A hot lunch on a wintery day is like a big warm, welcome hug for our kids when they need some comfort from the cold.

I’m often asked how to keep the food hot until lunchtime.

Well, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Boil the kettle and then pour the water into the insulated jar, be sure to pop the lids on
2. Heat up the food
3. Pour out the hot water  add the warmed up food into the container, then pop the lid on immediately.

Here are my fave insulated jars which have lasted years. Note, I got these when my kids were a bit older hence the understated silver and black vibe. Biome sell lots of other types and colours which might appeal to a younger crowd:

Thermos 450ml Wide Mouth Food Jar with Folding Spoon
In these containers I pack soups, pastas, any hot meals and also cold salads.

Kleen Kanteen TKCanister with insulated lid 8oz 237ml

I like this smaller size option to keep things warm like the chicken nuggets or smaller serves of things like soup, stew, pasta and even dumplings. They’re also great to keep things cool like yoghurt, granola and fruit, overnight oats.

10 WARM AND HOT LUNCH RECIPES

SOUP – Serve the kids their favourite soup and some bread for dipping. Find my super easy Pumpkin and Root Vegetable Soup here.

Or Spinach Lentil and Lemon Soup here.

CHICKEN NUGGETS – The morning of packing kids lunches, put some nuggets in the oven, pop into a thermos and send to school with a little tub of tomato sauce. Here’s the recipe.

PORRIDGE – Porridge is comfort food to the max, especially in the winter time. Oats are rich in the B-complex vitamins which help convert our food into fuel, keeping our bodies energised throughout the day and help us have great hair and skin. Just stir through some fruit like stewed apples. blueberries or strawberries. Find my recipe for pimped up oat porridge here.

Or Spiced Quinoa Porridge here if you’re gluten free.

CASSEROLE – Filled with chunky meat and vegetables, you guys have written to tell me how much you love my Easy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole. Here’s the recipe.

CRUMBLE – Warm up some leftover Pear and Ginger Crumble in the oven and pop into thermoses for a cosy and warming  recess or lunch. Find the recipe here. 

BAKES– Simply heat up some of this Creamy Cauliflower and Bacon Bake with some spelt pasta, pack with a fork  and voila, kids will be begging for more! Grab the recipe here.

Or this Slow Cooked Lamb Shank and Pearl Barley Soup

RICE – One of our favourite meals, Mjaddra (otherwise known as lentils and rice) derives from Lebanon. This humble dish packs a punch of flavour and can simple mixed together when heated up and just add a side of vegetable stick to munch on. Find the recipe here. 

OTHER HOT MEAL IDEAS WHICH YOU CAN FIND IN MY EASY, WHOLEFOOD LUNCHBOXES RECIPE EBOOK

Curried Lentil and Vegetable Sausage Rolls

Creamy Bacon Pasta Bake

Kale and Cannellini Bean Minestrone

If you’re looking for some sweet as well as savoury recipe inspiration, take a look at my new recipe ebook which is getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

While you’re here, take a look at The Best Kids Lunchboxes for Kids(and the whole family), 10 Savoury School Lunchbox Ideas and 17 Sweet and Easy Lunchbox recipes.

Bren x

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As a passionate home cook I’m all for the two- in- one dish. Life is full so I’m always looking for ways to save time, money and hassle.

Which means I’m all about making meals that can be cooked up one night for dinner, or prepped on the weekend, then packed for lunch boxes the next day, such as this recipe for Spicy Pork and Vegetable Nasi Goreng.

I love recipes like this which are just as delicious served hot or cold. I would suggest replacing the fried egg with a hard boiled egg for the lunchbox. Or you can leave the egg out entirely and still have a nourishing meal on hand. Oh, and remember to pick out the cashews to ensure it’s nut-free.

