33// The secret to serving a crowd-pleaser lunch
The secret to serving a crowd-pleaser lunch
To all of the kids this summer with no stress, the foods you already have on hand, and only ONE dish!
Whether you are at home with your kids or want the flexibility and freedom of a spontaneous day in the sun, something many of us still feel stuck coming up with is lunch ideas!
Because while we may not have to pack lunchboxes each and every day of summer, the daunting feeling of feeding our kids (plus any neighbors or friends that come to spend the day with us) can threaten our fun.
That's why, in this Meals Made Easy episode, I want you to get out this ONE kitchen tool to making your summer lunches truly easy for all. You can make it and take it outside to share with any number of others, or you can pack it up more quickly and easily than making everyone their own individual lunches.
In doing so, there is a restored sense of spontaneity, flexibility, and fun for summer...even when it comes to feeding!
Listen to this episode of The Veggies & Virtue Podcast now!
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] Mom. Are you struggling with how to feed your kids? Right? Do you wish that there was a way to help your child try new foods? Do you look at a pantry cluttered with pirate, booty and a fridge full of the same foods every week and wonder how you're gonna get your family's meals off the hot mess express.
[00:00:16] I know what it feels like to scroll through all the feeding accounts on Instagram and to see a bunch of Boje foods that my family would never eat. And I too have pinned all the healthy recipes with good intentions, but zero execution. I understand as a busy mom of three, that it can feel really unattainable, especially on the days when I'm exhausted.
[00:00:34] I have a short fuse and I really just want an easy wind end the day with, well, that's where these meals made easy episode ideas come from with everyday ingredients that you already have on hand. I give. One meal or snack idea a week that's dietician mom approved and is gonna fit in your family's busy life.
[00:00:52] So get ready to press, add to cart and to make meals and snacks easy again on today's meals made easy episode. I am sharing a recent segment. That I did with Jennifer, from families that stick together. You might remember Jennifer from episode eight, where she came on my show, but she was so sweet knowing that I was sick and had gotten a little behind on recording unintentionally.
[00:01:17] But the one downfall of podcasting is when you don't have a voice, you really can't do your work. And so since I knew I would not make it through 10 minutes right now of talking with y'all. What I had already planned to share with you guys is something I also spoke with Jennifer about as part of her summer shift series.
[00:01:34] And that is the summer platter. This is a no Fuss. No stress lunchtime platter that you can stick out for your family, kids and adults alike can eat together. Neighbor kids can come, regardless of what food preferences, you know, your kids or the visiting kids may have. This is a really fun and simple lunch idea that we do often at my home and that as you'll hear Jennifer and I talked about, you can also easily pack it up and take it with you to go.
[00:02:03] So it's a really inviting way to have enjoyable spontaneous lunch. This summer, if you like, what little snippet you hear today on this meals made easy episode. I encourage you to go check out episode one 19 of Jennifer's podcast. And again, that is families that stick together. So thanks so much, Jennifer, for having me on your show and letting me share a little clip with my community on this.
[00:02:30] I'm just really enjoying the summer shift series because I feel like there's so many paths we can take for feeling prepared for the summer and just ready to go and not have the overwhelm hanging over us or stress. But I know that as moms, we can look at summer and. Feel like the food thing can make us a little anxious.
[00:02:54] I think the last minute things in summer are so fun to be able to wake up and get to go places spontaneously with our children when one of 'em asks us, but our hold up can be preparing the food. We will need for lunches on the go for example, because we don't wanna stop at the drive through again. So please give us your best tips for keeping food in our homes.
[00:03:19] That is super simple to grab and go for any size family. And it's also easy for guests who may be joining us at lunchtime when we are out. Yeah, no, I think that's a great idea and something that came to mind pretty quickly that I hadn't thought back to since last summer was something I always do when we are at home is like a lunch platter.
[00:03:40] We have this generic white platter. I mean, it could be a cookie sheet. Really. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but I just always put all the elements of lunch on. So whether it's my three kids or a random grouping of neighbor kids, I don't necessarily have to have like a head count. It's just however many sandwiches I'm making.
[00:04:00] I'm cutting 'em up and I'm putting it on here and I may be quartering them so people can take 'em I'm adding a handful of cheese sticks. I'm adding half a bag of carrots. I'm putting some clusters of grapes or strawberries and it's. Almost like a kid friendly lunch style circuitry board. It's not fancy.
[00:04:16] It looks way fancier than it is, but it's honestly the same things. I would probably be putting on each individual kids' plate, but we all know that all of our kids are not gonna want the exact same things. And even more. One of the challenges I found is while my kids are used to how I feed them and you know, we're having one meal for the whole family when you're having friends or neighbors.
