Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

19 Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas – Free Printable!

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Sick of sandwiches? No problem. Here are 19 Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas you can make and pack quickly! Most of them can be packed in jars. It’s fun and economical!

Need supplies? Here’s a resource list!

Back to School Lunches in a Jar – FREE Printable!

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Lunch in a Jar: Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits

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If starting up a new school year is a bit of a bummer to you, these Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits will make it all better. After all, if you know you’ve packed this for your lunch box, you have so much to look forward to!

Sometimes I exaggerate (i.e. My house is always clean!!). But when it comes to these Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits, it is no exaggeration when I say that this is my all-time favorite food and I cannot get enough. And by the way, is there such thing as a clean house when there are people living within its walls? I don’t think so. No matter. We have Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits. Life is good and crumbs on the floor represent happiness.

You’ve heard me talk about these Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits. You already know how much I love them. When strawberries aren’t in season, I cry a little bit.

The fact that these can be packed and taken in a lunch is a huge perk. Another perk is the fact that you can sweeten these with either stevia or regular sugar – whatever you and your family prefer. (I make batches of both as my children aren’t stevia fans.)

Add to these perks that you can make a Chocolate Cheesecake Parfait version and now we’re all completely overjoyed.

These parfaits can be made with any variety of your favorite fruit that is in season: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, or peaches. Make them in 8-ounce jars to take on the go as needed. Perfection!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

I’ll post this recipe again here for your convenience. Enjoy how fabulous this makes your lunch box!

Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits

Lunch in a Jar: Fruit Cheesecake Parfaits
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • 8 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon real maple syrup
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 20 drops) (Use a few Tablespoons of sugar if you prefer.)
  • 1 -2 pounds fresh, sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, or peaches
  • *Add 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder if you would like a chocolate version of this cheesecake parfait!
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients (minus the fruit) into a blender.
  2. Whip until smooth and creamy.
  3. Spoon mixture into jars, bowls, or cups - layering them with sliced fruit.

Great additions to your Fruit Cheesecake Parfait Lunch in a Jar Idea

Have you tried this Fruit Cheesecake Parfait recipe yet? What’s your favorite fruit to use with it?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Mini Crustless Quiche

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If we can bake Quick Bread in a Jar we can certainly bake Mini Crustless Quiche in jars. Check this out!

Surely your first question is: “If I bake quiches in jars, then pack them in a lunch, won’t they taste weird since they are cold?”

You would think so. But these quiches actually taste good cold. Or, if you have the ability to rewarm them, that’s great too. <— Laura states the obvious.

Just like so many Lunch in a Jar ideas we are sharing this month, these Mini Crustless Quiches can be made to order. Add or exclude whatever your family likes. It’s super easy to line up several jars and fill them using an “assembly line” method.

If you have cooked meat, put some in each jar per people’s preferences. If the kids won’t scream too loud about it, add some fresh spinach. Crack in 1-2 eggs per 8-ounce jar (1 if you have a lot of add-ins, 2 if you are more focused on eggs than meat/veggies/cheese). Add in any goodies you like: onions, sweet peppers, shredded cheese, cooked sausage, cooked bacon, chopped ham, leftover chicken – the options are only limited to your preferences and what you have on hand!

I recommend 8-ounce wide mouth jars for each Mini Crustless Quiche as they are easier to clean afterward. But truly, any 8-ounce jar will work!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Lunch in a Jar: Mini Crustless Quiche

Lunch in a Jar: Mini Crustless Quiche
 
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Ingredients
  • 1-2 eggs per 8-ounce jar
  • 1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream or milk per jar (optional)
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste
  • Add in options:
  • Cooked Sausage Crumbles
  • Cooked Bacon Bits
  • Chopped Ham
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Chopped Onion
  • Chopped Sweet Pepper
  • Torn Spinach Leaves
  • Leftover Cooked Chicken
  • Your choice!
Instructions
  1. Crack 1-2 eggs into each 8 ounce jar.
  2. Add cream or milk, salt and pepper, plus any add-ins you like.
  3. Use a fork to scramble the contents together in the jar.
  4. Place jars on a cookie sheet.
  5. Bake for 30-40 minutes in a 350 oven until contents in each jar have puffed up and cooked until the middles no longer "jiggle."

 

Even my pickiest kid loves these – even with the spinach!! Score!

What are your additional suggestions for Add-Ins for these Mini Crustless Quiches?

Great additions to your Mini Crustless Quiche Lunch in a Jar Idea

Consider adding any of the following to your lunch box along with your Mini Crustless Quiche

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Chips and Guac

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Chips and guac is a surprisingly perfect lunch to pack in a jar and take on the road, to work, or to school!

