Just in case you missed this article on back-to-school lunch ideas the first time we shared it a couple of years ago, we are republishing it. After Marne wrote this blog originally, we got an awesome response. This is one of the PYP Best Blogs!

It is time for school again! I can hardly believe it. My kids started school today! Hooray on both ends. Now that I have to make lunches everyday again, I have ideas on my brain. Two years ago I did a post on Healthy, Make-Ahead School Lunches. In that post, I gave some ideas for muffins, smoothies, and other tips that you can do to make school lunches for your child healthy and less expensive. Check out that post if you haven’t seen it.

This year I wanted to add a few more items to the list. My kids have grown and their tastes have changed, and we have a few new ideas!

1. Pizza Rolls. I had seen a few versions of this on Pinterest, but I kind of made up my own version. They are super simple to make and my kids LOVE them. I will quadruple the batch and put them in the freezer, so that morning as we are doing their lunches they nuke it a little and its perfect for their lunch. In this photo the pizza rolls are made, but not baked yet. But they still look so delicious!!

I start by making my favorite pizza dough recipe. (This also works well using half wheat flour). Love this recipe.

After the dough has risen, I divide it up. If you make one batch of this dough, it will make one pizza roll and you don’t need to divide it up. I will quadruple the batch of dough in my Bosch mixer, and make 4 rolls to slice up and freeze! Make sense? Roll the dough out in a rectangle, like if you were making cinnamon rolls. I spread it lightly with butter, then sprinkle on garlic powder and Italian Seasoning (as much as you want), then sprinkle on cheese and mini pepperonis. Roll up the long way (again like if you were making cinnamon rolls). I use bakers twine to slice them up, the sizes like you see in the photo above. Then I place on my Silpat liner on a baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for about 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden. They turn our lovely and are good alone or with marinara sauce!

2. Pasta. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but a few of my kids love pasta. They love taking it in their lunch in a thermos. When I make a pasta dish during the week, I will make more to save for them for lunch. Plain pasta with butter and Parmesan, or a pasta dish, it doesn’t matter. It works great. Pasta will easily keep for a few days in the fridge so it is a great solution.

3. Breakfast Burritos. My 4th grader can put down these things! I will make them ahead and warm them up for his lunch. We put them in a thermos when hot and they are still nice and warm at lunchtime. He loves these the most out of anything else I send him for the ‘main part’ of his lunch. It really doesn’t take long to put together in the morning if you want to do one fresh. I’m lucky because he is simple…he likes eggs in a tortilla..that’s it!

What do you do in your kids’ school lunches?