What's for Dinner and School Lunch : Week of 2/16/2026
Happy Sunday!
it's a long weekend, which I absolutely love! But it means that since tomorrow Monday is technically part of the weekend I'm not meal planning for tomorrow! So this week, for dinner time and school lunch recipes!
This week you will notice there are a couple of air fryer sides incorporated into the menu. I finally got myself a PFAS free air fryer ( what happened is that our toaster broke so I decided to give the wonder oven a try since it works as a toaster as well as an air fryer and little oven). It's been super fun to explore and use so I'm incorporating it this week in the dinner menu.. but, if you do not have an air fryer, you can always roast the veggies that I am air frying! I've done that literally for decades!
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: holiday!
Tuesday: homemade rotisserie chicken with a date/ goat cheese/ walnut/ lettuce salad and air fried zuccini
The recipe I'm linking is a very basic one, but I actually make my chicken even more basic by just adding salt and pepper. I'm cooking it in the oven. It is delicious. If there's a couple of you in the family, you might want to make two rotisserie chickens and then you can always use the leftover chicken for lunch next day.
Wednesday: tamale pie
I’ve never made this recipe, but it looks like it has potential. It's super easy to assemble and cook, which I love for weeknight dinners, and seems like a creative change to the usual Mexican dishes we make at home
ThUrsday: Goop Crockpot Green Chicken Pozole
This has been a go to at my house for like 10 years. The kids love it because 1. They get to add, essentially, tortilla chips to their soup ( homemade with corn tortillas- I'm going to use an air fryer for the first time and see how it goes. Usually, I just pan fry them.) 2. They get to add cheese and anything else they want from a variety of options. it's comfort food at its best… And it comes together in a crockpot. What else could you ask for?
Friday: lamb chops with a side of air fried potatoes
This recipe could not be easier nor quicker. The only catch is that you do need to marinate the lamb chops at least for 20 minutes and up to four hours before cooking
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.
For lunch this week:
bean, shredded cheese and rice burrito ( for guten without the tortilla just over rice)
pesto chicken sandwhich with leftover rotisserie chicken
leftover tamale pie
pasta with tomato sauce
Here is to a great week! xx Aida