lunch Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips

Striped Easter Lunchbox Jokes to Jazz Up Lunch

Paula — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 10:40:57 +0000

Easter lunchbox jokes are just the ticket to jazz up your kid’s lunches. Spring is here. That’s cause for celebration. Easter can’t be far behind. By now, you and your children, are probably all super tired of repetitive lunches. But you have a few months left to go before summer vacation. You need help. Here’s a cute idea to liven up lunch time – striped fun spring themed Easter lunchbox jokes. How cute are these? If you want to print them out for your family feel free. Or click on the PDF link below and print them out from the clean link below. I mean who wouldn’t chuckle at this adorable pun: What day does an egg hate the most? Fry-days. easter_lunchbox_jokes All the Adorable Lunchbox Notes and Jokes You Need Don’t forget to check out these other lunchbox notes as well. There are some Christmas printable lunchbox notes and Valentine’s Day lunch notes as well. Don’t forget to visit my Free Printables Pinterest page too. All The Easter Information You Need If it’s Easter crafts and recipes you need here are a few fun ideas. Try these amazing No Bake Easter Bird’s Nest Treats. And these 20 Easter cookies. Happy Easter! I hope you have a great one with your family wherever you are and whatever you do. What do you do to celebrate? Is your family coming to visit? Perhaps you are heading away this Easter for a trip somewhere warm and sunny. No idea what we are doing yet. Hope to see my brother and his family too. Enjoy the Spring Striped Easter Lunchbox Jokes. Don’t forget to return and let me know if you used them! Have you ever put cute lunchbox notes in your child’s lunch? This post contains an affiliate link to help you shop. If you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra fee to you. Easter Crafts, Supplies, and More At Dollar Tree!

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OH SO Good Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

Paula — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 13:16:35 +0000

Broccoli cheddar soup is one that I know many people love. Soups at this time of year are perfect for many reasons. They are easy to cook and sometimes easy to share. Cook them in a big batch and save some broccoli cheddar soup for later too. Serve this beauty in a bread bowl and it is really a scrumptious and healthy meal. Perfect for one of those chilly Fall, or Winter Days. I love soups in the cooler months because it seems like I am always cold then. Broccoli Cheddar soup is comforting and it warms everyone up. (Even me). Broccoli Cheddar soup is good for you and perfect for the chilly months. What is your favourite soup this time of year? Broccoli Cheddar Soup has me craving a ski date with my family. I can’t think of anything more perfect as an after ski lunch or dinner food. Ideal after skiing or snowboarding all day. What’s your favourite soup?

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Five Fun School Lunches

Paula — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 00:31:32 +0000

I am a proud MOM of a tween and teen. Most of the time they make their own lunches. Most of the time. Not always. The youngest is still bit hit and miss, but that’s okay. They are both pretty good at packing a balanced lunch, but on occasion we have all been guilty of packing boring school lunches. Anyways, a decade of packing lunches, or supervising kids packing lunches, I have learned a few pointers to pass on and motivate them to build some good habits. Let’s face it lunch can be a totally boring meal. It’s the one I am most likely to skip (and I know that’s terrible believe me!) Sandwiches, soup, meh. Here are some ways to help your older kids have less boring school lunches. [tweetthis]Lunches can be totally boring unless you have a few tricks in your toolkit. [/tweetthis] IT’S A WRAP – keep wrap supplies on hand and they can build their own wraps. My kids love wraps. It’s our go to lunch when sandwiches are getting too boring and you can hear them starting to argue about taking lunch at all…be sure to keep flatbread around and they can easily build a more tasty protein filled wrap that’s just the right size. Both of my girls light up when they realize there are wrap supplies available. They rarely light up when it’s just a sandwich day. Leftovers: Why Not? – Make extra food the night before with an eye to sending some for lunch the next day. Keep a thermos around and tell them they are free to take the leftover noodles or chicken leg. My kids LOVE leftover noodles and will take them anytime they are available. Flat Breads and Dips – Although this is rarely my first choice, flatbreads and dips can be tasty and once in awhile why not? We keep TZATZIKI and RED Pepper Dip sometimes and if there’s flat bread around and the right containers then the kids can grab flatbread and some dip for lunch. Rollups – the cutest rollups I have seen are the little fake sushi ones with peanut butter and jelly. But I am aware you cannot take peanut butter to most schools. However there are great peanut butter substitutes for kids at school. You can use Wowbutter or any other yummy substitute. You can also use ham and cheese, if the cheese is cream cheese and roll them up and the kids can cut them to size and take in their lunches for a change of pace. FUN NOTES – see below for the PDF and the printable document so you can print these off for children of any age and tuck them inside their school lunches. I still occasionally do this when the kids do not expect it. They find them and still love having a little note in their lunch that reminds them of home. They typically find them before the other kids see so no big embarrassing moment there at all. Also my kids will occasionally take initiative and make a sibling’s lunch too, when making their own. I have seen my daughter make her sister’s lunch and pop a cute note inside. So print these out and they can use them to surprise each other occasionally. See this school lunches printables link below to generate the full sized printable lunch notes. lunchbox notes

