Every year at back to school time, I have wonderful plans to give my kids nutritious, healthy, interesting school lunches, and every year, after literally one week, we’re back to cheese sandwiches. This year it’s going to be different (no really, I mean it) - I’m determined to find a good balance between effort (mine) and enjoyment (theirs).
So if like me, you don’t have time for Bento boxes or homemade quiche, but want your kids to eat what you send in, here are some tips to make school lunches more interesting and less of a chore – for the makers as well as the eaters.
If YOU wouldn’t eat it…
…they probably won’t either. I used to send strawberries and raspberries in my daughter’s lunchbox, packed in a silicone cupcake case. And day after day, they arrived back home uneaten. “They’re warm and mushy by the time I open them,” she told me eventually, and I realised then that I probably wouldn’t eat them either. So we agreed that I won’t put berries in her lunchbox anymore, and she eats them when she comes in from school instead. And really, it doesn’t matter when or where she eats the fruit as long as she eats the fruit.
The advance prep
Even something as simple as washing fruit as soon as we buy it makes a big difference in our house – it’s easy then to pack into lunchboxes, and the process is less of a chore overall. Keep bread rolls in the freezer in case you’re stuck, and stock up on longer-life staples like wraps, rice cakes, crackers and pitta pockets.
If you’re doing a Sunday roast, put a chicken in the oven too, and use it for sandwiches on Monday. Keep an emergency packet of ham in the fridge for when you run out of fresh fillings. If you’re making carrots for dinner, set aside some raw sticks to put in a lunchbox the following day.
Make it easy for the kids
Smaller kids – and even bigger kids – can have difficulty with yoghurts at school, so perhaps keep them for home. For younger children, peel oranges and mandarins before putting them in lunchboxes, and don’t send in bananas until they know how to peel them unaided – no teacher wants to peel 30 bananas every lunchtime!
Deconstructed sandwiches
One of my daughters likes sandwiches at home, but doesn’t like how they taste at school. We worked out a solution – she brings in a wrap, some chunks of cheddar and a few cherry tomatoes, then puts it all together herself at school. She says it tastes better, and I don’t see uneaten food coming home every day, so everyone is happy.
Use leftovers
I almost always (unintentionally) cook too much pasta at dinnertime, but the leftovers work well as a lunchbox salad the next day, with some diced ham or pesto stirred through.
Another popular leftover in our house is Fish Finger Mini Wraps – they love them for tea the night before, and I (intentionally this time) usually make extra so they can bring them to school too.
Aim for balance, but be realistic
Ideally, lunches should include something starchy (like bread, bagel, wrap or crackers) some protein, some dairy, plus fruit and/ or veg. But depending on your child’s tastes, your available time, and the contents of your fridge, it may not be possible to meet this ideal every day.
So aim for it, but don’t panic if you can’t manage it. As long as they’re getting a general balance between home and school, that’s good enough.
