mama jess’ favorite healthy lunches – part 2 – perfect for school or work

Posted by on Feb 28, 2013 in blog, recipes

Hello Friends –

We decided to do another round of Mama Jess’ Favorite Lunches because they were crazy popular & we feel we need some new motivation half way through the school year.  Now these are certainly perfect for our families and kids – but don’t exclude the work lunches. We think that a lot of these recipes are great for a re-charging, healthy lunch – at any age!

 

Please be sure to reference Mama Jess’ Lunch rules from August  – click here.

 

A couple additional rules this time:

 

  1. Clean your lunch box without harsh chemicals or soaps. We don’t want our food to absorb artificial fragrances. Use the cleaning guide below and our favorite cleaning method for almost anything: baking soda & vinegar.
  2. Use seasonal produce as much as possible! It’s citrus season right now – try and take advantage of what’s in season in winter: we loaded up on grapefruit, oranges, clementines, mangoes & pineapple.
  3. Batch cook. Take some time on a Saturday or Sunday and make a batch of food for lunches the week ahead. Let’s be realistic – I don’t have time to cook a homemade lunch & dinner every single day. I batch cook on certain days and use items all week, repeatedly or varied from lunch to dinner. Several of our recipes below are made for batch cooking – quinoa bites, roasted veggie wraps and even desserts (cookies or muffins?).
  4. Be adventurous. Don’t get stuck in a lunch rut. Try new fruits and veggies once & awhile. You’d be surprised the conversation that it can spark at the 1st grade lunch table! Remember –studies show it takes an exposure of 14 times to get a child to eat something new. Don’t give up – even on yourself!

 

Ok – off to the lunches:

mama jess cauliflower garlic sticks with garden good dipping sauce – click here for our recipe

apple salad – organic apple, walnuts, cranberries, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 2 T yogurt (mix right in serving bowl)

quinoa cluster – click here for this lovely martha stewart recipe – make as is, mine are darker because I use unsulphured apricots. one note – these are best completely cooled.

 

 

mama jess roasted veggie wraps with bien good enchilada sauce – click here for recipe

grapefruit segments & raspberries

 

 

mama jess spaghetti and turkey meatball recipe  (mini meatballs) – click here for recipe

jicama sticks

quinoa cluster (see above for recipe, batch cooking, remember!)

 

 

mama jess quinoa bites with garden good dipping sauce – click for recipe

broccoli

clementines

babybel cheese – light

 

 

 

mama jess bean good with alphabet pasta and peas – add peas in last 2 minutes of cooking noodles, drain, toss with sauce

mango

popcorn with pepitas and chocolate chips

 

 

 

 

Lunch box cleaning instructions.

Some of these lunch boxes can get really stained and sticky. If you have a fabric, plastic or metal lunch container, this method safely works wonders. And it’s completely safe to have little hands help – my kids love to add the vinegar for our own ‘lunchbox volcano’.

1. Add 1/4 cup of baking soda to your lunch box.

 

 

2. Get your scrub brush wet with water and make a paste with the soda. Scrub all the crevices and corners of the lunch box. Inside and out if necessary!

 

 

3. Now the fun part – add 1/2 cup of vinegar. Let bubble. Then rinse clean with water.

 

 

4. Air dry, or even better -sun dry! And here is a squeaky clean lunch box!

 

 

Enjoy these wonderful meals and tips – we have these all up on our Pinterest Good Boards too!

 

Mama Jess & Team

info@mamajess.com

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