Heavenly Homemakers

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Lunches I Packed September 18-22, 2023

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In an effort to keep the kids from being burned out on the same packed school lunch over and over, I try to get creative and pack a nice, healthy variety. Here are the lunches I packed September 18-22, 2023.

Lunches I Packed September 18-22, 2023

Monday: Kiya had picked an Annie’s Parmesan Mac and Cheese at the Food Distribution where we volunteer each week. She requested this as a special lunch, so I cooked it Monday morning to put into the kids thermoses. They were so excited! But at the end of the day, neither kid enjoyed the taste of this one. Now we know. :)

At least they enjoyed their pear (which I packed in a container in an effort to keep it from getting smashed in the lunch bags.

Tuesday: Brayden had a field trip that day so he got to have a special lunch (our field trip tradition!). He got a turkey and cheese sandwich with chips, applesauce, crackers, and juice. Kiya’s lunch wasn’t “special” but she loved hers too. She got a pumpkin muffin, applesauce, carrots, and peanut butter.

Wednesday: I packed the kids a large helping of Whole Milk Yogurt that I’d gotten in an Azure Standard order two weeks ago, fresh strawberries, granola bites, and pistachios.

Thursday: I pulled food from the freezer I’d baked a few weeks ago and individually packaged for lunches. They each got a slice of pizza, a peanut butter snack bar, and a fruit cup.

Friday: It was Fun Friday! So the kids got their choice of sandwich, chips, an applesauce, plus some of the Little Bites we’d been given at the Food Distribution.

Now that the weather is cooling off a little bit, I’ll probably start packing more hot lunches in thermoses. This will give us more options to keep up with having a nice variety of foods to pack!

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Lunches I Packed September 11-15, 2023

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Here are the lunches I packed September 11-15 for my kids to take to school last week!

Monday: Cheese, crackers, grapes, pistachios, and pickles (Kiya) cucumbers (Brayden)

I’ve been buying Balanced Breaks, which I shared about on this “What I Buy at Costco for School Lunches” post. They are convenient and fun, but not frugal. (<—but I still keep them on hand because sometimes we need convenient more than we need frugal)

Since I had a few extra minutes to pack this day’s lunch, I left the convenient packs in the fridge and instead sliced some cheese and packaged up crackers for the kids. I put the crackers into plastic containers, otherwise they’d get smashed in baggies in their lunch boxes.

Tuesday: Cottage cheese, fruit cup, carrots/peanut butter and Spinach Cupcake (for Kiya), and cucumbers and peanut butter pretzels (for Brayden)

It’s cheaper to scoop peanut butter into a container for Kiya to use as dip with her carrots. But I keep the Jif Natural peanut butter cups on hand for a quick-to-grab option.

Wednesday: Turkey lunchmeat roll-ups, strawberries with Cheesecake Parfait, and Snickerdoodle Bites.

We had pounds and pounds of strawberries in our fridge from the super sale I took advantage of on Saturday. So it was fun to include those with parfait for the kids’ lunches.

Thursday: Tuna salad with crackers, applesauce cup, cucumbers and cheese stick for Brayden, pickles for Kiya 

I had an extra minute on Wednesday so I mixed up the kids’ tuna salad for lunch the next day. This was so nice the following morning as we were getting them ready to head out!

Fun Friday Lunch: For Brayden: his leftover Hamburger Helper, cucumbers, applesauce, and Pocky’s (that we were given as the Food Distribution when we were volunteering); For Kiya: PB&J, chips, applesauce, and Pocky’s.

This is the day I always give them a treat in their lunch, and often chips also. They love Fun Friday Lunch day! ;)

Feel free to leave a comment sharing more lunchbox ideas!

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Lunches I Packed September 5-8, 2023

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Here’s a look at the lunches I packed for my kids to take to school last week. :)

Lunches I Packed September 5-8, 2023

There was no school on Monday because of Labor Day, so lunch at home looked like this, plus grapes and spoonfuls of peanut butter to fill their bellies.

Tuesday I packed Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip with chips and a pear cup. This is a great way to sneak in protein because there are beans blended into the dip.

We’d been given two big containers of croissants, so I used them on Wednesday to make the kids Tuna Salad Croissant-wiches for lunch. I sent their favorite banana applesauce squeezie, plus cucumbers for Brayden and carrots with peanut butter for Kiya.

Thursday I woke up and realized I hadn’t done anything the day before to prep the kids’ school lunches. So I grabbed food from our freezer that I’d prepared for grab-and-go lunches. This was so helpful that now I’m trying to figure out what else I can make, baggie up, and freeze for quick lunches so it can be this easy more often!

The last time I made pizza, I froze leftover slices in baggies, so the kids got pizza in their lunch Thursday. I had also frozen Peanut Butter Snack Bars so those went into the lunchbox too, plus carrots and peanut butter for Kiya and cucumbers for Brayden, and a pear cup for each.

