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TIP STORE: Education: School Lunches
Packing School Lunches for Three
I have three, fussy, hungry boys. I want to pack school lunches quickly, efficiently and cheaply that the kids will eat! These methods work for me.
I use my freezer to form the base of my lunchbox packing. I make scrolls: pizza or vegemite and cheese - one scroll does one child for lunch. One child likes bread with butter and sliced cheese on the side. I cut up a French stick, butter it, and place in a freezer bag so I can take out each portion as I need it. Another child likes cheese rolls - another one which is easy to make, wrap, and freeze.
For a snack, I make, slice and freeze banana cake (because it is so quick, easy and contains fruit!). Sometimes I make chocolate chip biscuits as they make in bulk and freeze easily.
With a stocked freezer, I can give lunch (roll or scroll) plus one piece of cake (or biscuit) and I pack this the night before with some dried mango or sultanas, cheese cubes, sliced carrot or cucumbers and a yoghurt.
In the morning, I slice up an apple - green are the best because they don't go brown - but even red (Gala) are fine. Lunchboxes are done in a few minutes!
It might seem like a lot of work to make scrolls etc. - but I make in bulk so it is only once every 3 weeks that I need to cook and everything runs out at different rates so really it's about once a week that I need to refill the freezer.
Georgina Christensen
I use my freezer to form the base of my lunchbox packing. I make scrolls: pizza or vegemite and cheese - one scroll does one child for lunch. One child likes bread with butter and sliced cheese on the side. I cut up a French stick, butter it, and place in a freezer bag so I can take out each portion as I need it. Another child likes cheese rolls - another one which is easy to make, wrap, and freeze.
For a snack, I make, slice and freeze banana cake (because it is so quick, easy and contains fruit!). Sometimes I make chocolate chip biscuits as they make in bulk and freeze easily.
With a stocked freezer, I can give lunch (roll or scroll) plus one piece of cake (or biscuit) and I pack this the night before with some dried mango or sultanas, cheese cubes, sliced carrot or cucumbers and a yoghurt.
In the morning, I slice up an apple - green are the best because they don't go brown - but even red (Gala) are fine. Lunchboxes are done in a few minutes!
It might seem like a lot of work to make scrolls etc. - but I make in bulk so it is only once every 3 weeks that I need to cook and everything runs out at different rates so really it's about once a week that I need to refill the freezer.
Georgina Christensen
School Kids Lunch and Mid-morning Snacks - Easy on the Wallet and on Your Time
Left over roast meat is great in sandwiches or rolls and is really good for keeping the kids going. When my kids were at school I'd make all their sandwiches with various meat and cheese and label them and freeze them separately. I'd ask the kids the night before to get whatever sandwich they wanted out of the freezer and place in the fridge. Then in the morning I'd add fresh salad vegetables to the sandwich. With tomatoes I would thinly slice them and place it on a paper napkin and then blot them to get out most of the moisture so the sandwiches didn't go soggy. You can slice a few and put them in a container, with a paper napkin on the bottom of the container. They can last for 2-3 days. For a change try - wraps with falafel and hummus, chicken drumsticks and salad, cheese twists (they're easy to make yourself). For snack time I'd make savoury or sweet muffins, pumpkin scones, cakes and biscuits. Freezing what I could and adding them to their lunch bag for morning tea. Fresh fruit, cheese, celery sticks with cream cheese, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and dried fruit and nuts, yoghurt were all favourites. In summer try packing a fruit salad of melon, pineapple and berries with yoghurt for dipping (with ice blocks to keep it cool). I'd usually package individual serves and store whatever I could ahead of time to make it easier for that mad morning rush and to make sure they had plenty of variety.
- Contributed by Apryl Huglin
- Contributed by Apryl Huglin
Additive Free/Gluten Free Snacks
In 2013 I decided to take my children of as many food additives as possible. This has made a massive difference to their moods and ability to focus and learn. We also had to go gluten free for health reasons. As you can imagine this began as quite a challenge but here are the snacks that we now pack:
fruit (try to give wide variety)
two fruit salad (2 piece fruit chopped)
vegetable sticks
cherry tomatoes
plain popcorn (in microwave no oil)
pikelets (home made Gluten free)
buckwheat and apple muffins
plain rice crackers (no flavouring or colours)
boiled egg
cheese
organic sultanas (to avoid additives)
dried apricots (sulphite/presev. free)
fruit leather (100% fruit)
coconut and fruit balls (own recipe)
cheese and puffed millet squares
vegetable fritters
Other foods (just not ones my kids eat) are:
humus with vegie sticks
celery filled with humus or ricotta
sushi
seed mix(eg.sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, chia etc)
coleslaw
I try to keep lunch boxes as healthy as possible; treats are reserved for the week end. Lunch orders are once or twice a term. We only order snacks as my kids don't eat the sushi and cold rolls on offer (which are very yummy!). We order plain popcorn (salted, no colours), plain crisps, yoghurt with berries, muesli and fruit salad. Hope that helps spark some ideas.
