From Corn to Peaches

Can you be jealous of the lunch you made for someone else??

Chicken, Bacon, Cheese, Lettuce, and White Rice Tacos 👌🏻
BBQ Chips

Sent with red grapes and Chick-fil-a Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing. (Not pictured).

Real love is giving up your last Chick-fil-a Avocado Lime Ranch packet. 💕

We are coming up on a major accomplishment for this family… it’s been half a school year of ✨pretty foods and better moods✨.

I may not post meals daily lately due to the chaos here (which I’m definitely working on!!), but the start of break next week made me realize I’ve been managing to make food fun for half a school year! 🙌🏻

While this was an important journey for me (previously I had always just thrown a sandwich in a bag plus some chips or just gave Mae money for school lunch), I want to take a moment to remind everyone - it doesn’t matter which journey you choose for your child’s nutrition… we are all doing the best we can and if that happens to be a Lunchable in a Kroger bag, so be it! You’re still a great parent and your child is fed!

For those of you following along on this journey, be excited for 2023 - I can’t wait to tweak and improve my lunch menus over winter break!

Todays lunch? Shrimp tacos because I forgot to cook up chicken last night 😳🤣.

Jon’s is accompanied with chips and salsa while Maelie has Granny Smith apples and caramel dip!

Food is far more appetizing when it looks pretty 🤩

Ham Pinwheels
Broccoli
Pickle Flower
Kiwi, Blueberries, and Raspberries

… doesn’t hurt that it was quick to make 😉

The only thing that could make this lunch better is if it was Tuesday! 😋

Two Taco Tuesday… on Wednesday 🤣

Shrimp Tacos with Coleslaw Mix, Cheddar, and Green Onions
BBQ Chips
Sliced Apples
Lime Wedge

Did I purchase a sushi rolling kit from Amazon because I wanted to take my lunch game to the next level? Yes, yes I did 😂😊

Crab, Cucumber, and Cream Cheese Roll
White Cheddar Cheez-It’s
Raspberries, Kiwi, and Blueberries

😋😍🙌🏻

October was a CRAZY month over here… how about everyone else?! 😅🤪

Between travels, school breaks, holidays, and sickness - the Rodkeys were HUSTLING! 🙌🏻

BUT… this time of year has ALWAYS been my favorite so I’m very excited to be bringing holiday inspired posts, recipes, decor, and more! 🎄☃️🎁🥂

I can’t wait to dive into how we adapt our holiday traditions for the south, but for now I guess I’ll stick with a small lesson learned… pumpkin carving is NOT the same! 😳🎃

Where we used to get a solid 2-3 weeks of life out of our Jack-O-Lanterns in Indiana, this was after ONE week! 😅 I guess I’m just glad we waited until the day before Halloween to carve! 😬😬

One of the HARDEST parts of moving to Georgia was giving up my walk-in pantry!!

With three kiddos CONSTANTLY eating, managing our food supply feels like a full time job and keeping my small pantry organized is KEY!

I use these clear bins for EVERYTHING from snacks in the pantry to sodas and yogurt in the fridge! Best investment ever 🙌🏻

You truly don’t realize just how much space is WASTED by packaging! Once it’s gone, it’s easier to see what you have and what you don’t (especially if your family is like mine and doesn’t know where the trash can is 🙄😂).

I love bacon. ❤️🥓

Doesn’t matter if it’s on sandwiches, in wraps, with eggs, or right off of the plate… I. LOVE. BACON.

BUT bacon takes time to make so - I have to plan ahead. I usually make a pound of bacon on Sunday, let it cool, and keep it in a freezer bag in the fridge for the week.

When I want to use it, I’ll throw it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so and 🙌🏻 bacon… ready to go!

Lunch today - Turkey, avocado, cheese, and bacon sandwich 👌🏻

Try It Tuesday! 🙌🏻 Fried Rice Pseudo Salad

We had leftover chicken and rice from dinner so naturally I thought of fried rice for lunch!

Luckily, I had sliced carrots already which saved me significant prep time. Simply chopped the carrots and some onion into bits, pan fried with butter, added rice, sesame oil, and soy sauce and voila! ✨

Topped it with cooked broccoli and raw red pepper for a little added substance.

How to Spice Up Sandwiches 101

Maelie changed her routine today and wants to do car rider as opposed to the bus so our morning was cut short 🤪 and ham and cheese was really our only option.

