Back to school lunch menu ideas

Just wanting to assist with some creative fun ideas for school lunches - so here's what I've come up with...

Makes you want to go back to school again - at least for lunch !!

Image by the cute andersons via Flickr

Let kids help make their own lunches the night before with a "tortilla factory" set up.
Set out different types of toppings, and let them invent their own wrap...who says you can't play with your food ???

Here's some other creative ideas to serve up a fun lunch.

Banana Dog
This is the coolest lunch ever, not to mention the easiest, and will be the envy of your kids' classmates. If peanut butter is off limits at your child's school, use cream cheese as a spread instead.
Ingredients
1 hot dog bun (whole wheat, if possible)
1 tbsp. (15 mL) peanut butter (or cream cheese)
1 tbsp. (15 mL) strawberry or other jam (or honey, if preferred)
1 whole banana
raisins, shredded coconut or chopped peanuts
Cooking Instructions
Spread one inner surface of a split hot dog bun with peanut butter or cream cheese. Spread the other side with jam or honey. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in your child's lunch bag. Also, pack a whole banana (in the peel) and a small container of toppings, such as raisins, coconut, peanuts or whatever else you can think of.
At lunchtime, your child can peel the banana and place it in the bun, sprinkle on the toppings and eat.
Let the other kids drool. It's your lunch, kiddo, and you're the boss of it.

assembly required, but kids love tossing together all the fixings and are sure to enjoy this welcome break from PB&J.


Portable Taco Salad
Ingredients
2 cups shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup canned kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)
1 cup tortilla chips (regular or baked)
Instructions:
In a plastic container big enough to use as a bowl for the finished salad, toss together lettuce and tomato. In a small plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, stir together beans and salsa. Pack shredded cheese and sour cream in separate plastic containers. Finally, pack tortilla chips in a zip-top plastic bag.
OK, you've got all the components. Now what? At lunchtime, open the container of lettuce. Dump bean mixture on top, add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Finally, crumble tortilla chips on top and lunch is served!

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Honor Flight

As I was riding in to work earlier this week...listening to the radio, I realized I would be driving right by the location of a remote radio broadcast, and Honor Flight was there, raising funds to take World War II Veterans to see the World War II Memorial.  Needless to say, I had to stop and check this organization out.  I had heard commercials about what they were doing, and it's a good thing...in fact...it's a great thing !!

I thought about my Dad who is no longer with us, and I thought about all the times he would share with us the stories of World War II.  Those men and women are one of the reasons this country is the amazing place it is today.  Of course we donated what we could, and made a great connection with the person "manning" the efforts, and now, I'm proud to say, we will be providing lunch for the group that will be leaving out of Tucson in September...it is one small way we can help - but another small way for everyone to help is to go out to the Baskin Robbins listed below on July 29th from 4:00-10:00, for they will be doing a fundraiser for this group.

Baskin-Robbins · 741-1926 - 1655 W Valencia Rd Ste 101 

Baskin-Robbins · 327-6451 - 2648 E Speedway Blvd 

Baskin-Robbins · 882-7711 - 904 E University Blvd 

Baskin-Robbins · 298-3110 - 7856 E Wrightstown Rd

Baskin-Robbins - Camio Seco and Broadway-Southeast side

Ice Cream and a fundraiser for a group that so deserves to be Honored !!

Also, there will be another fund raiser & live remote (104.1) at Chick Fil-A @ El Con ( Chick-fil-A at El Con - http://www.cfaelcon.com/ 3605 East Broadway Boulevard, Tucson - (520) 321-4232) on Friday July 30th from 6:00 till 10:00 am.  If you stop by tell Barb & Jon that  M.J. and Bill said Hi !!

My Dad: Peter Paul Wickins

Love ya...Miss you..

Watch over all those guys on the Honor Flight Dad !!!

http://www.honorflightnaz.org/

we will see what we will see...

Today happens to be a pretty big day here in Tucson....SB 1070 is about to be ruled on.  It's pretty darn scary that life as we all used to know it, has come to this - but, sadly enough, it has.  Lets all hope that when today is over, there are some clarifications, and we will actually be safer and more secure then we are as I write this....

