- Hey, guys, with back-to-school right upon us,
I thought you might be ready
for some new lunchbox inspiration.
So since my last video was such a hit with you all,
3 Lunches You Can Make From Leftovers,
I thought I would give you three more lunches
you can make from leftovers.
These could be things you might already have
sitting in your fridge.
And special thanks to Keebler Club Bites
for sponsoring this video and collaborating with me
on this episode.
So this time around, I wanted to give you some new ideas
that might get outside your comfort zone a little bit.
I find that sometimes it's good to push the envelope
when it comes to kids
because you need to get them to try new things.
And my theory is give them two to three things
that are familiar, that they like,
and then throw in something new.
A little curve ball they may not have tried.
That way they might be more apt to try the whole thing.
So most kids will eat a ham sandwich, right?
And who doesn't love a bagel?
So I like to make this sandwich
when I have a little bit of leftover brie
sitting in the fridge from a weekend party.
All you do is you slice the bagel.
You could toast it if you wanted to,
or you could just leave it plain.
Then I spread some of the brie cheese
on both sides of the bagel.
Then add a little bit of apricot jam,
maybe about a teaspoon or so.
And then pile on top of that some black forest ham.
Now this might sound like a really strange sandwich,
but I'm telling you the combination
of the creamy brie, the sweet jam,
and then that salty ham
is so delicious.
It's familiar but then a little bit gourmet
in the right kinda way
that I think will really get your kids excited about lunch.
And hey, Mom, it's a great one for you, too,
as you're headed off to work.
Then to go with the sandwich,
I'm going to pack some Keebler Club Bites.
This is a new mini-sandwich cracker
that Keebler just introduced
that my kids are going nuts for.
They're made with 100% real cheese,
and they also come in the peanut butter variety.
So one of my daughters likes the cheese,
and the other one likes the peanut butter.
So that way, it makes the both of them happy.
However, if your school has nut restrictions,
where you can't bring anything that has peanuts
or any kind of nut in it,
you might just stick with the cheese.
These crackers are great for the lunchbox,
but it's also a really good snack when you're on the go.
My girls love to eat them after school
when they're on their way to activities
because it's a little bit more filling
than a regular cracker.
Then I also like to pack some grated carrots
and some raisins.
I love this because you don't really have to prep a lot
in the morning.
All you do is grab a handful of those grated carrots,
throw in the raisins, and you're good to go.
And then in the other compartment,
I'll throw in some blueberries
and some sliced raw almonds.
I love blueberries for fruit in a lunchbox
because, again, you don't have to peel it or cut them.
They're so quick and easy,
you just pop them in a lunchbox.
And there you have it!
Lunch number one all ready to go.
So next up, if you have some leftover rice
sitting in your fridge,
you can turn that into a delicious stir fried rice.
All you're gonna do is take out a large non-stick skillet.
And to that, you're gonna add two teaspoons
of some unflavored oil.
You could use vegetable oil, canola oil, whatever you have.
Then you're gonna add a cup of your leftover rice.
Two tablespoons of frozen peas.
A quarter cup of grated carrots.
And then I take two broccoli florets
and just cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces,
and throw those in as well.
And then you can saute that up a little bit,
just to get those vegetables a chance to soften up
and for the rice to cook and get warmed through.
And then you're gonna add anywhere
from one to two tablespoons of soy sauce
depending on how saucy your kids like it.
Then for a little bit of flavor,
I like to add a quarter teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.
Okay, so then at this point,
your rice is pretty much ready to go.
What I do is I just push everything over to the side
to allow myself a clean area
where I'm gonna scramble my egg.
I do like to add a little scrambled egg to this
just to give the kids a little bit more protein.
But you could leave it as is just like this, too,
if you didn't want tot take this step.
But basically what I do is
I take an egg, stir it up in a cup,
and then slowly pour it into the pan.
And then give it a stir
and kind of scramble all the while.
That way, you won't kind of scramble up the rice
with the egg, and you'll get those nice curds of egg.
And then you can combine the egg with the rice,
and there you go!
You've got a delicious little lunch on your hand.
And then you can transfer it to a thermos.
Make sure you use a thermos that will keep this warm
for at least four to five hours.
This is such a yummy little lunch
that sometimes, to tell you the truth,
I will have this for dinner.
If I'm running late and there isn't much in the fridge,
this is a great one to whip up.
So now for the snacks.
This is an idea I came up with one fall
when my kids were kind of going nuts
with all the candy that was around from Halloween,
and they wanted candy in the lunchbox.
And I said, you know what?
I'm gonna make you Mother Nature's candy bar.
And they were all like, ooh, what's that?
So here's how you make the Mother Nature's candy bar.
You're gonna take some sliced apple wedges,
and put those in your lunchbox.
Then to that, you add either peanut butter
or almond butter.
Either one.
And I also pack raisins and some shredded,
unsweetened coconut.
And the idea is you take an apple.
You spread some peanut butter on top.
Add the raisins, and then the shredded coconut.
You know how candy usually has some kind of nut,
something chewy, and something salty and crunchy.
Well, that way, it sort of mimic the idea of a candy bar.
It is a great flavor combination.
So you may try it at your house,
and see if they find Mother Nature's candy bar.
So there you have it.
Number two. A hot lunch ready to go.
Next up, if you have any mashed potatoes
sitting in the fridge from a Sunday night dinner,
I'm gonna show you how to make a delicious and easy
potato corn chowder.
This is a great lunch idea
for when the weather starts to turn cold.
You can make a big batch of it on Sunday night
and have it last throughout the week.
So in a blender, you're going to add
a cup of your leftover mashed potatoes.
And a cup of either chicken broth
or vegetable broth if you wanna keep it vegetarian.
And then you're just gonna whirl that up
until everything is nice and blended.
And then you can check for consistency.
Depending on how thick your mashed potatoes are,
you might need to add either more or less
of the broth.
Then you're just gonna pour that out into a saucepan.
Add a quarter cup of frozen corn.
And then at this stage, I would taste it for seasoning.
So depending on how seasoned your mashed potatoes were
when you made them,
you many need to add a little bit of salt or pepper,
or they might just be perfect.
Then you can pour it into your thermos.
And then I like to add a little bit of chopped parsley
on the top just for a little bit of freshness.
And then for snacks,
I like to add some fresh mozzarella balls
and some cherry tomatoes.
And I also like to pop in some raw cashews.
My kids love cashews
because they're just such an easy nut for kids.
They're soft and easy to chew
and also have that nice kind of buttery flavor to them.
And then to stretch their taste buds a little bit,
I like to add sea salt and some dried rosemary.
And then for a fruit,
I like to add some sliced pears
topped with a little bit of pumpkin pie spice.
Especially at this time of year,
it's a really nice warming flavor.
If you live outside the U.S.
and you can't get pumpkin pie spice,
I'll leave you a link in the description
for how you can make your own.
And there you have it.
A tasty lunch idea made from
those leftover mashed potatoes.
I hope you guys give these lunches a try.
And let me know what you think.
And special thanks to Keebler Club Bites
for sponsoring this video and collaborating with me
on this episode.
I'll see you back here next time.
Until then.