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    Home » pondering

    By Amanda Smyth Leave a Comment

    lunch box ideas

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    Tomorrow the Little Sister starts kindy. I've been through this once before, but that's no guarantee I won't shed a tear as I walk out the gate tomorrow morning.

    The first day of kindy (and school on Wednesday) means a return to routine and to packing school lunches. So (after a few requests from readers) here's a few lunch box ideas that might just get eaten!

    When I pack the girls' lunches I use a simple formula:

    1 protein + 1 dairy + 1 fruit + 2 veggies + 1 sweet treat = lunch box

    Not calculus, but it's a good rule of thumb for making sure that the lunches I pack are fuel for learning.

    handy lunchbox reference guide

    Lunch box ideas to fuel learning:

    protein

    • sandwiches with protein fillings - ham, chicken, tuna, eggs, cheese
    • wraps with protein fillings - ham, chicken, tuna, eggs, cheese
    • baked beans
    • savoury muffins
    • mini quiches
    • bacon and cheese wheels
    • hard boiled eggs
    • frittata

    dairy

    • yoghurt (frozen or to be eaten at first break)
    • cheese sticks. The pre-packaged sticks can be expensive, but you can cut your own from a block of cheese and wrap them in foil.  They keep for a week in the fridge, so I do a week's worth on Monday morning.

    fruit

    • apples
    • pears
    • mandarins
    • grapes
    • bananas. Bananas don't fit into many lunch boxes. I pack them separately and label them (or write a 'secret' message in the skin) using a skewer. The air reacts with the peel and your writing becomes visible after a few minutes.
    • mini pears

    vegetables

    • snow peas
    • cucumbers (and mini cucumbers for novelty)
    • cherry tomatoes
    • carrot sticks (cooked if your day care doesn't allow raw carrots)
    • corn

    sweat treat

    • chips
    • rice crackers
    • dry cereal
    • sultanas
    • cake
    • nut bars (if your school allows nuts)
    • muesli bars
    • biscuits
    • brownies
    • popcorn
    • trail mix (choose a seeds only option for nut-free schools)

    I'll be thinking of all the mums farewelling their babies tomorrow. I hope you find someone to give you a cuddle and hand you a cuppa. The time flies between drop off and pick up, I promise. x

    a question for the seasoned lunch box packers:

    what do your kids eat first?
    what always comes home uneaten?

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    Share53
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