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Easy Kid Approved Lunch Time Broccoli Cheese Mini Quiches #GayLeaMom

Paula — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 06:15:58 +0000

Remember high school? Well, I do. Let’s just say I recall eating extremely poorly in high school. I was too TEENAGER to pack a lunch of any substance at all really so I would pop over to a variety store and grab something fast. Bad..teenager…boy.. I know it. So now that I am the proud owner of a teenager, I am experiencing many small flashback moments. That first day of high school for her was like deja vu for me. And then there’s the lunch stuff. I am very very fortunate my kids are decent at packing their lunches. Oh there have been some small issues over the years. Like that time one tried to slip out the door with a bag of chocolate chips and a can of ginger ale but mostly they choose well. So, it’s my job to make sure they have lots to choose from. This week we made Kid Approved Mini Broccoli Cheese Quiches for them to pack for lunch because they are yummy and easily transportable. (I add an ice pack and remind them to eat them promptly and don’t leave them sitting.) Also occasionally they can be heated up in a resource room at one’s school so YUM! If you hang around here often enough then you know I am a fan of cheese. The more cheese the better. I often add cheese because it is a crowd-pleaser when you have kids. This year before the school pizza lunches and the hot lunch starts up I thought the kids could help me plan out a couple of fun new lunch ideas we might make to pack for school. [tweetthis]What is your back to school lunch time challenge? #GayLeaMom[/tweetthis] This is what we came up with: My kids love wraps. They will take them often and whenever I have the ingredients on hand. So those are in constant rotation. My kids also enjoy cheese and quiche, because it’s so easy to make. They can bake quiches on their own with minimal supervision. So we made some mini broccoli cheese quiches last week. Those are now another fan favourite here. Gay Lea’s Ivanhoe Cheese: – Ivanhoe has gained an enviable reputation for its high quality, aged cheddar cheese and specialty cheeses. – As the oldest cheese company of its kind in Canada, it still remains a local attraction in the hamlet of Ivanhoe! – They produce award-winning artisan cheddars, as well as an extensive selection of specialty cheeses including Naturally Smoked Gouda and flavoured Monterey Jacks. They even offer Kosher and Halal varieties. Gay Lea’s Salerno Cheese: – Since 1962 (founded in Hamilton!), Salerno Dairy has specialized inlocally made, fine Italian cheeses. – From mozzarella, mascarpone, and bocconcini to pecorino, Salerno delivers a special mix of cheeses that blends perfectly with the farmer-owned co-operative at Gay Lea. – Salerno Dairy Products has become synonymous with creating high quality, traditional Italian cheeses. We started with Ivanhoe Extra old Vintage white cheddar because that’s what I had on hand and I love the flavour. It’s good cheese with an edge. But, because of the colour and the fact that although that Ivanhoe extra old vintage white cheddar is scrumptious, it lacks a bright shade, I needed some colour too. We also added Old sharp cheddar after they came out of the oven. This is the first time I added cream cheese as well to the recipe. I think it gave a bit more substance to the recipe. See recipe below. Easy to make and nutritious, these mini quiches are a great alternative for snack time or lunch time. The Ivanhoe and Salerno cheeses can be a bit more expensive than the other name brands. There are many times this is worth the cost though. The Extra Old and the many other flavourful varieties are really tasty and great for parties too. Don’t forget to check the Gay Lea website http://www.gaylea.com/, which includes great recipes. You might also consider signing up for the Gay Lea newsletter here: for recipes, coupons, contests and tips too. And by the way let me introduce you to my new favourite food in the world. Gay Lea has a new product called Nordica Smooth. There are two flavours: salted caramel and vanilla bean. I have tried the salted caramel and have also been crowing about it over on Instagram. It’s so good. Really, I love the regular small cottage cheese cups because I can let the kids and my husband take them in their lunches. But this one is mine. I mistakenly let my teen try this and we are both crazy fans of it now. Smooth cottage cheese. Gay Lea Nordica Smooth Salted caramel flavour tastes like dessert without the guilt. It contains 10 grams of protein and 100 calories. That’s my kind of dessert!! I had no idea I would love smooth cottage cheese as much as I do. I am stalking my local Sobey’s store which keeps running out of this new product. I blame myself for talking it up to anyone who listens. Send more, please! You could slip some into your smoothies, shakes, cakes and muffins for a guilt-free enhancement to a recipe. Nordica Smooth comes in 100g cups, making it a convenient, light snack to enjoy anytime day or night. With 25% more protein than leading Greek yogurts and a source of calcium, it is the sweeter way to replenish your body after a workout. This new product is available in Ontario only at most major grocery stores, except No Frills and Walmart. I am a Gay Lea Mom working on behalf of Influence Central and as such I am compensated. My opinion is all my own. Follow Gay Lea on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest.

