I’m about to give you what I consider to be one of my best secrets to preparing an easy-to-make school lunch. Now, make sure the kids are out of earshot, because it may sound like a dirty word. Are you ready?
Leftovers!
When I was a kid, I would run for the hills if I heard my mom mention leftovers. Whatever the reason, it conjured up images of stale, soggy, or dried-out food. I have a feeling I’m not alone. But when I think about it now, why and when did the idea of leftovers become so taboo? Do kids really expect us to make something new at every meal? Maybe age has mellowed me, but now that I’m an adult, I love leftovers. I even feel like some things, such as roasted veggies, chicken, soups, and stews, taste—dare I say—better the next day.
Okay, invite the kids back in the room and let’s purge our vocabulary of that dreaded word. Instead let’s call them reinvented meals. After all, that’s exactly what you’re doing, isn’t it—giving new life to foods that are perfectly fresh and tasty? Really, it’s all in the presentation.
In fact, I start every week intending to have leftovers. I cook too much on purpose. On Sundays I’m the queen when it comes to making batches of brown rice, pots of pasta, and containers full of cooked vegetables, along with a grilled or baked chicken, to use as the building blocks of different meals throughout the week, and to include in my kids’ lunch boxes in an assortment of recipes.
Here are a few easy ideas for leftovers, I mean, reinvented meals:
Toss cooked pasta with pesto, Parmesan cheese, or tomato sauce.
Mix cooked brown rice with pesto; edamame, soy sauce, and sesame seeds; top it with pressure-cooker beans; combine it with cubed tofu and teriyaki sauce; mix it with honey, cinnamon, and vanilla rice milk; or into the Mexican Mixture.
Serve grilled or baked chicken sliced on a sandwich or in a wrap; cut into bite-size pieces with barbecue sauce on the side for dipping; chopped on top of salad; or tossed with cooked quinoa, olive oil, basil, and tomatoes.
Slice meatloaf for a sandwich or cut it into cubes for dipping in ketchup or your favorite sauce.
Top a baked sweet potato with a touch of maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, or chopped nuts.
Fill tortillas with beans, rice, cheese, vegetables, shrimp, chicken, tofu, and more to make a burrito.
Chop up roast vegetables and cook them in a quesadilla with shredded cheese.
Mix leftover udon, soba, or pasta noodles with low-sodium soy sauce or Bragg’s, sesame seeds, and edamame.
Stir grated carrots and sunflower seeds into quinoa and top with a light vinaigrette.
Every Monday through Friday I wake up bleary eyed at 6:30 a.m., walk into the kitchen, open the fridge, and on most days, draw a total blank.
Lunch. Again. Ugh.
All too often I have no idea what to make. Fortunately, all I have to do is look at the list of my kids’ favorite foods I always stock up on my staples—that I keep taped in my pantry—and the solutions come running to me. That list serves as a constant reminder to me that you don’t have to spend a lot of money or buy a bunch of special ingredients to produce a lunch that your kids will get excited about eating. Once every week or so I replenish the items on the list. I know that by keeping these mostly perishable items on hand, I can always come up with forty or more recipes that are not only nutritious, but taste as good as they look.
A well-stocked pantry and fridge makes preparing lunch a cinch—which means my life gets better every day around 6:45 a.m.—and I find it to be an essential tool in creating two- or three-ingredient lunchtime masterpieces with ease.
How can you achieve the same results? Start by making a list of all your kids’ favorite foods (the ones you approve of, that is!) and keep them on hand at all times. It’s one of my biggest secrets to maintaining constant creativity in the lunch box. Here’s my list of top 10 foods that I always try to have around for whipping up something tasty and quick. You’ll find these ingredients starring frequently in recipes throughout this book!