Now, let’s not talk about the color of the guacamole. Bless its heart. It is delicious and it can’t help the way it looks. Green (avocados) and red (salsa) make…the color of baby poop. We offer huge apologies for this, yet there’s nothing we can do to change it.

Trust me, we’ve tried.

But we like to do things the simple way around here, so it is what it is. The fact that we can scoop avocados into a blender, dump in salsa and lime juice, then blend it to perfection – all in five minutes? Well, so what if the mixture turns out not-so-pretty? We just made a super nutritious and delicious snack or meal in record time!

I shared our favorite Guacamole Recipe here. But I’ll share it again today as a perfect “Lunch in a Jar” idea. Truly, this is substantial enough to make a meal. The guac packs perfectly in a small jar. Add a baggie of tortilla chips and any other sides and your lunch box will be the envy of all around you.

Especially because of the color of your guac. Who wouldn’t be jealous of that?

Lunch in a Jar: Chips and Guac

Lunch in a Jar: Chips and Guac
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 ripe avocados
  • 16-ounce jar of your favorite salsa
  • 3-4 Tablespoons of lime juice
Instructions
  1. Cut open the avocados, pull out the pit, and scoop the "meat" into a blender.
  2. Dump salsa and lime juice into the blender.
  3. Blend until smooth.

I recommend these tiny 4-ounce jars for packing guacamole. These 8-ounce wide mouth jars are also awesome for those with a bigger appetite.

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Great add-ins to your Chips and Guac Lunch in a Jar Idea

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: 5 Favorite Salads

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When it comes to packing your favorite salads in a jar, the Wide Mouth jar is a must!

If you look around on Pinterest, you’ll find dozens of great ideas for packing salads in wide mouth jars. It’s a fun idea and an easy way to pack nourishment in a lunch box.

As for me, I tend to stick with our family’s salad favorites. I always have the ingredients for these on hand, and even these five salad ideas provide plenty of variety! We’ve been known to eat salad on the soccer field, in the basketball bleachers, and in the mini van going to and fro.

Many suggest putting salad dressing in the bottom of the salad jar, then shaking it up before eating. Genius! Another idea is to pack the dressing in a smaller, separate jar so the greens and other veggies don’t become soggy before you’re ready to eat. These tiny 4-ounce jars are my preference for salad dressings on the side. Quart sized wide mouth jars are my preference for the salads themselves.

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

5 Favorite Salads to Pack in Jars

Pack any of your favorites, and try a few new ones too! (Don’t forget to pack a fork.) ;)

5 Favorite Homemade Salad Dressing Ideas

When you made your salad dressing at home, you can be sure you include healthy ingredients you feel good about. Plus, homemade salad dressing is tough to beat when it comes to flavor and freshness! Here is a list of my family’s favorites:

Great add-ins to your Salad Lunches in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Burrito Bowl

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Today’s “Lunch in a Jar” idea might sound like a strange one. But trust me when I say that a Burrito Bowl packed in a jar and taken on the road or for a work or school lunch is extremely tasty!

It’s also wonderful because it’s a great change of pace if you’re tired of sandwiches or other “normal” sack lunch foods. We’ve found that a Burrito Bowl packed in a jar tastes great hot or cold. So if you have a way to warm up your food at work or school, go for it! But if not, this Burrito Bowl will still taste great as is!

The beauty of the Burrito Bowl is that it can be made per each person’s preference. Not a fan of olives? (Me neither.) Leave them out. Love extra spice? Go nuts with the salsa or hot sauce! Everyone can build their Burrito Bowl the way they love without any extra effort!

Lunch in a Jar: Burrito Bowl

Here are the food items we like on our burrito bar:

  • Salsa Chicken
  • Seasoned Hamburger Meat
  • Brown Rice (seasoned with chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and a splash of lime juice)
  • Black Beans and or Pinto Beans
  • Salsa
  • Guacamole
  • Sauted onions and peppers
  • Mixed Greens or Spinach
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Tomatoes
  • Olives
  • Corn
  • Sour Cream

Each person can fill their bowls or jars any way they like. Stir it together and you’ve got a great meal. Make several jars ahead of time to pull out and pack to go as needed!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Great add-ins to your Burrito Bowl Lunch in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers

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It’s one of the most basic, simple foods. But still, Tuna Salad & Crackers is one of my favorite lunches to pack in a jar and take on the road.

You might remember that I shared our favorite Tuna Salad recipe last month when talking about these Tuna Salad Wraps. I’ll share the recipe again below, just to make it simple for all of us to quickly stir together tuna salad!

Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers

Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers
 
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Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 6-ounce can tuna in water, drained
  • 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower mayo)
  • 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
  • Dash of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Mix tuna, mayo, pickle relish, and salt until well combined.
  2. Transfer to 4 or 8 ounce jars to pack in lunches.

Send along your favorite crackers with the jar of Tuna Salad. Crackers are great tuna scoopers! I love this lunch with a side of fresh fruits and veggies!

Our Favorite Ingredients to use in Tuna Salad:

Best Jars to use for Tuna Salad in a LunchBox:

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Great add-ins to your Tuna with Crackers Lunch in a Jar

Not a fan of Tuna Salad? Use this same idea but make Chicken Salad instead!

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch Box Scripture Cards FREE Printable!

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Want to remind your family of God’s Truth throughout the day? Yes! That’s why we created these Lunch Box Scripture Cards for you to use!

I’ve become convinced that filling our homes, our cars, our walls, our pockets, and yep, even our lunch boxes with scripture is a huge game changer as we seek Truth and comfort throughout our days.

These scripture cards are completely free, and yours to use in whatever ways you can think of to encourage people. We created them especially for you to put in your family’s lunch boxes so they can be encouraged throughout the day. But I bet you can come up with plenty of other ideas to use them for encouraging people too!

So enjoy! Get access to these (and many other free printables) here.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins – Perfect for a Lunch Box!

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Would someone please stop me from eating all of these Flourless Brownie Muffins?

Just kidding. I’d actually like to keep eating them.

And also, I can let the kids eat all the Flourless Brownie Muffins they want because there is no reason to hold back on these. Want a brownie for breakfast? Sure! Want three more brownies? Okeedokee. Ran out and need to bake more brownies? Shucks, don’t mind if I do.


It’s been so interesting to me since I posted these Super Moist Flourless Brownie and Super Moist Flourless Peanut Butter Brownie recipes. SO MANY people have had trouble with them turning out dry and crumbly. (This is the opposite of moist – what in the world?! I am baffled.)

I’ve been trying to trouble shoot and solve the mystery of this, because these recipes turn out great for me every single time! Is it my oven? It can’t possibly be that my oven works in these recipes and all other ovens don’t. Is it the temp? The time?

I do believe it’s the time. I shortened the baking time in the instructions, hoping that will make a big difference. I believe the trick to turning out perfect Super Moist Flourless Brownies is to pull them out of the oven when they are slightly underdone. If they bake too long, they will become dry and taste like burned nut butter. Meh.

So during my time of tweaking and trouble shooting, it occurred to me that I should try baking this recipe in muffin cups. Perhaps that would turn out Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins, I thought. Maybe if this recipe was baked in muffin cups, we could bake them for less time and avoid drying out our brownies.

Well, as it turned out, once again these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins turned out perfect for me! So perfect, in fact, I had a difficult time staying out of them. “I just want one more. I can quit any time…”

As for baking time on these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins, I’m going to recommend 12-15 minutes. They may look slightly underdone when you pull them out. But this is what will keep them gooey and delicious!

Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins

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Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins - Perfect for a Lunch Box!
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups (12-ounces) Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
  1. Stir all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Scoop batter into 12 paper-lined muffins cups.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. (Remove them from the oven when they are just slightly underdone so they come out moist!)

I felt this recipe was worth sharing in the middle of my Lunch in a Jar series simply because these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins are perfect for your Back to School Lunchbox! They are filling, nourishing, and fun!

Other Lunch Box ideas shared so far in this series:

Great add-ins to your Fruit with Dip Lunch in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Apples & Peanut Butter (And Other Fun Fruits and Dips)

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It only made sense to follow our Veggies with Dips in a Jar post with this Fruit with Dips in a Jar Post. The most basic idea along these lines: Apples & Peanut Butter.

Apples & Peanut Butter in a Jar

Just like the veggies, place your favorite fruit dip in the bottom of a small jar. Then put in your favorite fruit (apples work best for something like this!). Place the lid on the jar, pack, and take on the go. So, so simple!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

First up, if you’re going to pack Apples & Peanut Butter in a jar, you will need links to our favorite homemade peanut butters!

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of making peanut butter. It truly is remarkably easy! And fresh, homemade peanut butter tastes incredible!

Not up for making peanut butter? No problem. Though I do recommend that you avoid purchasing the varieties that contain hydrogenated oils and corn syrup. Choose a natural brand with few, wholesome ingredients.

Next, let’s talk about fruit.

Apples and grapes transport the best and work best for dipping. Bananas might require an 8-ounce wide mouth jar like this so you can spread the peanut butter or other dip on top. Blueberries are a good possibility too. Fresh pineapple, cut into thin slices, is a great option.

And now for the dips!

Fruit Dip Recipes to Pack in Jars

Great add-ins to your Fruit with Dip Lunch in a Jar

Up next, more “main dish” Lunch in a Jar ideas!

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!