Well, I've been
hard at work torturing my children with all kinds of
new
school lunch
ideas. We've even had some success! Interestingly, the
kids
are actually more responsive to new things now that they know that they
are part of an experiment. Maybe that's a good tip to encourage your
kids
to try new things.
I know the school year has ended in the Southern Hemisphere where
Summer is in full swing. Try some of these recipes as holiday lunch
ideas, the chicken-on-a-stick would be great at a beach picnic. Just
don't
tell me about it. Now that I live 6 hours drive from a decent beach I
try not to think about beach picnics.
School lunch idea:Chicken-on-a-stick
---------------------------
Almost too good to send to school. A great standby if you are out of
bread but have
chicken in the freezer...
These Asian-inspired sate sticks fit nicely in an insulated food bottle
(Thermos®)
It might seem like a lot of ingredients for a school lunch but make
a large batch and freeze the raw chicken skewers in the marinade.
You can then serve them for dinner with rice and vegetables. You
can also use the marinade as a sauce for a stir fry. Alternatively, buy
a jar of
peanut satay sauce.
For school lunches, make the chicken sticks the day before and either
cook them and reheat in the microwave in the morning or cook them in
the morning.
Put them into a pre-heated insulated food bottle (Thermos®) (fill
with hot water,
let sit for 5 minutes and then empty). To speed things up, use packaged
chicken stock, minced green ginger from a jar
(available in most supermarkets) and minced garlic from a jar.
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice (use lemon if you don't have any limes)
1 teaspoon grated green ginger
2 tablespoons honey
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
10 wooden skewers
Cut the skewers so that they fit lengthwise into the insulated
container (keep
the pointy end). Remove any fat from the chicken. Cut the chicken
into 1" (2.5 cm)squares. Thread the chicken onto the skewers.
Combine the other ingredients in plastic container with a lid. Firmly
holding the lid, shake the container until
all the ingredients are mixed. Place the skewers in the marinade
and replace the lid. Let stand several hours or overnight.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill or broil, turning
frequently, until cooked (about 10 minutes).
A printable recipe is available at:
http://www.familycalm.com/idea/recipes/schoollunches/chicken_stick.shtml
Snack idea:
Vegie silver
dollar pancakes
----------------
A clever way to disguise vegies. These mini pancakes are delicious
hot or cold. They freeze well so make a batch to have on hand as
a lunchbox filler (apply butter if desired). You can also make them
very quickly and serve hot for a weekend lunch or after school snack.
You can substitute whatever vegetables you want. You can also use
wholemeal (wheat) flour instead of the flour and bran if you prefer
1 small zucchini, grated
1 stick celery, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 tablespoon of orange juice or apple juice or water
1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1 tablespoon bran (optional)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup low fat milk
butter
Place the vegetables and the juice or water in a microwave container.
Microwave on high until tender (about 1 minute). Drain and cool.
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, egg and milk. Stir
until smooth. Add the vegetables. Heat a frying pan and
add a teaspoon of butter. When the butter has melted, spread it
around the pan and then drop tablespoons of the mixture into the
pan. When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, flip them
to brown the other side. Remove from the pan when cooked and place
them on paper towel.
If you are going to freeze them, wait until they are completely
cold and then wrap them in paper towel before placing them in a
plastic bag or container. You can remove them from the freezer,
butter them and wrap them in plastic wrap or place them in a container
to send to school. They will have defrosted by the time they need
to be eaten.
A printable recipe is available at:
http://www.familycalm.com/idea/recipes/schoollunches/vegie_pancakes.shtml
**
Michelle Archard is the founder and CEO of
Family Calm, LLC ( http://www.familycalm.com
),
based in Austin, TX. She enjoys torturing her children with new
foods and is pleased that the years of torment are finally paying
off. Her children (aged 6 & 9) now eat a wide range of foods. She
is
currently researching recipes that offer healthy school lunch
alternatives (as well as coming up with new products & ideas to
soothe other areas of life with kids). Subscribe to Michelle's
newsletter at http://www.familycalm.com/newsletter/signup.shtml
.
