New Twists on Lunch Classics

Day in and day out, lunch can get a little boring. Switching up your recipes makes lunch more fun to eat. If you're serving lunch to a child, keeping it fun can encourage him or 

her to eat everything without wasting. These twists on lunch classics are tasty for everybody, and they're easy on the pocketbook as well.

Peanut Butter and Fruit Sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are an old standby that almost everyone loves. That said, there are many ways to make peanut butter sandwiches more exciting and tasty. For starters, try removing jelly from the equation and replace it with fresh fruit. Slices of pear, apple and banana can easily be used to dress up your peanut butter sandwich. To moisten the bread and help the peanut butter go down easier, drizzle the fruit with fresh honey before putting it all together.

• Money-saving tip: If you don't use the entire piece of fruit for this one sandwich, swab the fruit with lime or lemon juice to keep it from turning brown, then put it in the fridge in a plastic bag and save it until next time.

Leftover Drumsticks with Ranch. Leftovers are inexpensive, but sometimes they can be dry or tasteless. Meat especially tends to lose flavor and palatability when it's served cold. To make your leftover meats more enjoyable, serve them with a side of ranch dressing.

Dipping your drumsticks and other meat in ranch dressing gives it that zing that makes lunch worth eating. Best of all, ranch dressing is great for dipping veggies in too! Throw a few veggies into a bag and toss the bag in with the lunch. Carrots, celery and tomatoes are all tasty and satisfying when combined with ranch.

Egg Salad Bagel Sandwich. Eggs are affordable, filling and nutritious, so egg salad sandwiches are a common staple of lunch boxes. That said, egg salad sandwiches can get a little old. To keep things more interesting, replace the bread with a toasted bagel.

Ingredients:

•  6 Hard-boiled eggs
• Lemon juice, 1.5 teaspoons
• Mayonnaise, 1/4 cup
• 1 Small stalk celery, finely diced
• Minced parsley, 1 teaspoon
• Scallions, 1/4 cup finely diced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

After peeling the hard boiled eggs, mash them with a fork and combine them with the mayonnaise. Add all other ingredients and mix. Refrigerate before serving.

When you're assembling your sandwich, toast the bagel and then give it time to cool. Put a slice of lettuce on the cut side of each bagel to protect the bagels from the moisture in the egg salad; this prevents the bagel from absorbing liquid and getting soggy. Spread the lettuce with the egg salad, then close up the sandwich.

• Money-saving tip: Avoid waste. Buy the bagels in a bag from the grocery store, then keep them in the freezer until they're ready to use. This way they'll keep for a very long time. Don't forget to leave yourself time to thaw the bagels before assembling your sandwich.