Have you ever run out of lunch box ideas for your kids, or for yourself? When you're faced with the task of packing lunch boxes, day in, day out, it's no wonder that by the end of the term or semester, you're starting to experience Lunch Box Burn Out.
Yes, if you've reached the stage where your kids' sandwiches are filled with cheese-and-lettuce, cheese-and-cucumber, cheese-and-cheese, lettuce-and-cucumber, it's time for a rethink. Even if your children put up with the monotony, they won't be happy, so make a new start and rustle up an interesting and healthy lunch box.
To brainstorm some great lunch box ideas, I asked my kids what they’d like to find in their boxes. This is what they told me they’d love – and what they definitely DON’T want. I hope it sparks some inspiration for you.
Lunch Box Ideas - Not Just for Kids
Use different kinds of bread, not just wholemeal. To stay on the right side of healthy, serve white bread just once a week, and make it the type that has seeds on the crust.
Sandwiches are boring if you have them every day. Experiment with ciabatta rolls, focaccio, wraps, little rolls, baguettes.
Top picks from the sandwich filling wish list: goat’s cheese with lettuce; bacon and avocado (use lean, organic back bacon, cut off any big bits of fat and grill or cook in medium oven for 10 mins, mop off excess fat with kitchen towels); egg mayo and cress.
NEVER put cucumber in sandwiches – ‘it goes slimey’.
For an unusual veggie sandwich filling, slice large, flat mushrooms, sprinkle with herbs and drizzle with olive oil and roast in a medium oven for 10-15 minutes until nicely browned (keep an eye on them, they shrivel if left for too long). Allow to cool. The flavour is surprisingly meaty, and even better if the bread is spread lightly with pesto.
More healthy fillings: Caesar wraps – chicken and bacon and salad, or chicken satay wraps.
Sun-dried tomato bread or olive bread, filled with ham and lettuce, or served without filling but with a chunk of cheese to eat alongside.
Two fillings are better than one – lean ham and cheese is really popular.
Sausage sandwiches – mmmmmm. Bake, broil or grill the sausages the night before and blot with kitchen paper to remove excess fat. Add gherkins or pickle, or mustard (and salad of course).
Instead of bread, try little pots of pasta or rice salad, or pots of sliced salad veggies – more interesting than putting them into the sandwiches.
Serve a portion of any pasta dish you would eat for supper. Kids often enjoy it cold next day for lunch.
Bake large potatoes in a hot oven for 1 hr. Halve, scoop out the flesh, mix with canned tuna and grated cheese. Pile back in the skins and crisp in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool and, voila, a perfectly packable lunch.
Cold chicken casserole, or any other stewed dish. Cold dishes should be packed with small ice packs, or stored in a fridge until lunch time.
Having a great list of goodies is just the first step towards bucking up your lunch box ideas. If your mind often goes a horrible blank when you're actually in the shop, trying to think what to buy, and all you can bring to mind is cheese-and-lettuce...here's a memory-jogger list to carry with you, or to pin up where you keep your shopping reminders.
Store cupboard - stock up on these
Olives
Dried fruits
Nuts (if your school allows them) and seeds for scattering in salads or serving as snacks
Corn cakes, oat cakes, rice cakes, bread sticks
Canned tuna, sardines, mackerel and salmon
Canned pulses to add to salads
Canned sweetcorn - add to tuna for sandwich filling
For the freezer - buy or make fresh, then use immediately or freeze until needed
Different types of bread. Freeze as they are, or fill them and then freeze. Don't add any salads at this stage, as they'll collapse when thawed. Take sandwiches or filled rolls out of the freezer in the morning, and they'll be thawed by lunchtime. Send salad veggies along separately.
Cakes. Make batches of small cakes and freeze half a dozen while they're still fresh. Wrap individually and freeze in a plastic box.
Sandwich fillings such as thinly sliced ham, smoked salmon, grated cheese, cooked chicken. Freeze sliced leftovers from a roast chicken to use as sandwich fillings.
Portions of cooked dishes - pasta or casseroles - packed into containers which can be taken to office or school. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Remember to pack a spoon or fork.
Buy fresh
Salad vegetables - lettuce or other leaves such as spinach, watercress, cabbage. Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumber, celery (serve in sticks as finger food), spring onions (scallions). Pack a generous portion of salad daily.
Fruit - apples, pears, bananas, citrus (easy-peel are best), or cut-up pineapple, melon or mango packed in a small pot, likewise whole strawberries, raspberries, blueberries.
If you just try one of these different lunch box ideas this week, you'll break the pattern of boring lunches. Bon appetit!
