Smokehouse-Themed Lunchboxes

I volunteered to make lunch for a robotics camp at our local high school and today's lunch box was a smokehouse theme. I also found out today that I wasn't cooking for 12 people anymore. I was now cooking for 14. I had a couple of Costco rotisserie chickens that I had pre-shredded the night before, so all I had to do was toss them in the slow cooker the next morning with some of my homemade barbecue dry rub, season the chicken really well, and let it heat on high while I worked on everything else. I've never found a store-bought coleslaw that I actually like, so I made my favorite homemade version in instead. It is surprisingly quick and so much better than anything I've bought pre-made. For the mac and cheese, I took a little shortcut with one of these party-size Stouffer's trays. I baked it according to the box instructions, then I stirred in some garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, mustard powder, a splash of heavy cream, and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese. Then I topped it with some extra cheddar and mozzarella and baked it again until it was hot, bubbly, and golden brown on top, which tasted so much more homemade. For their dessert, I made a tray of banana pudding with layers of vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, vanilla pudding, and Cool Whip. One thing I really like about doing these lunches this way is portioning everything ahead of time. It makes packing the lunch boxes easier, sure, but it also guarantees that everyone gets a little bit of everything instead of hoping that there's enough left at the end of a buffet line. I used small cups of coleslaw and then these larger insulated paper cups for the mac and cheese and banana pudding to help keep everything at the right temperature. I also baked a batch of Jiffy corn muffins to go with the meal. For the vegetarian student, I swapped the cornbread for a thick slice of Texas toast, which still fit the smokehouse theme. And instead of making them feel like an afterthought, I wanted their lunch to be just as fun as everyone else's, so I made a barbecue veggie burger with a meatless patty seasoned with barbecue rub, melted cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, pickles, and crispy fried onions. And everyone else got shredded barbecue chicken sandwiches. I think my favorite part might have been the stickers. I designed them in Canva and added little illustrations of the cornbread, barbecue sandwich, mac and cheese, and banana pudding, so they matched what was inside each lunchbox. I also tucked in a little foil-wrapped corn on the cob, but this is where things got a little chaotic. I really thought I had plenty of time, but trying to package the hot sandwiches, mac and cheese, warm corn, and everything else had me running around at the very end. I barely got any footage of assembling the lunchboxes because I was so focused on getting everything packed while it was still hot. Thankfully, my friend was there helping me at the very end. Her son is in the robotics club, and she's actually the reason I found out about this opportunity in the first place. I honestly could not have pulled this together without her. And I hope these lunches make those students feel a little appreciated while they spend their week building some really cool things.