Whether it’s school holidays, or school time, lunch boxes and snack boxes are always in full use. Since you’re a part of our community, you’re probably well-aware that the food we eat directly impacts our health, concentration, and mood… so we’ve put together a few lunchbox options to choose from. You may need to adapt these for the age of your child, as well as their eating or dietary preferences, but we hope to provide you with some ideas for this next school term.
Firstly, we like to make sure we’re including all the macro nutrients into the lunchbox – Carbohydrates, Fats and Proteins. This assists with blood sugar balance, and provides the necessary fuel required for growing bodies and growing minds.
The All Things Earthly List of Lunchbox Ideas
- Sandwiches made with freshly baked bread or In The Pink allergen-friendly bread. Fill with nut butter (if the school allows it), mashed avocado, Rhino Foodz veggie spread, or slices of preservative free cheese.
- Veggie sticks with hummus or Aramoun dip is a fun way to pack in nutrients. Try cucumber, peppers, baby tomatoes and carrots.
- Trail Mix is a tasty and energy-dense addition. A combination of nuts and dried fruits provides a balanced source of fats and carbohydrates and a moderate amount of protein. The most cost-effective way of making a trail mix is to buy a few ingredients in bulk and mix your own at home.
- Fruits with nut or seed butter dips. Pick any fruits your child enjoys, like bananas, apples, berries, strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, grapes. Add a teaspoon of nut butter to a small container for dipping.
- Rice cracker or corn crackers with slices of cheese or dips of choice.
- Preservative free cheeses from our store. Cut into cubes or blocks for convenience.
- Toothpick sticks of cheese, baby tomatoes and cucumber (for the older kids).
- Home Made muffins from Mila’s Meals cookbook or find the recipes on our website.
- Dried Fruit like mango, pears, and peaches. Opt for sulphur-free if available.
- Homemade date balls. There are many recipes to choose from, try adding a nut or seed butter to improve the protein content.
- Preservative free biltong, droewors and cold meats
- Boiled eggs. Remember to peel them before school to avoid the extra mess.
- Outcast flapjacks or falafels are a sure way to win the kids over while packing in the nutrients.
- Perhaps this should be top of the list, but here we are – don’t forget to provide lots of water and perhaps a juice of choice. The Juice Revolution offers a fresh juice and a kiddies range for convenience.
Sometimes the schools ask you to pack a little something special for an occasion, or perhaps you’re on a school holiday outing and wish to spoil the little ones… here are some Special Occasions treats that are truly delicious without compromising health or sending them into a sugar craze.
- Farm World dried fruit rolls or sticks
- Grumpy Snacks roasted chickpeas
- Nanuki bars
We hope we’ve provided some inspiration for you… if you feel we have left anything off (and we certainly have), we would love to hear from you. Pop us your ideas and we’ll add them to the list and to our own kids’ lunchboxes. As Moms, we truly understand the struggle of keeping lunchboxes fun and innovative, while remaining healthy and nourishing.
