These fun sandwich cups are perfect for lunch boxes! Filled with chicken, olive and herbed cream cheese - the kids love them!
I was that kid. You know, the one with the tuna fish or egg salad sandwiches. As many times as my friends held their noses and turned away from me, I adored those brown bag lunches. In those days, cafeteria lunches were not available at my elementary school, except for the highly anticipated bi-weekly "hot dog days", which were always accompanied by a big cup of orange drink from McDonald's. Now, my children are provided with a rotating choice of meals in their school cafeteria. Unfortunately, these lunches leave a lot to be desired, nutritionally speaking. Hamburgers, pizza, corn dogs, waffles on a stick - seriously.
Each morning, I pack lunches for my kids in their lunch boxes, trying to provide them with something nutritious enough to fuel the recess soccer game. However, there are only so many peanut butter sandwiches or turkey wraps one kid can take. When Rachael of La Fuji Mama emailed me with a challenge to come up with a lunchbox meal using Lindsay Olives black olives, I jumped at the chance. Rachael's blog is full of innovative ideas, not to mention photos of her adorable girls enjoying the food she makes. A few days later, a box containing Lindsay Olive's new resealable containers of black olives, plus several more of their high-quality products arrived at my doorstep and I set to work. These are products that I regularly buy for my family, so I recommend them without hesitation.
Using regular whole-wheat sandwich bread, I made toasted sandwich cups. With my boys' help, I filled the cups with an herbed cream cheese, chopped rotisserie chicken, grated carrots, and black olives. It was a challenge to make them as quickly as the boys gobbled them up.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the crusts from 3 pieces of whole-wheat sandwich bread, and cut each piece of bread in quarters.
Brush both sides of each bread piece lightly with olive oil. Firmly press the pieces into a mini-muffin tin.
Bake until the edges of the bread are golden brown. Let the bread cups cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan, and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. The bread cups can be made a couple of days in advance and kept fresh in an airtight container.
In a medium bowl, whip 4 oz. light cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon dried oregano and a pinch of salt. Whip to combine.
Fill each sandwich cup with 1 teaspoon herbed cream cheese, 1 teaspoon grated carrot, 1 teaspoon chopped chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), and 1 teaspoon sliced black olives (such as Lindsay large pitted black ripe olives).
Pack 6 sandwich cups in each of two reusable sandwich containers and put into your childrens' lunch boxes, with a freezer pack.
Back to School Chicken, Olive & Herbed Cream Cheese Sandwich Cups
3 slices whole-wheat bread
¼ cup olive oil
4 oz. light cream cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of salt
¼ cup grated carrot
¼ cup cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken is quick and convenient)
¼ cup sliced black olives (such as Lindsay large pitted black ripe olives)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the crusts from bread, and cut each piece of bread in quarters. Brush both sides of each bread piece lightly with olive oil. Firmly press the pieces into a mini-muffin tin. Bake until the edges of the bread are golden brown. Let the bread cups cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan, and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. The bread cups can be made a couple of days in advance and kept fresh in an airtight container.
In a medium bowl, whip cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add oregano and a pinch of salt. Whip to combine.
Fill each sandwich cup with 1 teaspoon herbed cream cheese, 1 teaspoon grated carrot, 1 teaspoon chopped chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), and 1 teaspoon sliced black olives.
Pack 6 sandwich cups in each of two reusable sandwich containers and put into your childrens' lunch boxes, with a freezer pack.
Makes 12 sandwich cups (enough for 2 lunches).
(Disclosure: Lindsay Olive sent their product to me, free of charge, plus I am receiving a small monetary compensation.)
Cookin' Canuck
Marisa, Kristen - Thank you!
5 Star - That sounds like a fun event.
Rachael - I love the olive salad you came up with.
Cristie - I always hope that my kids are actually eating the things I send, particularly the veggies. I guess I'll never know.
Bunky - My kids don't start until next week, but I really can't believe that summer has flown by so quickly.
bunkycooks
Great idea and better than the usual lunchbox stuff! I can't believe school has already started. Wow!
Kristen
Makes me wish I could pack a lunch for school each day. Yum!
And, I love your lunchbox note 🙂
Cristie
What a fun idea for lunches! The issues for my kids, who are all grown, was always to get them to actually EAT what I sent. I think these would have done the trick.
Fuji Mama
I LOVE this twist on a sandwich! I think I need to make these for me...my kids will be lucky to get any... 🙂
5 Star Foodie
Those sandwich cups are adorable! My daughter will be hosting a Back To School 5 Star Makeover in September and this would be a perfect entry for the event 🙂
Marisa
What a great school lunch. I bet none of the other kids' moms pack awesome lunches like this!
Cookin' Canuck
Jenny, Emily, Carol, Ravie - Thank you!
Claudia , Mother Rimmy- My kids love getting notes in their lunches. Usually I put in a joke or a fill-in-the-blanks puzzle for them.
Megan - You're right that these could be stuffed with almost anything that suits your fancy.
Spicy - Wow, we never had cinnamon rolls at our school!
Sarah - The peach idea is a great idea. Perfect for a bite-sized treat.
Diana - I love your Spanish tortilla contribution to this olive challenge.
Paula - Your olive spread made my mouth water!
Kalyn - I can't imagine keeping track of 10 kids, let along trying to get lunches ready for all of them. I can't blame your mum for relying on school lunches.
Kalyn
What a fun idea for school lunch. When I was a kid ("quite" a while ago) we had hot lunches that were nutritious and actually pretty tasty for the most part. And my mom had 10 kids, so taking lunch from home was NOT an option. I feel sad when I see what passes for school lunch now; your kids are lucky you make things like this for them.
Paula - bell'alimento
What a great idea Dara! It was so much fun being a part of this challenge! I'm getting lots of great new ideas for my kids' lunch boxes xoxo
Diana Bauman
Dara, this is great! I love this idea of the sandwich cups. I'm certainly going to make this for my kids this week 🙂
ravienomnoms
Wow!! Look at these things!! Fabulous post!
Carol Egbert
These are like savory cupcakes.Perfect for kids of any age.
Emily Malloy
The luckiest little blessings alive! I might make this for myself!!!
Mother Rimmy
I need you to pack my lunch! I love the note you send with the kids!
Sarah @ Mum In Bloom
Wow, what a great idea to make the kid's lunch interesting. I run out of ideas quickly but this sandwich is truely inspiring. With the bread you made you could fill it with all kinds of yummy goodness.. I made some peaches blended with cream cheese & a pinch of sugar that would be heavenly on these. Those olives would be eaten by my whole family before I could get 'em on a sandwich.. we love them!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE
I think the only school lunch that was ever enjoyable, was the day they served cinnamon rolls!
What a great idea! These are so cute--sure to be gobbled up by hungry munchkins!
megan
what a cute idea! I dont' like olives, but I love the toast cup idea for lunches
pegasuslegend
you are such a great mom, and the note is very touching memories to make a lifetime of cherished times as they grow into men~ love the cups so delicious and a diffinite envy for all kids to see~
Jenny
Adorable! Love this idea and YUMMY ingredients 🙂