It is always a great idea to have fun alternatives to ‘run of the mill’ lunchbox fillers and with the weather becoming more and more wintery having a cooking/baking day on a Sunday or of a grey evening is a great way to involve the kids with their lunches and inspire them to get excited and interested about food.
Our Get Fruity Bars are a perfect addition to any lunchbox (big or small), our all-natural ingredients provide slow release energy for body and mind. Bursting with fruit, oats and coconut oil, our snack bars are not only seriously scrumptious but heavenly healthy too and are fantastic as either a breakfast top up at break time or a perfect pudding, keeping the little one full and focused all day.
Tasty juicy fruit is a wonderful addition to any lunchbox. It always good to add different kinds of fruit for children to snack on. Fruit is a great alternative to biscuits and cakes as they provide a natural source of vitamins, minerals with naturally occurring sugars. We would recommend using different types of fruits including a new one that we have tried recently called Kiwi berry. Unlike its larger Kiwi cousin, the berry version does not have the furry skin, which means it can be eaten whole. The Kiwi berry is the size of a grape and looks very similar to a gooseberry, but is actually much sweeter. We also love adding natural pineapple (dried and fresh), raspberries, strawberries, apricots, mango’s slices (dried or fresh), blackberries which are free and organic if picked from hedgerows.
Wraps are a great alternative to sandwiches as they are not only healthier but also easy to pack full of scrumptious ingredients. We adore avocado and roast vegetable wraps, these are over-flowing with goodness, filled with vegetables which can be varied to ensure there are no boring lunchboxes and brimming with flavour. The avocado is the first ingredient, this is mashed with salt and pepper and then a squeeze of lemon to taste which we spread (rather liberally) onto our wrap. It is then time to cram them full of roasted vegetables, now I am no super-mum so do not get up at 5am to freshly roast the veg, this is a job for me and the boys of an evening and we make enough to last 2 or 3 days as it can be kept in the fridge. Our back to school wrap consisted of red, yellow and orange peppers, onion, broccoli and cauliflower which we roast in olive oil with some garlic powder, oregano and a tiny half spoon of paprika. These wraps are a definite favourite with us, but wraps are a really versatile alternative for lunchboxes that are loved by the whole family.
Rice is a simple and fantastic lunchbox delight as when you cook with rice in the evening it is great to cook a bit extra ready for the next day. Mixed bean and wild rice salad is filling and appetizing, I always cook with wild rice and use tins of mixed beans, sweetcorn, peas and peppers. A honey, lime and chilli (or no chilli if your kids are not spice fans) dressing is a delicious addition and then herbs from the garden (mint or coriander work well) really finish this delectable lunchbox treat off.
Pasta is another fantastic lunchbox filler; a simple pasta salad with a great honey and mustard dressing is fantastic for the tummy and the brain. Our roast vegetables from earlier can also come in useful when mixed with pasta, rice or couscous and the boys love coming up with different dressing combinations which is an awesome way for them to experiment with food for their lunchboxes and dinnertime alike.
No lunchbox is complete without a few snacks and a great, healthy alternative to crisps are vegetable crisps which are super simple to make and the kids love choosing different veg for baking and experimenting with herbs and spices for their flavourings. A reusable Ziploc bag of these provide a fantastic change from crisps and are a colorful addition too. Vegetable sticks and hummus are another delicious snack that really brighten up lunchtime, our favourites are yellow, orange and red peppers, carrots and cucumber.
Inspired by the mouth-watering ingredients in our Get Fruity Bars I stumbled across the recipes for Pineapple and Coconut muffins (http://thekitchenshed.co.uk/clean-eating-pineapple-coconut-muffins/) and Berry and Coconut muffins (https://minimalistbaker.com/one-bowl-berry-coconut-muffins-vegan-gf/) which combine natural scrumptious ingredients for an indulgent lunchbox addition.
With 6 tempting flavours though make sure you don’t forget to add our Get Fruity Bars to your little or big ones lunchboxes, they really are the perfect healthy snack.
Hopefully we have helped inspire some new lunchbox ideas for you and your family.
Share:
