Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Great Lunch Ideas…

I don’t know about you, but I always struggle to come up with new lunch ideas for my kids.  We home school, so I don’t just pack a lunch and send them off with it.  I like to make a warm, filling lunch for them, so they are nice and full when we do our afternoon lessons.  I hate to stop for snacks :(.

As I have said before, I plan my menus 2 weeks at a time and buy groceries every 2 weeks for those menus.  I decided to start planning breakfast/lunch menus as well so I wouldn’t have to figure out every day what to fix.  I like the items I chose for those menus, but I also wanted to find some ideas so we can change things up a bit from time to time.  The key for me is “simple”.  I don’t have a lot of time to make anything fancy, but I want it to be simple and yummy.

In the course of my decreasing the number of blogs I follow, I kept all of the cooking blogs, and blogs that share recipes.  I love Jamie cooks it up, Life as a Lofthouse, Six Sisters Stuff, and Many’s Recipe Box.  I have gotten some great ideas for dinners, lunches and desserts from those blogs.  I thought I would share a couple with you!

Taco Cupcakes! If I was having a Super Bowl party this weekend, I would so make these!  They are easy, and they look delicious.  You can substitute low-fat, or non-fat ingredients as you need to, and that is the beauty of it. This idea came from Life as a Lofthouse, and I can’t wait to try them…Don’t they look yummy?! :)

_ a taco cupcakeDSC_0615

Taco Cupcakes
Recipe by: Plain Chicken

1 lb lean ground beef (I used 96% lean)
1 packet taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
36 wonton wrappers
Favorite Taco toppings: salsa, sour cream, etc

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain grease. Stir in taco seasoning, water and black beans. Bring mixture to a boil, and then reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until water is absorbed.
Spray 18 regular muffin cups with cooking spray. Place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup. Divide half of the meat mixture between muffin cups. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the meat. Repeat layers with another wonton wrapper, taco meat and cheese.
Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and wrappers are golden brown. Serve with your favorite taco toppings!

Then today, I was looking at the same blog, and found these little beauties…my kids will love these!  They would also be great for a party, but my kids will love them for lunch too!

Pepperoni Rollups

_ a pepperoni rollupDSC_0146

Pepperoni Roll Ups
Recipe from: Taste of Home

1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated Pillsbury crescent rolls
32 slices pepperoni (I used Hormel's turkey pepperoni slices)
4 pieces string cheese, cut in half
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Marinara or Pizza sauce, for dipping

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll crescent dough; separate into 8 triangles. Place 4 pepperoni slices on the large end of each triangle. Place one half string cheese on the top of the pepperonis. Roll up towards point. Place roll ups atleast 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Mix together Italian seasoning and melted butter. Brush over the tops of the roll ups. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm!

I’ll share some of the great dessert and dinner ideas I have gotten later!

2 comments:

Amelia said...

These look so good! I definitely need to try both of them, and I think it would be easy to make either vegetarian too. Oh girl, these pics make me want to go to the kitchen and frantically find all ingredients and cook me up some goodness! Ha! : D

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us!

xxxooo ~Amelia

Anita Johnson said...

So glad to get some ideas! I will have everyone here for my mom's birthday on Saturday and guess they will just stay for the weekend...I'm such an uninspired cook...these look wonderful! Thank you!