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Five Easy Gluten Free Lunch Ideas

Paula — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 10:11:03 +0000

Gluten free eating is on the grow. Did you know that? In fact over the coming decade it is rumoured that 25 per cent of the population might be eating gluten free. Chances are good, that even if you don’t eat gluten free right now, that someone you know eats gluten free. I recently ran a gluten free roundup here and was shocked at the response to the post. That shows me that many of my readers are gluten free. In fact I was gluten free for several years in my twenties because my Crohn’s Disease was probably at its worst ever back then. I was very limited with what I could eat and it seemed for many years like almost every food gave me stomach pain. So dairy was banished for at least a decade or more and then I went gluten free. I was gluten free and dairy free for at least five to ten years in my twenties. Back then gluten free was not what it is today. Today’s gluten free community has a lot of options. Even many popular restaurants are on board. I keep saying this, and one day soon I will do it. I really need to try this again and see what it does for my energy levels and my weight. I need to shed about five to ten pounds. Here is the link to my popular Twenty Fantastic gluten free recipes roundup post. I know you will find some great recipes there. And here are five easy gluten free lunch ideas. Easy Gluten Free Lunch Ideas Gluten Free Oriental Beef Lettuce Wraps – Thrifty Mommas Tips Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad – By Dawn Nicole Avocado Tuna Salad – Home Made Interest Turkey & Bacon Lettuce Wrap – Tastes of Lizzy T’s Veggie Hummus Cones – Nibbles By Nic

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Four Five Minute Dempster’s Tortillas Lunch Ideas

Paula — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 00:30:00 +0000

Lunch ideas can be so challenging. Let’s face it – Lunch is often any Mom’s arch nemesis. I get bored with making lunch and the kids get bored with what I make for lunch. It’s a dull and never-ending story. But you can break the cycle. Here are a couple of easy lunch ideas to try when you’re stuck. Avoid Boring Lunches So what’s a busy parent to do? Well, I have a few ideas you can use to avoid lunch letdown. Start with a package of Dempster’s Tortillas and you can build a fast, flavourful hit that is sure to please everyone. These recipes are so simple you can easily have the kids pitch in too. Try These FOUR EASY LUNCH IDEAS: 1. Dempster’s Tortillas Pizza. – I had these today for lunch. These are easy and they make me happy because the crust ( Tortillas ) is so light you can’t get overly full. Give everyone a Tortilla. Spoon on some pizza sauce. Add shredded cheese (pre shredded makes this lunch even faster.) Toss whatever else you like on it. I chose salami, cheese, and ham. Cook at 425 for 5-10 minutes maximum. 2. Pigs in a Tortilla blanket: Start with the Tortillas crust. Add shredded cheese. Add a hotdog wiener. Roll it up tight. Bake for 5 minutes at 400. You can slice these into bite-sized portions. Tasty for a change. Use turkey wieners or chicken wieners for healthier meals. 3. No Monkeying Around Tortillas No Bake, no fuss for this one. Tortillas. Peel a banana Spread peanut butter on the tortillas and put the banana in it. Serve in bite-sized pieces. (That’s a sweet lunch idea and a major hit. You could also use Nutella.) 4. Ham and Cheese Tortillas I don’t know a kid who doesn’t like ham and cheese. Start with the Dempster’s Tortillas. Add shredded cheddar cheese liberally. Take one or two thin slices of ham. Roll it up and bake at 400 for about 5 minutes. Serve as is or cut into bite-sized bits. I am having this one tomorrow. Easy Lunch Ideas are Simple with Dempsters The beauty of Dempster’s Tortillas is that this is such a versatile base for appetizers and meals. These are kid approved and mom and Dad friendly meals. For more information you can follow Dempster’s here: http://www.dempsters.ca – Twitter : http://twitter.com/Dempsters, Facebook: http://facebook.com/Dempsters and Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/DempstersBakery This lunch ideas post was sponsored by Dempster’s and as such I have been compensated. My opinion is all my own and 100 % truthful.

