Bread Pizza

Today's Lunch: Bread Pizza

A wanted some kind of Pizza today for lunch as they make Cheese Pizza in the cafeteria on Fridays. She has the option of buying lunch there (I will be glad to get a break for a day! ) but... Well the story is she tried it on the first Friday of school, stood in the line and found some strange smell near the kitchen which made her feel nauseated. She left the line without buying the food and has been refusing to buy food in the cafeteria ever since. I am not sure what the smell was as she said she has never smelt something like that before. My guess is it was a chicken dish that was on the menu that day as A has never really smelt meat cooking. So long story short we are doing lunch from home on all days until further notice from her highness!

I forgot to take a picture of her lunch as it was a big rush this morning, but this is a picture of a slice that I saved for myself. I just sent a few slices of this with nothing else for lunch as she buys ice cream at school on Fridays.

Ingredients

Wheat Bread ( Other kind of bread like Pita or Afghan Bread might work even better but this is what I had at hand today)
Pizza Sauce ( I used a store bought Grilled Vegetable Pasta sauce)
Mozzarella Cheese

Method

Lay the bread slices on an oven safe plate and spread the pizza sauce on it. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese such that the bread is covered. Bake this in an oven heated to 350 deg F for about 5 to 8 minutes or until all the cheese is melted. Cut the Bread Pizza into the desired size and enjoy!

Vermicelli Uppit/Rice Noodles

Yesterday's Lunch

Shavige Uppit* (Vermicelli noodles seasoned with mustard seeds, onions and green chillies, sauteed with finely chopped cooked vegetables)
Grapes
Chocolate Milk

How did it do?

Good, though she finished the uppit only after coming home. She 'loved it', in her words but was in a very deep discussion with a friend so could not finish it. The most important discussion was if they all found bugs in their lunch boxes when they opened them and the whole cafeteria is filled with things crawling and flying!

*I will post the detailed recipe of this one soon. Because for one we love this at our place and I have the right proportions for it and dont want to forget it. And two I had made this for A's second birthday party and many people have taken the recipe.

Paneer Wrap

Today's Lunch

Paneer wrap ( Corn Tortilla stuffed with lightly sauteed grated paneer seasoned with salt and garam masala.)
Sweet Potato flowers ( Sweet potato slices microwaved and lightly sauteed with salt and pepper)
Apple Slices dipped in orange juice
Cookie

How did it do?

Bad. The whole wrap came back. She said she didnt like it. And only half of the sweet potato slices were eaten. I think we will stay away from wraps for a few days as she has not been eating any kind of wraps sent  in the lunch box.

Apple Butter Sandwich Bites

Yesterday's Lunch

Apple Butter Sandwich cut into bite size squares
Grapes
Cucumber slices
Chocolate Milk

How did it do?

It did good. A few sandwich bites came back as she got full and she finished that after school.

Cheese Quesadilla and Sauteed Carrots

Today's Lunch

Cheese Quesadilla with Corn Tortillas
Sauteed Carrots seasoned with salt and pepper
Sliced Kiwi
Tortilla Chips

How did it do?

Not bad, half of the food came back because of time spent chatting, but she liked it and finished it at home.

Pasta Salad

Friday's Lunch

Pasta Salad ( Cooked Pasta with diced cucumbers, raisins, pecans and shredded cheese seasoned with salt and pepper)
Boiled Egg with salt and Pepper
Sliced Pear dipped in orange juice
Heart Shaped Cookies

How did it do?

Did really good. Everything was gone except a couple of spoons of salad. She especially liked the boiled egg so will send it more often.

Quesadilla made with Chappathi

Today's Lunch

Cheese Quesadilla made with homemade wheat chappathi
Cucumber Slices
Apple Juice
Tortilla Chips

How did it do?

Did ok. Half of the quesadilla was left, but the portion was a little big for her. The other feedback I got from her is that it did not taste too great with the chappathi. I figured that it needed to be rolled more thinner to get to work well for a quesadilla.

Paneer Pulao

Yesterday's Lunch

Paneer Pulao (Basmati Rice with sauteed with very little onions, dry spices, carrots, raisins, cashews, grated paneer and a hint of garam masala)
Cucumber Raita
Apple Slices
Cookie

How did it do?

