Lunch Recipes - Lunchbox Recipes

Check here to get quick lunch tips and recipes to liven up that lunchbox.

Apple butter contains no butter, much like buttermilk. It is a spiced spread used like butter, but made from apples.

Diabetic salad made with apples, celery, raisins, and low-calorie mayonnaise is delicious enough for the whole family.

Delicious low-fat quick bread is loaded with nuts, apricots, and raisins. Toasting the nuts brings out their flavor. You may toast the nuts in a dry skillet on the stove-top, if you wish.

Slightly sweet quick bread is an unusual way to use avocados. The buttermilk is a great way to add richness without a lot of fat.

Avocado salad made with cucumber, carrots, cauliflower, and mushrooms is a tasty filling for pita bread.

Not your average guacamole, this dip includes shallots, bell peppers, green onions, and fresh herbs. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chocolate chip cookies get a boost of flavor from bananas, cinnamon, and nutmeg. These cookies are slightly crisp on the outside, yet light and moist on the inside. They may be stored in a covered container up to 1 week. Plan ahead to refrigerate the dough.

Traditional cabbage coleslaw is updated here with the addition of blueberrry mayonnaise and fresh blueberries. It's colorful and slightly sweet. Kids love it. It's a good way to eat your veggies and fruit in one side dish.

These tasty Cheddar cheese crackers are great not only as edible gelt for Hanukkah, but also a great appetizer cracker for any occasion, party, or just as a snack. You may make the dough in advance and freeze.

Homemade Cheddar cheese crackers are flavored with chives and caraway seeds and get a little kick from cayenne. These make great gifts and are quite easy to make.

What kid wouldn't want this on a sandwich for lunch? It's easy to make your own gourmet chocolate peanut butter at home. Put it in a fancy jar, and it's great for gifts, bake sales, or fund-raisers.

The ham and cheese are baked into this bread roll. Just bake and slice. No assembly required.

Low-fat yogurt is drained to become thick like cream cheese, then blended with garlic and basil for a healthy and tasty dip for crackers or vegetables. Plan ahead to drain the cheese.

Make your own yogurt at home with your choice of flavorings. This basic recipe is designed for a yogurt machine. See links below for other yogurt methods.

You embark on a new dietary plan of healthy foods and exercise, yet you miss those munchies. What do you do? Try some of these low calorie snacks instead of the usual chips, crackers or ice cream.

Kids and adults alike love this dip made with pumpkin, peanut butter, raisins, and honey. It is great as an appetizer, a snack for the lunchbox, or wrap it up in a pretty jar as a kitchen gift.

If you are tired of the same ho-hum coleslaw, try this delicious and colorful version sweetened with pineapple and grapes. Plan ahead to refrigerate at least 4 hours for the flavors to meld. Better yet, make it a day in advance.

Fast and easy, these low-fat, low calorie pita crisps are made in the microwave and flavored with herbs and cheese for a great low-fat snack. Experiment with your favorite herbs and spices.

Take advantage of fresh plums in season to make delicious plum jam. You can use any variety of plums or mix them.

Pumpkin pie in the form of cookies are sure to delight one and all.

This is a clone recipe of the very popular sweet and sour cabbage slaw served at the popular North Woods Inn California restaurant chain. Plan ahead. This salad needs a long marination time. It's good after 48 hours, but even better after 4 or 5 days. This is the perfect make-ahead salad.

Rich, dark, and hearty, this bread packs a big punch of flavor from root beer and molasses. This recipe makes 4 loaves. Wrap some up for kitchen gifts to share.

Many of these snack recipes will work in the lunchbox.

The yeast pretzels are lightly sweetened with honey and tangy with Cheddar cheese.

Delicious, fast, and easy strawberry nut bread is spiced with cinnamon and enriched with your favorite nuts. Frozen strawberries are used, so this bread is easily made year-round. Best when chilled before slicing, it makes a great base for tea sandwiches or just slathered with butter or whipped cream cheese.

This recipe uses Caribbean sweet potatoes called boniato. The jam is best stored in the refrigerator and used within 5 days.

Don't toss those pumpkin seeds! Toast or roast pumpkin seeds in your oven in no time at all. They can can be salted or spiced to suit your palate. The shells are edible and are a good source of fiber. Use these methods with other seeds such as acorn squash and butternut squash.

You can call it trail mix, granola, or gorp, but whatever you name it, this snack is easy to make at home and probably cheaper. The ingredients are easy to customize to your particular tastes.

These cool sandwiches not only look fun, the kids will enjoy eating them. They are loaded with a delicious tuna salad mix made with water chestnuts, and topped with cream cheese and olives. It is a special dish for Halloween that the kids will love year-round.

Hard-cooked eggs are stretched in this sandwich spread with the addition of tofu, celery, and peas. Worcestershire sauce and dill make the flavors pop. It is also delicious as an appetizer spread for crackers.

Whip up this flavorful dip in your food processor in no time flat. You can cook the beans from scratch if you wish, but canned beans work perfectly fine. Sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and spices give a burst of flavor. Serve with crackers or raw vegetables.

Beautiful and delicious yeast bread gets its slightly sweet flavor naturally from yams. The bread also gets a slight kick of flavor from white pepper and spices. Sweet potatoes may be substituted for the yams.

Zucchini lends fiber and texture while yogurt adds subtle richness to this cake sweetened with honey and bananas. Pecans may be substituted for the walnuts, or they may be omitted completely.