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Do you change your lunch menus for the summer time, or do you do about the same as you would during the rest of the year? I usually make a protein, grain, veggie, and fruit. I would still want to include all of those, but I'm thinking more along the lines of meals that don't require as much cooking instead of hot meals. I just hate heating up the oven in the summer. If you do something different, what kinds of meals do you make? A few things I've thought of include pasta salad, chicken salad, blt's, etc. Ideas are appreciated. Oh, I don't know if it makes a big difference, but I'm not licensed right now although I am looking into that. I don't currently have enough children to require licensing, but I'm thinking that would be a good idea anyway just to keep things more professional. Are there requirements on having hot meals based on state licensing requirements?
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Here's a similar thread with some ideas
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I definitely use my oven WAAAAY less in the summer. In Kansas at least, we are not required to serve hot meals. As long as all the meal components are there.
And, the hot meals I do make, seldom use the oven in the summer. I use my George Foreman grill a lot for burgers and chicken. We had chili soup in my crock pot for lunch today. Or quick stir fry type meals on the stove top.Comment
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I just changed my rotating menu out and I'm working on my summer menu. I have mostly under 3's so I do mostly super simple meals. Not very many components have more than one ingredient.Comment
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my kids do not do sandwiches well but cubed meat goes over well. ham chicken breast.
BLT not a great choice as the bacon is all fat and nitrates THOUGH yummy
tuna salad , egg salad, But I pretty much do the same all year except much more fresh fruits and veggies in the summer. Though I do not bake lunch in the oven that often anyway.It:
: will waitComment
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Summer is my easiest time because of all the available food.
Always a fruit, a veggie, a protein, a grain, sometimes an extra something. Ex. today we had raspberries, thinly sliced chicken breast, carrots, whole grain crackers, and cheese slices. If they wanted to, the older ones could make "lunchables".
Tomorrow's lunch is mango, homemade mac & cheese with broccoli, thin ham slicesComment
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My summer menu is very different. Lots more raw veggies, lots more fruit, and way less cooking. The kids come with me to pick up our farm share, and help make some of the decisions about what I'll get. What we get is the basis of our meals and I work around those ingredients.Comment
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I find my biggest change in menus in the summer is we eat more whole grain pasta meals (fills them up well after burning lots of energy) and our morning snack tends to just be a bunch of fruit outside (watermelon is an obvious go to). I'm not on the food program though -- I still try to keep my meals to the food program guidelines mostly.Comment
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I almost never use my oven in the summer so my menu is very different from the rest of the year. We go to a local beach almost daily so I pack a picnic for it. Main lunch components are: sandwiches, cold pizza, breadsticks/dip, tortilla wraps, naan/dip, crackers/cheese/tuna/egg/pb, cold pasta salad, potato salad. I always add fresh veggies and hummus, fresh fruit and cheese or yogurt if it isn't included in the main.
I rarely feed my DCK's meat although they eat fish once per week.Comment
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I should mention I use turkey bacon for the blt's so its not fatty, but I hadn't thought about there being nitrates in it. I should check into that. Thanks for the ideas!Comment
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The only hot meals we have in the summer is pizza on friday.
Summer meals consist of turkey or ham sandwiches,peanut butter roll ups,cottage cheese,egg salad,chicken salad,tuna salad,hummus,salads with cold turkey or chicken.
Every once in awhile we may have a grilled cheese or panini sandwich.
I add a grain,fruit and a vegetable and we're set.
I love summer menu planning!Comment
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Here's my favorite new summer snack: banana ice cream. We eat almost exclusively local produce, but recently made an exception for bananas (b/c they're one of my daughter's favorites). So I only just discovered this idea, which maybe everyone already knows...blending a frozen banana up in the food processor turns it into something very closely resembling ice cream. You can add all sorts of add-ins. We did blueberry-banana the other day. Next, I'm going to do some with peanut butter to add some protein. The kids are thrilled at the crazy idea of having ice cream for snack, but it's got no added sugar.Comment
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I peeled them and cut them in half and threw them in a Ziploc bag. Hopefully they're not too big... my food processor is itty bitty.Comment
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