Homemade pizza lunchables bring the best of both worlds to your child’s lunchbox: PIZZA and fun! Packed with simple ingredients that are good for you and customizable as well!
Disclosure: Today’s post is brought to you in partnership with the North American Meat Institute, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff. As always, all thoughts, opinions, and preschool musings are my own. For more information about the North American Meat Institute scroll to the bottom of this post.
It’s that time of year when park and pool lunches become a thing of the past, and this Mom starts planning for months of packing school lunches. If you know anything about this blog, you know that my A-students LOVE themselves a good slice of homemade or delivery pizza. In fact, they’ve even started asking for pizza for upcoming school lunches. No, they aren’t asking about school. BUT they’re asking about school lunch. Preschool priorities! In an effort to please their little tummies and fuel their brains this school year, I’ve decided to put my preschool-chef-hat on and create one lunch they are sure to devour at school: homemade pizza lunchables.
Fun fact: homemade pizza lunchables are SO easy to make. And customizable based on food preferences. Lucky for me all 3 of my lunch bunchers like pepperoni pizza [Mom does too!] so that’s the route I took when making this good for you homemade pizza lunchables. Pizza? Good for you, you say? Yep! I’ve always been a firm believer in that stance, and here’s why. Processed meats like pepperoni often get a bad rap but believe me when I tell you that you can make processed beef products part of a healthy and balanced diet. Prepared beef products provide a convenient source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Because most prepared meats are pre-cooked, they offer consumers easy, on-the-go access to the nutrient density in meat.
Many of you know in my past life I was a registered dietitian nutritionist for the beef industry and was able to tour and visit many beef processing plants [cattle ranches and feed yards too!]. Believe me when I say that you can have confidence in prepared meats sold in the United States. What you see is what you get – any meat processed in a plant must contain an ingredient statement and a nutrition label. All ingredients used in prepared meat products must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which regulates and inspects meat and poultry products. Processed beef products are regulated and inspected by USDA inspectors before they are sold. Meat processing began out of necessity before refrigeration by salting and drying as a means of preserving products and preventing spoilage. Today, consumers’ love of these products is imprinted on their palates.
I don’t know about you, but I barely have time to shower. So, making my own all-beef pepperoni at home is NOT an option. Thank goodness a safe, and nutritious option is available at almost all grocery stores. Now let’s get to the meat of this recipe idea [no pun intended].
- 4 100% whole wheat sandwich thins
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 8-10 slices beef pepperoni
- Additional toppings such as olives, sliced green bell peppers
- Assemble toppings in separate containers small containers or in your bento box.
- When ready to eat, layer tomato sauce first, then top with shredded cheese, pepperonis, and additional toppings.
With a busy school year upon us, I think we can all use a little healthy AND delicious convenience in our lives. I hope that’s what your kiddos find in these homemade pizza lunchables.
If you’re looking to learn more about the #BeefCheckoff and how #processedmeansprepared, then be sure to follow the North American Meat Institute on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow the Beef Checkoff on Twitter and Facebook as well. And as we say in my house, #EatBeef.
Interested in more pizza goodness? Here are a few of my favorite pizza posts from the Mom to Mom Nutrition archives.
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