Healthy Lunchbox Ideas: Round 1

• They only get 5 minutes for lunch
• They can’t refill their water bottles whenever they want to
• The snacks are good (no I’m sorry they are junk food)
• The gym teacher makes them walk laps around the gym and it’s huge!
• He has already filled a whole stamp card and nobody else has (mom brag!!)
• He doesn’t like it
• He doesn’t like it
• He doesn’t like it
• It isn’t fun

Yes, apparently good old second grade is a big snooze fest. There are rules. They get homework. They can’t just walk around the classroom aimlessly. I mean really, what is this preparing them for? The real world? College? Life?  Ahhh… yes… life. When you can’t just do whatever you want all the time. How do you break it to a 7 year old that it only goes downhill from here?

Please excuse the horrible middle picture. I know, I know, what is it? It looks like a bowl of nothing-ness but I promise it is one of THE BEST soups in the world. You’ve heard that before, I know food bloggers love to throw that term around. I’ve made fun of those words so many times in the past (The Best Ever ______). However, I promise I would not lead you astray on this one. This soup is amazing. It is so simple, so easy, and so yummy. My kids would literally funnel this soup into their little mouths everyday if I kept making it. I’ve tried time and time again to try to get good picture of this soup but it just never looks that great because it is a broth heavy. Yes, broth heavy is what we are calling it. I’d compare the consistency to Chicken and Stars soup.

I also haven’t posted this soup because I have struggled with what to name it. I believe it is something close to Pastina soup, so I looked up what Pastina meant and here’s what I found:

1. Pastina is a variety of pasta consisting of tiny pieces of pasta available in a variety of shapes. It is the smallest type of pasta produced. It is made of wheat flour and may also include egg. Pastina is typically used in broth soups in Italian and Turkish cuisine, particularly for children.

Precisely. It is particularly for children, hence this post! 😉 Thanks Web definitions for having my back on this one! Ok, so I’m officially calling it Pastina Soup.

Pastina Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 small onion
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat Acini de Pepe pasta
• 8-10 cups chicken broth (I used homemade. Learn how to make your own broth on my post Everything You Need To Know About Making Your Own Chicken Stock. If you use a pre-boxed broth you will need to adjust the salt content to taste, starting with 1 tsp and going from there.)
• 4 eggs

Directions: Mince onions as smooth as you can get them in a food processor, or dice very fine. Put onions, butter, and all seasonings except salt in a large stock pot. Cook over medium heat until onions are fragrant and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta and allow to simmer for about 8 minutes. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. While stirring continuously add eggs in a slow and steady stream. Be careful not to dump all eggs in at once or you will end up with a huge egg clump.

Depending on what kind of stock you use you may or may not have to add salt. I used a homemade stock that I had not previously salted, so I used a whole tsp. of kosher salt. Taste your soup and salt to taste. 🙂

On to the good stuff…. the puddin’ baby! In my cute and convenient LunchBots 4 oz. round I have myself some homemade vanilla puddin’ sweetened naturally with maple syrup and sprinkled with a little cinnamon. I kind of wanted to just keep this at home for myself and I’m sure you will too, but have no fear! This recipe will give you more then one portion so there will be enough to go around. Also featured in this lunchbox:

• Oven Roasted broccoli and cauliflower with cheese to go on top (roasted in the oven ahead of time with salt and pepper, then served the next day cold)
• Frozen blueberries
• Ezekiel pita with almond butter to spread on top. I always send nut butters on the side so the bread doesn’t get soggy
• In the top corner we also have some un-sulphered dried pineapple rings

Homemade Vanilla/Maple Puddin’

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup whole wheat white flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• dash salt
• 1 Tbsp butter (optional)

Directions: Mix maple syrup and flour in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly incorporate milk while stirring continuously. When milk is incorporated add vanilla, salt, and butter. Transfer to a heat safe container and cool in the refrigerator. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving if desired.

To make this chocolate: add 3 Tbsp cocoa powder to the maple and flour.

In the other lunch we have:

• Sour Cream and Onion Chicken Salad from 100 Days of Real Food
• Mini Bell Pepper Rings
• Brown bag popcorn tossed in olive oil, garlic powder, and onion salt to taste. Simply put 1/2 cup kernels in a brown bag and microwave approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds. THAT’S IT! No nasty chemicals or hydrogenated oils. Yes! 🙂
• Pumpkin Spice Granola Clusters that weren’t so clustery because my kids ate all the chunks first!
• Apple

As always if you like my gear, I am using LunchBots so check them out!

Also pictured: