We all know it’s cheaper to pack your own lunch, and it’s healthier (in almost every school district) to pack your kids’ lunches, too. This week, we’ll help you with some brown bag solutions.

Today’s topic is leftovers. What you have for dinner tonight will make a great lunch tomorrow.

Budget bonus * Reduce your waste (it doesn’t wait around in the back of the fridge until you throw it away)

Organization bonus * Reduce your prep time (it’s already made).

Equipment * You may want a wide mouth thermos, or a small ice pack, to keep the food appropriately warm or cool, if you don’t have access to a fridge or microwave.

TIP * Before filling a thermos with hot food, fill it with hot water, and let it warm up while you warm up the food. Then dump out the water, and fill with the hot food. It stays warmer longer. You will need to heat the food in the morning.

What To Pack? Some possibilities…

• Roast or grilled turkey or chicken with sides or on a salad
• Turkey or vegan meatloaf with sides or in a sandwich
• Shepherd’s pie or pot pie
• Lasagne or any pasta in sauce
• Stir-fry and brown rice (jazz it up with some sliced almonds on top)
• Leftover veggies in a wrap with a little hummus or almond butter
• Soup or veggie stew or chili with slice of whole grain bread, corn muffin, etc.
• Grilled veggies – as is or on a salad
• Baked sweet potatoes

Use leftovers on a salad. Start with 2 cups of your favorite salad greens, and then…

• Go Greek with olives, walnuts, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, and oregano vinaigrette
• Go Italian with olives, roasted red pepper, sundried tomato, artichoke hearts, cannellini beans and Italian or balsamic vinagrette
• Go French with tuna, hard cooked egg or mashed tofu, leftover green beans, tomato, and Dijon vinaigrette
• Go Spanish with shrimp, chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, artichoke hearts, and a tomato vinaigrette
• Go Mexican with black beans, corn, avocado, diced tomato, and your favorite salsa
• Go Japanese with tofu, shredded veggies, and a rice-wine/ginger vinaigrette
• Go Caribbean with red beans, grilled chicken or tofu seasoned with jerk seasoning, and lime vinaigrette

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Articles - Food, Budget & Finance, Family friendly activities, food, tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.