Monday, August 22, 2011

DIY Pizza Lunchables {Another Back to School Lunch Box Idea}

Hi everyone and happy Monday. Today was the first day of school for my kids. Oh what a bittersweet day for everyone. All the excitement for brand new school year. My kids are excited and scared all at the same time. I was so excited for the first day, but have to admit the silence in our home is no fun at all. I look so forward to it and then when it finally gets here it's a bit sad.

I can say today has flown by and I hope my kiddos are having awesome first day. I shared a photo on my face book fan page of the kids first day of school. Before bed last night we packed up all the lunch boxes and laid out all their school clothes. I'm so glad that we packed the lunches ahead of time because it was such a time saver this morning.

Last week while I was working on my Back to School Lunch Box Idea's post. I started thinking about all the fun items that I could place in the kids sandwich keepers. One idea that popped to mind was making my own Homemade Pizza Lunchables. The pizza ones are Carson's favorite of all the Lunchalbes. I prepared a batch of my no fail pizza crust and got started. I had everything on hand so that made it really easy.

My kids thought I was nuts attempting such a thing. My daughter said mom why are you making those when you can just buy them at the store? I told her because those can get expensive so I want to try and make them myself. The whole process from start to finish was really easy and not time consuming at all.

I got about 20 pizza rounds from one pizza dough recipe. Pretty good if you ask me. The best part is they tasted just like the real deal. Look how cute they look in the little sandwich containers. I have included some step by step photos below to show you how easy these homemade lunchables are to make. This might not be for everyone, but if it's for you then I think you will enjoy this post.

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe. Separate dough into 18-20 golf ball size pizza dough balls. Set aside and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface roll out each pizza dough ball into a 5 inch circle.

Place each pizza round on a pizza pan or baking stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottoms are very lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pizza pan.

When completely cool place in a gallon size freezer bag and store in the freezer until ready to use.

To assemble Lunchables add two pizza crusts to a plastic container with a lid. Add about 2-3 tablespoons pizza sauce to a snack size zip lock bag and seal (I fold in half). Add mozzarella, cheddar cheese and pepperoni if using to a second bag and seal. I added about 1/2 cup cheese.

Place everything into a plastic container (I use the Great Value Sandwich Containers) and place a plastic spoon inside to spread the pizza sauce. Close or snap shut and add to your child's lunch box.

Let your child assemble their lunchable at school and enjoy!!!! My kids said they taste just like the real thing . Score for mom!!!!




Homemade Pizza Lunchables

1 - recipe no fail pizza crust or your own recipe
1 - 14 oz jar pizza sauce or homemade
mozzarella cheese
cheddar cheese
pepperonis
snack size sandwich bags
1 - plastic spoon
1 - snap shut sandwich container

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe. Separate dough into 18-20 golf ball size pizza balls. Set aside and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface roll out each pizza dough ball into a 5 inch circle.

Place place each pizza round on a pizza pan or baking stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottoms are very lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pizza pan. When completely cool place in a gallon size freezer bag and store in the freezer until ready to use.


To assemble Lunchables:
Add two pizza crusts to a plastic container with a lid. Add about 2-3 tablespoons pizza sauce to a snack size zip lock bag and seal. Add mozzarella, cheddar cheese and pepperoni if using to a second bag and seal ( I used about 1/2 cup cheese). Add everything to the plastic sandwich container and place a plastic spoon inside to spread the pizza sauce. Close or snap shut and add to your child's lunch box.

Recipe yields : 18-20 snack size pizzas






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23 comments:

Phyllis said...

Adorable! (And I am glad you are a Walmart Mom.)

Roxann said...

Oh, I LOVE this idea!! I don't buy Lunchables, they usually contain something or other that my daughter doesn't like. This is a perfect substitute! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great idea. Lunchables are a rip off. So expensive for such a tiny amount of food.But kids love them.

Karen

Tina @ Mommy's Kitchen said...

I agree they do love them and they do come in handy for school lunches. Especially when you are in a pinch for time.

Carey's Farmhouse Kitchen said...

Great idea, my son loves these!

Angie said...

WOW! Why did'nt I think of this?!! My newly first grader LOVES those lunchables too. Thanks for this post I will be trying this out!!!

Sila Lumenn said...

Just yesterday I was hunting for a crust substitute to make homemade pizza Lunchables. I'm definitely going to try this.

Sarah beth said...

This is a wonderful idea, love it! I do not buy lunchables and I homeschool..but I love an easy lunch!

Thanks so much!!

Amanda said...

Pizza lunchables are my daughters favorite. This is a great idea for an after school snack too.

Tina @ Mommy's Kitchen said...

Hi Amanda, I agree we have been using them for a quick lunch or snack over the summer. I love having the little pizza crusts on hand.

Suz said...

Do you think you could put the "lunchable" all together and freeze the whole thing, then just pull it out and put it in the lunch kit to thaw in time for lunch?

I think I'll try this tonight, but just buy the Great Value Pizza Crust Mix - it's pretty good!

Tina @ Mommy's Kitchen said...

Suz I heard that the Great Value pizza crust is excellent. If you can't find that GV pizza crust I also use the Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix in the little boxes. Those are the ones I use when I make my

Pepperoni Pizza Bites: http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2010/12/pepperoni-pizza-bites-perfect-finger.html

The Jiffy dough is so quick and easy. BTW I have never tried to freeze the whole thing. If you try it stop back by and lmk how it went.

Prims and Annies said...

Hi..you are so creative..my kids are grown and have kids of their own..but I still enjoy reading your blog.

Wende said...

Fabulous idea!!

I shared this recipe on my Must Try Tuesday blog post yesterday...

http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/08/must-try-tuesday-august-23-2011.html

Thanks for sharing!

Wende

Annie-Savor This Moment said...

My boys will love this!!! Thanks for sharing the process!

Mary at Deep South Dish said...

Very clever and economical!

Happy at 50 said...

I love your site! I use to do this same thing except I used English Muffins for the crust. You can put them in the toaster first then add the ingredients, microwave to melt cheese. I gave them to my kids after school for a snack.

Erin said...

Hmmm, I wonder if you could freeze all the ingredients in their separate baggies and have it work? I never have just 2-3 Tb of pizza sauce, but if I was putting together enough for 9 or 10 meals of this, that would mean the rest of the container wouldn't go to waste.

Jackie said...

This is such a great idea. My kids also love the lunchable pizzas. I will certainly be using this recipe this year. Thanks for sharing.

Sneakers Of Faith said...

This is awesome! I don't have children yet but I love pizza lunchables! I try not to buy them, though, due to the price & general unhealthiness of it! Can't wait to try this! I'm sure my fiance will love it, too!

New follower! :)

~Heather

Beth said...

I've been looking for school lunch ideas and this is great! I won't buy Lunchables because of the absurd sodium content in them. I never thought about putting them together myself with healthier ingredients! I might whip up a batch of pizza crust this weekend...

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! My kids always want me to buy Lunchables, but they are so high in sodium and expensive. This will be a fun surprise for them. I think I need to read your blog more often :-)

Srimathi said...

My daughter would love this idea. She always begs me for lunchables. I think this is a great one for me to prepare for her.Thank you.