One word: Easy. Monday needs an easy lunch, and these little guys fit the bill.  If you haven't made these yet, and your people like pizza - then what are you waiting for?  Make a double batch, it takes about 5 minutes, pack some in lunch, have some for dinner, stick half in the freezer for a couple of lunches down the road. You will not regret it.  If you have them frozen, just put them straight from the freezer to the lunchbox the night before (you are packing the night before, right?).  They will thaw overnight in the fridge and be perfect at room temp for lunch.

Somehow, a sandwich sometimes seems more interesting to a kid when they have made it themselves.  I did this a few times last year and my kids loved it.  And it's less work for me, so: win-win. Basically, the components of a sandwich, but not a sandwich.  They assemble it themselves at lunch. Or not. But last year when I sent lunch this way they came home excited to tell me that they had made their own sandwich. It's just a simple way to mix things up a bit - same ingredients as if you made the sandwich, just presented in a new way.  This is a quick and easy lunch to make!

I wanted something that could be easily eaten on the field trip, held in one hand and not fall apart or have a lot of little pieces to deal with. Burritos are perfect for that.  You could practically just take it in your pocket.  It's easy to make ahead, and personally I think they taste just as good cold as they do hot, especially if they have just simple ingredients (I don't think I'd like a cold steak burrito, but bean and cheese does just fine).  I just buy organic canned refried beans, and I shred big blocks of cheese.  I'll try to do a video one of these days about the rolling, but it's really quite easy - the trick is to not over stuff the burrito. Just a few spoonfuls of beans, a sprinkle of cheese.  I microwave these enough to get the cheese melting into the beans and the tortilla nice and soft.  Then fold the sides in, and roll.

Hey, sometimes I just like to have a little fun! But you don't have to make a fancy lunch in order to make it fun!  Wednesday is our breakfast for lunch day, and the kids have been begging for bagels.  So bagel sandwiches it is! But instead of just an ordinary bagel sandwich, I just used a few of my favorite bento picks to make it a little more fun. This lunch was so easy - it probably took me 5 minutes to throw together the sandwiches, cut an apple in quarters, and toss in some cheese and a few cookies.  

Sometimes all you have to do to make lunch a little more interesting is to take an ordinary food and rearrange it.  All I did here was trim the crusts off the sandwiches (which they don't eat anyway), and cut them in quarters, and shoved them on little bamboo sticks.  .It was quick and easy. But doesn't it look so much more appealing than just a boring old sandwich? 

I was at the grocery store yesterday and English muffins where on sale, so I grabbed some. Everybody loves pizza for lunch, and English muffin pizzas are an all time classic, and so easy to make.  If you keep some basic ingredients on hand - English muffin, tomato sauce, cheese - this is a great one to have in your back pocket for when you can't think of anything else.  You can never go wrong with pizza. 

Honestly I don't love doing hot lunches.  Because it means that I have to pack in the morning when I get up.  I much prefer doing the packing at night and getting up in the morning with the knowledge that it's already done.  But the kids had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner - homemade meatballs and homemade sauce.  I have to admit, it was really good.  And when a child tells me that she loved her dinner so much that she wants to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, well I have a hard time saying no to that.  So, leftover spaghetti it is!

School lunches today are what I call deconstructed nachos.  Basically, everything you would put on nachos, just not all piled and melted together.  This is a super easy lunch to make, and it is usually pretty popular.  If you make sure that the chips you are using are gluten free, then this is an easy gluten free lunch to make. (and substitute gluten free cookies too)

I love making sandwiches for lunch out of breakfasty stuff.  Today it is waffles.  When I make waffles, I always, always make lots extra.  If you're mixing up the batter, just mix extra.  Usually I will cook just enough for our Sunday breakfast, and then after breakfast when everyone else has moved on to other activities, I will go back in the kitchen and finish cooking up the extra waffles.  They freeze great and re-heat great. With a waffle sandwich, a little fruit and a little protein, you've got an easy winner of a lunch.