Homemade Spaghettios and Lunchbox Ideas

I’ll bet making homemade Spaghettios is easier than you think! Plus, I snuck some carrots in for an extra dose of veggies.

When I was tasked with thinking of fun lunchbox ideas, I really wanted to make something cute. I love making food art (remember my monkey cupcakes or panda cupcakes or panda cupcakes?).

But then I thought, how realistic is that? Really. Are busy parents really going to take time every night to make food art?

If you do, I tip my hat to you.

I am very lucky and very thankful that my mom is able to watch Julia for me while I work. Because of this (& the fact that she’s 17 months), we don’t yet have “Back to School” in our house.

But, I am always trying to think of new lunch ideas to pack for her. I also like to sometimes pack her lunch on the weekends while we’re out & about doing errands. Not every restaurant serves toddler friendly foods.

Julia has never had real Spaghettios, but she really liked these. I’m not knocking the original, but I do try to make most of her food and this is so easy, you might want to, too.

I pureed some carrots to thicken the sauce and sneak in a serving of veggies.

To get my fill of “cute”, I cut out some cheddar stars and hearts with a mini cooker cutter and threw in a fruit kebob. I also drew a panda face on a cookie (that was more for me than her). Easy. Real Food. Cute.

HOMEMADE SPAGHETTIOS INGREDIENTS

• Anellini Pasta – Circle pasta was a little tricky to find. I picked mine up at a local Italian market.
• Carrots – To sneak in an extra veggie serving, I made a microwavable bag of steamer carrots then pureed them to add to the sauce.
• Tomato Sauce – Just pick up a can of your favorite brand.
• Milk – To help thicken the sauce, I used 2%. Use what you keep on hand.
• Parmesan Cheese – Again, to thicken the sauce and add flavor, add grated Parmesan cheese.
• Salt – Just a pinch for balance.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU MAKE HOMEMADE SPAGHETTIOS

• Skip Hop Lunch Bag – Our trusty “bee bag” goes everywhere with us.
• Rubbermaid LunchBlox Kit – Perfect portion sizes for packing your lunch.
• Mini Food Processor – You’ll need to puree the carrots. I like this mini food processor because it’s a space saver.

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Homemade Spaghettios and Lunchbox Ideas

Created by Melissa Williams | Persnickety Plates

Servings: 2 servings

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Homemade Spaghettios are easier than you think! Plus, I snuck some carrots in for an extra dose of veggies.

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup uncooked anellini pasta
• ▢ ¼ cup carrots cooked then pureed
• ▢ 1 cup tomato sauce
• ▢ ¼ cup milk I used 2%
• ▢ 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese
• ▢ pinch of salt

Instructions

• In a medium pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook your pasta until done. Set aside.
• While the pasta is cooking, in another medium sauce pan over medium heat, add tomato sauce and pureed carrots and heat through.
• Reduce the heat to a low simmer then whisk in the milk, parmesan cheese, and pinch of salt.
• Pour in the cooked pasta and stir to combine.

Notes

I made "steam in the bag" frozen carrots in the microwave then pureed them.

I had a bit of trouble finding circle pasta (they're called anellini, FYI). My Kroger doesn't carry it and neither did Whole Foods. I ended up getting it at a local Italian market that has every shape of pasta imaginable.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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As delicious as these Spaghettios are, they’re a bit messy for a toddler. Wet Ones Singles are perfect for packing in a lunch box. They quickly clean messy hands (& faces) and kill 99.9% of germs. I like to throw two in – one for before eating and one for after.

Do you try to make fun lunches? Any toddler lunch ideas for me??