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Five Easy Lunch Time-Saving Tips to Use Now!

Paula — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Listen up. I am about to share all of my lunch time-saving tips with you. So make note and commit a few of these to memory. Trust me. You will need them. Over the course of this coming school year, it is likely you will need about 200 packed lunches, that is if your adorable children are lifers (I mean full time and full day students like mine). That’s just for one child. So lunch time-saving tips are not negotiable. You can obviously make that a wee bit less onerous by opting in for the pizza days and the hot lunch days. I highly recommend this as a service to you dear parent/reader. I have been doing this lunch deal for years now and frankly by June packing lunch is so dreadfully tedious around here that I, like a lot of Moms, am more than ready for summer vacation. First, Breathe Now, before you get all hung up on the math and start to feel completely overwhelmed, take a moment and breathe. I have packed about a zillion lunches now with my kids helping. My kids are tweens. One is in grade seven. So I have a wee bit of experience in this department. My Five Lunch Time-Saving Tips I am here to make your life a bit easier by sharing my top five lunch time-saving tips. 1. Teach Your Kids How to Prepare, Help or Pack Their Lunch. Get started early with this and repeat the lesson, or tutorial often. Kids are more likely to eat the food that they prepare. They also need to learn a bit about nutrition and healthy eating from a young age, so work side by side with them and have them help make the sandwiches or wraps, or package up the fruit and veggies. Talk about the food groups and protein. You can ask where do we want the apple, first break? Second break? Then discuss why. Believe me, this is a skill that saves you time and money. Also it’s a skill for life. (Starting at 5 or 6 they can easily take part in some of this process. My youngest daughter always wants to be involved in some way so she knows what she is getting. Plus it was a novelty for her to stay for lunch and she really enjoys helping in the kitchen.) **Small caveat here – I still supervise these gals even though one is age 12. Why? Because of the infamous attempt to sneak a box of cookies and a bag of chocolate chips into her lunch bag just last year. ** Can you imagine that? 2. Make Lunch the Night Before (if possible). Believe me, I am the first to admit this one goes out the window often by October, but keep it as a goal. Build it into your routine. It saves on late slips and annoying little oops we are out of bread moments in the morning. I encourage everyone to do this before bed no matter their age. 3. Prepare, Wash and Package Fruits and Veggies Sunday Night: This helps take care of number one. If you and your kids wash and chop, then package five little packets of carrots and cucumbers, grapes, strawberries etc. on Sunday night, then for the rest of the week when your child is helping make their lunch, they have excellent choices already prepared and easy to grab. I like to stack the deck in my favour. 4. Leave a Ziploc Bag in the Lunch Bag or Bento Container: Most schools in Ontario have a waste free policy, or something to that effect, meaning your child cannot dump their gooey banana peels in the garbage inside the classroom. So, spare yourself the ruined lunch box, or rotting food stains, or disgusting mess and remind your child every day to put any of the wet garbage or wrappers inside the Ziploc bag. You will thank me for this one. I have seen many new parents lose their mind going through 5 lunch bags a year. That’s really time-consuming and expensive. They put the garbage into the disposable baggie and it goes into your waste bin at home the moment they walk through the door. Not optional. There are also reusable bags now for lunch waste – it’s still a good idea to convince the kids to put their waste into these cute reusable bags or Ziploc bags. LOVE these by Erkoon – > Reusable sandwich bags. 5. Buy Packaged Nutritious Treats Each Week: I like to have staples here that the kids love and will reach for – boxes of raisins, boxes of cranberries, tuna kits, Mott’s apple sauces. (I also stock reusable but inexpensive camping sporks – spoon/forks so I don’t lose my mind if they forget a spoon or two). This is one of my crucial lunch time-saving tips, because as much as you want to have everything perfectly fresh for them, you will often need something fast and healthy to add that is ready to go. These Motts Veggie Treats fit the bill. Mott’s Fruitsations When I heard Mott’s had a Fruitsations Veggie Treat I was pretty ecstatic. That adds a nutritious, relatively low calorie option that can make packing lunches fun. These are 80 calories each pack. They have added veggies which is a bonus for me. Plus these are tasty. We’ve had them here this summer and been using them in lunches for day camp. Visit the Life Made Delicious Facebook Page for special offers that might help you stay thrifty. Do you have a lunch tip or favourite food to pack? “Disclosure – I am participating in the Mott’s Fruitsations & Veggie fruit snacks Blogger Campaign by Mom Central Canada. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

