Hubby and I work together. I pack us both breakfast and lunch along with snacks. For breakfast I will do breads/muffins etc. Egg casseroles cut into squares and put on biscuits is good. Always a piece of fruit as well and we both drink orange juice or grapefruit juice. For lunch hubby likes sandwiches so I do that for him twice a week and the remainder of the week we will do leftovers packed and prepared the day I orignally cooked. Burritos are easy enough. Prepare the filling, any kind you choose works, we do it for both breakfast and lunch. I will freeze them and when ready for use I will put them in the fridge the night before so they thaw out and are easily microwaved. Pita pockets are always good. I put the filling in a small container so that it can be added at lunch time. Meatloaf gyros are always good. They can be packed seperately and combined at lunch. We eat allot of pickles with our lunches as well. When the gardens are producing we eat lots of veggies with a small bit of dressing. Cold pasta salads are also very good and easily packed. I'll put fresh veggies in a seperate container to add to the salad when we eat. We also keep a salt and pepper shaker at the office and I'm leaning towards keeping some flatware there as well, it never fails that when unpacking the lunch bags some of the flatware gets thrown out.

Our school lunches are $2.65. The lunches here seem decent. They offer 3 main meals each day. Everyday there is also a choice of Yogurt, Hummus or PB&J sandwich. With the above you get a choice of fruit, veggie or starch. There is also a salad bar option. I have checked the lunch menus all year and was THRILLED to see NO FRENCH FRIES EVER. I think that's great! Although there is pizza every Friday, but the portions are small and kid appropiate. We also have a credit system, where I place money on her account. Kids don't handle money at all if they don't want to. I can also get an itemized list of what she has bought. My DD brings her lunch 95% of the time. Once a month they serve "Breakfast for Lunch" (Pancakes, turkey sausage & milk) which she absolutely loves. But I am very happy to pack her lunch since I know it's healthy and foods she enjoys and will eat. Normal day she gets turkey, carrot sticks, fruit (like apple slices, grapes) and popcorn. Kids are not allowed to "trade" or bring Candy for the snack, but I'm sure it goes on. My DD is picky, so she would not eat a school lunch each day-heaven forbid the sauce touch the pasta!! LOL My issue is that kids may take the veggie or fruit option but not eat it. Or just choose the starches and ala carte "junkier" items. I think our school system does the best they can with foods most kids like (Baked chicken tenders instead of fried) Most of the breads are Whole grains each day etc. Nice selection of fresh fruits. When I was in school the lunches were so/so. I knew my mom's fresh food was better then the mass produced, waiting under a heat lamp school lunch. I normally brought my lunch as it was MUCH quicker too. But you could have spent your "lunch" money on a meal of Twinkies and chips! I could strangle the 15 year old me, for all the junk I ate and NEVER thought twice about!!! Here is a link that might be useful: Lunch menu for the month

Chili, soup, meatloaf, baked potatoes, casseroles, hearty salads with lots of goodies, tortelini, lasagna, Chinese with a side of edamame. I send a lot of sandwiches for my kids. I use different breads to make it more appealing. Mainly, I try to use a whole grain bread, but I switch out with hoagie buns, tortillas or some of the fancy breads with sesame seeds or hazelnuts. We have several thrift bread stores in the area so I get the healthier and tastier breads fairly inexpensively. I vary the cheeses too. I have one picky eater, but the other two like me to dress their sandwiches up with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, red peppers, olives or whatever I have on hand. I try not send just a plain sandwich.

Cuban style black beans are good in a burrito, but you have to be very careful about the moisture content. When you're removing them from the pot, use a flat slotted spoon and really let the wet drain out. There should still be enough sauce left for the flavor and texture. Too much wet and the burrito will fall apart. Oaxaca cheese pairs well. It's melty but more solid than some cheeses. Your basic, street style (SoCal), bean burrito is made with refried pinto beans, white flour tortillas, and sometimes a little Mexican rice (toasted, lightly fried and seasoned) or white cheese, and grilled. This is the palm sized burrito, not the big kind that's served on a plate. Traditionally, both the tortilla and the beans were cooked with lard, but for many decades they've been just as likely to be vegetarian. If you're using wet ingredients (like vegetables), lightly toasting your tortilla before you assemble can help keep it from falling apart. You want it to still be very pliable, but somewhat dried out. Otherwise, just lightly warm it to make it more pliable for rolling. As to recipes beyond that, it's look in your fridge, see what needs using up that'll taste good together, balance the moisture and seasoning, go easy on the quantity of filling if you want to be able to pick it up (it's way easy to overstuff a burrito), and grill on all sides on a plancha or frying pan. If you're serving on a plate with a fork and knife, you can cover it with any sauce you have handy, guacamole, etc. A good burrito, however, is moist enough inside not to need sauce, but not so moist that the tortilla collapses with sogginess. There really isn't anything more to making burritos. Do you need bean recipes?