To make it a little more exciting, I cut it in half and removed the crust, added some butter noodles warmed up slightly from last night, and made a vegetable medley of broccoli, salted cherry tomatoes, and red pepper. 🙌🏻

Not pictured: Apple Slices and Fortune Cookie

I am always looking for new flavors, textures, and ingredients to try and expand the kiddos culinary palette. While I know Ollie would never touch this delicious peanut chicken inspired wrap (and couldn’t take it to school anyway due to being an allergy friendly school) I’m hoping Maelie likes it!

There really isn’t any magic to the wrap - sautéed chicken and coleslaw mix (extra carrots added), but the sauce smells and tastes AMAZING! 🙌🏻

The wrap itself is a modified version of the recipe I will post in the comments. The only modification I made to the sauce was to keep out the crushed red pepper to reduce the heat for Mae.

We tried a new pork chop recipe last night that was amazing! It left me with enough leftovers to craft these outstanding pork tacos for lunches!

Pork Tacos:
Diced And Seasoned Pork Chops
Coleslaw Mix Cabbage and Veggies
A Good Amount of Lime Juice
Shredded Cheese of Choice

For the grown up lunch (or non-picky eaters), I added diced tomatoes and sliced scallions to the top 👌🏻

Round out the lunch with a fruit salad of clementines, grapes, and raspberries as well as chips and salsa 🙌🏻

Roll-ups are one of my FAVORITE lunches to make! Why? They are EASY, YUMMY, and SO PRETTY when finished! 🤩

Check out the photos below to see how I make them! You’ll notice I only put filling items on 1/2-3/4 of the tortilla… as you roll, these will slide slightly and if you cover the whole tortilla, they come out the opposite side!

A couple of important steps NOT to miss:

1. Regardless of how you’ve previously stored your tortillas, throw them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds (depending on size) before using! 🙌🏻 This makes them more pliable and easier to roll. I throw mine in and then let them cool to room temperature on the cutting board before using.

2. Once rolled, wrap in aluminum foil (or plastic wrap) and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes if possible. This helps them hold their shape and makes the pinwheels easier to cut!

It’s a rare morning that I’m NOT jealous of her lunches. 🤤

I get asked ALOT how much time I put into the kids (and husband’s) lunches and the answer is … depends on the day! Some mornings I make everything that morning and assemble, others it’s just assembly. 🙌🏻

I’ll share some of my favorite tips and tricks for planning, scheduling, buying, and assembling right here in From Corn to Peaches so be sure to stay tuned!

Want to switch things up mid-week without putting too much energy into it? (I mean, it’s already after hump day - can’t it just be the weekend already?!)

Take your basic sandwich to the next level by switching cucumbers for the lettuce and changing your standard bread out for pita! 🙌🏻 Throw some chipotle mayo on it for an added kick, or regular ‘ole mustard if your kiddo doesn’t like going outside of the box 😂

Lunches for Littles. Who doesn’t struggle with this?! What WILL they eat? What WON’T they eat? How can I ensure they eat it when I’m not around?

I have learned through trial and error that the visual aspect of food plays a HUGE role in how well my kids eat. HOWEVER, I wasted a ton of food at the beginning of the year because I made it visually appealing in hard to open containers (and there isn’t always someone around to help Ollie out).

This is Ollie’s lunch today - made as visually appealing as possible in easy to manage containers. I try to switch up the protein for him as he’s still not a huge fan of meat (unless it’s of the Lunchable variety 🙄😂).

We need to talk about hard boiled eggs for a second. My kids absolutely love them. My husband makes AMAZING deviled eggs. No matter how I spin it, I am making these ALOT.

Now, I know a lot of people will jump on here with ”you can buy them boiled already!”, and yes, you can. But I just don’t like them the same 🤷🏼‍♀️ AND despite the frequency of having to make these… I RARELY get them right.

Until now.

I’m telling you - it’s been 3 times in a row with perfect eggs (both inside and out) and the trick is super simple - I can’t be lazy 😂🤣

Seriously, I used to drop them in boiling water and walk away 🤦🏼‍♀️ Now, I just commit the time to doing it as I’ve been told FOR YEARS, and what I’ve heard works!

For the beautiful eggs below, I simply placed them in a pot of room-temperature water, turned on the heat, and brought them to a boil. After the boiling started, I cooked for 5 minutes, turned off the heat (keeping the pot on the warm burner), and let the water temperature drop. If I’m in a rush, I’ll run cool water over the top of them once they’ve cooled slightly. Peeling these was a dream and SO easy!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

How does everyone else make hard boiled eggs? Let me know if you’ve perfected this yet!

Needing ideas for those weekday lunches? (Spouse AND kid friendly) You’ve come to the right place!

Follow along weekly as I craft new recipes to keep my pre-teen, kiddo, and husband happy and healthy. 🙌🏻

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