Lettuce Wraps

This is a wonderfully light meal on a hot summer day- lunch or dinner!  And there are so many ways to change it up.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

4 c. water
2 c. rice
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 bag of coleslaw mix ( cabbage, carrots )
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
Iceberg lettuce

Cook the rice according to directions in the 4 cups of water.

Brown ground turkey in 1 Tbsp canola oil.  Add in soy sauce, garlic, green onion, hoisin sauce and coleslaw mix and stir till cabbage is slightly wilted.  Stir in as much of the rice as you like.  I prefer a more meat to rice ratio.

Spoon into whole lettuce leaves and fold over, soft taco style.  And if you are feelin' frisky, toss in some crunchy chow mein noodles or chopped peanuts for crunch.

And for those who love Mexican like we do, you can change it up by adding taco seasoning and pinto beans to the ground turkey and basically adding taco-style ingredients...cubed avocado, shredded cheese, salsa. 

It's a quick fix for a cool meal on a hot summer day!

A Little Planning Goes a Long Way

Okay.  I am a List Maker, so this works for me.  So just listen to me first and then decide if this is worth your time.

Plan out lunch menus like you would dinner menus, and jot down everything you need to prepare what you have planned.  Wouldn't you be more inclined to fix something really yummy and healthy for lunch if you didn't have to stand in front of the fridge waiting on inspiration?  And it will help you avoid unnecessary purchases at the store, which equals more money for fun stuff!

Get a chalk board and hang it on your kitchen wall and write down your lunch and dinner menus.  It's a visible reminder of what you have to work with and keeps you on track.  Everyone who comes over to my house is intrigued by my chalk board!  They think it's a sign that I am well organized.  It's actually a huge sign that I am NOT well organized and need to be reminded why on earth I bought water chestnuts.

These little things are such a big help for me.  I hope they help you too.

Pasta Is Our Friend

Is there anything more versatile than pasta?  You can mix it with just about any combo of vegetables and protein and top it with any kind of sauce and you have a meal.  Yes, I know it has a lot of 'carbs'....but kids NEED carbs.  It's what our bodies use for energy and it stabilizes our mood.  And if you choose whole grain pasta, even better.

This is a tried and true recipe at our house.  We happen to love Asian food, so if you are not an Asian food fan, this may not be for you.  But it's totally tweak-able.

This is what you need to start with:
1 lb linguine pasta
1 or 2 chicken breasts, left over steak or shrimp, or any kind of meat you like.  Even the thin 'breakfast pork chops' are good.

Cook 1 pound of linguine noodles according to package directions.  Any long pasta will do, but I think linguine closely resembles the lo mein noodles we love. Save 1/2 c. of the pasta cooking water for the sauce.

While the noodles cook, start cooking your protien.  I always have flash frozen chicken breasts on hand.  Pull out one or two and cook in a covered pan with a little oil until done.  Or the pork or steak can be added.  Or you can make this vegetarian.

Then, the sauce:

1/3 c. peanut butter (smooth)
5 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp canola oil
dash of ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)

Whisk this together with the 1/2 c. pasta water.  The water will give the sauce a creamier texture.

Now-I happen to love the steamable packages of frozen veggies.  In my house, we would add steamed broccoli or carrots.  Sugar snap peas are great too!  What ever your kids will eat, toss it in.

The possibilities of this stir-fry are endless.  It's so adaptable to so many different kinds of things you might just have lying around in your fridge.

Lunch Lady Is In The House!

Okay...my first post as the Lunch Lady.  Let's see if I actually have something worth saying...

As a stay at home and homeschooling mom, one of my least enjoyable tasks is planning lunches.  If my kids would eat PB&J, this would be no problem.  However, Lunch Lady has kids who don't care for regular old sandwiches.  Lunch Lady's kids would rather eat healthy lunches.  And Lunch Lady prefers they eat healty lunches. That are quick to fix.  And that don't require tons of prepping.

Thus I bring you the Lunch Lady Village.  I encourage you all to participate with your ideas and input!  We can all learn something from each other and make our Mom journey a little more enjoyable.

I will try to post regularly on healthy, quick and easy lunch ideas.

I will now return you to your regularly scheduled program.