Is that question familiar to you?

I am very excited because boys are going back to school, back to their routines, but it stress me out when I think about their lunchboxes… I don’t know what to do? I would love to give them something different something more exciting.

Are you one of this mums who are overwhelmed about school, routines, lunchboxes, extra school activities and bedtime? Welcome I am one of them!

Every morning I have to prepare four, can you believe? So I decided to write this blog about nutritious lunch boxes for going back to school.

The lunchboxes play an important part in our kid’s health and life so we have to make sure to pack a lunchbox easy to make, nutritious, full of colours and attractive to our kid’s eyes.

I would like to share with you some tips to make your child lunchbox more interesting and healthier.

1. Involve your child

When you involve your child in the preparation you will reduce the chances that the lunch box come home with them at the end of the day.

Educate your child about making healthy food choices and involve them in the shopping decision.

2. Keeping food fresh and safe

Before preparing your child lunch box always wash your hands with warm soapy water and make sure all chopping boards are clean and dry. Perishable foods such as diary products, eggs, and sliced meats should be kept cool and eaten within four hours of the preparation.

3. To keep kids lunchboxes cool and safe put a frozen bottle of water in the lunchbox. When it’s time to eat, the drink will be icy cold and the food will be beautifully cool and safe to eat.

4.If you make lunch the night before keep it in the fridge overnight.

5.Use a none leak thermos to keep food like soup or pasta delicious and hot.

6.Made just for kids. Children generally want to eat quickly so they can go and play so try to make lunch food easy to manage and don’t make servings too large.

7.Cut bread into thin slices and cut sandwiches into small shapes to make them easy to handle.

Avoid messy food in the lunch box not only can leak but if it’s too challenging to eat your child simply won’t.

6. Stinky lunch

Stop sandwiches from getting too soggy by minimizing the spreads on sandwiches and removing seeds from tomatoes. The other option is to keep the fillings and bread separate and let your child create their own sandwich. Think about the tuna and egg, although they are fabulously healthy and convenient they have the potential of taint their food in the lunchbox.

7. Lunchboxes or lunch bags

Make sure that your child has a container that seals well to prevent any leaking but is easy to open to your child.

8. Wonderful water

Always make sure your child has plenty of water with them either their own water or always available wherever they are.

7. How much food to pack and what to pack?

This depends on how long they are at school. If kids are going to be more than six hours it is better to pack their morning tea plus their lunch plus something else to have on the bus If they catch the bus.

• Ideally 2 oz lean protein: turkey, chicken,chicken ham, beans, cheese, sausage or tuna.
• 1 or 2 tbsp healthy oils: olive oil, coconut oil, butter.
• 1 cup of raw veggies, like carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, olives, cucumber or peppers.
• 1 cup of wholegrains, like wrap, rice, couscous, quinoa, pasta, or 2 slices of wholeameal bread,potatoes.
• 2 portions of fruit.
• 1 portion of dairy like yogurt . You can put on the side a bag with cereals or muesli so the kids can mix it with the yogurt.

In the colder months a cup of soup will give you the veggie option plus the protein from last night dinner like chicken or mince meat and get your carbs by sprinkling in grains or enjoying a slice of warm wholegrain toast on the side.

• Dried fruits: Just if they are natural without additives or extra sugar.

Home baking

It can be used as a treat and the great thing is you control over the ingredients so you can make it as healthy and nutritious as you like.

Healthy muffins, scones, make a large quantity and freeze it will defrost during the day and have the benefit of keeping the lunchbox cool.

Other ideas:

Soups, breadsticks, crackers, healthy dips( hummus, babaganish, tuna, cold meats, tofu, fruit bread, hard liked eggs, or wraps.

Leftovers: Pizza, samosas, sliced of pizza, instead of sandwiches.

And these are some of my favourite lunchboxes ideas to start school.

If you have any idea or any other suggestion please feel free to share it with us.

With gratitude!

AndreaP