My little one is starting kindergarten here in the next couple of weeks (Ahhh!), and naturally I'm trying to get ready for that. Thankfully for us both, I think it will be a pretty easy transition since she'll be remaining in her current school with her current teacher and familiar faces of her friends that she's been around for a couple of years already.
Unfortunately, I have one of the world's most picky eaters on my hands somehow. She came home from her summer camp pre-kindergarten the other day though and asked about a familiar 'lunchable' that one of the other kids had that day for lunch.
I immediately got excited by that notion and put my head to work to come up with a healthier alternative for her own lunch box.
Last year I started a Lily's Lunch Box and gave six awesome weeks of healthier lunch box options that my little one had personally given her seal of approval on. So, this year I'm continuing to add to the list.
This healthified pizza 'lunchable' is a few less calories than it's pre-made competitor and is full of better-for-you alternatives such as fresh fruit, natural juice, and organic fruit snacks. You can't half a healthy mind without a healthy body, so I always like to fill my girl up with the good stuff.
I also used a thin whole wheat pizza crust and organic pizza sauce. Why? Have you seen the ingredient list on the pre-made pizza lunchable? It's pretty ridiculous. I went through and picked out the best and most clean easy-to-use things that I could get my hands on. Thankfully, my grocery store has quite a few options available to me when it comes to cheaper and all natural products.
I feel it's important for me to say that the pizza crust I used is pre-cooked and ready to go 'as is'.
Be sure when packing this lunch for your kiddos that you keep all the items separate until ready to use. You don't want to put the pizza together for them, that's something 'fun' that they get to do at lunch time! Plus, that crust would get awfully soggy.
My little girl loves black olives and it's a pretty traditional 'pizza' topping around here, but you can always use any topping of your kids choice here in place of that.
Homemade Healthified Pizza 'Lunchable'
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 2 • Size: 1 'Lunchable' • Calories: 357.8 • Fat: 7.3 g • Carb: 62.9 g • Fiber: 14 g • Protein: 12.7 g • Sugar: 27.2 g • Sodium: 505.8 mg
Ingredients:
1 Mini Whole Wheat Thin Pizza Crusts
2 Tbsp. Organic Pizza Sauce
1/2 C. Reduced Fat Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
2 C. Grapes
2 Organic Juice Drink Pouches
2 Organic Fruit Gummy Packs
Optional Toppings:
Black Olives, Turkey Pepperoni, Ham, Pineapple, Other Pizza Toppings, Etc.
Directions:
Cut the pizza crusts into 3 smaller 'lunchable' size pizzas.
Divide the sauce, cheese, and toppings of choice into it's their own containers.
Pack 1 C. grapes, one juice, and one gummy pack per lunchbox.
Send to school with an icepack to keep cool and let your kiddo enjoy!