Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 16 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by Jordana.

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August 21, 2011 at 2:34 pm
LindseyD
Participant
Hi all!
I know there have been several discussions in the past on meals, lunch ideas, and things like that, but I sort of have a unique situation. I make lunches for a local, Christian preschool two days a week from September through May. It is the perfect little part-time job for me because I can take my kids (who love to help w/ the younger kids) and I only spend 3-5 hours per week doing it. I make the meals from home, take them to the preschool, heat them up, and serve them. I am in menu-planning mode for the upcoming year, and I’m running out of ideas.
Here are some examples of items I have served in the past:
Spaghetti, green beans, and a homemade cookie
Bean and cheese burritos on whole wheat tortillas, carrot sticks, and orange slices
Homemade chicken noodle soup w/ crackers
Cheese quesadillas, celery sticks w/ ranch, and apple slices
Turkey sandwiches on whole wheat, yogurt, and grapes
I love to cook traditionally, but I don’t have the time to do that for 30-40 kids two days a week, ya know? I can’t make anything with nuts, so it’s hard for me to find affordable sources of protein for these kids. I would love to include salads, but these kiddos aren’t used to eating the way we eat at home, so I draw blanks. I try to make the meals as healthy as possible while still bringing home a profit (otherwise what’s the point?) These also need to be meals that I can prepare fairly quickly so that this little job doesn’t cut into our school time or family time. So far, I’ve been successful at that, but I find that I’m repeating items on the menu quite a bit. I’d like to add 4-5 more menu items to my repertoire so that I can have a more varied rotation.
I appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks!
Lindsey

August 21, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Gem
Participant
I was going to suggest bean burritos (one of my kids favorite meals) but I see you already have that – what about mac and cheese with ww or fiber-added macaroni? Pretty easy to make by making a white sauce with added cheese, then stirring that into the cooked macaroni.
August 21, 2011 at 2:51 pm
nerakr
Participant
I noticed they will eat chicken soup. What about taco soup in the colder months? My recipe calls for a lot of canned items, but you can adapt it for fresh ingredients if you want. I’m not sure how economical it is for 30-40, so take it or leave it. Here’s my recipe, courtesy of Taste of Home magazine (makes about 8 servings):
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 cans each diced tomatoes, whole kernel corn, ranch beans
Brown and drain meat. Add taco seasoning and vegetables. Heat through. To serve, crush tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl. Top with soup and shredded cheese.
HTH,
Karen
August 21, 2011 at 3:12 pm
LindseyD
Participant
The examples I gave are just a few of the items I’ve made in the past. I have actually done macaroni and cheese AND taco soup before! Ha! Those are on my list…just needing to add a few more things.
Karen, I make that taco soup when I’m in a pinch and our family LOVES it. It’s one of my favorites since childhood.
I don’t ever want to repeat in a month, and I have to do 8-9 meals per month. I would like to add 4-5 things I’ve never done for them before so that I can repeat less month to month.
Thanks for trying, ladies…maybe I should have listed everything I’ve ever done…
Blessings,
Lindsey
August 21, 2011 at 3:14 pm
nerakr
Participant
When I taught at an ABEKA school/daycare, a popular menu item was chicken and cheese quesadillas. Sorry, I never was able to successfully duplicate so I can’t give you the recipe.
August 21, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Tristan
Participant
Some foods we eat as lunch here at my house :
Muffins, cheese chunks, and a fruit. We like to make pumpkin, banana, or zuchinni muffins, sweet potato with pumpkin pie spices works well too.
Pinwheels – Make lunchmeat sandwiches on tortillas, roll up, and slice into wheels. We have lettuce and cheese on ours.
Pigs in a blanket – hot dogs in dough (you can use canned biscuit or other dough, or just make a batch of bread dough and use that).
We do some of the ones already mentioned too, so I won’t repeat those.
August 21, 2011 at 5:18 pm
crazy4boys
Participant
My boys really enjoy:
Hard boiled eggs with fruits and raw veggies, maybe a muffin or cracker on the side.
Tuna sandwiches.
I’m not sure of your budget so homemade fish sticks and/or chicken nuggets might not work. Sometimes you can find decent store-bought versions of them too.
Meatballs w/veggies on the side (to make the meat stretch further you could add a bunch of pureed veggies and possibly some soaked oats).
Sometimes chili (with cornbread) works better than “soup”, or at least it does in my family.
Here is a super yummy recipe for “chicken” fried steak, only it’s made with oatmeal instead of chicken. You can totally ‘healthfiy’ it by making some substitutions.
I’m not sure how they’d feel about breakfast for lunch, but baked oatmeal, pancakes or waffles, muffins, etc. Sausage or fruit or yogurt on the side.
We make pinwheels like Tristan but typically use nut butters which you can’t use so never mind.
Tator tot casserole, maybe not the healthiest but it works. You could make it healthier by using diced potatoes instead of tator tots, and your own “cream of” soup instead of canned mushroom soup. (Let me know if you need the recipe, some people have never heard of it)
Tacos. Hard or soft shell. We have those A LOT. Some of my boys eat theirs with scrambled eggs instead of taco meat. I also make the meat with pureed/diced super tiny veggies to add some nutrition and extend the meat. You could also add beans or lentils to the meat…or just make lentil tacos!
Sloppy joes. If you really wanted you could make homemade rolls too! Again, you could add lots of veggies (or beans) to make the beef (or ground chicken/turkey) stretch further.
Baked potatoes. I’m not sure how other kids feel about this, but my boys love them, especially if we put out a variety of “toppings” and they can pick their own.
That’s all I’ve got for now…I’ll keep thinking though…
Heather

