This week’s menu is a menu absolutely rife with lunch-packing possibilities.  Some weeks are like that; you practically don’t have to think at all to make home-run lunches that the kids will Hoover down happily.  With a Sunday meal of homemade chicken nuggets, it’s easy to start things off on the right foot by just putting the leftovers into the lunchboxes the next morning and humbly accepting the adoring accolades of the children.  (As a totally non-lunch-related side note, the use of even more leftover nuggets to make the fastest Chicken Parmigiana you’ve ever done in your life is an absolutely genius way to keep the family happy, while transforming a usually labor-intensive meal into quick comfort food.)

This kind of week makes Lunch Logic really easy on me.  I could have stuck with the nugget theme and given you a bunch of ways to dress those up (chicken nugget wraps — take THAT, McDonald’s!), but there are so many other things on this week’s dinner menu that lend themselves perfectly well to great re-purposing that I decided to move away from the chicken.  Whether you’re packing for kids or for yourself, these lunch options are satisfying and range from super-simple to just a little bit sophisticated.

Meal Plan Refresher:

Monday, 4/8: Farfalle with creamy wild mushroom sauce, asparagus
Make it GF: Use brown rice, kamut, or quinoa pasta – we prefer Jovial and Tinkyada brands
Tuesday, 4/9: Slow cooker – sloppy joes, sweet potato fries, salad
Make it GF: There’s no law that says sloppy joes have to be on buns.  We have in the past served the filling over baked sweet potatoes, and it’s delicious.
Wednesday, 4/10: Weekend Warmup – Chicken nugget Parmigiana, using the leftover nuggets from Sunday.
Thursday, 4/11: Easy Lamb meatballs, quinoa, roasted vegetables
Friday, 4/12: Fend night
Saturday, 4/13: Dinner out with friends!
Sunday, 4/14: Sunday Roast Chicken dinner

The full April 2013 Meal Plan

The Lunch Logic:

Lunch logic April 2013.2a

Essential Links:
Picnic Muffins

Lunch logic April 2013.2b

Essential Links:Meatball Club Sandwiches
Quick Dill Dip