I packed this lunch for my second grader on the first day of school. (My youngest started preschool a few weeks earlier.) As school began, I wanted to stock up on some freezer stash, and chicken nuggets were one of the first things that came to mind. After some research and testing, I realized that homemade chicken nuggets freeze and defrost wonderfully- especially if you have an air fryer.
In The Lunchbox
Homemade chicken nuggets
Check out the full recipe and freezing instructions here. Because I cut the chicken nuggets relatively large, 4~5 nuggets per kid felt like a good serving size. For reheating, I air-fried the nuggets for 8~10 minutes at 350 F. (Start checking the doneness around 8 min mark.) The air fryer gets the nuggets slightly more toasted than when it came out of the oven. If you don’t have an air-fryer, you can reheat by baking for 10~15 minutes at 375 F.
Baby corn
Munchkin loves baby corn, and she asks me to buy some whenever I go to Trader Joe’s. It’s the only market I know that sells fresh baby corn. For cooking, melt butter in a skillet and add the baby corn. Cook until lightly browned and semi-soft. Sprinkle salt to taste. It tastes like popcorn when cooked this way, and it’s a good substitute for french fries, which will get soggy in the lunchbox.
Ketchup
I used TAVVA dips container to pack ketchup.
Orange slices
Munchkin (my eldest) returned from school complaining that some of the breadcrumbs were over the orange, and she threw the orange out. (She ate the rest of the food.) Sweet Pea, on the other hand, had no issue with it. I will have to figure out a better solution to contain the crumbs.
This lunchbox is from Zoku. Use code whiteblankspace for 10% off Zoku products.
Watch this video to see how I packed this lunch.