For more two-in-one dish inspiration take a look at the recipes in my Easy Wholefood Lunchbox eBook. All the savoury recipes can be made for dinner and doubled up, so for days afterwards you’ll have extra portions handy to throw into lunchboxes like a true lunchbox Ninja 🙂

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Extra virgin olive  oil
Tamari
Dry roasted cashews

Print

Spicy Pork & Vegetable Nasi Goreng

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 6

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Extra Virgin olive oil
• 3 Spring onions chopped
• 500 grams pork mince - or you can use chicken or beef mince
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 tablespoon peeled and grated ginger root
• 1-2 red chillis deseeded and chopped (optional)
• 3 large kale leaves chopped (around 2 cups)
• 1 small zucchini chopped
• 4 large mushrooms chopped (around 1 1/4 cups)
• 3 tablespoons tamari
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1/2 cup dry roasted cashews or peanuts - I just pop them raw into a hot oven for 5 minutes or until slightly golden.
• 4 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped
• Lemon or lime wedges for serving
• 2 cups basmati rice cooked as per packet instructions
• Butter or ghee
• 4 eggs

Instructions

• Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and saute spring onion for a few minutes.
• Add pork and break apart with a large spoon. Cook until browned, around 10 minutes.
• Add garlic, ginger and chilli. Saute for a couple of minutes.
• Add kale, zucchini and mushrooms, tamari and mirin and continue to saute for a few more minutes.
• Add cashews and stir to heat through.
• While pork and vegetable mix is cooking, remember to cook the rice.
• Towards the end of cooking pop butter or ghee into medium fry pan and fry the eggs, leaving the yolk runny if possible so it can ooze out all over the pork and rice.
• On a plate or in a bowl serve the rice with pork and vegetable mix with the friedegg on top. Sprinkle with lots of fresh coriander and serve with a lemon or lime wedge.

Notes

The beauty of this dish is that it's very forgiving. You can use pork, chicken or beef mince, or any variety of vegetables you like and might have in the fridge,  like carrot, capsicum, peas, bean sprouts ...

And remember, if you haven’t already, you can grab your copy of Easy Wholefood Luncbboxes here.

Bren x

I love filling my kids lunchboxes with fresh recipes and giving them something to look forward to at school at midday.

And it makes it all worthwhile when I hear my children say “I’m always excited to see what you’ve packed for my lunch, Mum!”

As a passionate home cook who believes in cooking simple recipes from scratch, I love creating tasty, nutritious recipes for my family and to share them with other parents.

As a mum, I relish the opportunity to nourish my children with home-cooked food, which means avoiding damaging additives like artificial flavours, preservatives, trans fats, and the refined sweeteners that are so common in processed, packaged food.

The 40 recipes in my Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes ebook are designed to be prepared and cooked in advance.

Most of them can be made for dinner and doubled up, so for days afterwards you’ll have extra portions handy to throw into lunchboxes like a true lunchbox Ninja 🙂

It’s also amazing what goodies a Sunday sesh of a couple of hours can produce!

This recipe ebook is an ‘homage’ to kids everywhere who love eating, and who look forward to exciting and diverse lunches.

With over 200 lunchboxes to tackle every year (!), Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes was also created for the parents dreaming up a constant supply of delicious options  to keep their children happy and satisfied, while ensuring they are receiving vital nutrients as they grow physically, emotionally and intellectually.

The Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes eBook is split into 3 sections

1. My recommended lunch boxes, containers, drink bottles; my easy lunchbox system; and preferred ingredients
2. 20 sweet recipes
3. 20 savoury recipes

Plus a gorgeous photography to accompany each recipe.

I hope you’ll be inspired to create the simple, delicious recipes full of wholesome, real-food ingredients in your own home, helping your children to thrive and nourishing the whole family.

Enjoy these Raspberry Coconut Squares which is one of my kids’s favourite recipes included in the ebook.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Rapadura sugar
Vanilla powder
Milk
White spelt flour
Desiccated coconut
Baking powder
Sea salt
Shredded coconut

Print

Raspberry Coconut Squares

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 250 grams butter softened
• ½ cup rapadura sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup milk of your choice
• 1 ½ cups white spelt flour
• 1 ½ cups wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ cup raspberry jam I use St Dalfours
• 1 – 2 cups frozen raspberries
• ¼ cup shredded coconut

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a square pan 20cm x 20cm pan with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on high until pale and creamy (around 2 - 3 minutes).
• Beat in egg, one at a time.
• Add vanilla and milk and stir.
• Combine white flour, wholemeal flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder and sea salt in a seperate bowl, add to the creamed mixture and fold in well.
• Place half the batter into the prepared tin and flatten using a wet butter knife.
• Spread the jam evenly over the base, then using wet butter knife carefully spread the remaining batter over the jam layer.
• Press the raspberries into the top of the batter and sprinkle generously with shredded coconut.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before
• cutting into squares. Store in airtight container for 4 days.

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

And they couldn’t get enough of them in their lunch boxes so lucky the recipe makes a huge batch!

