I debated about what number to give this post.  It's actually the 45th lunch I've made this year, but it's the 49th day of school.  We missed a few days for vacation. But I think keeping it synched with the day of school will be easier for me to keep track of.  So... school day 49, this is the lunch...

The Lunch Idea:

Did I mention that we just got back from vacation? There wasn't a whole lot of fresh food in the house, so I had to dig around a little.  Fortunately I did have a few things in the fridge that have a long shelf life, so I was able to pull together what I think ended up looking like a pretty good lunch! 

Cheese always saves the day for me, and I had some uncooked chapati from Costco that were still sealed in the package, so they were great.  If you haven't bought those, you totally should.  They are in the fresh food section - near the cheese.  Uncooked Roti-Chapati - they are whole wheat flatbreads that you cook on a hot pan.  Much like tortillas, but a little thicker, and they are great for quesadillas. I also made a few quick cheese crisps. I found a few apples in the fridge. Cabbage and celery were the only veggies in my fridge that were still good. My kids actually like eating raw purple cabbage - I told them once that it was the magic kind, and they associate cabbage with "cabbage patch" - so they call purple cabbage "magic patch". Whatever, as long as they eat it. We haven't had a whole lot of veggies the last few weeks, so I need to ease them back into it. 

What's in the Lunch: 

• Flatbread quesadillas: roti-chapati bread, with shredded cheese. Two have ham.
• Cheese crisps
• Apples
• Purple cabbage
• Celery
• A few fig newton cookies

Tips and Questions:

• I made the quesadillas the night before and they will be eaten at room temp.  When I make quesadillas ahead of time I try to cook them on a pan to get them a little crispy, they don't get soggy this way.  I also let them cool fully before closing the lunchbox.
• This is how I cut apples. 
• Cheese crisps are easy to make - it's literally just a slice of cheese, cooked on a hot nonstick pan until the oil bubbles out and it gets crispy.  I did these on a well seasoned cast iron pan, but any nonstick surface will do.  Some people do these in the oven or microwave, but I've had best results with a pan. 
• I try to buy big blocks of cheese and just slide or shred as I need it.  It's so much less expensive to buy this way, vs. buying pre-sliced or shredded.
• Lunches are packed in EasyLunchboxes.