[00:04:37] Sometimes they aren't familiar with that kind of feeding approach. So they may be saying, well, I don't like that, or I don't want this, or can I have more of that? And I feel like this platter is just a super inviting way to use whatever you have on hand. You can make a really eclectic lunch with the ingredients that you already have.
[00:04:54] It's super low stress for you because you're just putting it all on one big cookie sheet or tray. Putting it out with some paper plates or some kids' plates and the kids can kind of all self-serve from it. And yet everyone kind of gets little bits of what they want. And then if you need to replenish, you know, and they do eat all the sandwiches or do need a refill of free or whatever it might be.
[00:05:14] It's really easy to refill it. But to me, that's taken the stress out of. You know, did our guests get things that they liked? Did the guests get enough to eat? Like I communicate, you're welcome to have whatever you'd like, I'll refill if we need more. But then the child gets to kind of put what's on their plate.
[00:05:29] Cause I've definitely noticed. With having friends over at our house in the summer, some kids are really picky and it's very uncomfortable for them. If you give them elements that they don't want on their plate or that they might not eat. And, and again, depending on how familiar with like our family's feeding approach, they are, it might be kind of one where it's like, you know, they're just a little bit deer in headlights when you, when you bring them a lunch that maybe isn't kind of their go-to.
[00:05:50] So this is one that I have done. Tons of different ideas. I mean, I've put a bunch of chicken nuggets in the air fry before and just put a ton of them on there and then put those on the middle of it and put crackers and veggies and hummus. And just, I mean, you can literally put anything on one of these platers, but I feel like it.
[00:06:08] Tends to be a really good crowd pleaser when you're on the go, you know, during the school year, we're used to packing individual school lunches and each kid needs their own individual one. But I think the same concept as this platter, but on the go works really well. Because again, if other kids are joining you at the park or on a play date or.
[00:06:27] Maybe they didn't bring their lunch or they like your lunch better than their lunch or whatever. It might be putting a lot of these elements in like a family size container. So I have like some larger rectangle tablewares that often I'll put into a cooler. So rather than packing individual lunch boxes, all pack a whole bunch of fruit that already been like washed and prepped and veggies that are ready to go.
[00:06:49] And maybe like a larger thing of chocolate hummus instead. Little doll up in each little Linch box. And so this just makes it a lot more like, well, one, it makes it easier for feeding my kids because it's just like we have one of each thing to open versus like each kid has their own little pre-portioned thing, but, you know, I might stick a box of crackers in there rather than like ding up the crackers and things.
[00:07:09] And so I think whether this is for feeding. A family of any size or, you know, having the opportunity to invite guests to join us. It's not like a, well, I packed my three kids, lunch boxes, but I don't have a lunch for someone else. So we can't be spontaneous. I like that. We can't like if we do have a large enough portions, we can invite any opportunity that comes our way or any new friend we might run into, or if we're at the pool and we don't know if neighbors are gonna be there or not, you know, then it's like, sure, of course, you're welcome to have this.
[00:07:39] And it's not. This child is now like eating outta my kid's lunchbox, which I think would probably feel kind of weird for both of them. So I think that same concept can apply at home or on the go, but be really kid friendly and really family friendly, ah, great answers. What I love is that the style at home translate.
[00:07:59] Perfectly to on the go pack, the lunch. And the other thing you said, it allows you to be spontaneous, which I think I feel important in those summer days where you, you can let those people, like you said, at the pool, come join you. It's fun. It's inviting. And it feels so relaxed. Thank you for those ideas.
[00:08:18] And I like the idea of the big tray, just one tray, because I serve my children a lot like that in the summer, but I'll do the crackers in the bowl. The carrots cut up in the bowl, the apple slices and just throwing it all on the plate is just so fun for them. And you can pick it up and if in the middle of lunch they wanna run outside and that happens often in my house.
[00:08:42] No, let's eat outside. Okay. Just pick up the plate and. Yes. I love the nature of its one dish and how it can be our simple sheet pan meal for summer. If these meals made easy ideas are helping you in any way, or this show is encouraging you in the messes. In the meal times of motherhood, I would love to hear about it.
[00:09:02] All you need to do is scroll down on an apple podcast and tap, write a review. I check each and every one of these and they truly bless me. To read and to know how this show is helping shape your family's relationship with food so that I can continue to create content that serves you best. Thank you in advance for taking the time to leave me a review.
[00:09:21] And I look forward to seeing you back here next time.