Most of the lunch was gone, except for the raita which came back untouched. She said no more raita to school because she feels too conscious in front of her friends, which is absolutely fine by me. But when she heard a comment or two about the pulao she ignored it and continued to eat, so overall happy with this lunch. Will definitely keep making it.

PBJ

Today's Lunch

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Cucumber slices

Half a Banana

How did it do?

It was all gone except the banana as the cut edge had got black. I cut off a slice of it and she ate the rest once she came home. I need to figure out a way to send a cut banana. 

Cucumber and Cheese sandwich

Yesterday's Lunch

Cucumber and  Cheddar Cheese Sandwich
Veggie Sticks
Ice cream from the cafeteria


How did it do?

Too much excitement to buy ice cream from the cafeteria, the lunch was hardly eaten. I had been warned about getting distracted at school and not eating, did not know it will happen so soon. Now that she is settling into a routine, we are going to start working on some rules and rewards.

Spinach and Carrot Pancake

Today's Lunch

Spinach and Carrot Pancakes ( Chopped spinach and grated carrots added to Bisquick pancake mix)
Provolone cheese slice cut with one of my favorite, a Swan shaped cookie cutter. ( Looks perfect for white cheese)
Apple juice

How did it do?

Good. A few pieces of the pancake were left as there was cheese lasagna sampling at the cafeteria. 

Poha/Avalakki Uppit

Tdoay's Lunch

Poha/Avalakki uppit with onions, boiled potatoes and peanuts
Plain yogurt
Apple slices dipped in orange juice
Veggie sticks

How did it do?

Not good at all. The poha had onions in it and she said it was smelling a lot and she did not eat it. The yogurt had got sour by lunch time.


Lessons learnt

No onions in poha when sending for lunch.

Egg and Carrot Noodles

Today's Lunch

Flat noodles with scrambled egg and carrots seasoned with Chinese Stir-Fry sauce
Sliced Plum
Sliced Cucumbers and carrots
Fortune cookie without the fortune :)


How did it do?

Not too great. About half of the noodles came back, she said she was full. The rest of it was eaten.

Apple Butter Pinwheels

Today's Lunch..

Apple Butter Pinwheels ( Apple Butter spread on flattened wheat bread. I flattened wheat bread with a rolling pin and spread apple butter on it and rolled and cut it into three pieces )
Chocolate Milk
Baby Carrots with Ranch Dressing
Slliced Pear dipped in Orange Juice

How did it do?

The pinwheels were gone. Most of the fruit and vegetable came back as she said she lost track of time because she was talking to a friend during lunch.

Spinach Pancake

Friday's Lunch..

Spinach Pancake ( Finely chopped spinach added to Bisquick pancake mix)

Cheese slices

Cucumber and carrot slices

Apple slices dipped in orange juice

How did it do?

Came back totally empty. It was nice to see an empty box again and the time spent with the cookie cutters that morning felt worthwhile!

Scrambled Egg Wrap

Today's Lunch

Scrambled Egg Wrap with chappathi
Dry Okra curry
Pear slices dipped in orange juice
Heart shaped cookies


How did it do?

Half of the wrap was not eaten as she felt it was too much food. The wrap was made with one chappathi and cut into two, maybe can make a smaller sized chappathi next time. 

Mushroom and Cheese Pasta

Today's Lunch

Pasta with Mushroom and Cheese
Cucumber Slices
Apple Slices dipped in orange juice
Raisins and Pecans
Gummy Bears


How did it do?

Not so good. The pasta was hardly eaten as she said that it did not taste good when cold. This is one of her favorite pastas when eaten at home, so I guess this would be good when sent in a thermos food container. The apples dipped in orange juice was a great hit, she liked it a lot and they had not turned red.

Carrot Pulao and Cucumber Raitha

Today's Lunch

Carrot Pulao
Cucumber Raitha
Mandarin Oranges
Vegetable Chips

How did it do?

Only half of the food was eaten because she lost track of time and could not finish it. But the bright side is she would love this lunch again as she really liked it.  I could tell she did from the way she finished the remainder of the lunch after coming home.