Nut butters—almond, peanut, and sunflower are great choices
Cream cheese
Cheddar, mozzarella, or your favorite cheese (in sticks, rounds, triangles, bricks, shredded, or slices)
Pesto—goes great with pasta, rice, quinoa, or as a sandwich spread
Pasta—a variety of shapes, such as ziti, macaroni, bow ties, rotini, and so on
Bananas—to eat on their own, sliced, with honey and nut butter on a sandwich, or added to Banana Dog Bites or Banana Upside Down Mini Muffins.
Baby carrots, sugar snap peas, edamame, cucumbers, or any of your child’s favorite veggies
Dehydrated, freeze-dried, or dried fruit, such as raisins, cherries, apricots, mango, or banana
Yogurt—my favorite is plain Greek yogurt, which you can sweeten with honey, maple syrup, and fresh fruits
Bread— bagels, English muffins, tortillas, or your favorite sandwich bread, preferably whole grain
Fresh berries
Sliced cucumbers
Jicama sticks with Veg-Wee Dip
Grapes
Broccoli sprinkled with sesame seeds
Orange slices
Sugar snap peas
Bananamana–Cream Cheese Sammie
Strawberries
Green beans with Caramelized Onion Dip
Pressure Cooker Black Beans with rice
Blueberries
Double Chocolate Whole-Wheat Brownie
Soft Pretzel Bites with cheese cubes
Sliced mango
Cucumber
Sliced red bell peppers
Chunks of pineapple
Cherry tomatoes
Mandarin segments
Prosciutto and Butter Sandwich
Edamame
Pear slices
Peach slices
Mini Bagel Chips with Roasted Carrot Hummus
Steamed cauliflower with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
Raspberries
Asian pear slices
Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cucumber wedges
Passion fruit
Whole-Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Cherry tomatoes
Apples
Toasted Pepitas and Sunflower Seeds
Sliced kiwi
Pretzel sticks with Avocado Honey Dip
Cherries
Freeze-dried mango
Chopped tomatoes and cucumbers
Sliced plum
Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas
Pasta with Everyday Basil Pesto
Dried apricots
Corn sheets
Theme Meals
Seasons and Holidays
Winter Wonder
Broccoli sprinkled with sesame seeds
Orange slices
Soup’s On
Asian pear slices
Valentine’s Love
Raspberry-Mascarpone Heart Sandwiches
Strawberries
Red bell pepper strips
Spring Fling
Seaweed snack
Passover Celebration
Sugar snap peas
Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas
Mini Bagel Chips with Roasted Carrot Hummus
Peach slices
All-American
Cheese cubes
Picnic Spread
Cherry tomatoes
Sliced plum
Fall Fare
Toasted Pepitas and Sunflower Seeds
Dried apricots
Grapes
Halloween Happiness
Pear slices
Fun Themes
Molto Italiano
Pasta with Everyday Basil Pesto
Sliced apple
Fiesta Fun
Jicama sticks with Veg-Wee Dip
Grapes
Pizza Pizza
Fresh berries
Sliced cucumbers
Très Français
Quartered strawberries
Loving Lunch
Bananamana–Cream Cheese Sammie
A whole apricot
Green beans with Caramelized Onion Dip
Snack Sensation
Edamame
Sliced apple
Passion fruit
Seaweed snack
Retro Lunch Box
Potato chips
Cucumber wedges
Eat This Not That
Easy Chicken Nuggets with ketchup
Raspberries
Easy Pick-Up
Soft Pretzel Bites with cheese cubes
Sliced mango
Cucumber chunks
Food Sensitivity/Allergy Themes
Picky Eater
Cherry tomatoes
Mandarin segments
Gluten-Free Goodies
Sliced kiwi
Steamed cauliflower with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
Nut-Free Nosh
Chopped tomatoes and cucumbers
Pineapple chunks
Dairy-Free Delights
Pretzel sticks with Avocado Hummus
Cherries
Freeze-dried mango
Vegetarian Nosh
Corn sheets
Pineapple chunks
Double Chocolate Whole-Wheat Brownie
Vegan Joy
Pressure Cooker Black Beans with rice
Fresh berries