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15 Healthy Lunchbox Meals (and none of them are sandwiches)

January 21, 2013 · 28 Comments

15 Healthy Lunchbox Meals (and none of them are sandwiches)

What’s wrong with sandwiches?

Well……nothing!

My boy likes taking sandwiches and that’s okay. My daughter avoids gluten so we get a bit more creative with her lunches.

Here are some other things we like to put in the lunchbox!

♥ Leftovers

Most things you make for dinner can be easily turned into an awesome lunch. Cook extra meat and add it to a salad or just reheat dinner in a saucepan and place in a food thermos. Fill the thermos with boiling water first to heat it up.

♥ Zucchini slice

Zucchini slices or savoury slices are so quick and easy for kids to eat at lunch. Cut it into small squares and serve with salad veges in a container. Try my Gluten Free Zucchini Slice recipe.

♥ Cold chicken nuggets

Homemade chicken nuggets are so yummy cold! You could also try my chicken and cheese fritters recipe.

♥ Rice paper rolls

These are so refreshing on a hot summer’s day! Wrap in a damp clean cloth to keep them fresh. Check out some recipes here. I use Pandaroo brand as it doesn’t tear as easily as the other brands.

♥ Sushi

Homemade is better as store-bought can contain lots of additives. The rice is easy to make in the thermomix if you have one!

♥ Bircher Muesli

Yes, we eat this for lunch! Yum. Soak some organic oats and dried fruit overnight with your choice of milk (we like coconut milk). The next day, add chopped nuts, seeds and fresh fruit. We also like taking chia porridge.

♥ Blueberry Breakfast Slice

This is perfect for kids who aren’t that fond of savoury lunches. Add a container of yoghurt for dipping. Find the recipe here.

♥ Dip and veggie sticks

Add some of my easy seed crackers if you like.  Check out this dip recipe my kids are crazy about.

♥ Salads 

Pretty much anything can go into a salad to make veges more interesting for kids! Use a good quality protein like hard-boiled eggs, canned tuna or chicken breast. Leave the dressing on the side, so it’s not a soggy mess! Cut the salad veges into interesting shapes. Take a look at these recipes for inspiration.

♥ Pasta salad

My kids adore pasta salad! It’s just as simple as using leftover pasta shapes and diced veges like carrot, cucumber, capsicum and tomato. Add some cheese or protein if you like and a homemade dressing.

♥ Meatballs

Make extra next time you cook and freeze them. Pop into the lunchbox with a dipping sauce, cubes of cheese, cherry tomatoes and salad. Try these meatball recipes for inspo.

♥ Lettuce rollups

Put a selection of grated vegetables, cheese and meat in the middle of a large lettuce leaf and roll up tightly like a spring roll. Serve with a dipping sauce.

♥ Pizza or pizza scrolls

What kid doesn’t like pizza? Make extra and freeze in single portions. Try this recipe of mine, using the easiest pizza base recipe ever! Just avoid toppings with additives like ham and processed meats. Use organic tomato paste, fresh vegetables, chicken, egg, seafood, roast lamb or beef or even fresh pineapple!

♥ Cheese and Spinach Rice Cakes

Part quiche, part muffin, my savoury rice cakes are so delicious and a brilliant way to add extra vegetables. Find the recipe here.

♥ Sticky Chicken Legs

You can also make these with wings but they are a bit more tricky for busy kids to eat. Mix up some honey, tamari, garlic and ginger and marinate some organic chicken legs. Bake in a medium oven for about 20 mins until done. Cool down. Serve with salad.

I would love to hear some of your lunchbox ideas or link me up with your favourite recipes!

You might also like to read:

Six Healthy Biscuits for Lunchboxes

30 Super Healthy Lunch Box Snacks

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Filed In: FOOD / Tagged: back to school, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain free, healthy lunchbox, lunch, nut-free

Comments

  1. Teneille Bazzo says

    January 21, 2013 at 11:51 am

    Awesome thanks Sonia for the much needed inspiration xx

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 21, 2013 at 11:53 am

      thanks for stopping by Teneille 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jo says

    January 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    My kids are still young, but great ideas to take to the park or a picnic in the backyard.

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      February 5, 2013 at 2:51 pm

      Yes or just for lunch at home for a change!