- Contributed by Naomi McDougall
fruit (try to give wide variety)
two fruit salad (2 piece fruit chopped)
vegetable sticks
cherry tomatoes
plain popcorn (in microwave no oil)
pikelets (home made Gluten free)
buckwheat and apple muffins
plain rice crackers (no flavouring or colours)
boiled egg
cheese
organic sultanas (to avoid additives)
dried apricots (sulphite/presev. free)
fruit leather (100% fruit)
coconut and fruit balls (own recipe)
cheese and puffed millet squares
vegetable fritters
Other foods (just not ones my kids eat) are:
humus with vegie sticks
celery filled with humus or ricotta
sushi
seed mix(eg.sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, chia etc)
coleslaw
I try to keep lunch boxes as healthy as possible; treats are reserved for the week end. Lunch orders are once or twice a term. We only order snacks as my kids don't eat the sushi and cold rolls on offer (which are very yummy!). We order plain popcorn (salted, no colours), plain crisps, yoghurt with berries, muesli and fruit salad. Hope that helps spark some ideas.
- Contributed by Naomi McDougall
P&C Fridges at School Prevent Waste
In Queensland heat many school P&C groups organise one fridge per classroom for kids' lunchboxes. Makes packing lunches so much more flexible as you know it will stay cool and kids waste less food because food is nice and cold to eat. Sure, you can use a freezer block but they warm up eventually on hot bag racks. Might be worth doing if not already in place. Probably mostly community donated secondhand.
For brain breaks I send fruit that does not oxidize (go brown) quickly. Think oranges, melon pieces, granny smith apples last longer than other types, grapes, a few cherries or berries in with another fruit make a nice treat occasionally if you get them for a good price fresh or frozen. Other foods... DD loves leftovers rice/pasta with a drizzle of juices from main meal to flavour, or even just soy sauce and a few veggie sticks in with it. DS usually hates casserole type leftovers but is very happy with a butter and vegemite sandwich. And the third lunch is often just crackers and cheese with maybe a cherry tomato or snow pea or two. Another quick and easy is plain ricotta/cottage cheese to use as a dip. Kids are simple, and that often works best for lunches on all fronts - time, money, shopping and planning. All in 250ml decor containers... Oh, by the way my DD has had the same decor lunchbox since starting kindergarten 8 years ago. It would have taken her through high school but I put it down on a warm hotplate so it has a hole in it but she is determined to use it still! So buy a simple sturdy lunchbox new or secondhand.
- Contributed by Melanie Mackay
For brain breaks I send fruit that does not oxidize (go brown) quickly. Think oranges, melon pieces, granny smith apples last longer than other types, grapes, a few cherries or berries in with another fruit make a nice treat occasionally if you get them for a good price fresh or frozen. Other foods... DD loves leftovers rice/pasta with a drizzle of juices from main meal to flavour, or even just soy sauce and a few veggie sticks in with it. DS usually hates casserole type leftovers but is very happy with a butter and vegemite sandwich. And the third lunch is often just crackers and cheese with maybe a cherry tomato or snow pea or two. Another quick and easy is plain ricotta/cottage cheese to use as a dip. Kids are simple, and that often works best for lunches on all fronts - time, money, shopping and planning. All in 250ml decor containers... Oh, by the way my DD has had the same decor lunchbox since starting kindergarten 8 years ago. It would have taken her through high school but I put it down on a warm hotplate so it has a hole in it but she is determined to use it still! So buy a simple sturdy lunchbox new or secondhand.
- Contributed by Melanie Mackay
School Lunch Box Snacks
For school snacks I don't often buy pre-packed things as they are so expensive. Instead I give my kids things like a boiled egg, pretzels, a couple of microwaved poppadums, a homemade corn fritter, popcorn, corn thins with spread, fruit of course, hummus and crackers, homemade scone or pikelets, fruit cake, yoghurt with muesli sprinkled on top. I use "snack tubes" (from the Smash range of products) for school snacks. They are a good size for snacks and leak proof.
- Contributed by Rachel Cook
- Contributed by Rachel Cook
A Variety of Brain Foods
Our school has fairly strict rules about what constitutes brain food (mostly only fruit and vegetables are allowed) but as long as we vary it from day to day our kids will eat it all. Sometimes just cutting the fruit differently (shapes, or on a skewer or toothpick for fun) is enough. My kids love capsicum cut in complete rounds or fresh crunchy snow peas. For an occasional variation, plain air popped popcorn is also allowed at our school.