August 21, 2011 at 5:25 pm
April
Participant
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2011/07/monthly-meal-planner-august-2011.html

she posts monthly meal plans every month consisting or breakfast, lunch,snack, then dinner….with links to recipes…really great…I am loving it!
August 21, 2011 at 6:01 pm
missceegee
Participant
I make a quick casserole on occassions – Midnight Garden Chicken Casserole – that 3 or my 4 kids like. I use fresh chicken, but canned could be used. I also dislike condensed soup, but have used it in a pinch.
How about spiced lentils (we use the Madras pre-made, but scratch would be fairly easy with lentils) over rice with cheese. You could add some ground beef, too, but it isn’t necessary.
Barbecue made in the crock-pot (maybe 2 or 3 crockpots for your crowd).
no bake Lasagna
Pasta with Pesto and Parmesan, add chicken if desired (very easy)
HTH, not exactly my area of expertise, but maybe a new idea here.
Christie
August 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm
scmgal
Member
Linds,
I used this a lot when I was fixing lunches for school. Just go to the link, click on MENU and then they have menus in season and just all seasons combined. The pictures give lots of ideas and some simple, some more difficult for 30-40 kids.
http://www.laptoplunches.com/index.php
Amy
August 21, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Sue
Participant
If you can find the time to make a whole bunch of mini meatballs and freeze them, then you could include them with a variety of pasta (shells, elbows, whatever is on sale) with either tomato or cheese sauce. That would change up the spaghetti meal.
I’ll have to sneak a peek at the posted menus at our church’s preschool and let you know if there are some good ideas. It’s nice that you can take your kids to help. Our laws don’t even allow the food service people near the kids…they would have to be fingerprinted and have a background check. Also, minors who are not siblings of a preschool student are not generally allowed near the kids, either. (Probably because you can’t do a background check on a minor!)
Sue
August 21, 2011 at 9:30 pm
LindseyD
Participant
I hate to admit this, but I’ve never cooked with lentils! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted them…
Heather, I would love your tater tot casserole recipe. I have heard of it, but I’ve never found a healthy version.
Amy and April, thank you for the links. They look great!
Sue, isn’t it crazy that everyone has to have a background check now?? I didn’t, but maybe because most of the teachers and the director of the school already knew me? Even still, this little job is a blessing in many ways. My kiddos are learning to serve those younger than they are, and it completely pays for our groceries during the school year. Win/Win!
Thank you all for your ideas. I think I can put together a few more items so that I’m not repeating the same menu month after month.
August 21, 2011 at 10:03 pm
ibkim2
Participant

We make Pizza Pitas all the time……Pita bread basting slightly with EVOO, for the sauce 1 can of tomato paste+1 can tomato sauce seasoned with garlic powder/italian seasoning, whatever easy toppings (bacon&spinach our favorite), and cheese…..baked at 425 for about 12-14 minutes each. Our kids love these…..you could just do sauce and cheese. We serve it with a smoothie (we have a power blender so we put spinach, chard, or kale in with our fruit smoothies, but you could just do fruit smoothies). In fact this is on our menu for dinner in 30 minutes, yummy!
I have found Kale Chips are tasty to kids even though they don’t sound good……… wash and stem stem the Kale and tear into 1-2″ pieces, massage in some EVOO and apple cider vinegar (about 2 tbsp per bunch) and a dash of salt……bake on low till done/crisp (watching VERY closely towards the end so it doesn’t burn……..Seal in an airtight DRY container till ready to eat (keeps a few days). Kale is King of veggies, I hear.
Roasted chicken breasts sliced into strips (if you get it on sale) with dipping sauce and cubed roasted potatoes is much better for kids than chicken nuggets & fries.
Nachos with black beans, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce toppings.
Mini lasagnas made in muffin tins or mini quiches made in muffin tins (haven’t tried this but have seen recipes in the past).

August 22, 2011 at 12:03 am
2flowerboys
Participant
What about an egg and cheese breakfast casserole? You could always change it up a little. But thought you might want to stick to easy and cheap! Serve w/ toast or bag biscuits..not at all healthy! Or muffins!
Ditto on the pizza muffins..when I worked at a pre-school ages ago that was a hit! So easy to make!!
August 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm
laurap
Participant
I did not completely read through the other posts so forgive me if these are duplicates My kids are 17,13,5,4.5 and 2 and they all pretty much eat the following…….
mini meatball subs with cheese (use hotdog buns and make the meatballs to fit)
chicken and dumplings
chicken and rice
turkey and ravy with veggies
hot ham and cheese sandwhiches or pita pockets
chili with pasta and sour cream (not spicy)
bean bake (green beans, pintos, and a couple others with small amount of ground beef and bbq sauce baked into a casserole type dish)
meatloaf
sloppy joes
mini salisbury steaks
baked ziti
lasagna
sometines a good alternative to salad for my little kids is (sliced carrots, baby tomatoes, and cucumber slices tossed with a vinegarette or with ranch for dipping on the side)
fruit salad (many ways, one that we like has pineapple, cottage cheese, raisins and nuts)
cauliflower mashed potatoes
sweet potatoes with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins
chicken pot pie and rice
shepherds pie (ground beef)
stuffed shells
veggie kabobs with dipping sauce or they will eat anything with fondue or dipping sauce
chicken abd brocoli wraps
sausage and potatoe pockets
french toast and fuit kabobs

I can send you recipes if you want any……I have tradtional versions and I have some that I tweak to make healthier…….usually the traditioanl are easier on the budget….so sometimes around here if money is tight we eat the tradtional ‘cookbook’ versions and I don’t feel guilty because none of them are really that bad to begin with