What's for Dinner and School Lunch: Week of 1/26/26
Happy Sunday! I know it's freezing cold in the majority of the country so I won't gloat too much that it is in the high 60s and sunny here in LA.
I DO hope everyone stays warm and safe! I included some hearty and wArm recipes this week for those who need extra warmth and comfort.
As always, these recipes are mostly gluten-free ( 2 of us are gluten-free at home, if any changes have to be made to make the recipe gluten-free, I do specify in the recipe.) and designed for two adults and three kids ages 15,12 and 4.
Scroll down and you will find what I send for lunch for two of my three kids. School lunch is yet another source of harmful chemicals for most kids so, while it can be a pain to prep lunch in the morning, it is an important way to reduce overall toxic burden in kiddos, especially the youngest ones! I often send leftovers to make my life easier.
DINNER
Monday: Turkey Swarma with Golden rice
I'm not sure if I'm going to make the golden rice or just serve this with plain white rice. Will definitely skip the brown rice because that generally has much higher levels of arsenic.
Tuesday: curried red lentils with naan
This is the ultimate comfort food in my house. It's really so so tasty. We've been making it for about five years. You can serve it with Naan, rice, or eat it on its own.
Wednesday: Quinoa and Chia Breakfast Porridge from Goop with flank steak
I’m not sure why this is considered a breakfast porridge but for our purposes, we are going to treat it as a side. For my very active boys, I will also serve some flank steak on the side.
ThUrsday: Quick Asian-Inspired Tangerine Chicken Recipe from Pamela Salzman
To make gluten free will use arrowroot flour and fresh squeezed oj at home but will add an orange marmalade that is as natural as posible
Friday: spaghetti and meatballs
gluten free meatballs of course!
SCHOOL LUNCH
We use bento style school lunch containers for my preschooler and larger containers made out of stainless steel for my sixth grader. For the preschooler, items I usually send her with include: berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, kiwi, grapes, carrots and hummus, edamame, organic corn, green bean ( with some butter)... These are usually snack foods that we find travel well.
Main Lunch :
chicken milanesa sandwiches ( I picked up some yummy gluten-free bread from our Farmers Market and will grill some precut chicken breasts in the morning, add mozzarella cheese and voila!)
Cobb salad ( hard boiled egg, lettuce, tomato, sharp cheddar cheese, cucumbers) and deconstructed cobb salad for preschooler
left over curry lentils
pasta with butter and broccoli
mini bagels with hummus cucumber and tomatos ( for my gluten free son will either get him a gluten free Pops bagels or could make a salad put of it and maybe add some chicken or falafels from Afia )
Here is to a great week! xx Aida