- Contributed by Sheridan Kraus
- Contributed by Sheridan Kraus
Exciting School Lunches
I recently invested in some reusable food pouches so I can make freezable snacks. They freeze really well and defrost in about 2-3 hours so perfect for morning tea or will last till lunch with an ice brick. They have a little spout so the kids just suck it out then you just wash and reuse. So far I've made fruit smoothies and the other day I just puréed some fruit and added yoghurt. The kids love the novelty of it and I know they are having cheap, healthy snacks.
- Contributed by Vanessa Wedge
- Contributed by Vanessa Wedge
Packing Interesting School Lunches
I am a second time around mum looking after my granddaughter full time. At 8 she is always hungry. For her lunches when hot I freeze a water bottle or one of those small drink cartons. She is over wraps this year so its sandwiches and home made muesli bars, fruit salad in a small container, plus her usual fruit, what ever is in season. I dry my own sultanas and fruit so I know she is getting the best. It is hard but I Googled up recipes for lunches and came up with different things for her to have. She also has a large water bottle and in winter she has a flask for warm milk.
- Contributed by Robyne Neal
- Contributed by Robyne Neal
Lunch Box Snacks
Ingredients:
1 pkt Milk Arrowroot Biscuits
1 tin condensed milk
desiccated coconut
Method: Crush the biscuits down as fine as you can in your food processor or mortar and pestle. Mix with the condensed milk to a consistency that is workable. Roll in to bite size balls. Roll in the coconut. Alternative - maybe finely crushed unsalted nuts. Great for partys! Add your favourite liquor for the adults version! Enjoy!
- Contributed by Kim Jelfs
1 pkt Milk Arrowroot Biscuits
1 tin condensed milk
desiccated coconut
Method: Crush the biscuits down as fine as you can in your food processor or mortar and pestle. Mix with the condensed milk to a consistency that is workable. Roll in to bite size balls. Roll in the coconut. Alternative - maybe finely crushed unsalted nuts. Great for partys! Add your favourite liquor for the adults version! Enjoy!
- Contributed by Kim Jelfs
Lunch Box Ideas
My kids have soft, insulated lunchbox bags and I use a few Lock N Lock containers to fit everything separately.
1 x square for sandwich/wrap/leftovers.
3 x small rectangles for healthy snack/muffin/fruit/biscuits, etc.
They put a small frozen ice pack/brick to keep everything fresh. We live in FNQ so it gets very hot!
Healthy Snack (Brain Food) - carrot sticks - cucumber sticks - grapes - apple cut into eighths - cheese sticks/squares (block cheese, cut yourself) - orange cut into wedges - corn cob (cooked the night before & cut in half)
Lunch - sandwich my kids generally have a sandwich every day, I just change the filling. I roast my own meat (lamb, pork, beef, chicken) slice it thinly, then freeze in portions to cover 2 days. Add whatever else they like to the sandwich - chutney, gravy, sauce, lettuce, cheese, etc. not usually tomato as it goes soggy. - leftover cold spag bog
Treats - homemade muffins, cake, biscuits - more sliced fruit - sultanas - occasionally a cream biscuit.
- Contributed by Karen Clarke
1 x square for sandwich/wrap/leftovers.
3 x small rectangles for healthy snack/muffin/fruit/biscuits, etc.
They put a small frozen ice pack/brick to keep everything fresh. We live in FNQ so it gets very hot!
Healthy Snack (Brain Food) - carrot sticks - cucumber sticks - grapes - apple cut into eighths - cheese sticks/squares (block cheese, cut yourself) - orange cut into wedges - corn cob (cooked the night before & cut in half)
Lunch - sandwich my kids generally have a sandwich every day, I just change the filling. I roast my own meat (lamb, pork, beef, chicken) slice it thinly, then freeze in portions to cover 2 days. Add whatever else they like to the sandwich - chutney, gravy, sauce, lettuce, cheese, etc. not usually tomato as it goes soggy. - leftover cold spag bog
Treats - homemade muffins, cake, biscuits - more sliced fruit - sultanas - occasionally a cream biscuit.
- Contributed by Karen Clarke
Brain Food
When I was at school we were asked to bring 'brain food' as well. My Mum would pop popcorn the night before and separate into equal containers. She used to take it to work as well. If you pop it on the stove in an old pot with tinfoil you need less than a tablespoon of oil and there's no need to add any after for flavour. (Just keep shaking the pot while it cooks!) Almonds always taste so much nicer roasted but instead of oven roasting, stick one serving (12-15 nuts) between two pieces of paper towel or napkin in the microwave for 15-25 seconds depending on your microwave. Yum!
- Contributed by Emily Steele
- Contributed by Emily Steele