Once a week for many years, we’ve had what we call an Amish Lunch or Finger Food Lunch. This meal, which consists of, you guessed it – finger foods – was a concept we were first introduced to while reading The Amish Cook syndicated column in a local newspaper. The Amish Cook would talk about her daily activities as well as the meals they were having, and often, one of those meals was this very simple, yet delicious finger food concept – thus, the reason we have always called it an “Amish Lunch”. This type of meal always sounded so yummy and easy, so I began to brainstorm how we could incorporate it into our homeschool lunch menu.
Lunch for the Busy Homeschool Mom
Homeschool moms have a lot on their hands – especially around lunch time. It is VERY difficult to break away from studies and make time to eat, let alone make time to cook. Most homeschool moms I know choose to make very easy lunch meals or use up leftovers. The Amish concept of a finger food lunch fits in perfectly with these!
While you can certainly plan to buy specific foods to have for your Finger Food Lunch, you can also simply use up foods in your refrigerator and pantry that meet the finger food criteria. Serve them on plates and platters and let everyone dig in. You could even get fancy and give them toothpicks to choose their foods – but then again, toothpicks might end up being used as swords…or is that just my household?
Ideas for Finger Food Lunches
Meats – deli, summer sausage, hamburger patties, pepperonis, Canadian bacon, etc.
Cheeses – cheese wedges, string cheese, cheese slices or cubes, etc.
Cut Veggies – carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, jicama, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.
Fruits – grapes, apples, oranges, strawberries, kiwi, cantaloupe, blueberries, bananas, etc.
Dried fruit
Pickled foods – beets, olives, onions, cucumbers, you might even want to try my pickled green beans!
Crackers
Jelly/Jam/Fruit Butters
Relishes
Dips – this Autumn, try my Caramel Apple Dip!
Nuts – at Christmas time, we like to have Sugar-Coasted Roasted Nuts – YUM!
Breads – see my Large Family Recipes page for some of our favorite bread recipes!
Drinks – water is easy, but we like to do homemade lemonade because I have a daughter who really enjoys making it for the family!
Megan’s Famous Homemade Lemonade
2 cups of sugar (or comparable sweetener)
2 cups of lemon juice
1 gallon of water
Mix all ingredients well in a gallon pitcher. Watch it disappear!
I have a friend who calls this type of meal Snack Lunch; however, one complaint she has about it is that it does not seem to stick with her kids, and they are soon hungry again. I have a couple of suggestions to remedy this:
1. Be sure you have put enough food and enough caloric density on the platter. You may want to add popcorn, denser breads, and plenty of meat and cheese to your platter. Maybe you have a great roasted garbanzo bean recipe or you’ve made some savory oyster crackers – throw those in the mix!
2. Have your Finger Food Lunch on a day when you are able to have a heavier snack or an early dinner. Finger Foods may not be a good choice if you are going to be out all day shopping with the kids. It all depends on #1. If you can’t pull together a more caloric dense lunch, then save those lunches for days when you are home and snack time will be some homemade yummy or when dinner time will be early.
So, what would you put on your Finger Food Lunch platter?
April Ann Wofford says
I’ve don’t this since my oldest, 11, was 2. We call it a snack plate. All the kids, 5, think it’s a special treat! Great list of food suggestions.
Kathryn says
We eat this style of lunch every day. It is great!
You have great suggestions of foods. I’ll need to try some of these (& the lemonade!)
I try to have a balance of carbs+ fats+ proteins.
So that usually means some kind of fruit, some kind of veggie, a fat(maybe cheese, or nut butter, or whole milk yogurt), & a starch (rice crackers, etc) & the protein might be in the nut butter, or hard boiled eggs (or cheese, which is fuel purpose for the fat and protein). And I often make a banana bread with cream cheese in it, which is pretty dense and easy also.
It throws me off a bit when we have guests for lunch or my husband is home for lunch because then I have to break my mold! Haha!
Oh and leftovers are a great thing around here also!
Great post, Amy, and thank you for sharing!
Amy says
Oooo! Love the hard boiled egg idea!
Jessica says
We had finger-food dinners a lot when I was growing up and I’ve continued making them for my little family. I like to do sliced apples (Fuji!), black olives, salami, cheese, good multigrain crackers, carrots, and grapes. Yum!
Natalie says
We call it snack lunch: sausage, cheese, cucumber, tomato, carrot, peppers, and a seasonal fruit. Served with ranch dip, or over leftover pasta with olive oil, or simply chopped as a salad. Top it off with bread and butter.
Joy says
I love this idea! It is exactly the kind of idea I was looking for this week to incorporate into a new schedule! I am a mother of a 4 yr old, 2 1/2 yr old, 1 yr old, and a baby on the way so I am looking for easy right now! Thanks for the wonderful idea!
Carla says
Great food ideas! To go with it, I’ve found that smoothies (frozen fruit, yogurt, chia seeds or ground flax seeds) keep kids full a long time and provide calcium and fiber.
Anna @ Feminine Adventures says
We call it “picnic lunch” and it ranks as a favorite with all the kiddos (and me since it’s so simple). Usually we have crackers and cheese, plus seasonal fruits and veggies and another side like cottage cheese or chips and dip.
Daddystractor says
We have a meal called “peanut butter plate” that is my kids’ favorite lunch! I put a spoonful of pb on the plate and whatever we have on hand to dip in it, like apple slices, bananas, graham crackers, celery, pretzels, etc. The peanut butter helps keeps them full and works with my oldest’s gluten free, dairy free diet if I give him GF bunny crackers.
Julie Ann Filter says
We do some element of this once or so a week, too. I usually do pretzels, a string cheese, baby carrots or celery, a dab of ranch dressing or hummus for dipping, and some cut up fruit (apples, banana, strawberries, whatever we have). I definitely agree that it is best to do this on a day when dinner will be nice and filling. Great tips!!! =0)
Elizabeth says
We get fancy around here and call it “tapas.” I do 3 plates. One has some combination of cheese, crackers/ bread, meat, boiled eggs, and nuts; one has vegetables; and one has fruits. Every body has to have something from each plate, so it ensures a more balanced intake.
Denise Renae says
Great idea! I will be trying this on the days my nanny is not here to keep it as simple as possible for me!