top 5 school lunches.

School's been back a week (or so) and I bet you're wondering what to pack in the lunchboxes: healthy and delicious, cheap and easy, filling and nut-free.

Now, I'm not a mum, nor do I have to pack anyone's lunchbox, but I was approached by Rebecca from My Resolve (who also happens to be my sister – check out her website and Instagram page for heaps of healthy living ideas and tips) in need of some lunchbox ideas. Her eldest daughter has just started school and her son has started pre school:

"Ok Thearle Girl, I have a challenge for you. I want your top 5:

1. breakfasts
2. easy things to bake
3. lunches that can be packed for school
4. snacks
5. dinners
6. while we're at it, let's do dessert too.

I'm trying to put together a list that I can easily refer to for what to cook. ... BTW, GF and DF please. ... Ready. Set. Go."

So, to start with, here are my top 5 school lunch ideas: gluten free, dairy free, nut free, refined sugar free. The other "top 5" requests will appear over the next five weeks.

1. MEATBALLS or CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS or SAUSAGES or ...
As you're making dinner, cook a few extras ready for lunches. This way you can beat the morning panic by packing the lunchbox while dishing up dinner. It's easy to buy and cook a couple of extras. If you don't want sausages or meatballs every week, cook a few more and freeze them, then you'll have them good to go.

Leftover chicken drumsticks are great for the lunchbox!

2. "FRIED RICE"
Make a super easy "fried rice" by mixing some leftover rice with a tin of tuna (or cut up some ham) and some frozen peas and corn. They will have defrosted by lunchtime and will be a delicious lunch. Obviously, you can add in whatever veggies you like.

3. RICE PAPER ROLLS
Once again, you can make these for dinner and give your kids the leftovers, or make a big batch for lunches – I wouldn't complain having these more than once a week. Get a production line going (I'd suggest the night before) and add in whatever meat and veg you've got. I'd suggest chicken with raw carrot and cucumber and some rice noodles, or a fave in my house is turkey mince cooked with garlic and veggies (grated or cut small), lime juice and fish sauce then rolled with baby spinach and coriander. But anything will work. Let your kids decide what they like, then they might eat it ;)

One I prepared earlier: chicken mince cooked with veggies, plus raw carrot, cucumber, spinach, capsicum, mint, rice noodles and sweet chili sauce.

Easy idea: buy a BBQ chicken (or cook one yourself – it's really not hard) and give the kids the drumsticks one day and use the meat for the rice paper rolls another two days. And then you could even make bone broth and put that in a little thermos for another day... 

4. EGG MUFFINS
Rebecca makes awesome egg muffins, so this isn't really helping her, but I thought others might be interested in this as a great idea. Basically, make an omelette in muffin tins: mix eggs and veggies (I use whatever I have in the fridge) together and bake in the oven. But this is what she suggests:

"I think these are the TASTIEST ones I've made. So here's the recipe: first grate veges (or blitz them in a food processor like I do) 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, and 1 big handful of kale. Add 6 eggs, 2/3C uncooked polenta, 1 185g tin of tuna and bit of pink salt. Mix together. Pour mixture into muffin trays. Bake for around 30mins on 180-200 degrees Celsius. This made around 10 big muffins (2/3 full) and 12 mini muffins. The polenta makes them really fluffy and helps the mixture go further. These are perfect for lunch boxes!"

Image: @myresolve_rebecca Instagram

Another idea, is a hard boiled egg. Make a batch and add to the lunchbox. Easy!

5. DIPS AND VEGGIES
My go-to savoury thing to make is dips: hummus, pumpkin dip, pesto, beetroot dip, carrot dip... what veggies do you want to use up? I bet there's a dip to make!
They're so easy, very cheap and delicious, and don't have any of the nasty preservatives that go with the store bought ones. They keep in the fridge for a while too! Add a tub to the lunchbox with some carrot, celery and cucumber sticks.

Homemade hummus and pumpkin dips with carrot and cucumber.

Google to your heart's content. So many great recipes out there. And they are usually quite forgiving if you want to leave out (or substitute) cheese or nuts to make them dairy and nut free!

If you're allowed nuts at your school, you could always make some nut butter (whizz nuts in your food processor) and serve with celery sticks or pieces of apple. If you want to buy nut butter, I'd suggest Mayver's or another brand with nothing additional added – read the ingredients list, it should only contain nuts (or maybe a bit of salt).

Other lunchbox ideas: 

Add in fruit, veggies (cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob), snacks and baked goods (ideas coming soon). And a big bottle of water. If your kids aren't into water, don't give in, but add some fresh lemon and lime, strawberries and mint, or orange slices to flavour the water. They'll learn to love it (I have!).

Don't feed the plastic monster! Use reusable containers and get a lunchbox with segments. There shouldn't be a need for cling wrap or plastic bags. And don't forget to add an ice pack into the lunchbox to keep everything fresh and cool.

If you have some great lunchbox ideas, PLEASE share them below – we'd love to hear and help each other out!

Stay tuned for next week: top 5 easy to bake.