You can easily make your own jam, or I used St Dalfour’s Strawberry Fruit Spread which has only strawberries (55%), grape juice concentrate, fruit pectin and lemon juice, while many of other jams or fruit spreads on the market contain additives, colours and other nasties.

I’ve made these biscuits in cooking lessons with kids  and they have absolutely loved making them, putting in their finger print and filling the hole up with jam! So recruit your kids to give a hand when making these delightful little morsels of joy!

Are you following me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest?

Have you signed up to my FREE BREAKFAST EBOOK HERE to get on my mailing list and have free recipe updates and special offers delivered to your inbox.

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes. It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to make your kids for lunch!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Rolled oats
Rapadura or coconut sugar or brown rice syrup
Vanilla powder
Spelt flour
Desiccated coconut or almond meal
Baking powder

Print

Jam Drops

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 125 grams softened butter
• 1/2 cup rapadura or coconut sugar or brown rice syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup spelt flour wholemeal or white
• 1 cup desiccated coconut or almond meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powderJam or fruit spread

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
• Grease and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
• Process oats in a food processor until it's a fine flour
• Cream butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy (approx 3-5 minutes), add egg, beat until just combined.
• Add oat flour, spelt flour, desiccated coconut (or almond meal), baking powder and stir until just combined. Pop dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Drop tablespoons of cookie dough into your hand and roll into a ball, then place onto the baking sheet around 4cm apart. With clean hands, use your pointer finger or thumb to gently make a hole in the middle of each cookie.
• Using a teaspoon, spoon a small amount of jam into each hole, pop into the oven and bake for around 10 - 15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
• Allow them to cool and set on the trays then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

Add in an extra egg if your mixture is too dry.

I popped the jam drops into the kids lunch boxes as a healthy treat along with their favourite mini-quiche recipe, I was guaranteed lunch would be eaten that day!

If you know someone who could use some lunch box inspo, please share this recipe with them!

And please take photos and send them to me, or if you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek

You might also like these Ginger Cardamon Molasses Cookie Hearts or Chai Date and Sesame Biscuits.

This week I threw together this tasty Potato and Zucchini Slice for lunch and it was massive tasty hit for the whole family! Make a double batch and voila, you have lunchboxes set for the next day!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my popular ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes. It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch! 

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Spelt flour or gluten-free flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Dried rosemary

Print

Potato and Zucchini Slice

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 10

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini grated and moisture squeezed out
• 6 cooked chat potatoes skin removed and cubed (slice some for the top) OR 2 medium raw potatoes, peeled, grated and moisture squeezed out
• 1 cup parmesan grated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
• 6 eggs lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup spelt flour or gluten-free flour
• ½ cup butter melted
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Grease and line a 20 cm x 20 cm baking tin
• Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
• Pour into the baking tin, pop slices of potato on the top, brush with olive oil and sprinkle over rosemary.
• Bake for 30 – 35 mins until golden or when eggs are firm.
• Serve with your favourite salad or cut up vegetables

Notes

This slice would be dee-lish with some chopped ham or chopped cooked bacon!

I love seeing you create my recipes, so please send me your photos.  And if you share on social please tag me on instagram @brendajanschek or facebook.

Other recipes you might also like are my Mini Quiches and Healthy Lasagna.

Bren x

….enter kids and it seems anything that involves dough and a rolling pin is total bliss for them!

So here we are, Quiche Lorraine with Kale, totally made from scratch by my 11 yr old daughter under my guidance and on high rotation here due to the YUM factor. And what’d ya know, it’s so easy and quick to make. Especially the pastry!

Our pastry edges clearly need some work, but that can be our next challenge.

Btw, on the occasions I just can’t be bothered making the pastry, I use Pampas Butter Pastry or Careme Pastry instead.

