School Lunches

In an attempt to become organized and make our lives easier with the new busy home school schedule, I created a two week revolving lunch menu. Based on our four day school week, a menu was planned of items that could either be froze ahead or easily prepared by the older kids if I am busy teaching the younger ones. Most of the meals can stand alone if need be, or a simple vegetable or fruit could be added to round it out. We have a designated school shelf that is stocked with the ingredients needed to make the meals that aren't in the freezer. The other benefit of this plan is that there should even be plenty of left-overs for Rob to take to work the next day. For one afternoon of working in the kitchen we have a whole month of school meals prepared without wondering "what's for lunch today?"

Week 1:

Make your own pizza
Tator Tot Hotdish
Pancakes
Spaghetti Hotdish

Week 2:

Hot Dogs and Macaroni
Chicken and Broccoli Hotdish
Egg/Sausage/Hashbrown Bake
Chili

*Make your own pizza
Monday's are usually easier days for us, because everybody is excited to start a new week of school, which means that {hopefully} a couple of kiddos will be done with their work early in a race to make the pizza dough. The school shelf is stocked with our favorite pizza toppings, and there is pepperoni in the freezer.

*Tator Tot Hotdish
Rather than the typical hamburger and tomato hotdish, this one uses sausage, cheese and sourcream. A family favorite here.

1# ground sausage, browned
1/2 tub of sour cream
1 bag Tator Tots
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Layer in a 9x13 pan as listed, bake covered at 375* for 30 minutes, uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

*Pancakes
Most of our kids can whip up a batch of Grandma Lee's pancakes by themselves and have them ready for me to fry. The school shelf is stocked with extra flour, baking powder, and syrup (plus frozen strawberries are in the freezer) and eggs are usually in abundance around here.

2 Eggs
2 cups of Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
2 cups of Flour
4 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

*Spaghetti Hotdish
1/2 box of Spaghetti noodles, boiled until soft
1# browned hamburger
1 jar Spahetti sauce
Shredded cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella cheese
Black Olives, sliced

Layer all ingredients in a 9x13 pan as listed, bake covered at 375* for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is browned.

*Chicken and Broccoli Hotdish
1/2 package frozen Broccoli
2 cups cooked, cut chicken
1 can sliced water chestnuts
12 pcs. of American cheese slices
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of milk
1 package Dried Onions
Serve with White Rice

Layer chicken, broccoli, and water chestnuts in 9x13 pan. Layer cheese on top evenly. Mix mayonnaise, cream of mushroom soup, and milk- pour over the top. Bake covered at 350* for 30 minutes, uncover and sprinkle with dried onions. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve with white rice.

*Egg Bake

There are many versions of this egg bake. It can be changed up everytime you make it to use whatever you have on hand. This time I made it with sausage and extra eggs, but you could also use ham or bacon, and even add spinach, black olives, salsa, peppers, onions, etc. I have never tried freezing it before, so it will be a good experiment to use up eggs.

12 eggs
1 pound of browned sausage
1/2 pkg. of frozen hashbrowns
1/2 tub of sourcream
1/2 cups of milk
Shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, pour in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 375* for 45 minutes, or until eggs are set.

*Chili

2 Quarts of tomatoes (home grown are best:)
2 pounds browned hamburger, seasoned with chili powder and garlic
2 cans kidney beans
1 can chili beans
1 chopped onion
chopped celery
chili seasoning to taste

Mix all ingredients and simmer for several hours. It's always better the next day. Serve with crackers, or sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. To freeze my chili I did not cook it down, just browned the hamburger and mixed it all together then let it cool and put it in gallon freezer bags.