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SIX Questions and Answers about School Lunches

Paula — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:46:00 +0000

So your baby is about to start school and she or he is staying for lunch. That opens up a whole new world of school lunches. I have a bit of experience with thousands of school lunches over the years and I wanted to pull together some questions and tips that I often get asked by friends whose kids are just starting kindergarten. A friend of mine prompted this post as she found it helpful last week when I emailed her in response to a question she had about school lunches and leftovers. Six Questions about School Lunches Q1: What lunch bag do you use? I only use the balanced day lunchkit for my kids’ school lunches. Why? Well this is one thing I refuse to scrimp on because my daughter’s school, like many other schools has balanced day. That means the day is divided into bigger blocks of learning time with two nutrition breaks. Not one big lunch for an hour and two recesses at 15 minutes each, but two 40 minute eat your snack and then go out and play periods. The balanced day lunch kit is available on line and at Scholar’s Choice. The benefit of this one is it is clearly labelled nutrition break one and two. My daughter doesn’t mistakenly eat all of her food at break one and then I suddenly get a call from school saying: “Hey there. Payton is in the office again saying she doesn’t have lunch.” This happened for the first six months of senior kindergarten when I sent her with cute little Dora lunchbags and such. They were not labelled. Q2: How do you clean it? I normally wipe it out with a cloth. Then I wash it maybe once a month in the washing machine on gentle when it is really truly making me ill. I may still need to replace this one mid-way through the year and I have a backup lunchbag for when my kiddos forget to bring lunch bag home. This one is worth it, because when I get called to the office I either have to drop everything, leave my work or activity and run off to deliver food. That costs me time and money. Or I let her learn her lesson. Really, that never worked with lunch. So I got smart. Surprising what a difference this lunch bag makes. Now my daughter’s amazing school – which I love – also has some boomerang lunches and waste-free lunches and things like that. Highly recommend them for school lunches, especially where there’s a balanced day. [tweetthis]What is a boomerang lunch? This, and other school lunch questions answered.[/tweetthis] Q3: What is boomerang lunch? Schools are trying to be greener than ever. They try to inspire students to create less waste by sending leftovers back home. This means that at 8 p.m. when your child goes to sleep and you pull the lunchbag out of their backpack it is a big fat mess of disgusting banana slop and orange peels and an exploded dripping Yop. Joy! That really is gross. Q4: What can I do about the mess then? Well, we have found two things that work well. Send one extra Ziploc baggie and remind your child to stick all the garbage leftovers in there. Seal it in the lunch bag and the smell and leak will be contained. The second thing I now do – husband’s idea actually – props where he has deserved them – is get my child to empty the bag first thing when she gets in from school. It is her first job right after she races to the toilet after coming in the house. (I think my kid holds it all day because she only likes our toilets. It’s somewhat inherited as my MIL was exactly like this) Anyways it is a great tool, getting them to empty own lunch bag. She doesn’t usually come home with banana all squished into the corners any more. Yeah.! Q5: My child loses her lunch bag. Well, label it and make sure you have a backup bag. Kids forget stuff and lose it all year long. There’s a lost and found in the school. Check it at least once a season. You’d be surprised what you find. Be warned though – you might actually even find full school lunches there. Q6: Isn’t it the teacher’s job to see that she has eaten? No. Most schools have one or two teachers rotating the whole school for lunch supervision. Teachers get breaks and they deserve them. They don’t stand there watching your child eat. If you have a concern about who or how lunchtime supervision occurs talk to the principal or the teacher. Some schools handle this with VIPs, or older students supervising younger ones at lunch.

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