time, I have had fun trying out new "school lunch ideas."

Here are a few of the lunches I prepared. All of them are flexible enough with the "added" ingredients that you can pick and choose what will fit your child's taste.

Eggs are not just for breakfast.

For those first weeks of school, when the weather is still warm outside, try this lunch idea.

The night before prepare a frittata: get one (or two) egg(s), add a little bit of milk, salt and pepper to taste and whisk it. Incorporate any vegetable (onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, ...) and/or meat (turkey, ham, sausage, ...), and/or cheese (mozzarella, Colby, ...). Mix well and pour in a small greased skillet. Let it cook until you see the egg(s) firming. Flip to the other side and finish cooking. Once cooled, put the frittata in the refrigerator. The next morning, place the frittata between two slices of bread and you are ready to go.

Note: I have cooked frittata in a microwave plenty of times, especially if I wanted to use it in a sandwich. I mixed all the ingredients in a square container (just the right size of a slice of bread). I then placed the container in the microwave and cooked the mix for a couple of minutes (how many will depend on how many eggs you have used - start with two and add more if necessary). It will not brown, but it will still be fluffy and you will have not used oil to grease the skillet. It will also be just the right size for the slice of bread. You will still need to cool it and place in the refrigerator overnight. If you place the hot frittata on the bread, it will make the bread too moist.

For a sweet treat, try crepes. Follow the recipe for crepes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basic-Crepes/Detail.aspx) except that you want to mix the wet ingredient first and then add the flour (as one of the reviewers suggested). Once the crepes have cooled, place dabs of jam or marmalade on each. Roll the crepes and place in a sealed container.

Cream Cheese and Tuna (or Chicken) Salad.

A twist to tuna salad: open and drain a small can of tuna. In a bowl combine the tuna, half of a cream cheese bar (low fat or regular). If you want to, add other ingredients to your liking (chopped olives, onions, sweet relish, ...). Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and spread on bread slices, or pita bread, or tortillas.

Because it does not have mayonnaise, you don't have to worry about it staying cold until lunch.

For a crunchy lunch, cut up celery stalks the length of a container that will fit in the lunch box. Fill the stalks with the cream cheese and tuna mix.

As the title points out, you can substitute tuna with chicken. I found that canned chicken works better for this.

Vegetarian rice salad cups.

This recipe is simple to make. It is rice mixed with different kinds of pickled vegetables and cheese. (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2050053/vegetarian_rice_salad_a_summer_recipe.html?cat=5)

You can leave it as a vegetarian dish, change it to vegan by omitting the cheese, or add meat (such as turkey dogs). Once the rice is mixed, you can place it in small sealable containers that are easy to fit in the lunchbox. If you don't like pickled vegetables (or you think there would be too much sodium intake), you can use fresh vegetables such as: chopped cooked carrots (but do not overcook them), thinly sliced celery, cut up Roma tomatoes (just the meat), peas, chopped cooked green beans; you can also add cut up turkey dogs and cubed cheese. If you do choose to use regular vegetables instead of the pickled ones, you will need to add more seasonings to the mixed rice, or the final result will be rather bland.