Weelicious Veggie Tortilla Wrap

You may have heard that lunchboxes are no longer what they used to be.  Moms across the internet (and surely Dads too, but they don't seem to have as much of an online presence) cut foods into cute shapes for their kids to eat (or, perhaps, turn up their noses at).

I don't do any of that.  I have been known to use a cookie cutter on a sandwich and also got the Cute-Z-Cute cutter  as a Christmas gift, but I try to keep the lunchboxes full of interesting foods and keep my fingers crossed they will like them.  Pinterest is a huge source of inspiration, but one of the mavens of the lunchbox world has recently published a cookbook, Weelicious Lunches:  Thinking Outside the Lunchbox, and I knew I had to give it a try.

I wish I'd packed one of these for myself, but I didn't quite have enough of the ingredients.  It was not a hit for the boys, though I will likely make it for them again in the hopes their tastes will change, but my husband and I both thought this might be one for US to try one day.  Unfortunately I didn't plan ahead and make the homemade hummus ahead of time, but it took so little time that it was really no big deal (even though I pack lunches after cooking dinner and just want to crash on the couch).  Since I made the hummus from scratch, though, I didn't get around to making the suggested veggie salad for the side.  Maybe next time I'll plan better, but the boys got a side of the hummus, pita chips, and grape tomatoes and baby carrots instead.

Weelicious Veggie Tortilla Wrap Source:  Weelicious Lunches:  Thinking Outside the Lunchbox

Ingredients 

*Makes 4 servings

• ½ cup hummus
• 4 whole-wheat tortillas
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated (about 1 cup)
• 1 avocado, sliced

Directions

1. Lay the tortilla flat on a work surface, and spread hummus along the inside.

2. Top each tortilla with 1/4 of the grated carrots, then 1/4 of the sliced avocados.

3. Roll everything up, cut into half, and lunchbox it.

I used this hummus recipe, from the Weelicious website, for this wrap.  

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons tahini (can be usually be found right next to the peanut butter at your local grocery)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Preparation

1. 1. Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and puree.
2. 2. Add the olive oil and continue to puree until creamy.
3. 3. Serve.

Tortellini spinach Bake in Lemon Cream Sauce

I'm not sure how I stumbled across this one, but it's likely something I found on Pinterest.  It looks like a mess, but it's delicious.  I was actually talking with a man at the pizza place about it; he asked the checkout girl if people ordered a lemon cream sauce because it sounded strange, and I chimed in that I'd made one and that it was so light and fresh and summery.  A definite must try.

This is the same, but add in the freshness of spinach and you're in for a treat.  Then it also has bacon!  I billed this to my kids as special mac and cheese, and it is in a lot ways.  The preparation is basically the same, though the pasta and other add ins are a little different.

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce Source:  Our Best Bites

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini
 4 oz bacon or pancetta, (about 4 strips bacon)*
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced
2 Tbs flour
2 C milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon, zested and juiced
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.
2. Cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon grease and discard the rest.
3. Add garlic to bacon grease and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Whisk in flour and cook for about a minute.  Add milk, continuing to whisk until smooth.  Add basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and stir.  Bring to a simmer.  Add 2 teaspoons lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.  Continue to stir until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.
4. Reserve all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon and add the rest to the pasta.  Add spinach, 1/2c mozzarella, and 1/2c Parmesan, then add sauce.  Stir gently.
5. Transfer to an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.  Top with remaining cheese and bacon.  Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until cheese is melted and pasta is bubbly, about 5-10 minutes.    Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

*Omit bacon to make a vegetarian meal.

Mango, Black Beans, and Rice

This is my boys' most requested lunch.  Well, after "Peanut butter and jelly with a baseball bat," that is.  This was the last lunch I packed for the school year, and I was, surprisingly, out of mangoes but had some super ready to be used peaches and tried them with great success.

I found inspiration here, but my boys' aversion to all things spicy led me to only add the three ingredients.  I tend to use dried beans and brown rice, so I often make up a big batch of each for the week.  If, like me, you struggle to properly cook brown rice, this method has never failed me.

So, I mix it all up in a big bowl--one chopped mango (or peach), an eyeballed amount of black beans, and a serving of rice.  They loved it every time!

Also with this lunch are halved fresh cherries at the top left and Terra Chips at the top right, packed in an Easy Lunchbox.