In These Stilettos

I think every single mum in the universe is constantly looking for new or different idea’s for their child’s lunch at school, I certainly know I do. This will be the first in a few series I’ll be doing on lunch box ideas for your kids. I am certainly not reinventing the wheel in any way, however my idea of thinking may be different to yours, so let’s help each other out with less thinking first thing in the morning 🙂

Forewarning on this post: Every mum has their strengths, I am NOT one of those mums who will lovingly roll up their child’s wraps and present them prettily in a lunch box. As much as I’m in awe of those images on my Pinterest feed, that is not my reality. The idea’s you will see here are easily accessible and quick to make.

By the age of 12 it was the rule in my house that I had to make my own lunch to take to school (a rule that I will be continuing on in my household). But I typically always remember my lunch consisting of a sandwich, a fruit and my water/ juice in a bottle. Simple. I would secretly look into my friend’s lunches who got boxed juices and treat sized chocolates in their lunch and feel a little envious, but guess what? I think I turned out ok?

The good news is these days we have so much more available to us to make lunches easier. A big factor for me however is budget. While they may be nice every once in a while, typically my boys will not get boxed drinks (sorry boys, water or cordial juice is just fine). I do rotate up fruit/ veg in their lunches, however the below boxes are typically representative of a “weekly” shop.

I hope these 7 lunches as inspire you the next time you wake up groggily in the morning and stumble into the fridge thinking of what to pack in your child’s lunch.

1. Morning Snack – Yoghurt, strawberries and Marie Biscuits. For Lunch – Chicken and Cheese quesadilla’s , a small packet of biltong, fruit roll up and raisins. I love these lunch bento boxes from Sistema , perfect for my kids as they prefer smaller “snack meals” as opposed to one large portion. Both the lunch box and Juice bottle were purchased from PicknPay.

2. For Morning Snacks – Strawberries and Almonds. For lunch – Penne Pesto Pasta, letter shaped crackers from Woolworths with a wedge of cheese and a few chocolate covered raisins as a treat. This is the Sistema Salad lunch box, which has the tray to sit above your “salad” or main dish.

3. I found this cute lunch box at Mr Price home for less that R100. Lunch box consists of a peanut butter and honey sandwich, strawberry yoghurt, cubes of cheese and tomato, pretzels and for the morning snack – yoghurt covered rice cakes, almonds and a dried fruit roll up.

4. Morning Snack – Yoghurt covered rice cakes and strips of biltong. Lunch – Cheese roll, an apple, yoghurt and carrot sticks. I chucked in a fruit stick of an additional snack as I can never tell with my 4-year-old, some days he literally eats me out of house and home!

5. Picnic style lunch – Morning snack of yoghurt covered rice cakes (we love these) and blueberries. Lunch of chicken breast, carrot and cucumber sticks together with crackers and cheese and an apple chucked in for good measure. This super cute stainless steel Eco Vessels drink container is available from woolworths and drinks stay cold for much longer.

6. For lunch – Chicken bites with a sachet of tomato sauce, carrot sticks and cucumber, an apple. For his morning snack – yoghurt covered rice cakes, fruit roll ups and dry Milo Cereal. (My boys love eating it dry). A homemade choc chip cookie for an additional snack if need be (though that may go first).

7. A selection of yoghurt covered rice cakes, white nectarine or popcorn for a morning snack and lunch consists of a mini pizza, biltong strips and blueberries. A few chocolate covered raisins as a snack.

The Sistema range has individual compartments that you can seal off or keep open in each lunch box, so it is ideal for these snack style lunches. I hope this post gave you a few idea’s, I’d love to hear any of your combinations.

Happy Back to School !