School starts next week here in Upstate New York, and then it’s back to packing lunches (and sharing the daily “Lunchbox Report” on the Frugal Upstate Facebook Page).
Why do I pack my kids lunches? Well first off I have to admit that I don’t necessarily pack a lunch every single day. If I’m out of town or feeling sick (occasionally I wake up with a migraine) I will skip lunch and have them buy. But school lunches are up to $2 a day now–that’s over $20 a month. Overall I feel that I can send in lunch for far less than that AND ensure my kids get food they like, will eat, and is nutritionally sound.
Sometimes lunches get a little boring though–we tend to fall into a routine of sandwiches, soup or leftovers. So it’s always fun to have a few new tricks up your sleeve–like these Easy Sandwich Rolls!
Now when I was at Walmart Headquarters last spring, we had a fun presentation from the folks at Kraft. They have tons of fun kid friendly lunchbox ideas at Kraft, and we did a hands on activity where we got to try some of them.
One of the things that was just adorable was this ham and cheese sandwich roll caterpillar. Take a closer look:
Isn’t it cute? They just made a sandwich roll, put on some Peel and Stick Googly Eyes, and stuck some cut up pipecleaners (aka “Chenille Stems”). I love the idea but Princess and Buddy would just roll THEIR googly eyes at me if I sent something so adorable in their lunch. After all they are 13 (8th grade) and 11 (6th grade) now and FAR too old for such things. Just ask them!
So I decided to try making plain, un-cutesy sandwich rolls instead. These are similar to the “pinwheels” that folks make using flour tortillas. Buddy doesn’t like tortillas, so the bread is a better option for our family. Also instead of using regular American Cheese slices I chose to use cream cheese. My kiddos won’t eat American Cheese. Nope–they like the good stuff (aka the expensive stuff) like an aged sharp cheddar. Go figure.
Making the rolls is simple. You just need bread, turkey lunch meat, cream cheese and mustard. That’s it.
You roll the bread flat with a rolling pin and then cut off the crusts. (Ok, you can leave them on if you like, but it looks prettier if you cut them off). Then you spread the bread with cream cheese, place a bit of mustard on that (keep the mustard on the inside-not touching the bread so things don’t get soggy) and then you add your turkey. Roll it up, slice it, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Tada–an Easy Sandwich Roll! You can switch this up by using different meats, putting “add ins” into your cream cheese like chives or relish, or removing the mustard.
Here’s a quick video showing you exactly how I made the rolls! (Thanks to Buddy for manning the video):
Walmart’s got plenty of great ideas to get you thinking outside the lunchbox, and of course my fellow Walmart Moms always have a ton of great ideas:
Lunch Box Fruit Water & Yogurt Fruit Salad
Five Simple Lunch or Snack Ideas to Show You Care
Easy Creative Back to School Lunch Ideas
Quesadilla Lunchbox For Back To School
****This is a sponsored post****
Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ashes says they’re really cool as sushi rolls with chopsticks, and we are absolutely going to be making these…..I’m curious, though. School lunches being $2….have you done the cost comparison for packed lunches? Obviously, it depends on what you pack them [or they pack themselves!] but just a curious thought. Then, I’d have a sound[er] argument for the husband when I pack her lunch instead of buying. 😉 Keep up the good work!
I haven’t done a comparison, but I’ll try to do one at some point in the next month or so. Of course it absurdly does depend on what you send in…