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Recipe of the Week: Filling a lunchbox can be a tricky business

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The back-to-school season seems to creep up on us a little sooner each summer. We aren’t done going to the Shore when the advertising for school supplies begins.

Regardless of our reluctance to see it return, the school season is part of life, and part of that is a change in food duties.

We can still cook out, but simple suppers become the norm for busy families on a schedule. School lunches must be made for many children who won’t be buying theirs in the school cafeteria.

Filling a lunchbox with foods you know your child will eat can be a tricky business; nutrition is a must for them to get through the school day, but if they don’t like what is packed, they might give or throw it away.

Combining tastiness with nutrition are lunchbox items such as Ants on a Log, which are pieces of celery filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins. Trail mix and string cheese also are easy to pack and to eat.

If your child likes hummus, that makes life easier. Pair it with crackers or carrots for dipping.

Rollups can be made using wraps filled with something they like such as peanut butter, meats or cheeses. Older children may like salads in a baggie or the sandwich of their choice.

Here is a cookie recipe from allrecipes.com designed to sweeten their lunchtime eating. Just resign yourself to the fact that some kids may eat their cookies first.

Back-to-School Cookies

Cookies:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup heavy cream

1 pinch salt

Icing:

½ cup confectioners’ sugar, or as needed

1 teaspoon lemon juice, or as needed

assorted food coloring

Step 1: Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well mixed. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and stir into the creamed butter mixture alternately with the heavy cream until dough is evenly mixed. Chill dough in refrigerator, 2 to 3 hours.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 3: Roll cookie dough on a floured work surface. Cut dough into strips about 2 1/2 inches long and about as thick as a pencil, forming one end into a point. Arrange “pencils” on the prepared baking sheet.

Step 4: Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer parchment paper with cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 5: Mix enough confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl to form a thick icing. Divide icing among several small bowls and mix different colors of food coloring into each bowl.

Step 6: Decorate “pencil” cookies with colored icing so they look like colored pencils. Allow icing to dry completely.

Per Serving: 131 calories; protein 1.8g; carbohydrates 17.4g; fat 6.1g; cholesterol 26.2mg; sodium 72.5mg.


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