A Hot Packed Lunch
Creating something different, tasty and nice looking for Top Ender's packed lunches is becoming a full time job these days. If I'm not cutting up fruits and vegetables in to different shapes, batch baking cookies and cakes or working out different designs for the Friday lunches then I am keeping note of what Top Ender has had so I know what to rotate in and out. After all, nobody likes to eat carrot sticks everyday for three weeks, even if they are tasty and sometimes come with a dip.
The other issue that we have had of late is the weather. It's my choice to give Top Ender a packed lunch instead of having a hot School lunch, but when it is just above freezing I can't help but feel that Top Ender might appreciate something a bit warmer in her lunch box. I had a little extra cash and so one weekend Top Ender and I drove up to one of our favourite shops (Dunelm Mill) and brought two of the Bento boxes that we had seen on a previous trip. These bento boxes are insulated so they keep food cold or hot... perfect for taking in some warming meals!
The first meal that Top Ender took in was some Lasagne. She was most impressed when putting her lunch box down on the trolley in her classroom as her teacher asked her what was inside and if it was for her. Even more so when Top Ender's teacher (We'll call her Miss Charles from now on shall we?) called across to some of Top Ender's other teachers and they all had a little joke about how much they wanted Top Ender's lunch.
The next couple of hot lunches were made using some of the Warburtons Squareish Wraps that had been sent to me to try out. I made pizza (so simple you just spread some tomato paste and sprinkle cheese on top, add other toppings if you want them and then throw in the oven until the cheese melts) and hot Sausage wraps which smelt fantastic and I was really jealous until Big Boy let me share his!
These three hot lunches were really lovely and filling and Top Ender said that it was nice to have something warm to eat and that it was different but that she wouldn't want something warm everyday (which I'm glad about as I wasn't planning on giving her something warm everyday!). One thing that I did like about the square wraps (as opposed to circle wraps) was they were easier for me to handle and they seemed bigger. They were also nice tasting, not too floury and tasted great with simple toppings like cheese as a sort of home made cheesy tortilla snack after School one cold night.
I asked people over on my facebook page what sort of hot meal they thought would be fun as a packed lunch and got some great ideas but I'm still looking for some more ideas. What kind of hot lunch do you think would be good fun to eat at School?
Warburtons sent me some Squareish wraps to try.