As a parent, chef and Nutritionist I LOVE food, especially when I can make it functional, fun and save money!
I’ve used my Nutritional Knowledge, based on real science, to put together some tasty lunch box ideas for your family, to fuel them for their school day making sure that they are prepared for a busy day of learning, while keeping your prep time and costs down.
Here are your 6 steps to make budget-friendly, fun and quick packed lunches:
A Nutritionally balanced lunchbox should = a full tummy for longer. Using the components listed below means that you’ll be getting the maximum nutrition out of your food shop, rather than spending money on foods that don’t sustain the children for very long, meaning they will need even more food more regularly!
The Nutritional components to aim for in a lunch box are:
Protein: helps maintain & build muscle mass, which will be perfect for the physical and brain activity your children will be doing.
Carbohydrates: Your children will need food that will sustain them for the duration of the school day and also provide them with a needed pick-me-up. In nutritional terms that’s mixing unrefined and refined carbohydrates with good fats, proteins and fibre to help them feel fuller for longer.
Fats: Omega 3 has been scientifically proven to help enhance learning through helping the brain function more effectively, making learning easier.
Fibre: Fibre will help keep your child fuller for longer and keeps things moving in the digestive tract, adding bulk to stools preventing constipation.
You don’t have to be a wiz in the kitchen to turn your nutritional lunchboxes into a reality as I’ve developed a few adaptable ideas to make sure your family will be fully fuelled!
A Budget-friendly and quick way to do this is to put together grazing / picky-lunch boxes:
This can be quickly put together with a mismatch of anything you have in, some of the things I put in mine include: crackers, bread sticks, rice cakes, chunks of cheese, cucumber, carrot sticks, celery, grapes, olives… basically a portable cheese board that you can fit in a lunchbox! With the crackers, bread sticks and rice cakes wholemeal and wholegrain options contain unrefined carbs, releasing energy slowly as and when your kid’s body needs it during their day, keeping them fuller for longer.
The fruits and salad items are packed with fibre which will keep them full and the sugars in them are great for a pick-me-up. They’re also packed with vitamins A, D C & E which help the body fight off colds and maintain healthy teeth, bones and eye health.
Most schools have lunchbox guidelines and rules so make sure you check those. The lunchbox rules I’ve seen are mostly focused on avoiding packaging and foods with refined sugars that are likely to spike blood sugar levels, which can lead to behavioral mood-swings. Fruit (fresh or dried) is a really versatile non refined option which will provide a pick-me-up for your schoolers. Look-out for supermarket weekly offers on the fresh fruit or the wonky versions, these still contain the same nutrients but often cost less.
Here are some more quick and inexpensive ideas:
Tinned or frozen; make a great alternative if you haven’t got fresh fruit in / available. Again, the nutritional quality isn’t compromised here either. Frozen fruit usually thaws out in a Tupperware after around 30mins – 1 hour depending on how hot it is!
Dried fruit box; can literally be a little Tupperware of raisins (decanting from a bigger packet is normally more cost effective than buying the prepacked little boxes). Any dried fruits can be used: apricots, cranberries, mangos, whatever you have in your cupboard!
Fruit and nut for the bigger kids (if nuts are allowed in the school); again literally any dried fruit and nuts you like and have in the cupboards, unsalted and sugared options like the mixed nut bags you can get in most supermarkets in the baking or dried food aisles are great. Decant the bigger bags into Tupperware to save money too.
Fruits are packed with fibre which will keep you full, packed with fibre which will keep them full, the sugars in them are great for a pick-me-up. They’re packed with vitamins A, D C & E which help the body fight off colds and maintain healthy teeth, bones and eye health.
Dried fruits contain fruit sugars which are released slower than refined white sugar.
Nuts are high in useful fats that help combat bad cholesterol while fuelling the body
My top tip is to always have a packet of wraps in your cupboard or freezer! (they can last frozen for around 4months and thaw out singularly on a plate super-fast). A packet of wraps is an economical option too, taking up less freezer space than bread so you don’t need to worry about it going off and not having any room! Wraps feel more fun and versatile compared to sandwiches and you can wrap and cut them however suits your family, putting each one easily into a Tupperware, ready to whip out when hunger strikes.
Wholemeal, 50/50 and seeded wraps contain unrefined carbs, releasing energy slowly as & when the body needs it throughout the day, keeping everyone fuller for longer.
There’s also loads of quick options to pack the protein into these, I have a handy Wrap filing option table on my site here:
https://nutricoachmumma.wixsite.com/nutrition/post/wrap-filling-options-nutrition-table
You can be quite intentional about this by optimising your time and cooking extra portions when you’re making dinner e.g. cook double portions at dinner or add a bit of extra pasta to put together a pasta salad for the lunchboxes.
Non-intentional works well too, if you happen to have left overs, you can use parts to form the lunchbox e.g. cooked left over meats, chickpeas etc. Make great sandwich/wrap fillings. Even things like cold potatoes work well too.
Both methods are brilliant to avoid food waste, keeping costs down.
This pizza recipe makes a super fun activity that you can do together and often a big hit with the whole family as they can be customised to each person’s tastes! You don’t need any expensive or fancy ingredients either. They are easy too, no rising time and no rolling pins needed! Try making these on a weekend, there’s an easy topping nutritional table with the recipe here:
https://nutricoachmumma.wixsite.com/nutrition/post/easy-pizza-recipe
If cooking in a batch isn’t for you, don’t worry, you can still prepare in a really simple way by putting together a plan of your lunchbox contents for the week before you do a food shop. This will also help with sticking to a budget. If you’d to batch cook, planning will also help here too, composing shopping lists that you can save and just edit for other weeks will be a great time saver for whichever type of preparation method you choose.
Recipes like my cous cous salad are highly cost effective by using good value, highly nutritiously balanced ingredients. This will take up a maximum of 15 minutes so could be quick prep for a Sunday evening to make your week ahead easier. Cous cous literally takes minutes to cook, so using it in a hearty, filling salad could be a great lunchbox edition.
Cous Cous salad recipe can be found here:
https://nutricoachmumma.wixsite.com/nutrition/post/cous-cous-salad-recipe
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this lunchbox blog post and that it will help you discover new practical food ideas while learning about Nutrition. I’d love to see pictures of any of the lunchbox creations you try, please tag me @nutricoachmumma on Facebook and Instagram.
Huge thank you to professional nutritionist Lizzie, AKA @NutriCoachMumma, for compiling this blog post for South Leeds Mumbler!
Check out her NutriCoach website for tons of other great food ideas, details of her nutrition services, courses and the support she provides to families: