Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Does it Save Money to Pack Lunch for School?

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School lunches are very reasonably priced. So does it actually save money to pack lunch for school?

I’ve found that it does! Here’s how.

Our kids’ school lunch costs $3.20. Not bad, except that our picky first grader would only eat a fourth of what was on her tray, mostly the sweet parts and the bread. ;) Meanwhile, our not-so-picky third grader would eat most of his meal and still be hungry. So we decided this year that for the sake of saving money and feeding our kids the nourishment they need, we’d pack and send their lunches to school.

Even when I buy a few pre-packaged convenience food items to save time, I am still saving money every day on their lunches.

How much am I saving?

I calculated that I’m saving an average of $1.40 per lunch, per kid, for much more nourishing meals that I know they like and will eat. I’ll share examples from our not-picky-big-eater kiddo so you can see how packing a very filling lunch still saves money.

Note: I make a big batch of these spinach cupcakes, individually bag them, and freeze them to throw into almost every lunchbox for a treat with added nutrition! I did the math. They cost $0.14 each and they are beautifully full of spinach. :) :) :)

Does it Save Money to Pack Lunch for School?

Here are nine sample lunches I might pack for my kids and their cost breakdown. The most expensive was $2.58. The least expensive is just $1.34. Lots of savings!

1. Meat and cheese sandwich, fruit cup, cheese stick, spinach cupcake (no frosting) = $2.00

2. Cheese and crackers, summer sausage, grapes, spinach cupcake (no frosting), cottage cheese and pineapple = $2.49

3. Pumpkin muffin, cottage cheese and pineapple, clementine, almonds = $1.43

4. Tuna salad with crackers, fruit cup, cheese stick, spinach cupcake (no frosting) = $1.83

5. Chips with cheesy bean dip, grapes, spinach cupcake (no frosting)  = $1.43

6. Leftover pizza slices (with spinach “hidden” on top), clementine, banana = $1.34

7. Bagel with cream cheese “sandwich”, ham, apple = $1.72

8. Bean and cheese quesadillas, carrots, strawberries $1.78

9. On Friday, we do a “Fun Friday” lunchbox which includes a baggie of chips and a yogurt squeezie, plus whatever else I have on hand that I think the kids will enjoy. Cost for the special lunch you see below: $2.58.

What do you pack in your kids’ lunches?

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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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Author:
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?

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Make Your Own Real Food Pudding Cups (and Save Money!)

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Perhaps you are excited as I am about the Easy Peanut Butter Pudding recipe I shared a few days ago. If so, you can get even more excited about how you can make different varieties of homemade pudding to create your own transportable Real Food Pudding Cups! Not only are these Pudding Cups made with real food, you will be amazed at the low cost for such a wholesome treat!

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Take note that some people (who shall remain nameless) tried to overfill their cute little cups and then the lids wouldn’t go on. Correction: The lids did go on, but pudding pushed up and over the top through the lid and squished down the sides of the cup, ruining the cuteness and creating a mess. I don’t know who would do this, but some people did this, so don’t be one of these people.

The nameless people who overfilled their cups had to scoop out pudding into an extra cup before placing lids on top. But then look:

Homemade Pudding Cups

Transportable pudding cups!

A couple years ago I discovered these awesome BPA Free Cups with Lids at Amazon and have used them over and over. We’ve used them for applesauce cups and for transporting berries or veggie dip. They come in super handy! And now, we learn that we can use them to make these Easy Homemade Pudding Cups.

Let’s talk Pudding Cup Ingredients and Cost

I recently checked the price and ingredients for pudding cups at the store. First of all, the store-bought pudding cups sit on a shelf instead of in a fridge, so we can be sure there are many preservatives included. The biggest reason to avoid these is that they include two kinds of hydrogenated oils plus vegetable oil, none of which can our bodies digest well or utilize for nourishment. Cost for store-bought is roughly $0.25 for a 3.25 ounce cup.

How much do Homemade Real Food Pudding Cups Cost?

I used all real food, organic ingredients and my cost break down was still surprisingly low! So if you use non-organic ingredients you might find yourself saving even more!

I estimated that one batch of pudding cost me about $1.75. This made six 5-ounce cups of pudding, which breaks down to $0.29 per pudding cup! But since the cups I’m using are slightly bigger than store-bought pudding cups, the price per ounce of homemade pudding is actually less expensive than purchased pudding cups!

How about that? Making Real Food Pudding Cups saves us money and ensures that we’re getting a wholesome, filling snack or dessert!

pudding cups5

You can have fun making pudding varieties and mixing and matching fun flavors! Reuse the disposable cups (they wash up easily!) to save even more.

Easy Recipes for Pudding Cups

Two Great Pudding Cup Tips

  1. Adjust the sugar amount in each of these recipes to your liking. Take note also that you can use any sweetener you choose, from maple syrup to honey, brown sugar, or sucanat.
  2. These Pudding Cups freeze well! Make a bunch ahead of time, then pull out a few at a time to thaw as needed.

What can you do with extra egg whites after making homemade pudding? 

These pudding recipes call for egg yolks as the egg whites tend to create a funny texture as the pudding cooks. I set the egg whites aside, store them in a jar in the fridge, then often add them to our scrambled eggs to use them up. Or you can make Coconut Macaroon Cookies.

Make Your Own Real Food Pudding Cups

What’s your favorite variety of pudding? Do you have any other great ideas for utilizing these reusable plastic cups with lids?

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Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

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No-Bake Granola Bites
This is a non-recipe recipe. This means that you can sub out ingredient for ingredient as you have preferences, allergies, and stock piles. Love flax seeds? Throw ’em in. Can’t have peanut butter? Use the nut butter you like. Prefer maple syrup? Use it instead of honey. Running low on raisins? Oh well. Don’t like chocolate chips?