Our Fun Friday lunch looked a little bit different this week…

Brayden’s Hamburger Helper

I shared here how Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I helped with a FoodNet Food Distribution on Monday and Tuesday of last week. (And how we hope to do it every week!) Volunteers get to take food also if there is enough, which is a bonus I wasn’t expecting.

The “Jr Volunteers” were given the opportunity to choose any two items from the table that they wanted and while I gave a half-effort to steer the kids in a healthy choice direction, I also wanted this to be fun for them. So I let them pick whatever they wanted.

I expected them to choose something sweet. But Brayden discovered one lonely box of Hamburger Helper and he couldn’t stop his excitement over it. “Mom!!! It’s that pasta I used to always eat before I came to live with you! I love that pasta! Can I get that please??”

As I’m typing this, I’m suddenly crying over the Hamburger Helper. My sweet, precious son. Where there was intense trauma and loss during Brayden’s first years of life, that box of pasta holds happy memories for him. He just wanted a taste of it again.

This was not the time for me to lecture him about the dangers of MSG.

“Yes, Brayden. That is a perfect choice for you today after you did such a good job helping give people food.”

All week he kept looking at that box of pasta in the pantry, making sure it was still there, asking when I would make it for him. Fun Friday, Buddy. Fun Friday.

Brayden on Friday morning:

I packed his thermos full of his beloved Hamburger Helper, and he asked if he could eat a bite with breakfast. Sure, why not?

He loved his bite, but was then the taste of it suddenly triggered a heavy load of sadness (that manifested in defiance because he doesn’t know how to process all the extreme feelings he experiences).

Sometimes we feel like we just can’t win. Always we remember that God already won.

So that’s the story of how Brayden took Hamburger Helper to school in his Friday lunch and of how much we constantly have to seek Jesus as we care for the needs of our trauma babies. In case you’re wondering, we made it through our rough morning and he did love his lunch later that day.

Kiya requested PB&J with chips for her Fun Friday lunch, plus I gave them each a peach cup and a packaged cake we’d received from the food distribution.

Phew, what a week! (I think we can all say that every week, ha.)

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Lunches I Packed August 28-September 1, 2023

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Here are the school lunches I packed last week for my kids!

Your school lunch questions answered:

I try to pack a variety, only packing sandwiches on Fridays for what we call “Fun Friday” lunches with sandwich, chips, and a sweet treat. The kids have a lot of fun knowing that every day’s lunch will be different each time!

School Lunches I Packed August 28-September 1, 2023

1. Monday: Pizza, peaches, pickles, pineapple, and pistachios

The kids and I had a fun time choosing foods that all started with the letter P. It started with pizza and peaches, then we just went with it. ;)

2. Tuesday: Yogurt, granola bites, banana, and a “Spinach Muffin“

This was a fun change – to pack more of a breakfast-y type of lunch. There was a little banana mess smooshed into the bottoms of both lunch bags when they got home. But there’s almost always some sort of mess at the end of each school day. :)

3. Wednesday: Hotdog in a thermos, ketchup, veggies with dips, applesauce, oatmeal bar

I had never tried this before, but it worked well!

I cut four hotdogs into bites and cooked them in water. I put the steaming hotdog bites into their thermoses and instructed them to pour them into the lid of their thermos for easy access at lunchtime. They said it worked great!

4. Thursday: Cottage cheese, pineapple (Brayden), peaches (Kiya), cucumbers (Brayden), Spinach Muffin (Kiya), and Banana Muffin (Brayden)

This one took a tiny bit more time to pack simply because I was putting together different items based on their preferences. But the muffins were already in the freezer so all I had to do was grab them out and put them into containers (to keep them from becoming squished in the lunch bag).

5. Fun Friday: PB&J or Turkey and Cheese sandwich, chips of their choice, grapes, wafer cookie

I had picked up several bags of chips on big discount at Aldi last week so the kids had fun choosing what kind they wanted in their Friday lunch.

Have you packed anything fun in your kids’ lunchboxes recently? Share your ideas!

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What I Buy at Costco to Pack in School Lunches

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I realized that there are many items I buy at Costco to pack in school lunches for my kids. These are great money savers, so I wanted to share!

Does it actually save money to pack a lunch?

Last year, if you recall, I did a price breakdown on many of the lunches I pack for my kids to see if it actually saves money to send lunch in a lunchbox vs. buying lunch at school. (It does, in fact, save money.)

But more than that, I found that if my kids eat school lunch, they don’t make good choices (I wouldn’t have either at their age!). They tend to eat the cookie first and not much else because they either run out of time because they were distracted or because they didn’t like the main dish offered. Veggies never happened at school – not because they weren’t offered but because Mom wasn’t there to make them eat them.

Packing lunches for our kids ensures that they eat better, they eat more, and at the end of the day I can talk with them about what they enjoyed and what they would like done differently next time.

