Preparing your child’s packed lunch for school can often seem like a chore, especially when you are short on time and short on ideas of what to put in their lunchbox.
Here are some tips and ideas for school pack lunches that are quick and easy to prepare, as well as being healthy, filling, and child-friendly, even for the picky eaters!
Pitta, Vegetables & Hummus
Cut carrot and celery into sticks, and pitta bread into strips, and serve with a homemade hummus dip. This will only take 10 minutes to prepare. You can easily make hummus by mixing and blending chickpeas, lemon juice, yoghurt, oil, spices, and garlic. If you opt for store-bought hummus, go for a reduced-fat option.
Tuna & Bean Salad
Prepare a fresh salad in just 10 minutes. Chop up some pepper, spring onion, and add drained mixed beans and tuna. Mix three tablespoons of olive oil, juice of half a lemon, a pinch of dried mixed herbs, a pinch of mustard powder, and a pinch of black pepper, then add to your vegetable salad and mix gently.
Salad Wrap
A wrap filled with salad, vegetables and cheese takes just five minutes to prepare. You could pack a tortilla full of lettuce, carrot, cucumber, avocado, hummus, tomato salsa, and cheddar cheese. You could also add tuna, ham or chicken.
Omelette Sandwich
For a different take on a sandwich, make an omelette sandwich. You could put potato, spring onion, spinach, tomato, and feta or cheddar cheese in the omelette. Once cooked, allow to cool a bit before putting in a bread bun. You will need a bit more time for this - around 20 minutes of cooking time and five minutes of preparation time.
Egg Mayo Sandwich
Pack some protein in your child’s lunch with an egg mayonnaise sandwich. Boil an egg then cool it in cold water. Once cold, remove the shell, and mash the egg with mayonnaise and a pinch of black pepper. Fill a bread bun with your egg mayonnaise and some lettuce, cress, or spinach. This will take a total of around 20 to 25 minutes to cook and prepare.
Salmon Bagel
You could make a salmon bagel in just 10 minutes, with a can of pink salmon. Drain the salmon, then mix with mayonnaise and a pinch of black pepper. Toast a bagel and add your salmon along with some lettuce and cucumber.
DIY Lunch
If you are really pushed for time or have a particularly fussy eater, try giving them a DIY lunch. Just give them a wrap, crackers, bread or pitta, along with some foods they could fill it with, such as hummus, tomato salsa, cheese, vegetables, and salad.
Accompaniments
Your child’s packed lunch should also include some snacks or sides, such as apple, orange, banana, grapes, berries, cherry tomatoes, carrot or celery sticks, malt loaf, fruited teacake, plain rice cake, or low-fat yoghurt. Chop fruit or vegetables up into bite-size portions to make them easier to eat. Also include a drink of fruit juice or milk, as well as water.
We hope that these school pack lunch ideas have given you some inspiration. You may even want to try some of these for yourself. Making the same food for everyone at the same time will help to reduce the amount of time you spend preparing food.
If you are short on time, would like to spend more quality time with your children, or would like to make the most of the time when they are at school, then you may want to consider hiring a cleaner to help out with the housework.
Here at Time For You, we specialise in providing properly screened and vetted domestic cleaners to provide you, our client, with more time for you. Find a cleaner near you by simply entering your postcode, and let us take care of the cleaning, so you do not have to.
