Necessity is the mother of invention, and this is especially true at the lunch hour.

Our lunches run the gamut here– from lunch trays assembled to share while we do lessons, packed lunches on co-op or adventure days, YOYO days in which the kids are on their own for figuring out what they want to eat…

… and hot lunches that are both deliciously satisfying and simple enough that we almost always have the ingredients on hand.

These twisted breadsticks fit the last description. I can easily stir together a quick pizza dough, and twist together whatever mix of meat, cheese, and veggies is in the fridge. All done in about 30 minutes.

One portion of my homemade pizza dough can make 10-12 breadsticks. Last week for my crew of 6, I made 2 dozen breadsticks– half twisted with ham and half with spicy pepperoni. It was the perfect lunch to make when I really needed to get to the grocery store.

If you haven’t tried my pizza dough before, it’s hugely popular for a good reason. It comes together very easily and very quickly, making it perfect for lunches and simple family pizza nights. (I use it for Stromboli, too!) All you need is flour, sea salt, active dry yeast, and warm water.

Give these breadsticks a try this week! Lunch or dinner, they are sure to please. Serve them with dipping bowls of marinara sauce for extra tastiness. (My favorite homemade marinara recipe is in my Instant Pot cookbook. It’s super easy and SO good!)

Check out these other healthy and easy lunch ideas too:

• Garlic Orzo with Bacon & Greens
• Instant Pot Ramen Noodles
• Homemade Pigs in A Blanket
• Sheet Pan Nachos
• Our Favorite Tuna Salad
• Stovetop Popcorn

Twisted Cheesy Breadsticks

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Lisa @This Pilgrim Life

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Description

A simple pizza dough twisted up with herbs, Italian meat, and cheese! Enjoy these delicious breadsticks for a quick lunch or snack!

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Ingredients

• simple thin crust pizza dough
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian herbs
• 1 handful (about 1 C) spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• Italian meat– salami, capicola ham, prosciutto, etc
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 500° (to use with a baking stone/steel) or 450° (to use with a baking sheet).

2. Make the pizza dough. (One portion per 10-12 breadsticks).

3. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 10″x15″. Drizzle olive oil across the top of the dough, then sprinkle the salt, pepper, and spices on top. Distribute the chopped spinach, cheeses, and meat evenly across the dough.

4. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle up towards the middle. Fold the top third down, to form a sealed “envelope”. Use a dough scraper or knife to divide the dough envelope into 10-12 strips.

5. Twist each strip twice and place on a piece of parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 500°, or 12-15 minutes at 450°.

6. Let cool slightly and serve with marinara dipping sauce.

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Today I’m sprucing up an older recipe for carrot raisin muffins from the blog because after years of enjoying them (the recipe has been on the blog for 7 years!), they are still a go-to all during the spring and summer for picnics and adventure days.

Muffins in general tend to be one of my favorite picnic foods, especially with kids, because they’re so easy to make in the morning and so easy to eat out of the house. If I don’t already have bread or another plan for lunch, I can easily make some muffins with what I have on hand– whether that’s carrots, bananas, zucchini… whatever. (I am also a big fan of making lunch muffins more filling and less dessert-like. We are having lunch, not a cupcake party).

I bake a big batch and put them in one of our reusable Grove bags before we head out. Paired with cheese sticks, apples, and maybe some salami or veggie straws, and we have a very simple grab-and-go picnic lunch.

Pro-tip: bake mini muffins when you know you’ll be on the go, at the beach, or the kids will likely be more interested in playing than eating. They can pop one in their mouth and be off again. Mini muffins are perfect for the beach too because anything you can handle less with sandy hands is a winner. 

Carrot Raisin Muffins

These carrot raisin muffins are really easy to make– once you shred the carrots. That’s honestly the step that takes the longest, but there are definitely ways of speeding up the process.

My favorite way to shred carrots quickly is with my food processor. Literally, less than 5 minutes and I have more than enough shredded carrots to use. It is incredibly efficient, not to mention the carrot is perfectly shredded.

If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater works great too. (pun intended) If I don’t feel like getting the food processor out, I use the box grater. (Though, to be sure, I’m not actually saving any energy there).

Or… another easy solution is to simply buy shredded carrots.

If I didn’t scare you off with all that talk about carrot shredding, the rest is completely downhill. Stir together flour, oats, raisins, shredded carrots, and leaveners in a bowl. Mix together a mashed banana, maple syrup, egg, oil, and milk in a measuring cup. Then combine.

As with all muffins, take care not to overmix so that you do not end up with tough muffins.

Pro-tip: USE PARCHMENT MUFFIN LINERS. Just do it. Don’t bother with paper muffin cups that stick to the muffin and just tear up when you’re trying to get them off. And definitely don’t bother with cleaning a muffin pan. Tedious! These are the best. Go ahead and get the pack of 4 to last you all season. 

These muffins truly are a must for spring and summer! The last time I made them for a hike with friends, we ate all 2 dozen between us and a few of our friends– who (unashamedly tooting my horn here) said that they were some of the best muffins they’d ever eaten. Now, that could have been in part because the hike was over and we were all rather famished and tired.

But, I do like to think that it’s also because these carrot raisin muffins are, in fact, quite delicious. 

