Back to School!
Well the holidays are almost over...
some of us have little ones starting school for the first time, others are excited to be returning (and maybe a few mums counting down the days!)
How can we get organised and pack their lunches quickly in the morning... what can we pack so our child's lunch box is not full of artifical colours flavours and allergens? It takes a bit more work, but is worth it!
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| lunch boxes... one with lots of artifical ingredients, one with none |
Here are some tips to take some stress out of your busy morning
What to pack
PROTEINS
It is hard to include protein when you are concerned about amines... the amines will be increasing as the meat sits there uneaten. I give my children protein for morning tea... they eat meat for breakfast and then have a small portion in their morning tea box. I cook it while we are getting dressed for school, and then pop it in the box. That way it is eaten as close to cooking as possible. It will be cold, keeping it warm will increase the amines more... My children are happy to eat these protein snacks cold... choose one that your child will too.
If you have a very sensitive little person, you might not be able to send meat protein with that time delay (I couldn't at first either). My solution for that was to offer a serving of meat at breakfast and one for straight after school, the lunch box is just snacks. If you can have legumes, you could send hommus as their protein snack.
MEAT
meat balls, sausage rolls, schnitzel, drumstick
SNACKS
cupcake, pretzels, cookies, rice muesli bar, millet slice, cruskits, water buttons, chips, crimpers, custard
If you really want to send some bread, try a gluten free roll or slice of focaccia... these keep well till lunch
FRUIT and VEG
hommus and celery sticks or crackers for dipping, choko sticks, diced pear, choko and pear crumble, pear or choko jelly, whole pear (teacher to peel)
How to cook and store in advance
PANTRY
Cookies, pretzels, water buttons, rice muesli bar slice can all be made in advance and store well in the pantry
FREEZER
Meat balls - can be made in advance and frozen raw ready to pop in the oven
Schnitzel - can be crumbed and frozen in layers on baking paper ready to cook
Sausage Rolls - can be made and frozen ready to pop in the oven
Drumsticks - freeze individually raw and pop in the oven while getting ready
Cupcakes - can be made and frozen... put in lunch box frozen
Bread Rolls and Focaccia - make and freeze, reheat and crisp in the oven
FRIDGE
Hommus - make and store in little containers
Celery - chop and keep a bag ready to pop into lunchbox
Custard - make and put into 'Squeezy Bags' ready to eat or in little containers
Crumble - can be made and then divided into little containers ready to eat
Diced Pear - Pears in Syrup are low chemical and come in very large tins... chop and divide into individual serves ready for lunch
All recipes for these protein ideas and snacks can be found in my recipe book...
They are free from gluten, dairy, egg, nut, soy, corn, sugar and are Failsafe
and suitable for the RPAH Elimination diet