This blog hopefully will give you some more ideas on what to put in your kids lunchboxes.
I try to limit sugar and processed foods, because I believe my kids will learn and feel better at school eating real food. Things like store bought biscuits, muesli bars, flavoured yoghurts, processed cheese etc, contain very little real nourishment, loads of sugar and loads of inflammatory seed oils.
My 5 kids are aged between 17 & 4. So their lunchboxes do look different. And the older ones pretty much know what they want. Three of my five don’t eat that much at school. That used to worry me. But it doesn’t now because they all have a great breakfast (bacon & eggs usually!), a great afternoon tea (veggies, smoothie, home made goodies) and an excellent dinner. Below I have included photos of the brands I like. I’m not affiliated with any of them.
So here we go: (for high school they can have nuts. But primary school is nut free)
Master 17 – real cheese portions, olives in olive oil, beef slices or asian pork slices, yoghurt (the tamar valley one is the only no sugar option for kids or the yopro), 1-2 pieces of fruit, carrot, nuts, home made goodies
Ms 15 – a wrap with avocado, ham & tomato, 1-2 pieces of fruit, home made treat
Master 12 – a wrap with ham & cheese, veggies (capsicum sticks, carrot sticks), 1-2 pieces of fruit, popcorn or seeds, home made treat
Master 6 – a wrap with chicken breast & butter, a yoghurt, cheese stick, some strawberries or blueberries (today he took left over meatballs)
Master 4 – salami or ham, veggies sticks (capsicum, cherry tomatoes, carrot), cheese slice, blueberries
If you want to give your kids a processed treat like chips, the best ones to chose are the unflavoured ones. Once you add flavour, you add sugar. Check it out yourself next time you’re at the shops. Plain chips have little sugar, and are cooked in an oil that is ok. Flavoured ones have a huge amount of sugar. Other good options are plain popcorn or pretzels.
The wraps I buy are these Mountain Rye ones. They do not contain any seed oils, sugar or additives like all the others. Always check the label as there is a huge difference between brands.