What My Family Eats
So as it's suddenly Mid February (how did that happen?!) and the school lunches are beginning to look a little same-same, we all could do with a little inspiration, enter Claudia!
We are long time fans of the wonderful Claudia aka @whatmyfamilyeats - we love her fuss-free approach to delicious, healthy meals.
She shares her school lunch box template with us below!
I have had a few requests for sharing some lunchbox tips so I thought I’d share with you my Basic lunchbox template. It helps me plan & ensure my boys get a varied lunch.
I rely heavily on dinner leftovers so I do take that into account when meal planning. This works well for us as Big A doesn’t eat sandwiches. Having a well stocked pantry and freezer is also really important for days of the week when fresh supplies are running low!
This is the template I use every day when deciding what to pack:
FRUIT - 2-3 small portions of fruit (I pack more fruit because my boys are quite fussy with veggies so I include extra fruit).
VEGGIES - 1-2 small portions of veggies. A great idea here is to remember you can also turn to frozen veggies! Having some in your freezer will help for days when you’ve run out of fresh supplies. Things like peas, corn, edamame beans etc.
PROTEIN - I try pack 1 main source of protein. Usually that will come from dinner leftovers. I often turn to things like chicken, boiled eggs, certain cold meats, sausages, meat etc.
CARBS: I pack at least 1 main serving of carbs. My boys really enjoy taking leftover pasta or rice. Other good items to have in your freezer/ pantry are wraps and pitta bread etc. if you’re looking for sandwich alternatives.
.
SNACKS: Lastly I like to pack 2x snack type foods. Usually it’s 1x sweet and 1x savory.
Sweet often includes homemade muffins & bliss balls which are great to stock your freezer with (I try bake once a week to build a stock pile). Other things include a variety of dried fruits, fruit rolls, leftover pancakes etc.
Savory ideas are things like popcorn, rice crackers, pretzels, olives, etc.
Unfortunately both my boys can be somewhat fussy so I am often limited to what I can pack as I prefer to keep the “exposure” food and the trying of new foods for home time and not in their school lunchboxes.
I’d love to hear any of your lunchbox tips? And what works for you?
