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​Gourmet Canteen Style School Lunches on a Budget

​School lunches can add up, particularly if your school has a canteen with a menu more closely resembling a cafe! Our children were only ever allowed a canteen order once a fortnight as a 'treat' but we were increasingly finding the items on the menu weren't of interest to them and I was paying a fortune for small items such as party pies. It is lovely to have a warm meal at lunch in southern Australia during the cooler months! Solution: I purchased each of my children a short/squat style thermos/cup which they pretty much use every day in winter - now the have the choice of soups, stews and other homemade meals (generally left overs) but we even microwave party pies and sausage rolls (they even have mini refillable sauce bottles!) so they don't miss out on 'treat day'. Another favourite is steamed (microwave) dim sims and a squirt of soy sauce into the container. We pre-warm the thermoses when we make our morning cuppa and the meals stay hot enough for a lovely hot lunch! Happy kids and happy pocket. I estimate I'm saving $20 per month per child doing this and the thermoses cost me about $15 each a few years ago, sauce bottles were about $2 for a pack of 3 in the Reject Shop or similar. Just don't forget a fork or spoon into the lunchbox!
Contributed by Michelle Wilkinson