And if you’re clever you’ll make a double batch and pop slices into your kid’s lunchboxes  for the week and not have to think about what to make again!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my recipe ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes, packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

Print

Quiche Lorraine with Kale

Servings 6

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 200 grams spelt flour
• 100 grams butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 60 grams chilled water
• 200 grams bacon or ham chopped
• 200 grams cheddar cheese grated
• 7 eggs
• 200 grams pouring cream
• 2 cups kale finely chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• pinch ground nutmeg

Instructions

• Pop flour into a large bowl, add butter and rub together until resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in salt, then add 2-3 tablespoons of water and mix till a firm consistency.
• Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface then pop in the fridge to chill for around 15 minutes.
• While dough is resting in the fridge, grease a 25cm flan tin and preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
• Beat eggs together then add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and add cheese and stir through.
• Remove dough from fridge and roll out to 1cm thickness and line the pastry in the flan tin.
• Prick the base using a fork, cover with baking paper, pop on some pie weights or beans, and blind bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
• Once cooked remove from oven and remove baking paper, pie weights or beans.
• Lower oven temperature to 180 degrees C.
• Spread base of pastry with chopped bacon, then pop in the kale and pour over the egg mixture.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and firm.

Notes

This is delicious served with a big garden salad and makes a great lunchbox leftover.
For a sharper flavour so a mix of cheddar, parmesan and Romano cheeses, so good!

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

Other recipes you might like are Egg Muffins and Potato,Feta and Spinach Frittata.

Bren x

With the fullness of life there seems to be less opportunity for good, focused one-on-one time with the kids. But when the opportunity arises, I love nothing more than snuggling up with them on the lounge, looking through recipe books for inspiration, and creating recipes together based on their favourite flavours before heading into the kitchen to test them out.

As the high school workload steals my son away from the kitchen, my daughter has stepped up and staked her place in there with me as well.

She was the inspiration behind this latest recipe. Highly focused on using her favourite flavours as the base for the biscuits, and no doubt instinctively following the colder season by her choice of warming spices and flavours, the Ginger, Cardamon & Molasses Cookie Hearts were born. She’s thrilled to see her name credited on the recipe too!

The ingredients are super-warming and packed full of goodness…

Ginger – great for digestion, anti-inflammatory, and helps with coughs and colds.

Cardamon – helps with coughs and colds, sore throats, eases gastrointestinal disorders, while being good for digestion and metabolism.

Molasses – contains vital vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, B6 and selenium.

These Cookie Hearts are a hit with our whole family, and have become a staple in the kids’ lunch boxes. We hope you love them too.

Print

Ginger, Cardamon, Molasses Cookie Hearts

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Author Brenda and Yasmeen Janschek

Ingredients

• 175 grams stoneground wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt flour
• 175 grams white spelt flour
• 110 grams rapadura sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon cardamon ground
• 100 grams cold butter
• 3 cm piece root ginger peeled and finely grated
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 50 grams molasses

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
• Line two trays with baking paper. I prefer to use If You Care brand
• Sift flour and bicarb into a mixing bowl and add sugar, ginger and cardamon. Stir well.
• Chop in the cold butter and rub into the dry mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Mix the egg and molasses and grated ginger together in a bowl.
• Pour into the dry mixture and stir through, then continue to mix with your hands until it forms a stiff dough.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to approx 1/2 cm and cut out desired biscuit shapes using a cookie cutter and place on trays.
• Place trays in the oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly cooked. Turning trays half way through.
• Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack

Notes

Perfect for lunchboxes or with a cuppa for afternoon tea.

Bren x

Raspberries, yoghurt, dates and coconut – just a few of my kids favourite things!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Coconut Oil
Dates
Coconut flakes
Coconut flour
Himalayan rock salt
Vanilla powder

Print

Raspberry Swirl Slice

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Berleena Eberle for Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Base
• 2 tbsn butter slightly melted
• 1 tbsn coconut oil
• 6 dates seeds removed
• 3/4 cup coconut flakes
• ½ cup coconut flour
• Pinch of himalayan rock salt to taste
• Topping
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• 1 egg
• ½ tpsn vanilla powder
• 1 cup frozen organic raspberries

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees in a fan forced oven. Grease a medium slice dish.
• To make the base, place the dates and butter in a food processor to form a paste then add the coconut flakes, flour and salt to create soft crumbs. The crumbs should stick together easily when you squeeze together.
• Pour the base into the dish and press evenly into the dish, creating a mould 1-2cm up the sides.
• To make the topping, clean the processor and whiz together the yogurt, coconut flour, egg and vanilla powder. Remove blade and gently fold in the raspberries.
• Pour topping into base then place in oven for 10-15 mins or until lightly golden on top and the middle is set.
• Allow slice to cool then refrigerate to help it set. Cut into 10 squares then store back in the fridge.

Notes

Ensure slice is kept cool for kids lunchboxes.

