Browsing Occasion

School Lunch Box

Poultry

Pressure Cooker Chicken Breasts

Packing school lunches was a new challenge last year when Leo began Kindergarten. I settled into a routine of packing a simple bento box lunch of one protein, one veggie, one fruit, and one cheese. These chicken breasts are easy to prepare in the pressure cooker while you’re making dinner the night before, and they always come out perfectly. Half of one chicken breast, cubed, serves as the protein for one school lunch.

This is also the perfect way to prepare diced or sliced chicken breast to top salads, and the original recipe on The Kitchn includes modified instructions for making shredded chicken for tacos and other dishes.

Yield: 3 chicken breasts Total time: 25 minutes
Poultry

Skillet Chicken Tenders

These simple chicken tenders are a quick, easy protein to pack for lunch.

Yield: 4 servings Total time: 20 minutes
Poultry

Poached Chicken Breasts

This simple chicken preparation is perfect for salads, pasta dishes, or a school lunch bento box.

Yield: 1 to 4 servings Total time: 30 minutes
Nibbles

Chocolate Sunflower Butter Energy Bites

Packing school lunches is a whole new challenge at our house. After six weeks, these protein-packed treats have become a lunchbox favorite. Any nut butter will do, though sunflower butter makes them allergy-friendly. They’re so easy to make that they’re a great hands-on activity to do with a new kindergartener, and they never come home at the end of the day (unlike those poor rejected baby carrots).

Yield: 16 to 18 energy bites Total time: 45 minutes
Poultry

Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts

This method of preparing boneless skinless chicken breasts is perfect if you need sliced chicken for topping salads or pasta dishes.

Total time: 40 minutes
Breakfasts

Perfectly Boiled Eggs

I love soft-boiled 5-minutes eggs with softer yolks, but Leo prefers his eggs to sit for 6 minutes. These instructions allow you to cook the eggs to your liking.

Yield: 6 eggs Total time: 20 to 30 minutes