Lunch box ideas are few and far between in my household. I've been so used to cooking for my kids at home for so long, it's been a challenge. I'm thinking some of you have the same issue as well? Especially since these days so many schools are nut-free so the easy go to peanut butter and jelly sandwich option is out the weekly line up.
That said, I'll be concentrating on recipe testing more lunch ideas since my kids are going to school more often! These ham and cheese muffins are great for the lunch box and you can even add an optional vegetable. Cheese is yellow and yellow squash is yellow, so it's invisible. Just saying.
Furthermore, since my youngest loves to deconstruct everything and anything. Every time I give him a sandwich, one part lands on the floor the other in his high chair. This time, I made his sandwich in a form of a muffin. It's perfect for our outings and play dates. These young toddlers are curious and picking apart food is so common! This hopefully will e a quick and easy fix.
Substitution options: If you don't eat ham, you can replace it with cooked turkey bacon as well. For those with egg allergies, I've also made these with flax-seed instead of using an egg. All you need to do is substitute the egg for a flax-seed mixture. All you will need is:
1 egg = 1 mixture below
- 1 tbs. flax seed meal
- 3 tbs. hot water
Mix the meal and hot water and wait 5 minutes to produce a thicker "egg like" liquid.
It does come out a little less moist using flax-seed, but it's still delicious. These are perfect right out of the oven and are so tasty! This ham and cheese muffin is perfect for breakfast, lunch or even as a side dish for a meal.
ham and cheese muffins recipe
Ham and Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 c. cooked chopped ham we used Thanksgiving leftovers, but any will do
- 1 ½ C. flour
- 1 tbs baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ c. grated yellow squash drained with paper towel
- 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- ½ stick of melted unsalted butter/ 4 tbs
- ¼ tsp. onion powder - to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- In a bowl, mix first 6 ingredients until well combined (flour, onion powder, baking powder, salt, chopped cooked ham and cheese).
- In another bowl, mix milk, egg, squash and melted butter
- Mix cheese mixture with milk mixture (bowl 1 + bowl 2) until well combined
- Grease a muffin tin or use cupcake liners. Fill muffin tin about ¾ of the way (enough to leave for rising)
- Tip: mini muffins will cook faster so I always check it at 15 minutes for mini and about 20 for regular sized muffins. Use a toothpick to check, when it comes out clean it's done!
Nutrition
Don't forget to pin it for easy saving!
If you're looking for more lunch ideas try these Corn Dog Muffins