      Reply
  3. thenaughtynaturopathmum says

    January 21, 2013 at 2:58 pm

    Another cracker Sonia! Will share when I’m back on the puter later today xx

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 21, 2013 at 4:35 pm

      thanks gorgeous!

      Reply
  4. lara busch says

    January 21, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    NNAM have a look on lola berry’s website she has some school lunch ideas which I shared with my friends. Some things that I make for my two kids: corn thins/rice cakes with cheese/boiled eggs, popcorn cooked in a saucepan with abit of himalayan seasalt, I just made some banana bread based on coconut flour from the flannery’s website, little kebab sticks with cherry tomatoes & cheese, little quiches with zucchini/carrot & feta, homemade tzatziki : natural yoghurt, cucumber, lemon, frozen grapes, hommous with carrot sticks, once a week I normally buy the kids a little five am organic yoghurt, sunflower seeds roasted with tamari, pineapple coated in coconut. There are afew ideas

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 21, 2013 at 4:35 pm

      love your ideas!! thank you 🙂

      Reply
  5. Christie @ Fig and Cherry says

    January 21, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    What an excellent list Sonia! Fantastic ideas for lunch boxes. Loooove the zucchini slice in place of sambos.

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 21, 2013 at 7:28 pm

      thanks Christie – it’s so daggy and 80s but we love it!! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Jane says

    January 21, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    Great ideas. Definitely going to try to reduce the sandwiches, utilise the thermos and get some more nutrition into my sons school lunches. A great idea I saw on Hot Pink Chilli facebook page a few weeks ago was salad in a jar, and you put the dressing down the bottom with your tomato and things that are ok to marinate, then pile the lettuce and other stuff on top. Take a look 🙂

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 21, 2013 at 9:24 pm

      Yes, I love the salad in a jar thing! We do that often – I love using my glass jars! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Jennifer says

    January 22, 2013 at 7:05 am

    Thank you so much! We are not big on sandwichs’ and i often struggle with yummy lunch box ideas as i like to offer variety. This will surely help. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      February 5, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      thanks for stopping by Jennifer!

      Reply
  8. jimmyjam11 says

    January 23, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    Just made your ‘Puffs’ yum!!! Thank you so much 🙂

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      February 5, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      aren’t they yum!

      Reply
  9. shelly says

    February 11, 2013 at 7:35 am

    love all these ideas but one question.
    what sort of lunch box do you use to store these items in and keep cold until lunchtime
    l have been looking around for a suitable size lunchbox for my sons to take to school / high school that will keep cool until lunchtime and l dont use glad wrap ,but little containers .

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      February 11, 2013 at 10:52 am

      Shelly, I love the stuff from 4 my earth or the neoprene ones 🙂

      Reply
  10. Bronnie says

    October 7, 2013 at 1:42 am

    My son has Asperger’s and doesn’t like sandwiches because of his sensory issues. We also struggle with lunches as he’d rather be up playing than sitting and eating, so I need a lot of quick and easy to eat filling snacks, so these ideas are fantastic. I do find his lunchbox/es are always bulging though, and his sister tends to want the same attention now, and has also started shunning sambos to be like her brother. Thanks for the inspiration, though I find they never eat salads at school. Am hoping to change that.

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      October 7, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      I wonder if they would prefer a pasta salad or brown rice salad? My kids go crazy for these as the veges are not the main bit! Let me know how you go Bronnie xxx

      Reply
  11. Lisa says

    January 22, 2014 at 6:27 am

    My thermos foods never seem to stay hot-my daughter has to leave by 8am with lunch not being until 1pm! She loves homemade minestrone with meatballs & I have to laugh when she says “you tried mum..but it was still cold”
    I have a COLLECTION of thermos’s if you can recommend one that will have the food at least warm after 5hours that would be appreciated!! And yes, I warm it twice with boiling jug water plus heat the food to piping hot!
    Thanks in advance -ps love your recipes & ideas <3

    Reply
    • Natural New Age Mum says

      January 22, 2014 at 10:32 am

      I know that the Contigo drink bottles have a superior insulation compared to most other drink bottles (I worked in a kitchen store for a while)! I know they have a thermos designed for kids with a handle. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Erica says

    November 8, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    This is a big help, pasta salad and chicken legs are a great ideas! and my beautiful little Lebanese zucchinis are nearly ready for picking….. slice time 🙂

    Reply

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