As the kids are back at school next week, I thought I would team up with the wonderful Laura Matthews Nutrition again to share some more ideas and inspiration for what exactly to put in those daunting lunch boxes. Most of these ideas should even be perfect packed lunch options for mini fussy eaters too!
Laura and I teamed up before and we’ve written blogs which include tips on Healthy Packed Lunches For Children and What does Good Nursery Food Look Like and now we’re sharing some extra lunchbox inspo to help you on your way to settling them back into school.
Raffy’s Lunchboxes
Raffy’s been having lunch boxes at nursery pretty much since the start of covid and I’ve been a bit rubbish at sharing them – mainly because they are always bish bash bosh and chucked in from the fridge depending on what leftovers we have (I’m not organised like Laura!). However, adding the little extras with napkins, little messages and a toddler fork can help them to get a bit more excited about opening them. I’ve also included a lot of store cupboard options too to make his packed lunches just that little easier.
Raffy’s lunchboxes this week:
Tuna mayo (I used yogurt) and sweetcorn wraps
A veggie pot with chopped tomatoes, peppers and some extra sweetcorn
A couple of mini figs and a tangerine
A hard boiled free range egg
He also had some fortified oat milk (he keeps it at nursery) as he’s still off certain dairy.
Carrot and lentil soup
Crusty bread
½ a pepper (Raffy loves eating it whole)
A porridge muffin
A kiwi
A yogurt pot
Water
Marmite crackers
Peas and an egg protein pot
Porridge Muffins based on my carrot cake porridge recipe with carrot and cinnamon
Cucumber chunks
Cheese and apple (with a few drops of lemon for freshness) slices
Oat milk and water at nursery.
I made sure that he always had an ice pack in the top and bottom of the lunch box to keep things cool, especially when he has egg and tuna. He also always takes a bottle of water in each day too.
I’ve also added a napkin and a fork and a little message from mummy to make it a little more special.
Elliott’s lunchboxes
Laura has focused on using store cupboard staples for Elliott’s lunchbox ideas to make it easy and cheap for parents to put these balanced ideas together. If you’re running low on fresh produce it’s so handy to still be able to pull a packed lunch together when your cupboards are well stocked! Think pasta, couscous, crackers/oatcakes, dried fruit and tinned foods such as beans or fruit (in juice).
3 bean tinned mixed salad (with no added salt) (cannellini, adzuki & flageolet beans)
Mini shell pasta & basil with a lemon juice & olive oil dressing
Dried apricots (chopped)
Cherry tomatoes (chopped)
Cheddar cheese (sliced)
Tinned salmon
Herby couscous (made using frozen parsley) in a lemon juice & olive oil dressing
Orange slices (or you could use tinned mandarins in juice)
Cucumber sticks
A pot of plain yoghurt
Chickpea houmous
Oatcakes
Kiwi fruit
Pepper slices
A pot of plain yoghurt
To make life easy for ourselves try to decant food straight into containers where possible to make the packed lunch operation quick! So, make sure you’ve got leakproof, reusable containers that little ones can open easily.
A sandwich, with a side of fruit, yoghurt and a drink of water is a perfectly balanced lunch. If you know that’s what your child will enjoy, and will keep them satisfied throughout the school day, then that’s absolutely fine!
- Pesto pasta with side of peas, chopped dried fruit & pot of yoghurt
- Tuna & sweetcorn sandwich with cucumber sticks, grated cheese
- Pitta bread with chicken strips, yoghurt/cucumber dip, fruit
- Savoury pancakes/fritters with satsuma, – try my carrot and sweetcorn fritters, courgette fritters or spinach fritters with hummus, pot of peas & chopped dried fruit
- Veggie muffins (these are great to make in bulk and add into lunch boxes easily), pot of mixed fruit, crackers and milk
- Wrap with avocado and cream cheese, pumpkin seeds, chopped melon and breadsticks
- Rice “salad” with cucumber, tomatoes, sweetcorn and cheese with oatcakes and mixed berries and yoghurt
- Bagel with “smashed chickpea” / hummus OR chicken & mayo topping with pepper sticks, banana and mini muffin
- Couscous with chicken and sweetcorn, cooked sweet potato wedges, yoghurt and fruit bar
- Falafel or meatballs with tzatziki style dip, pepper sticks, pitta fingers and fruit
- Cooked cubed potatoes with grated cheese, cucumber, tomato, raisins and mini muffin/flapjack
- Pasta salad with mixed cooked veg (e.g. frozen veg mix or peppers, tomato and courgette), banana, handful of seeds/crisps and milk to drink
- Easy enchiladas/quesadillas with fruit salad, oatcakes or oat bar – you can try a variation of this enchilada recipe or experiment with easy fillings – e.g. quickly fry off some beans/chicken with tomato paste and cheese
- Tofu fingers with cold noodle salad, cucumber, chopped grapes and crackers
- Pitta pizzas with fruit/chopped dried fruit and blueberry muffin
We hope these ideas are super helpful for some easy kids lunch box ideas for Back to School next week!