Turkey PinWheels and "Beyond Sandwiches" Back-to-School Lunch Ideas

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Easy to make Turkey Pinwheels have great flavor and are a fun (but still simple) alternative to a traditional sandwich! Plus the perfect grapes for getting kids to eat healthy.

I just got back from a nice long summer vacation, actually just over 30 days on the road, and while I will be sharing a lot about that trip in the upcoming weeks, with some fun recipes and photos from the places I visited, today I want to talk about Back-to-School!

The hardest part of Back-to-School for me is lunches!

Honestly, it might be the only hard part. I admire teachers so much! Each year, as summer draws to a close I quietly celebrate having a few hours of sanity back in my life. Thank you teachers for all you do. I probably shouldn’t be complaining about having to worry about my kid’s lunches when teachers are worrying about so many kids and so many things.

But complain I shall… you guys, my kids want home lunch, EVERY. DAY. and they get really sick of sandwiches, fast! Trust me when I say I spend a lot of time browsing Pinterest for ideas for keeping their bellies full, and their bodies relatively healthy, while avoiding complaints and wasted food, it is not just an excuse to browse Pinterest (No matter what the hubs may think).

The struggle is real people. I hate the whole lunch thing. Please tell me I am not alone. And then there is the issue of my picky eater now going to school ALL day. Trust me, a big part of me is rejoicing, but another part of me is in panic mode. What will he eat? I can barely keep the child fed at home when we have access to the whole pantry and larder (do people even have larders any more?).

Anyway, I was at Walmart picking up some produce to go with lunch, and I saw some unexpected, but very pleasant faces in the produce aisle! The grapes had ELSA and ANNA on them from FROZEN.

How cool is that? Sometimes all you need to get a picky eater to try something new is using something they are already familiar with and love to help promote it. Disney is doing just that with produce, and so I of course had to buy a package, and used it when creating a few simple lunch ideas for back to school. We tested them out this week, and they were a real hit.

I did not raise very good sandwich eaters. My kids are kind of grazers, and so they do much better with a few smaller options, and a wider variety than a big sandwich and a side. So with the help of Pinterest and Walmart’s produce section, I came up with a few fun lunches my kids will happily eat.

The first of these options is the turkey pinwheel. It is basically a turkey sandwich, but rolled up in a tortilla, sliced, and held together with a toothpick to make it fun and easy. I can make one using a burrito size tortilla and it is enough for all 3 kids lunches, and takes no more time than a sandwich would.

And it is really customizable, you can do lettuce, turkey, cheese, and a cream cheese spread like I did (recipe below), or you can add in things like cucumber, avocado, hummus, tomato slices, etc. So what does your kid like? Can you make it into a fun and easy to make pinwheel? Then just add the awesome FROZEN grapes, some vegetables, and other of your kid’s favorite snacks, and you have a great, easy to make lunch.

Another great option is kind of the do-it-yourself “lunchable” which is basically crackers, cheese, and your favorite meat. My kids love pepperoni, so this is a super easy lunch idea, and again, pairs really well with the fresh grapes from Walmart, some vegetables, or your child’s favorite sides.

And our third option is nachos. My kids LOVE nachos, and they are really easy to customize. For my oldest son I will add a little container of jalapenos, some diced tomatoes, and some sour cream in addition to the cheese sauce and sides. For my younger, pickier eater, just the chips and cheese. Which by itself is not exactly a healthy lunch, but when I add in the FROZEN grapes, and some cut carrots, cucumbers, or celery sticks, it gets a bit healthier.

By the way, you can buy the individual nacho cheese sauces at Walmart when you are there picking up your grapes!

A few other ideas I will probably try this year include pasta salads, maybe even with chicken, chicken salad with crackers or croissants, yogurt parfaits with various fresh fruits and granola, salad cups, fruit cups, wraps, pita pockets, cold fried chicken, baked potato with toppings, and anything else I can come up with or find while browsing.

Anyway, these 3 will be our starting point, and we will build from there. And really, no matter what main dish we start with, chances are it will be accompanied by some fruits and veggies. We love grapes and are so excited about Disney putting some friendly faces in the produce aisle! Which fruit or vegetable would you like to see Disney help market next? What other fun ideas do you have for filling your kid’s lunches with things besides sandwiches, and keeping them healthy? I’d love to know!