More Like This ::

• Super Awesome List of Healthy Snack Ideas
• Grab & Go Picnic Foods
• Nutty Blueberry Muffins
• Raisin, Date, Walnut Muffins
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

If you are an adventuring family like us, be sure to check out my adventuring posts (find them all in one convenient place here). We looooove spring and summer adventure season, and share regularly about what we’re up to and what’s working well on Instagram.

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Carrot Raisin Muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x

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Description

These carrot raisin muffins are naturally sweetened and full of wholesome ingredients. They’re quick and easy– a perfect healthy picnic or afternoon snack!

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 C oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups shredded carrots, about 3 large or 4 small/medium carrots
• 1/2 C raisins
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/3 C maple syrup
• 1/4 C melted coconut oil

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour through the baking soda. Stir together. Add the shredded carrots and raisins to the flour mixture and stir until the carrots and raisins are well incorporated into the flour mixture.

3. In a liquid measuring cup, mash one ripe banana. Add the egg and mix well, then pour in the milk, syrup, and oil. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until all the ingredients are blended with no streaks of flour remaining.

4. Grease your muffin pan or place in parchment muffin liners. Evenly distribute the muffin batter in the pan. Optional: sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden and the muffins feel springy to the touch. Let the muffins cool in the pan for five minutes before removing them.

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The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.

Today I’m sharing three (you won’t believe how easy) healthy snack recipes with you! Real fruit and veggie strips, homemade chewy gummies, and dairy-free chocolate pudding. 

If you want even more healthy snack ideas, you MUST check out this Super Awesome List of Healthy Snack Ideas! There are so many great snack ideas, and a couple of great printables to help you remember them when your stomach starts rumbling!

Three Easy & Delicious Homemade Snack Recipes

These three healthy snack recipes are remarkably easy to make. Basically, each is simply a matter of blending, heating, and cooling. Each snack is made from a handful of real food ingredients, making them a great option for snacking since they are not just empty calories.

I make the fruit and veg strips all the time during the spring and summer. It is sooooo easy to do, and can be a great way to use up fruit that is almost bad or too ripe just for snacking. When the strips are finished, I cut them into long strips, then roll up each strip and put them in one of our Grove reusable bags. They are great portable snacks (and bonus) not messy at all.

The gummies are a fun treat, but not something we do very often. Filling the molds is a great task for kids, though, and since I’ve figured out how to make them chewy, we may be making them more often now.

Recommendations ::

• Excalibur Dehydrator
• Silicon Animal Molds
• Silicon Lego Molds
• 40z Mason Jars (best price at Wal-Mart)
• Beef gelatin

(from 2019) I shared all of these recipes in a handy video on YouTube too! You’ll need to recipes here, but you can watch exactly how to make them and get extra tips in the video. Be sure to subscribe while you’re there so you don’t miss any new videos!

Watch on YouTube :: 

Real Fruit & Veg Strips

• 4 cups fruit
• 2 carrots
• 1 ripe banana

1.Blend together fruit, carrots cut into 2″ pieces, and banana. Add water as need to blend.

2.Line the trays from your dehydrator (or a baking sheet for the oven) with parchment paper. Spread the blended fruit/veg mixture onto the parchment paper in a thin, even layer. (You want it to be thin without being able to see through the mixture and without any holes or gaps).

3.Follow the directions on your dehydrator and dry out the mixture until it is completely dry and no longer tacky*.

4.Cut into strips and store in a container until ready to eat.

*You can also make these in your oven using the lowest heat setting and cooking the strips until completely dry, about 5-6 hours.

Homemade Chewy Gummies

• about 2 cups fruit
• 4 tbsp unflavored gelatin
• silicon molds

1. Blend together fruit of choice until so you have 1 cup of puree.

2. Pour 1 cup of pureed fruit into a small pot and heat over medium heat until warm to the touch. Stir in 1/3 cup of honey. Slowly sprinkle unflavored gelatin across the top of the warm fruit mixture whisking the whole time. (You want to avoid clumps of the gelatin).

3. Remove the fruit mixture from the heat and let cool slightly before transferring the mixture into molds. (A medicine dropper works well for smaller molds).

4. Refrigerate the molds for about 12 hours, or overnight, then remove the gummies from the molds. Let the gummies continue to dry out slightly in the refrigerator for a day or two for chewy gummies.

Easy Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding

• 13.5oz can of coconut milk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup decaf coffee
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate morsels (or semi-sweet)
• 2 tsp unflavored gelatin
• small jars

1.Pour the can of coconut milk in a small pot and heat over medium heat until the milk is warm to the touch. Stir in honey, decaf coffee, and sea salt. Add dark chocolate morsels (you can use semi-sweet if you prefer) and stir until the chocolate is melted and completely incorporated. Slowly sprinkle the unflavored gelatin across the top of the pudding mixture, whisking the whole time.

2.Pour the pudding mixture into small jars.

3.Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until set.

Print the recipes for the strips, gummies, and pudding. 

Don’t forget to check out all the other healthy snack ideas here.

More Like This ::

• Super Awesome List of Healthy Snack Ideas
• Summer Lunch Ideas + Printable Menu
• Spring & Summer Dinner Menu

Sharing is caring! Don’t forget to pin and share. Thank you!

The post Three Fun, Healthy, & Homemade Snacks appeared first on This Pilgrim Life.