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On another note, once again today, we have lots of wonderful food going out the door.  It's a Robust Beef sandwich that is in the limelight today.  Our Robust Beef is presented on a freshly made onion roll, hinged and covered with thinly sliced roast beef, topped with sliced radishes, red pepper, sprouts, red onion, pepper jcak cheese and served with a side of horseradish sauce....its not called Robust Beef for nothing !

Gotta run for now - off to a meeting with a most wonderful client...may - I soooo love my job !!!!

Ants on a Cupcake + Busy Bees

Ants on a Cupcake + Busy Bees
Check this post out - it's awesome..and..too cute !!

First of Many

Sharing is always a good thing - so we thought we would share what we do at Creative Catering, (or as we call it around here..."Kitchen Impossible" because it seems as if we're always doing amazing, impossible things for our dear clients !!). Don't get me wrong - this is a good thing ! We love the challenges-in fact that's what makes us tick. Always stretching ourselves, our imagainations and our resources is what makes our team love what we do.

Here is an example of a typical day. We have over a hundred bag lunches going out, a corporate employee lunch program we do Monday thru Friday, and corporate lunches going to 2 different sides of the world (or so it seems....one is actually waaaay eastside, the other is Sahuarita.)

And here is what our kitchen looks like on days like this...notice all the prep sheets...yikes...did I mention how small our kitchen is ?

So that's how we roll on any given day around Creative Catering...

We also want to share some other things on this blog - like some of our recipes.
This will be the first in a long line of recipes to come out of Creative Catering's "Kitchen Impossible".

As summer rages on here in the arid southwest we love to come up with tantalizing treats to keep the summer heat at bay. This wonderful paring of sweet & spicy has grown to be a staple here in southern Arizona. The key for this particular recipe is to slightly toast the pecans which releases extra flavor from the nuts.

Couscous Fruit Salad
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 c. Water
* 1/4 tsp Salt
* 1 c. Raw couscous
* 1/2 c. Fat free vanilla yogurt
* 1/2 tsp Grated lime peel
* 1 Tbsp. Lime juice
* 1 Tbsp. Honey
* 4 dsh Warm pepper sauce
* 1/2 c. Sliced celery,thinly
* 2 Tbsp. Sliced green onion
* 2 Tbsp. Broken pecans
* 2 x Peeled, minced kiwi
* 12 whole strawberries

Directions
* In small saucepan, combine water and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; immediately stir in couscous. Cover; let stand 5 min. Fluff couscous with a fork; and hold for 20 min until room temp. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients; blend well. In medium bowl, combine celery, onions, pecans (pre-toasted in oven), kiwi, dressing and couscous; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately or possibly chill till serving time. To serve, scoop couscous mix onto plates. Decoratively arrange strawberries around couscous mix. If desire, garnish with sprigs of cilantro. 4 servings

Another light recipe for the summer is our Vegan Lettuce Wrap. Nice casual dinner to wrap up a Summer day in Tucson..

Vegan Lettuce Wraps

8-10 large lettuce leaves

2 broccoli stalks or around 7 florets

2 medium carrots

2 green onions

1 small handful fresh parsley

2 roma tomatoes ( or 1 beefsteak)

2 tablespoons capers or chopped green olives

2 cups crushed pistachios

1 cup crushed cashews

1/3 fresh red bell pepper

2 big stalks celery

1 cup chopped fresh mushroom

2 heads fresh lettuce - cored, and washed. Set aside...to use for wraps

Sauce:

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon cilantro

1/2 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 1/4 cup raw (turbinado)sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons freshly cracked pepper

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons coriander

2 tablespoons hot sauce, optional

2 tablespoons wasabi powder (optional)

Directions:

Chop all of the fresh ingredients (except lettuce) into fine bits. Add all of the sauce ingredients and toss together.Use the fresh, washed lettuce leaves as you would a tortilla for wrapping the filling.

So, that's what we've got for now...stay tuned - there will be more to come...