I love seeing the pictures of when you make my recipes, so please share them on my Facebook page or Instagram and tag #bjhealthandlifestyle

Berleena has been the wonderful recipe developer helping me create a series of delicious recipes, here’s a bit more about her…

Berleena Eberle — Food Mindset Coach
Berleena specialises in helping her clients develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. Her clients know how to deal with food triggers, let go of guilt, identify cravings and make healthy eating simple again with nutrient-rich, real food. Berleena strips back nutritional confusion to develop an intuitive eating approach.

You can find out a little more about her below.

This is the first of 6 new recipes we can’t wait to share with you!!

Print

Summer baked meatballs with kale and juicy tomato sauce

Lunchbox friendly, batch and freeze

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Author Berleena Eberle for Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Meatballs
• 1 kg grass fed organic beef mince (ground)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped (reserved half for tomato sauce)
• 1 large brown onion grated or finely chopped, can use food processor (reserve half for tomato sauce)
• 1 cup of kale leaves stripped and chopped finely
• 1 tspn ground cumin or seeds
• 1 tspn ground cinnamon
• ½ tbsp of dried or fresh dill
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup of sourdough bread chopped into small pieces
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tspn olive oil
• Basil for garnish
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Tomato Sauce
• 1 tspn olive oil
• 1.5 cups of passata sauce
• 3/4 cup stock or broth
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 sprigs basil finely chopped
• 200 g spelt pasta ½ cauliflower (grated to make rice) or 3 medium zucchinis (spiralized)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• To make the meatballs, combine the mince, eggs, half the garlic and onion, kale, cumin, cinnamon, dill, lemon rind, bread, salt and pepper in a bowl. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the kale and breadcrumbs can absorb some of the moisture.
• Roll meatballs into balls and set on baking tray, brush with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top.
• To make the tomato sauce, saute the remaining onion in oil for 1-2 mins in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, stirring for a further minute. Add passata sauce, broth and apple cider vinegar, season well with salt and pepper. Let sauce simmer on low heat for 5 mins.
• Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer on low heat for a further 5-10 mins. Turn off heat and mix through basil.
• Serve meatballs on a bed of spelt pasta, cauliflower rice or spiralized zucchini of your choice, drizzle tomato sauce on top, garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Bren x

Meet Berleena….

Berleena specialises in helping her clients develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. Her clients know how to deal with food triggers, let go of guilt, identify cravings and make healthy eating simple again with nutrient-rich, real food. Berleena strips back nutritional confusion to develop an intuitive eating approach.

Usually on the weekend, if time permits, the kids and I will get busy in the kitchen making food for the lunchbox.

I always like to pop in something fun into their lunchbox each day. We don’t ‘do’ dessert at home, so once a day at recess my kids look forward to their healthy treat.

They are almost always made from scratch ( I have a stash of our fave packaged options for those insane days), from the best ingredients I can afford, and as nutrient dense as I can make them.

For more lunchbox inspiration check out my Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes eBook filled with 40 of my children’s favourite nut-free and refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes. All kid-tested and kid-approved!

Here are some of their fave lunchbox treats.

Rich and delicious chocolate muffins (with vegetables) by Brenda Janschek

Sweet potato and choc chip muffins by Mummy Made it – gluten free

Beetroot, quinoa and chocolate muffins by The Holistic Ingredient

Sweet potato brownie by Slim Birdy – gluten free

Chocolate Orange Truffles by Brenda Janschek (if nuts are allowed)

Leftover porridge cakes by Lisa Corduff

Date, oat and seed bars by Brenda Janschek

Nut-free chocolate and coconut no bake bars by BecomingNess

Coconut slice by Homemade, Healthy, Happy

Chai, date and sesame biscuits by Brenda Janschek

Vanilla Apple Chia Pudding by Brenda Janschek

Cinnamon, turmeric custard by Low Tox Life

Banana Pancakes by Brenda Janschek Health & Lifestyle

Pancakes 3 ways by Quirky Cooking

Super smoothie by Brenda Janschek

Brownie Cake by Brenda Janschek

Raw Cacao Balls by Brenda Janschek (nut free)

Find the best 10 Savoury School Lunchbox Ideas here

For more lunchbox inspo, grab my new Easy Wholefood Lunchbox recipe eBook with 20 savoury and 20 sweet recipes filled with simple wholesome ingredients to meet your kids nutritional needs and fuel their learning and play, giving them the brainpower and energy they need to get through the day.