It’s Back-to-School time! The rush is on to grab school supplies, last minute hair cuts, and shopping for new clothes. Most likely, the last thing on your mind is a nutritious meal for those new lunch boxes and bags for the kiddos, for school lunchtime. The same old sandwiches and bag of chips get boring quick! If your kids usually suffer from the “sandwich burnout” within the first few weeks of school, try some of these fun, non-traditional packed lunch ideas.
Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps - Spread ranch dressing over a tortilla wrapper, layer cheese, cut up fully cooked chicken, and add bacon, tomatoes and lettuce for an easy lunch wrap.
BBQ Chicken Cornbread Muffins - Chop or shred fully cooked chicken, toss with your favorite BBQ sauce. Make cornbread mix according to muffin directions, fill greased muffin cups halfway with muffin batter, place a spoon full of BBQ chicken in the tins (press it down into the muffin batter), and add a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Bake at 375°F for about 10-12 minutes or until biscuit dough is cooked through and cheese has melted. Great served with pickles and a side of slaw.
Mini Chicken & Waffle Sliders - Heat Springer Mountain Farms Breaded Breast Chunks following package directions and frozen mini waffles according to package directions. For the last minute of cooking add small squares of Colby-jack cheese to get it melted. Place on a mini waffle piece (or 1/4 of a full sized waffle), add desired condiment and top with another mini waffle piece. (You may need to use a toothpick or wooden skewer to hold the sandwich together.) Great served with sweet potato chips, veggie straws and a fruit cup.
Chicken Parmesan Mini Calzones - Heat Springer Mountain Farms Breaded Breast Strips according to package instructions and chop into bite sized chunks. Use premade pizza dough sheets to save time. Depending on the shape of your dough, cut into squares or circles about 4”. Place pizza sauce on one half of dough leaving enough clean dough on the edges to seal the calzone. Place chopped chicken on sauce and top with shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Fold over pizza dough and seal edges together making a half moon (or triangle if using square sheets). Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 18 minutes or until dough is baked through. Brush the top of the calzone with melted garlic butter if desired and sprinkle extra parmesan cheese on top if desired.
Teriyaki Chicken Meatball Muffins - Follow the steps for making the meatballs using our Grilled Pineapple Teriyaki Meatball recipe to create this fun dish! Use commercially prepared teriyaki sauce if you don’t have time to make your own. Use can biscuit dough or puff pastry sheets cut into 3” rounds and place into a greased muffin tin and press until it reaches up the sides of each tin, making a little pocket for the meatball. Place a cooked meatball in the center of the dough with a little extra teriyaki sauce. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 17-20 minutes or until dough is cooked all the way through. Great served with pineapple chunks and carrot sticks.
Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas - Quesadillas are easy to make with a non-stick pan. Spray the pan with butter spray or cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Place a large flour tortilla in pan and cover the tortilla with shredded cheese. Use Springer Mountain Farms Fresh Grilled or Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Strips and place on one half of the tortilla and let warm up until cheese starts to melt and the bottom of the tortilla begins to brown. Fold in half and continue to cook to desired toasted level of tortilla. Cool slightly and cut into 3 pieces. Kids a little more adventurous with quesadilla toppings? Try these other Quick Quesadilla Ideas!
Chicken Pasta Salad Bowls - Precook pasta shape according to package directions. Cool completely and add Springer Mountain Farms Grilled Chicken Breast Strips (use either the frozen or fresh grilled strips), chunks of mozzarella cheese sticks, and add Italian vinaigrette enough to lightly coat the pasta, chicken & cheese. If your kids like them, add diced bell pepper and broccoli pieces to the pasta salad. Serve with a skewer of ripe grape or cherry tomatoes.
Springer Mountain Farms has a variety of fully cooked chicken products available to make life even easier. And the best part? All items are also GLUTEN FREE! Choose from a variety of frozen items like our Fully Cooked Breaded Breast Chunks & Strips & Nuggets or our Fresh Fully Cooked Grilled, Oven Roasted or Chipotle Lime Chicken Strips.
