[pinit]
Another school year begins again, and parents find themselves faced with two options for feeding their children: pack a lunch each day or purchase a lunch plan from the school cafeteria. Packing lunches is, admittedly, a pain. I know this firsthand. As a teacher, my lunch “hour” consisted of 30 minutes, five of which were used for the bathroom, another five waiting for the microwave… so, you see, “going out” for lunch is never an option for teachers. Once I started staying home with our son, my husband was on his own for packing his lunch. It’s exhausting trying to think about what you’ll eat THE NEXT DAY when, usually, you’ve just finished dinner. Sometimes, you’re just out of ideas. I fondly remember when my father, unaccustomed to the job, would pack our lunches when I was young: I once got a “peanut butter and Quik mix” sandwich with a side of cupcakes. Niiiiiiice.
In an effort to avoid falling into the “just buy lunch” trap, here’s a recipe for the recipe arsenal: Pepperoni Pizza Muffins, provided by my friends at eMeals. I suggest using organic options when available. You may even try substituting cooked sausage crumbles or ground beef for the pepperoni. Any way you make it, I think this is a kid (heck, adult, too)-friendly recipe that’s super-simple and will cover you for a number of days’ lunches.
[pinit]
Pepperoni Pizza Muffins
Ingredients
- 10.75 oz can condensed tomato soup
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
- ½ cup chopped turkey pepperoni
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 cups all-purpose baking mix
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine tomato soup, cheese, 3/4 cup water, pepperoni, minced onion and seasoning in a large bowl.
- Add baking mix and stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).
- Divide batter evenly among 14 mini muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
- Bake 17 to 20 minutes.
- Cool 5 minutes in pan, and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- If desired, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature or microwave 30 seconds.
And did you know the eMeals has a lunch planning option? You can now get lunch menus weekly, to keep more delicious recipes like this on hand, with shopping lists included! Some perks of the eMeals lunch plan:
-Can be used at any grocery store anywhere
-Healthy & economical meals
-Quick meals with limited cooking & prep time
-Packable kid-friendly recipes for the lunchbox
-Easy recipes & instructions consolidated to one page
-A complete grocery list organized by store sections
Add the eMeals lunch plan for just $4 a month! GET eMEALS NOW and use the code LUNCH for 20% off any subscription.
What’s your best tip for easy school lunches?
This looks great — but I don’t usually buy “all purpose baking mix” — what does that even mean, exactly? Bisquick? Mostly I am too cheap to buy that sort of thing when I can easily make it at home without all the unpronounceable ingredients.
Hey Sarah, some people make their own baking mixes. I imagine it’s pretty simple. I’m not enough of a baker to know the correct proportions of ingredients. I like to use an organic pancake mix (so long as it doesn’t include sugar) like THIS ONE or THIS GLUTEN FREE ONE.