“Your goal for your kids’ lunch box is for the food to get eaten and be healthy, but also to do all of that without too much trouble.”
With this one sentence, MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin summed up the daily nightmare that is kids’ school lunches.
Because not only do they need to be healthy and delicious, but also nut-free, low waste, non-perishable, Instagram worthy, budget friendly and the envy of every kid on the playground.
Yeah, it’s a lot.
Having packed hundreds of lunchboxes over the years for her three sons, Goodwin’s become very well acquainted with the school lunch struggle. She’s also learnt a bunch of handy tricks along the way.
So we asked her for her top lunchbox tips, and gee they’re bloody good.
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Yes, really.
Just the same way we reach for the sugary snacks when we couldn’t be bothered doing meal prep, kids will come home hungry if we don’t put in a bit of prep work.
“Keeping things varied is pretty important, and keeping them interested, for simplicity on the parents’ side, anything you can do pre-made to portion out and freeze is absolutely brilliant. That’s what my husband and I did all the way through our boys’ schooling, and we do it now for ourselves too,” Goodwin told Mamamia.
“Make up on the weekend, a zucchini slice and then every day you grab and go. It saves that drudgery of every day having to figure out what you’re doing, getting everything out of the fridge and the pantry and make a big mess.”
Other prep suggestions from Julie include kid-friendly sushi you can make up a few days in advance, and putting things into little containers like tzatziki yoghurt dips, and veggies and crackers.
Goodwin also said not to stress too much about what not to pack. “Listen to the advice coming out of schools. We all know what you’ve got to avoid. There are some delicious things you can put in without going outside your school guidelines.”
Have fun with new recipes.
“What you want when your kid opens their lunchbox is to go ‘YEAH!’ and to show it off to their friends. You don’t want it coming home because you go to the expense and effort. There are so many things you can do that’s not a Vegemite sandwich and an apple,” Goodwin insisted.
“What I love and if you went and looked in my freezer right now you’d see it, is zucchini slice. Zucchini and corn slice, chuck it all in, put it in the oven and 20 minutes later cut it up into pieces and freeze. And it defrosts beautifully, that’s an easy one for us and kids.”
Top Comments
I think Mum's would have to take extra care during summer, giving them fancy chicken wraps or sushi may not store well in a plastic lunchbox in a hot school corridor! When it is 40 plus degrees in summer, I doubt even an ice pack would keep the food cool enough, a boring vegemite sandwich is probably more appropriate for those hot days.
Keep in mind kids don't necessarily want to eat healthy, they may go through a stage where someone's really awful lunchbox is desirable. Having said this when you have parent that gives you a vegemite sandwich for lunch everyday in high school that is when you know you've got a probably the limit of your lunch choices, (this was during the 70's)Even if I asked for something different, still got the same. I do think it's better that they can get better choices, but make sure that they aren't being swapped or dumped in the bin.