Term 2 Lunch Ideas for Lunch Boxes

It's back to term 2 for a lot of kids next week so I thought I'd share a few ideas that I give my kids. I do try to give them something different to a regular sandwich a few times a week. My kids won't eat salad in their lunch so that wipes out a whole heap of options, plus Alex is super duper fussy.

Cold Toasties

It had never occurred to me that you could send cold toasties in a lunch box and Sherryn who I work with put me onto this idea - my kids LOVE a toastie for lunch. I often just do a plain cheese toastie (Bio Cheese for Alex) but if I have some left over roast chicken or cold sausages from the night before I’d add that too. The kid’s favourite is actually cheese, sausage and tomato sauce. I make the toastie like I normally would and pop it on a rack to cool. Then I pack it just like a regular sandwich.

Wraps

Alex can't have most wraps due to his rice intolerance but Paige really likes Bfree Wraps in Sweet Potato.

Chicken Meatballs

I use the Ikea Chicken Meatballs for the kids for a quick and easy change - these are gluten free by ingredient. I sometimes send these warm in a thermos but I also warm them and then quickly cool them down and pop in the lunch box cold. Alex tends to just eat them as a snack but Paige enjoys them in a little bento box with some carrot and cucumber sticks, a piece of cheese and plain rice crackers.

Cold Pizza

Generally I do lunch boxes fresh in the morning but I try on a Sunday night to get them ready to make Mondays easy. One thing my kids always love is homemade pizza from the night before.

Sausage Rolls

I make sausage rolls for my kids quite often. I use the grain free pastry recipe from Life-Changing Food by Jo Whitton and Fouad Kassab. For me this book is worth the purchase just for the pastry recipe. I make a huge batch every now and then and freeze in portions for future use. My kids love the sausage rolls from the same book and I often freeze them uncooked and then cook the night before to make lunch boxes easy the next day.

Pastry Scrolls

I also use the same grain free dough to make little scrolls. The kids really love these! I just roll the pastry out and spread on some free range ham and then sprinkle with cheese. I use the Bio Cheese Pizza Shred for Alex's.

Quiche

Not an option for egg free kiddos but I always make two quiche at a time so we have leftovers for lunch the next day. Again, I use the same grain free dough to make quiche.

Sushi

I've got really quick at rolling up some sushi these days. They might not be perfect but everyone loves it (apart from Alex who again can’t have the rice). I cook some rice while I'm making dinner and then while everyone else does the dishes I quickly roll up the sushi ready for the next morning. We usually just do tuna, mayo and cucumber.

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Hope that gives you a few ideas. I honestly think lunches should be pretty quick and easy and we try to use leftovers as much as possible so there's no extra work. Just think about cooking a bit extra of what your kids like at dinner so it can go in the lunch box the next day.

Happy term 2! Lisa x