Pizza pasta in a Thermos....

Hi Friends! Is it feeling a bit fallish where you live? It sure is here in the M-town. And I LOVE it!! When the weather starts cooling off, my little guy likes to have a hot lunch from time-to-time. I'm happy to oblige because that means more dinner leftovers for lunch, and leftovers are easy. Yay for leftovers! Yay for easy!!

 A Thermos is an awesome supply to have in your lunch packing arsenal for hot foods. There are several brands of thermoses on the market, but the one that I like best is the Thermos Funtainer. I used a Thermos Funtainer for my oldest when he was taking a packed lunch to school, and I have used one for Z since second grade. These thermoses are great, and they really do keep food warm for several hours. I pack Z's Thermos at 7:45 in the morning, and he eats lunch at 11:50. He says that the food is still warm at lunchtime. So, I highly recommend the Funtainer.

While I prefer to pack hot foods, the Thermos Funtainer is great at keeping foods cold, as well. I like that the Thermos Funtainer is stainless steel, BPA free, has an easy open lid, and is made in the U.S.A.

Here are a few things that I have packed in Z's Thermos:
Pizza pasta
Spaghetti
Oatmeal
Mac & cheese
Meatballs
Chicken noodle soup

How to pack the Thermos:
Fill the Thermos with boiling water- and I mean BOILING water.
Close the lid, and let the Thermos sit for 10-15 minutes.
Heat the food to go in the Thermos where it's VERY hot.....scald your mouth hot.
Pour the hot water out of the Thermos, and IMMEDIATELY fill the Thermos with the hot food.
Replace the lid, and pack it in your kiddo's lunchbox.
Done...easy, peasy, lemon squeezy as Z would say.


This lunch is packed in the Thermos Funtainer and a Take-A-Dip snack container.

• Pizza pasta- you can find the recipe for the pizza pasta bake HERE. I loosely follow this recipe when I make the pizza pasta. I often will use whatever pasta shape I have in my pantry. I prefer to use ground mild sausage instead of the links, and I prefer pepperoni chunks in mine instead of the sliced. I also prefer to use fresh mushrooms that I cook in with the peppers and onions, and I combine the Glen Muir pizza sauce with spaghetti sauce because my family likes a really saucy pasta. And, of course, I use twice as much fresh mozzarella cheese as this recipe because WE LOVE CHEESE!
• Goldfish pizza flavored crackers
• red seedless grapes
• baby carrots with Lakeview Farms spinach/artichoke dip
• Hershey's mini chocolate
• Gogurt

Some of the things, or similar things, that I used to make this lunch: