Lunch Box Tips and Tricks. Hands up if you need them! If you know me, you know I’m not a morning person. I’m a night owl, so the thought of getting up at the crack of dawn (yes 6.30 am is the the crack of dawn) to make school lunches makes my skin crawl. If your like me, and lunches are the bane of your existence, then you have come to the right place. I’m going to lay out some tips, tricks and sneaky titbits to help you get through that school morning run just a little easier.
Firstly, a little organisation and planning goes a long way. I like to start the night before because hell, those extra 15 min in the morning are gold! I started this years ago, basically because I was working until 3-4 am and when I crawled semi-conscious out of the room in the morning, my brain refused to work! You now that ‘note’ app you have on your phone? Or ‘shopping list’ stuck on the fridge. Grab that. Sit for two minutes before you go to bed and write down what the kids will have for lunch the next day. Here’s my example. I have two kids so I break it up.
Both- Shepard’s pie, strawberries and raspberries, chopped carrot and cucumber, brownie
Ayrlie: yogurt
Benjamin: seaweed crackers
Man, this simple act makes the next morning 10 times easier. No more rummaging through cupboards and the back of the fridge for ideas! Tip: save this list! Every day, every week, the list adds up. Over time you have a great catalogue of ideas to refer back to. Let’s face it, it’s hard to come up with new things to feed them everyday. Below is a weeks worth of notes.
Now my kids are foodies, so I’m going to let you in on another secret weapon. Left overs!! Why cook twice when you can do dinner once and Bam! Instant school lunch. This is our number one tip. Kmart have hot thermos for food (See Here) for about $8. That way you can keep the food hot until lunch and it totally expands your repertoire of lunch options.
Things we have used this for include frozen fish, Shepard’s pie, Chicken nuggets, Fried rice, Mac and cheese, Chilli, Rice pudding, Quiche, Sausage rolls, Meat balls, Pizza, Scrambled eggs, Chicken curry, Beef Stroganoff.
The list goes on but you get the idea. Another planning tip is that if you are chopping vegetables for dinner, do an extra carrot, mushroom, cucumber or capsicum. Chop them into strips, divide them up and throw them into individual containers. Then you can just grab them straight out of the fridge and throw them in the lunchbox. If it’s the weekend and you have a bit of time up your sleeve, you may want to chop the whole weeks worth of vegetables. I do this as often as I can.
To help keep the veges fresh and crisp, place a piece of dry paper towel in the bottom of the container before you pop the veges in and pop a damp one on top. If will keep for a good 4-5 days.
In the lunch box, I always like to pack 5 things. A fruit snack, veggie snack, treat – be it home made banana bread, muffin or brownie, lunch and an extra eg, seaweed crackers, yogurt, baby bell cheese, chia seed pudding, protein ball etc..
I hope this helps make your morning run a little smoother and has given you some lunch box ideas too. Feel free to share some of your tips and tricks over on the Facebook Page. And let us know what else you would like to know about, what topics are you interested in? Recipes, homework, homeschooling, nothing is out of bounds. But most importantly mama, I hope you get to sleep in tomorrow morning knowing, you, got, this! 😘
