Mommy What's For Lunch?

While browsing Facebook this week one of my old co-workers asked the age-old question: "What do you serve your kids for lunch?" Seems like such a simple question, but when you are dealing with a 2 year old--who can be super picky--this question seems more like a complex math equation.

Since I am not really cooking anything "new" this week, I thought it might be fun to list the kid friendly foods we reach for in our house--both homemade and prepackaged.  I am the Queen of freezing, so I usually make huge batches of the homemade items listed below, freeze them, and store them in small Ziplocks so I can nuke and serve.

Please feel free to add your favorite go-to lunches in the comments section!

Homemade Lunch List
Italian Meatballs
Swedish Meatballs
Bisquick Chicken Fingers
Spinach Artichoke Mac-and-Cheese
Turkey-Hummus Sliders
Alphabet Pasta and Meat Sauce
Mini Spinach and Turkey Meatloaves 
Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Store-Bought Lunch List
Kraft Easy Mac with pureed cauliflower mixed in
Dr. Preager's Pizza Bagels
Dr. Preager's Fish Sticks
Progresso Low-Sodium Chicken and Rice Soup
Thomas' Whole Wheat Bagel Thins topped with marinara and shredded mozzarella
Thomas' Whole Wheat Bagel Thins topped with peanut butter
Earth's Best Frozen Whole Grain Pizza's
Grilled cheese on whole grain bread
Scrambled eggs and whole grain toast

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

Morning Treat--Cinnamon-Pecan Waffles

I have always been a breakfast person, but I tend to go for the same things over and over: cereal, bagels or eggs. My son, on the other hand, only wants one thing in the morning: WAFFLES. There are mornings when at 3am he approaches my room whimpering “Mommy? Waffles, I need waffles…” and I need to gently guide him back to bed reminding him that it is just too early, we can only have waffles once the sun comes up.

I was short on Bisquick this past weekend and needed something to bulk up my waffle batter so it wouldn’t be too soupy for the waffles iron. Ever since moving to GA pecans seem to be very abundant, so I chopped some up, threw them into the batter with some cinnamon, and created this morning goodness that I have been eating every morning since.

This photo does not do this dish justice--you'll just have to believe me that these are delicious!

 Cinnamon-Pecan Waffles

Servings: 6 (1 serving = ½ a waffle)

PointsPlus Value per serving: 5

130 calories, 6g fat, 4g protein

Ingredients

1 cup Bisquick Original Baking Mix

1/2 cup chopped pecans   

1 Tbs vegetable oil     

1 egg     

1 cup fat-free skim milk   

1 Tbs cinnamon

Directions

-Spray a cold waffle iron with PAM. Set to highest setting and wait for waffle iron to heat up (mine has a green light that goes on that tells you it is ready, yours may be different).

-While the waffle iron is heating up, mix together all of the ingredients. Let batter sit for 3-5 minutes to thicken.

-In three batches, pour batter into the waffle iron and let it do its magic.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

July 4th celebration featuring Summer Salads

Happy July 4th! We have been celebrating this holiday weekend by doing one of my favorite things--cook-outs with friends. Last night we went over to our good friend's house to enjoy some good old fashion burgers and hot dogs. I think that one of my favorite things about grilling is that you can basically grill the same things every week (in my book that would be chicken breasts or burgers) but you get a totally different meal based on the side salads you serve with the meal.

Last night I brought my Pesto Potato Salad and Greek Pasta Salad (recipe below) with us to the BBQ, and we will be having left-overs of them tonight with some easy balsamic chicken. Other suggestions for BBQ sides include:

-Swedish Potato Salad with Cucumbers and Red Onions
-Green Bean Salad with Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Red Onion
-Mediterranean Orzo Salad

This week is going to be a pretty low-key cooking week, especially since it is a short holiday week and the upcoming weekend is filled with kid's birthday parties and dinners out. As it turns out, we will only be home for three dinners.

Monday: Balsamic Chicken Breast with Pesto Potato Salad and Greek Pasta Salad*

Tuesday: Vegetable Lasagna with homemade bread sticks from epicurious.com

Wednesday: Grilled Pesto Pizza (replace the bruschetta topping with my simple perfect pesto, and top with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes for the last 3 minutes of grilling) with a large Italian Side Salad

Greek Pasta Salad
Serves: 10
PointsPlus per serving: 6
240 calories, 10 grams fat

Ingredients
1/2 box Barilla Plus Rotini pasta, cooked and drained
1 cup canned chickpeas 
2 carrots, diced
10 kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 cup Athenos Feta cheese with tomato & basil   
1/2 cup cherry tomato , sliced
1/4 cup diced celery  
1/4 cup diced cucumber  
1/4 cup diced red onion  

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil  
2 Tbs cup red wine vinegar  
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs fresh chopped oregano
2 Tbs fresh chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions
-Mix dressing together in a small bowl. For best results, blend dressing in a small food processor.
-Set dressing aside.
-Mix cooled pasta with all ingredients EXCEPT for the feta cheese.
-Top pasta/veggie mixture with dressing and stir well.
-Add feta cheese last, mixing until just combined so that it doesn't get too crumbly.
-Refrigerate for 2+ hours so that flavors get a chance to infuse pasta.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.