31 Back-to-School Freezer Meals
We know some that start school this week. Others of you won’t start for several weeks to come, or maybe even for another month. No matter when you start, one of the most commonly asked questions we get around here is how to make the school lunch box more exciting and less mundane. We have answers! And easy to prepare ahead of time answers!
All of these meals can be made ahead and frozen. Some simply need thawed out, others need to be heated. If heating is the order of the day, invest in a well insulated thermos, heat the items in the morning, place them in the thermos and they will be warm and ready to eat at lunch. Thermos brand hot/cold thermos’ claim to keep food warm for 5 hours or cold for 7 hours! Who says your kids can’t eat well at school?
Homemade Pop Tarts
Breakfasts
Perfect for those on-the-go mornings or for kids that need to also take a breakfast to pre-school care.
1. Raspberry and Cream Pancake Rolls
2. Mini Banana Pancake Muffins
4. Chocolate Chip Banana Breakfast Cookies
Thermos Mac & Cheeese
Lunches
Again, for the “hot” items we recommend using an insulated thermos that can keep items warm until lunch-time.
10. Homemade Spaghetti O’s and Meatballs
12. Poppy Seed Chicken Pinwheels
18. Pizza Snack Cups
23. Corn Dog Muffins
Cereal Bar Cookies
Snacks
Everyone needs a little pick-me-up after all that learning!
24. Peanut Butter Jelly Time Bars
25. Apple Snack Cake
27. Homemade Cereal Bar Cookies or Gluten Free Version
28. Balls of Energy
**Disclosure: This is not a paid post; however, it does contain Amazon Affiliate links.
I am dreading back to school. My son (9) was just diagnosed with an allergy to milk – so the doctor has ordered him off of all dairy. Please help! What will I pack this child for lunch? He loves PB&J but I can’t pack that every single day. Really fretting this, but going to a registered dietician tomorrow. Any thoughts? Just found your site – can’t wait to look around a bit!
Kim, don’t fret. You will find TONS of things that you can do for him. We have a Gluten Free Dairy Free menu that has lots of options – just make yours with regular flour and such. Check out the lunch items especially – http://onceamonthmom.com/oamm_menu_type/gluten-free-dairy-free/ OR http://onceamonthmom.com/menus/gluten-free-dairy-free/. You can sub coconut milk or almond milk in most cases too. Also, GoDairyFree.com is a great site too!
How about grilled chicken tenders with a dipping sauce? (or nuggets if you aren’t opposed to them) Chicken wraps? My kids love “picnic” lunches of mini pepperoni or ham cubes, grapes, crackers or goldfish…add some jello and mini carrots and you have a decent meal. Mini quiche cups (no cheese, of course)…ham rolls (ham rolled up and baked in a crescent roll)…test it out and see if he likes hummus to use as a spread in tortilla rollups or pita breads.
We do a lot of dairy free. Almond and soy milk are good in place of milk in recipes. Also my kids like the soy yogurt. There is also almond cheese that has good flavor. That might be harder to find, but tastes the best in my opinion.
My daughter is on a dairy restriction; she can only drink soy milk…she is 2….we use soy milk for everything that calls for milk…..mac ‘n cheese, mash potatoes, etc….& we even think it taste better:) our friends kids always think our meals are so good and the secret is soy milk:)
you can also use Daiya shreds (cheese alternative). We use it for grilled cheese, pizza, mixed with tuna, – anywhere you would use shredded cheese.
Also, who’s to say you can’t pack the same thing every day? My daughter actually prefers this – I think it gives her a sense of consistency in her day: no matter what her day brings, she can always count on getting what she likes in her lunch. She gets plenty of variety in her other meals, so I figure why not simplify one more thing in our lives. And though she’s not allergic to anything, we are vegetarian, so her lunch consists of a pbj, juice box, a slice of cheese (could make it soy cheese for your son), granola bar, baby carrots or fresh fruit (or sometimes applesauce), and some healthy crackers.
No wanting to get into a heated debate, but those who are diagnosed with a dairy allergy do just fine with fresh milk and raw cheeses. Yogurts are well tolerated as well after proper healing of the gut takes place. What most people are not understanding is that conventional grocery store milk is just white water, since the pastuerization process not only kills the bad bacteria, but all the good bacteria as well.
It takes about 6 months for the gut to replace its lining, so yes, stay off it or you risk more damage while you’re trying to heal it. Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation, and those linked articles. They give a plethora of information on the subject.
Thank you Melissa, we have actually touched on the topic with our Get Real series, see this post http://onceamonthmom.com/get-real-pouring-out-the-facts-on-milk/
You might want to research the difference between a milk/dairy allergy and milk/dairy intolerance. They are two extremely different things and a person who is allergic to dairy cannot have milk, cheese or yogurt – fresh or otherwise. My little girl is highly allergic, most of those with diary allergy have a low allergy but Please don’t give a young child dairy if they say they are allergic as they may go into anaphylactic shock (please keep in mind that sometimes doctors won’t prescribe epi-pens to very small children under a certain weight too).
Yes Jessie we agree!
This is great!! Thanks so much! I have 2 wee ones still so no school for a few years yet but with all the activities I have on the go with my kiddos to stay active during the week these meals will help out the boring packed lunches I so often opt for as a result of wanting to be healthy but lacking new ideas!! So again thank you!!
Wow! Thank you soo much, I will be making the cereal cookies, and the mac and cheese! :) Wish I was half the cook you are!!
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You are truly amazing! Thank you.
Now, do you know where I may find one for teachers???
There isn’t a post but all of our “lunches” on our menus are geared for simply reheating at work. The August menus are geared to back-to-school time and we also have a tab to sort by lunches – http://onceamonthmom.com/oamm_meal_type/lunch/
You have lots of chicken in your recipes. My son is allergic to that can you show some meals that dont have these foods in them???
carrots, corn. peas, chicken, turkey. fish. shrimp. soy, walnuts, eggs, cantalope, celery, apple, banana, cherries, …….those are about it. Thanks.
Jane, you should visit our recipes page and you can focus in on ingredients, meal type, and much more. We have TONS of recipes. http://onceamonthmom.com/recipes/
Jane- my son is also allergic!! You are the only other one we know!!! What a challenge! Good to know there are others out there.
Hi. Is there a shopping list for this menu? I can’t find it.
No there is not, this is just a list of great back-to-school meals. If you want a back-to-school menu with a grocery list check out our mini menu – http://onceamonthmom.com/back-to-school-mini-august-2012-menu/.
I cannot get the link for the Spaghetti O’s recipe to work. Have tried it from several different angles on your site and the only thing it does is pull up a picture, but never a recipe. Sooooo excited about that too. HELP!
It should be working now, if not try here http://onceamonthmom.com/homemade-spaghetti-os-and-meatballs-2/
The recipe for Homemade Spaghetti O’s and Meatballs doesn’t show up when I click on the link. It brings up a photo but no recipe.
http://onceamonthmom.com/homemade-spaghetti-os-and-meatballs-2/
So excited to have found this blog ~ through a link on @Mommyskitchen ‘s blog~ now subscribing. :) Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Welcome Amber we’re so happy you’re here! There’s a lot of fun to come so it’s a great time to join the party!
Need gluten free kids menu for breakfast lunch
http://onceamonthmom.com/oamm_menu_type/gluten-free-dairy-free/
I would love to see all of these recipes turned into a shopping list and cooking list like the other menus. I realize that these recipes are all included in other menus but I think it would help immensely for getting back into school routines! Please consider!
You might find the Back-to-School Mini menu to be close enough – http://onceamonthmom.com/back-to-school-mini-august-2012-menu/
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