Lunch (and a Few Breakfast) Ideas: The Kids Are Home for the Summer and They’re Hunrgry

The kids are home from school and now you have to feed them lunch every. single. day. 🙂 It might be easy to fall into the chicken nugget/hot dog/peanut butter and jelly rut, so here’s a list of ideas to jazz things up a bit and make lunch a little more interesting. These are a few ideas from our house as well as some ideas from readers on MommaCooks’ Facebook page.

First of all, lunch doesn’t have to be eaten at the kitchen table. Take it outside to the back porch, spread a blanket out in the grass or even in the living room for a picnic. Take your lunch to the park or invite some friends over for lunch. Heading to the pool later in the day? Why not go a little early and have lunch by the pool?

Now that the kids are home for the summer (or will be soon) the possibilities are endless as to what they could have for lunch since it doesn’t have to fit in a lunchbox. Here are just a few ideas to get you started and please share your ideas as well.

*Peanut butter and apple slice sandwich
*Peanut butter and jelly spread on a tortilla
*Banana dogs
*Breakfast for lunch (eggs, pancakes, etc.)
*Macaroni and Cheese-We eat this a lot on the weekends
*Bean and cheese burritos
*Quesadillas (we use our panini maker) (cheese, scrambled egg and cheese, turkey and cheese….the possibilities are endless)
*Put peanut butter and a banana in a tortilla, wrap it up and slice it
*Make your own pizza bar with their favorite toppings to choose from. Use pitas, English muffins or naan for the crust.
*Cheddar cheese and apple slice sandwich
*Chicken/tuna/egg salad sandwiches
*Mini frittatas
*Egg muffins
*Egg (and bacon) Cups
*Sunshine Eggs
*Pancakes
*Waffles
*Yogurt and granola parfait
*Pasta with marinara
*Leftovers from last night’s dinner
*Use bagels or tortillas instead of bread for their favorite sandwich…it’s amazing that this one little change can make something old new again
*Make something on the grill…hamburgers, hot dogs…eating something from the grill makes it much more interesting, especially in the middle of the day
*Peanut butter and honey sandwich
*Hard boiled eggs

A lot of these ideas could be used for breakfast as well. Hopefully your summer mornings are a little more relaxed and you can get away from the standard get-you-out-the-door-as-quickly-as-possible breakfast options that can come into play during the school year.

Summer is one of my favorite seasons because of the amount of fruits and veggies that are available and in season. Try not to get stuck in a fruit and veggie rut…explore the produce aisle with your children. Try something new and if you see something interesting, but you’re not sure how you’re supposed to eat it, ask the produce manager. Our favorite “standard” summer fruits are grapes, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloup and strawberries. The chart below is also a good reminder when shopping for produce.

Have some ideas that you’d like to share? Please do. We are all trying our best to feed our kids healthy lunches this summer, so let’s help each other keep it interesting as well.