Shaun, there are several things on that list that The Picky One would eat and The Little Gourmet would go nuts for - thanks for the ideas! Terri - I will also be making your Pizza Rolls they look fantastic and I am going to make it even easier on myself and pick up a ready made pizza dough at our local pizza shop. Here is another list from a few years ago where I have found inspiration. It is similar to Grainlady's link, but there are a few differences. 14 Fresh Brown Bag Lunch Ideas Pasta Lover's Lunch Salad. Pack a cold pasta salad and a plastic fork, and your pasta lover will love you, too! Make your salad with lean meat or low-fat cheese (so it has some protein), lots of vegetables to boost fiber and nutrition, and use a whole-grain blend pasta, like Barilla Plus. Then just drizzle some light vinaigrette over the top and toss. Pita Pocket Sandwich. Pack your whole-grain pita pocket with chicken Caesar salad, or any other lean meat or cheese filler mixed with vegetables and dark green lettuce. The Fruit and Cheese Plate Special. Make crispy cracker sandwiches with whole-wheat crackers, slices of assorted cheese, and lean meats. Don't forget the fruit, which goes nicely with the cheese and adds fiber and nutrition. Peanut Butter Fun Pack. Pack 1/8 cup of natural-style peanut butter, along with a plastic knife or spoon, wheat crackers, and celery sticks, and you have a peanut butter fun pack! Bagel With Cream Cheese, Please. Bagels are a wonderful foundation for hardy sandwiches that stand up to being in a backpack or locker all morning. You can toast a bagel in the morning and simply spread some light cream cheese in the middle. Or make a bagel sandwich with, say, a little light cream cheese, some turkey, and cranberry sauce, then top it off with alfalfa sprouts or Romaine lettuce. Carry a Cobb Salad. Plastic containers can hold the makings of a delicious salad lunch. Fill it with chopped green lettuce, chopped hard-boiled egg, light cheese, and/or lean ham. You can buy packets of light dressing, or just use extra packets of light salad dressing left over from your last trip to the fast-food chain. It's a Wrap! Wraps are a nice change of pace from the usual sandwich. Use one of the new higher-fiber tortillas, like the multigrain flour tortillas available in most supermarkets. Then fill 'er up with chicken Caesar salad or assorted lean meats, cheese, tomato, sliced onion, shredded Romaine lettuce, and light dressing. Just roll it up and wrap in foil. Noodle Soup Cups. Many schools offer a hot water dispenser so kids can add hot water to packaged noodle soup cups. Some brands are higher in sodium and fat, and lower in fiber than others. Check out the options in stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Veggie Sushi. Not all kids will go for this one, but there are some out there who really like seaweed-wrapped sushi rolls. You can now buy pre-made sushi at many supermarkets, too. Choosing the veggie-filled sushi means there's no chance the sushi will get a little "fishy" while it's in your kid's backpack. Toss Some Taco Salad. If taco salad is a favorite, you can pack the meat mixture tossed with the shredded cheese, tomatoes, and chopped Romaine lettuce in a plastic container. At lunchtime, your child can add crunchy, reduced-fat tortilla chips and a little light dressing. Fried Rice Can Be Fun. When made with eggs or chopped lean ham and lots of veggies, cold fried rice can be a satisfying noontime treat. Make your own, or plan on leftovers the night before if you're ordering from a restaurant. Talk About Taquitos. I started doing this last year, and it seems to have stuck with my girls. I pop some Bean and Cheese frozen Taquitos from Whole Foods into my toaster oven in the morning, then let them cool. Then, I wrap them in foil and make sure they stay cool by packing a frozen juice box or small water bottle. By noon, they are cold, fun finger food. BBQ Chicken Sandwich. Your child can assemble a yummy BBQ grilled chicken sandwich fresh at lunchtime. Just pack a grilled, boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can make it in your indoor grill the night before) with some lettuce and sliced tomato in one baggie, and a whole-wheat bun in another. Add a packet of BBQ sauce to the lunch bag, and it's good to go. Meal Muffins. Certain types of muffins work as a lunch entr. If you bake them over the weekend and keep them in the freezer, you just have to pull one or two out in the morning. By lunch, they are nicely chilled and ready to eat. Try ham and cheese muffins, Mexican Cornbread muffins, or quiche muffins (quiche filling, baked with or without crust in a muffin pan).

Ann, try saving it to your Clippings. Look to the right of your last post (just above this). You will see the word Clippings in green letters. Under that it will say Clip This Post. For each recipe or comment you want to save, click on Clip This Post. Another way to do it is to highlight the entire thread, or the parts you want, right click with your mouse and then click on Copy. Start a new document in Word and paste the thread into that document, then save it to your computer. If you want me to do that for you and then email it to you, let me know.

The church my parents attended published a cookbook one Christmas with mostly Chechoslovakian and Polish recipes, and Perogis were spelled with an 'o'. I still use it for a variety of cookies I bake at Christmas that are probably not easily found these days~Ice Box cookies anyone? Nope, the onions do not overshadow the flavor, but Mom only added them to the potatoes. She sauteed(slightly)the perogis in butter which was first browned, then added. Mrs. T's just don't do it. I did find them handmade in a small market, but they were still too doughy. Maybe it's the freezing? There were never any leftovers at our house to freeze, so wouldn't know if freezing would compromise the texture of the dough. And I do remember Halupki, but not in soup. I make them but call them pigs-in-the-blanket. My best friend's dad, also Chech heritage, would make them and add to soup, and she said it was to 'strech it out for a few days'. lol So annie, do you just add the 'lone' ingredients~cabbage, ground beef, rice~to tomato sauce? And what is Krustchiti? Maybe I knew it by a different name. There's also a 'sour gravy' dish that my sis makes using pork chops. Ring any bells? Mimipadv, is that cabbage and noodles? That I do make! And speaking of pie crust, mine is a joke! I buy Marie Calendar's, frozen. ;)

At a party, position is everything. If you stand away from the food and have to go through or by people and things to get to it, you'll eat less. If you park yourself in front of one of your favorites, fuggetaboutit. Portion control is everything. Esp at a big meal. A tablespoon of everything will fill a plate plenty...no need for a big scoop of each and overload the plate. Promise yourself you can go back for seconds if you're still hungry. That way you can be happy with a small portion, it gives you time for your stomach to register fullness, and that way, if you do decide to go back, you can get a favorite, not something that was just so so. If you've had it before, skip it. At one party, my GF always puts out holiday colored M&Ms and I can sit there and chow down the whole bowl. But I've had them, I know what they taste like. Better to save the calories for that piece of cake I've never had or that appetizer that looks so good. If you drink, have a glass of water in between each drink. Or you can drink a wine spritzer instead of a glass of wine...white wine with seltzer. That way you have a lot more time with your glass filled to sip without added calories. When it comes to leftovers, either don't, give it away, or portion it out and freeze it so you won't be tempted to have a holiday meal redux the next day. If I make desserts, I make them without nuts so DH can take them to the gym the next day. The gym rats scarf down the treats like you wouldn't believe! Make soup out of the leftovers with lots of veggies to keep the goodness but spread the calories. Plan ahead...eat light and healthy on your non-party days knowing that the next party will be an opportunity to enjoy your favorites.