Lunch Boxes

Lunch Boxes! The lunch box is something many parents dread. I, on the other hand, love packing lunch boxes! I've decided to make this post one that I will develop over time, adding links to new recipes as I share them. So this is the first revision and definitely a work in progress. First, lets kick off with explaining what I decide to put in each morning. 

I always include both vegetables and fruit. We always have at least one fruit and one raw vegetable. I also hide veggies in lots of the dishes I make.
 How much of each depends on what is on the menu for breakfast and dinner that day, what I have in the fridge and most of all what Miss E wants to eat. I know many families have an eat what you are given rule, but at lunch time I like to give an option. When I'm not there to encourage her to eat it, I think giving her choice also helps. We went through a stage where she refused to eat anything at Kindy! It turned out that it was because another child had commented on how different her lunches are to everyone else. I have seen that almost all of her classmates have a sandwich made with white bread, sugar loaded yoghurt or custards and muesli bars. These are not foods she can have, nor food I would pack for her. We had a big talk about nourishing her body with foods that make her feel strong, healthy and focussed. It worked and she's back to clearing out her lunch box every day.

I know that most kids won't be happy if you suddenly send them with meatballs, 1/2 an avocado and a salad instead of a sandwich etc. If you want to make the switch, talk about it with your kids and then make the change gradually. What we pack now is definitely not the same as what we would pack when we first started!

A thermos is the best thing I invested in when it comes to lunches! It makes it so easy to pack an allergy friendly sandwich-free lunch. If you don't already have a kids thermos you should definitely look into it!
Here is a list of things that are always a hit when I pack them!

Mains

• Chicken wraps. I fry off chicken strips and then pop them in a wrap with avocado, lettuce, carrot and cucumber. I squeeze a little lemon juice on the avocado to stop it from going brown.

• Mini Pizza made with a chickpea flat bread base. I top with lactose free or vegan cheese, ham, bacon, pineapple, veggies, etc. Whatever I have in the cupboard. (You can freeze the flat bread in advance and defrost then top when you are ready to use them)

• Lime and Coconut Meatballs. (I make a big batch and freeze)

• Easy Cheesy Pasta. 

• Tuna-not-mornay (Tuna mornay that uses cauliflower puree as the sauce. Recipe is coming)
• Oven Baked Chicken Bites (I make a big batch and freeze them. For lunch boxes I like to make fun shapes using cookie cutters.)

• Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta (The thermos always comes home empty when I send this)

• Cooked sausage mixed with pasta and steamed veggies 

• "Sandwich" using rice thins. I top with ham and salads.

Sides

• Salad (I know most kids won't eat a salad! I like to jazz it up using cutters to make fancy shapes to make it more enticing)

• Half an avocado. (This is Miss E's favourite. I drizzle it with lemon juice to stop it from going brown)

• Homemade garlic wedges. Really easy! I use crushed garlic and olive oil (or garlic infused oil) and brush it onto mountain bread. Cut into triangles and bake for 5 - 10 minutes

Snacks

• Rice crackers or pretzels with lactose-free or vegan cheese, ham and cucumber rounds

• Fruit/Fruit Salad

• Veggie sticks with guacamole or hummus

• Dried dates, apricots or sultanas

Treats

• Apple and Blueberry Squares (These are great to have stored in the freezer and just grab out and defrost the night before)

• Chia Pudding

• Chocolate cake with hidden veggies (recipe coming)

• Jelly made with veggie juice (this is super easy! Recipe coming)

More Ideas Coming Soon!

Oven Baked Chicken Bites

These never last long when I make them. They are delicious, quick and easy. Bonus hidden veggies and minimal dishes! Perfect for lunch boxes. I make a triple batch every couple months and freeze them for lunches and snacks. 

I start by chucking all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Yep, just one bowl! I grate the carrot and zucchini straight in to avoid mess. Sometimes I jazz the recipe up a bit (haha, get it? I'm Jazz and I fancy it up? Moving on). I add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, some onion flakes, paprika, oats, quinoa flakes or whatever takes my fancy. The base recipe is very kid friendly but there is no reason you can't change it to suit more adult tastes. 

Once it's all in the bowl, I wet my hands a little and then combine the mixture really well with my hands. If it's a little damp, I add some extra rice flour. It should stick together and form a rough ball when it's mixed enough. It does not make for an attractive picture but once it's cooked it sure is tasty.

Then I shape it into whatever shape I want. Usually I just do rough rounds but sometimes I get a little fancy and use small cookie cutters to shape them. Miss E's favourite is the teddy shape. I also sometimes roll them in some oats or quinoa flakes. The girls don't like that so much but I like that added bite.

I whack them in the oven, turn them when they are almost done and pop them back in for 5 minutes.

They should be lightly browned by then, so I take them out. Then I try to stop the swarm of seagulls kids from eating them all before I even get a chance to take them off the tray. 

Ingredients

500g chicken mince
1/3 cup finely grated carrot
1/3 cup finely grated zucchini
3 tablespoons rice flour (1-2 tablespoons extra may be needed)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well with your hands. It should come together and hold a loose ball shape. It should be wet and sticky, but if the mixture is too wet, add a little more rice flour at a time until desired consistency is reached.