Wait. Who doesn’t like chocolate chips??

Here’s how this non-recipe works:

  1. Plop 1/2 cup peanut butter (or whatever butter) and 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup) into a bowl. I really do mean plop. Just eye-ball it. An exact 1/2 cup of peanut butter is not necessary here.
  2. Stir in 1 1/3 cups total of whatever dry ingredients you want. Oats, flax, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, chocolate chips, anything else you like.
  3. Scoop the mixture into balls and enjoy.
  4. Store them in the refrigerator.

Here’s the printable version:

Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

5.0 from 3 reviews
Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • ½ cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)
  • ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)
  • 1⅓ cups total dry ingredients of your choice (oats, flax, seeds, raisins, chocolate chips)
Instructions
  1. Plop ½ cup peanut butter (or whatever butter) and ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup) into a bowl.
  2. Stir in 1⅓ total cups of whatever dry ingredients you want. Oats, flax, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, chocolate chips, anything else you want.
  3. Scoop the mixture into balls and enjoy.
  4. Store them in the refrigerator.

Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

As you can see, these Granola Bites are easy to put together in just a few minutes. They are great to take on the road or pack in a lunch. Of course, if you just want to sit right down at your kitchen table and eat them, that’s okay too. You could even make them at night and eat them for breakfast the next morning. Basically, this is one of the most versatile recipes in your whole wide kitchen. Everyone wins!

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Meals I Fed Six Men on a Roof for Three Days

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Men on a roof? Yep, six of them.

roof2

Matt and the boys (plus another young man) have been hanging out on a roof across town part of last week and this. In a few days this army tore off the damaged roof and replaced it with a new one. Driving up to see all my men working so hard made my heart all aflutter. But then it promptly stopped when my ten year old spotted me driving up and started running across said roof to greet me. Ohmygoodness, please do not run across a roof, whatintheworld?? (The roof is super not-steep. But still.)

The big role I played in the roofing process was feeding the hungry people. What’s new, right? Except that I got to deliver the food to my men just like I used to deliver food to the harvest crew when I was growing up in Kansas. It was super fun. Plus I was the hero every time I drove up to greet the hungry roofers. Hard work makes for big appetites!

I took a few pictures of the food I bought, prepared, and delivered. Read along and pretend to be interested in my sandwiches.

Food for 6 Men on a Roof

First, I shopped. I had to buy green beans because of the naughty bunnies. I splurged on a few fun foods like juice (the bottles of which came in very handy later for homemade Gatorade), Kind bars, and Veggie Chips for the roofers. I bought lunch meat. I bought a teeny tiny little block of cheese. Price-matching helped me get great deals on many fresh fruits and veggies!

groceries8-6-15

Realizing I had no potatoes or onions in the house after I got home, I ran to another store closer to my house to grab them – along with hot dog buns. {and everyone gasped in shock} You know what I decided? There’s barely such thing as a healthy hot dog bun, so I might as well buy the cheapest I can find for the occasional times we treat ourselves to hot dogs. The hot dogs ended up being a very fun roofing lunch (and easy), so yay for cheap buns and all that.

groceries 8-6-152

The lunch I delivered on the first day consisted of turkey sandwiches, chips, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, raw veggies, brownies right out of the oven (only because I barely got them done in time), bottles of juice, and homemade peach milkshakes in jars. They devoured it all and asked if I would mind bringing a little something else mid-afternoon.

roofing food1

So I made a bunch of quesadillas around 2:30 that afternoon, grabbed some cold Izzes from the fridge, and headed back to the work site. Not to worry – I got other work done at home too in between all the running. :)

roofing food 2

The next morning I made a triple batch of what my boys now call “Super Mama Waffles.” They aren’t just waffles. They are waffles with berries and whipped cream. Big difference. My hope was to fill the guys very full so they would last until lunch.

roofing food4

Still, by lunch they were starving. I’m not surprised. This is the day I took the first round of homemade gatorade in cute bottles. And the hot dogs on cheap buns. They also got carrots, grapes, cantaloupe, and chocolate cake. They came home a little bit earlier that day so I didn’t need to take a snack.

roofing food 6

They took the weekend off because of other commitments, and started back up on Monday. I went all out with a breakfast of Biscuits and Gravy, scrambled eggs, peaches, and plums.

roofing food 8
To make the most of my biscuit making mess, I made quite a few extras for the freezer. One mess, two meals. Yes please.

 roofing food 7

There they are, frozen biscuits in a bag. Things like this make me happy.

roof food 9

Lunch was a little bit tricky that day as everyone was working on the roof in shifts, plus the young man staying with us was working at a different site. So I fed some of the guys at home, then packed food to deliver to two different work sites. I fed us all homemade pizzas, watermelon, grapes, carrots, cucumbers, homemade gatorade, and fun cookie pizza slices.

roof food 10

Yes, of course, there were more pizzas than what is pictured above. :)

roof food 11

That afternoon, when I traded out boys (some were at home mowing or working on other projects while others are helping Matt on the roof), I took Matt a snack. More homemade gatorade, some cantaloupe, the last pizza from lunch, and No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites. Watch for that new recipe soon(ish).

roofing food 12

It is important that you note that the cantaloupe I took Matt was the decaf variety. I guess somebody didn’t scrub the writing off the lids after her Iced Coffee Bar party.

roofing food 13

Kudos to all of you who deliver meals to your men in the field frequently during the summer! It was fun for me for just a few days, but I couldn’t keep up this pace for long. I sure did love watching my boys work so hard alongside their dad, though.

And now to tackle the messy kitchen that is a result of cooking then jumping into the van. :)

Do you pack food and/or deliver food frequently? What kinds of food do you make?

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