What I Buy at Costco to Pack in School Lunches

We only pack sandwiches and chips for a Fun Friday lunch. The other four days of the week, we like to pack a different variety of foods they like. Some lunches are hot, some are cold, and both work very well!

Here’s a big run down at food we get at Costco that works great as we pack school lunches!

Fruits and Veggies

Costco’s Organic Gala apples are the perfect size for a school lunch, plus they are high quality and always priced wonderfully per pound. Their grapes make a great side dish, and I simply buy whichever variety is priced the lowest at that time. Clementines pack well and are easy to peel. I pack fresh Costco pears and bananas occasionally, but those are tricky because they tend to get squished in the lunch box. ;)

When GoGo Squeeze are on sale, I stock up! These are great to throw into a school lunch because they don’t even require a spoon. ;) I get applesauce cups also, and every once in a while I put a GoGo Squeez yogurt into a lunch (that’s usually a special treat that I include in a Fun Friday Lunch).

Peach Cups and Mandarin Orange Cups in 100% juice are great to send with the kids for fruit variety and because we often run low on fresh fruit at home (I buy a ton but we eat a ton, so I struggle to keep up!). Having these cups on the shelf is super convenient and great for lunch boxes. They really like Pear Cups also, but it is hit and miss on finding those.

Baby carrots and cucumbers are great lunchbox options. Brayden discovered this summer that he LOVES cucumbers. :) Kiya isn’t a fan of cucumbers but she does like baby carrots dipped in peanut butter. :)

I’ve found that it’s worth it to splurge on Costco’s Avocado Cups and Guacamole Cups as they pack well and are fun to eat with tortilla chips.

And speaking of tortilla chips…

These huge bags from Costco are our favorite. They are a great price and go a long way, even for our large family.

Often I’ll pack a little baggie of these chips to go with any of these dips I’ve made and put into small containers:

  1. Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
  2. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  3. Bacon Ranch Chip Dip
  4. French Onion Dip
  5. Bacon Tomato Dip
  6. Black Bean Salsa
  7. Healthier Cheese Dip 
  8. Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip
  9. Easy Guacomole

From the cheese aisle

Big packs of cheese sticks come in handy as something easy to throw into a lunch box to help fill the kids’ bellies. Plus I like to get big packs of sliced Colby jack cheese to use on Friday’s sandwiches or to enjoy with crackers.

Lunchmeat

These Kirkland brand varieties of ham and turkey are our favorite. We don’t just use them on sandwiches for our lunchboxes. Often we’ll roll them up and put them into a bag to eat as-is.

These Cheese and Cracker 12-Packs are a bit of a splurge, but I like to keep them on hand anyway because they are a great lunchbox item that I can fall back on if I don’t have much time to put together anything else. And yep, even though they are a convenience item, the overall cost is still lower than paying for a school lunch.

Mac and Cheese

For a hot lunch option, I buy cases of mac and cheese at Costco. Typically, if I’m making mac and cheese for lunch for the littles, I’ll make extra to warm up and put in a thermos the next day for the elementary-aged kids. It’s perfect! (See how I send hot lunches to school here.)

Costco Frozen Pizza

Remember how I figured out that buying Costco Frozen Pizza is a great frugal meal option? They are also a great school lunchbox option! I’ll bake one, let it cool, cut it, and baggie it up to throw into the kids’ lunchboxes. So easy and they love it!

Packaged Treats

It costs less to bake homemade muffins (40+ recipes here) and other baked goods (huge list of recipes here) to send in a school lunch. But Costco offers big boxes of pre-made treats like this that are nice to add to a lunch box. We like their 100% fruit strips, Nature’s Bakery brand items, and Bobo’s muffins.

What do you like to buy at Costco to pack in school lunches?

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Breakfast Cookie Cups – Perfect for Grab-and-Go!

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I turned my breakfast cookie recipe into Breakfast Cookie Cups. This is genius.

Not that Breakfast Cookies aren’t already convenient as a quick grab-and-go breakfast or snack option. But somehow having them in cupcake wrappers and baked in a muffin tin makes them even easier. Maybe they’re less crumbly? I dunno, but I really like them this way!

My kids are loving them, however, for our littlest, I skipped the chocolate chips to avoid extra messes. (How do they end up with chocolate chips melted onto their bottoms every time, I don’t know. So chocolate chip-less Breakfast Cookie Cups for all who are two and under at our house.)

Breakfast Cookie CupsYum

Breakfast Cookie Cups - Perfect for Grab-and-Go!
 
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Author:
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup raisins or chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix butter, honey, eggs, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and vanilla.
  2. Stir in flour and oats.
  3. Fold in raisins or chocolate chips.
  4. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough into paper-lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I double this recipe every time I make it simply because these freeze well and they are great to have in the freezer to serve as needed.

TIP: Add 1 cup of peanut butter to these if you want to add some protein. No other adjustments necessary.

Here are a few more great ideas for grab-and-go breakfasts:

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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!

pudding cups4

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?

Some of these links are affiliate links.

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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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