I’ve been gradually moving away from all things plastic, so I did my research (i.e. stalked Facebook threads) and asked around. I also asked my kids what style, size, shape they wanted, finally deciding that stainless steel was going be a ‘cool’ way to go – cool for them given their shiny and slick appearance, and cool for me because they are earth friendly, chemical-fee, sustainable and super easy to clean.

Each day the kids take a smaller box for recess – U Konserve Rectangle Container which has a divider which makes it extra versatile because the divider can be removed and used as a larger lunchbox as well.

For lunch they take a large bento style box –  Lunchbots Trio. My kids are very active and therefore hungry all the time and I find the size of the boxes to be perfect to contain enough food to sustain them through the day.

I’ve also got a Thermos 450ml Wide Mouth Food Jar with Folding Spoon  and Goodbyn Insulated Food Jar 12oz 350ml. In these containers I pack soups, pastas, stews, all hot meals really and also cold salads and things like bircher muesli, yoghurt, fruit and granola. The Goodbyn comes in Black or Pink.

For bread rolls stuffed with healthy fillings I just can’t go past the awesome 4MyEarth sandwich wraps. We’ve had ours for years so we’ve got the Combie design but I’ve noticed some new designs which I love like this OceanLife and Flamingo.

And for water bottles I just can’t go past Klean Kanteen stainless steel.

I love everything about these bento style boxes, bags and water bottles and it makes adding vibrant, nourishing foods to the repertoire so much easier.

Here’s a snapshot of how I pack them. Recess is chunks of rockmelon and a savoury muffin and sweet muffin.

Lunch contains organic home popped popcorn with lots of good quality butter and sea salt, chopped up organic vegetables, and spinach and cheese Mountain Bread toasties (the kids also like to add ham or chicken to these, but we had none left).

The kids were on lunch duty while I got breaky ready. Getting your kids in the kitchen from a young age has so many rewards! Read more here.

A bit of prep on Sunday made lunch boxes a breeze come Monday morning with Mountain Bread Pizza with some homemade tomato pizza sauce, ham, olives, baby spinach and mozzerella cheese and some vegetable sticks plus a piece of Cardamom-Spice Cake.

That should keep them going until the barge through the door at 3.15pm asking for more food!

If you’re looking for more lunchbox 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!

Other post you might like are:
10 Warm and Hot Meals to Pack for School Lunches
10 Savoury School Lunchbox Ideas
17 Sweet and Easy School Lunchbox Recipes

Bren x

Last Saturday I had one of those days. I was unstoppable! Which is another way of saying I was in a snowball-like frenzy. Yes, we’ll mash anything in this house, whether it’s food or grammar! Anyway, while Master 10 and his dad were doing the cricket and golf run, Miss 7 and I had the kitchen production line set to 11, churning out a variety of beauties.

While I like to create my own recipes, I adore discovering, trialling and sharing recipes by other wellness mums. As a result, we had lots of nourishing goodies to see us through the week, which dramatically reduced the drama of ‘what should I cook today?’

Here’s what I made:

Nectarine sorbet

Thermie made this delicious icy treat with only 4 ingredients – nectarines, coconut sugar, egg white and ice cubes. We had it as a special after dinner treat over a few nights. Mr 10 is desperate for a mango version so I’ll get onto that this weekend.

Choc-Mint Fudge

This one was made specifically for the lunchboxes, but has been gobbled down by guests on two occasions for afternoon tea. I love the extra boost of nutrition with the addition of pepitas. Pepitas are full of goodness like magnesium, zinc and Omega 3’s.

The recipe is by Cut Out the Crap and you can find it here

Gluten-Free Banana bread

I am mindful of reducing the wheat and gluten load when cooking for my family, and this recipe by Alexx Stuart is a total gem. It’s the second time I’ve made it, but this time I included the ginger. The whole family enjoyed it toasted for breakfast with a side of cinnamon yoghurt and frozen berries.

Mayonnaise

This is the best recipe ever! Another thermomix recipe from the awesome Quirky Cooking. I didn’t add the shallots cause I didn’t have any, and raw shallots don’t really agree with me anyway. Also, I used a mix of Avocado, Macadamia and mild Olive Oil. We dolloped it over fried barramundi one night and chicken schnitzel the next and dipped our vegetables in it both nights. Mr 10 has requested some chicken schnitzel for his lunchbox and demonstrated the (huge) size of the container to be filled with mayonnaise to dip his schnitzel strips into!

Pizza

Thermomix sure got a work out today! Next on the list was pizza dough, which Thermie conjured in a flash. I use Quirky Cooking’s spelt flour pizza dough recipe. We made the dough for pizzas to have the following night and topped them with home-made pesto, lightly fried garlic, red onion and kale, fresh mushroom and goats cheese. And there were leftovers galore for the kids lunchboxes. Yipeee!

 

Huevos Rancheros and Vegetarian Nachos Sauce with Kidney Beans

I was exhausted by the end of the day, but had two hungry men heading home and Miss 7 starting to bug me about dinner. Somewhat ironically, I couldn’t think of a thing to make! A deep breath and a quick search later, and Quirky Cooking saves the day again. This recipe is sure to become a family staple, it took 10 minutes to make and hit the spot after a long, but productive, day in the kitchen.

I also had some brown rice soaking to cook the next day so I could make the kids some sushi rolls for their lunch boxes.

The next day I spent lazing about the beach and swimming in the ocean – it’s all about balance, after all!

Do you ever have the urge to cook all day? What do you like to make? I’d love to hear from you.

If you are keen to learn about how you can create nutritious real food lunchboxes and how to make some of my favourite lunchbox recipes, check out my next workshop here.

Bren x