3. Shape into desired shape and place on prepared baking tray.

4. Bake for 12-14 minutes, turn and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve.

Variationx

• Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. 

• Roll in oats or quinoa flakes.

• Add herbs and spices. Paprika, chives or spring onion are my favourites.

Happy cooking!
Jasmine x

Apple and Blueberry Squares

I don't have many photos of the steps to this because I just got busy baking and totally forgot! Whoops! It's very simple though and if you have any questions you can let me know here or on Facebook and I can help you out. 

Recently I paid 99¢ for a 4kg bag of organic apples! Most of them were perfectly fine to use, just a little marked on the outside, like most organic fruit. I used most of them to make my own apple sauce. I left the sauce fairly chunky which is why in the recipe I state you can use apple sauce or stewed apples. I have tried both and the results are equally nice. Stewed apples do leave you with some little surprise apple pieces though. 

When I make it, I start by sifting my flours to remove any lumps. Coconut flour in particular is terrible for having big clumps. Then I add the wet ingredients and work quickly to combine it all. It's important to work quickly when using coconut flour as it like to suck up all the moisture. 

Then add the blueberries and mix gently just to incorporate them. Don't over mix or you will end up with a weird blue/grey cake! I spread it out evenly into a smallish loaf pan, about 20cm and sprinkle with cinnamon. I whack it in the oven for 45ish minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. I cool it in the pan and then slice it into squares. A single batch makes 10 squares. It's important to let it completely cool before slicing. Then I immediately start making another batch because this one is already gone.

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free self raising flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 cup apple sauce or fresh stewed apples crushed with a fork
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
3 tablespoons milk or milk substitute
1/2 cup blueberries. (Fresh or frozen)
Cinnamon for sprinkling on top (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Sift flours into a large mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients and working quickly mix until combined.
3. Add blueberries and gently fold until just mixed through. Do not over mix.
4. Spread mixture evenly into loaf pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. 
6. Once cool, remove from tin, remove baking paper and cut into squares.

Notes

• You can make a double batch and freeze squares individually wrapped and placed in an air tight container. Great for lunch boxes, just grab one out the night before to defrost.
• You can cut them in half and serve with jam and cream. A little naughty but delicious. 
• You can try other berries or even a mixture.

So what do you think? If you give it a go, make sure you let me know how you go.
Happy Cooking!
Jasmine

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta

This is my go to I can't be bothered dinner. It's easy peasy. Tim even cooks it without a recipe. It does use cream (lactose free in our house), so is not a dairy free recipe. 

I first made this dish by accident when I was pregnant with Miss E. Instead of tipping a jar of tomato sauce into the chicken and bacon mix, I tipped in cream that was meant to be used for another dish entirely. Whoops! I blame crazy pregnancy hormones for this delicious dish, although maybe I should take the credit for myself.

Tonight we had this pasta. I love the fun colours it adds to the finished dish. The girls call it rainbow pasta.

The biggest part of this dish is preparing the meat before you start but once that's done it comes together really fast. I didn't include the directions for getting pasta cooked in the recipe but I'll outline my timeline here. I get a pot for pasta on while I dice the chicken and bacon. We use smoked bacon because Tim is mad for it. Are there many men that aren't mad for bacon? Once the meat is diced, I fry off garlic in a fry pan. Sometimes I skip the garlic, it's not a big deal, the garlic just gives a nice flavour. I then chuck in the meat to fry it off until lightly browned and the chicken is cooked through. Usually the water for pasta is ready during this time. I salt the water, chuck the pasta in and let that cook. 

Everything is almost ready at this point. I add cream, salt, pepper and any herbs I'm adding. I cook it off until the cream has thickened nicely. Sometimes this only takes a few minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. Just watch it and wait for it to thicken enough for you. I like to take it off the heat just before it's thick enough, as it will continue to thicken. If it is too thick, you can add more cream and mix it through. While the sauce is thickening, my pasta is usually ready.

Once the pasta and sauce are both ready, add the strained pasta to the sauce and gently mix it around. That's it! We like to serve it with steamed veg and homemade garlic bread on the side, but you could also just have a big bowl of pasta.

I would say it serves 4, but if you have a husband who, like mine, would eat the entire pot, you may want to add more cream to make it go further. As you can see, we never have any left!

Ingredients

5-6 cups cooked pasta
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or another safe oil)
2 garlic cloves

500g chicken breast diced

200g bacon diced

300ml cream

Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon chives (optional)

1. Melt coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Crush garlic and fry off in oil until just starting to brown.
2. Add chicken and bacon. Cook until lightly browned and chicken is cooked through. Stir intermittently to ensure even cooking.

3. Add cream, salt, pepper and chives and stir well. Allow cream to thicken, stirring occasionally.
4. When cream has thickened, remove from heat and stir pasta through sauce. Serve.

Notes

• I like to make a double batch to use in lunch boxes the following day. Sometime I will cook a 1/4 recipe and just do a single serve for Miss E to take to Kindy in her Thermos.

Happy Cooking!
Jasmine