Lunch Box Ideas for kids

Lunch Box ideas for kids

Looking for some non-traditional lunch box ideas for the kids and yourself? Or perhaps you want to pack for a picnic at a local picnic spot? Picnic spots in Cape Town, also in Pretoria and Johannesburg. Here are a few I stumbled upon as I planned my menu for the month.

Kids trail mix

This is a really easy and quick idea for a lunch box snack. There are many different combinations you can choose from. Some ideas on what to add into the mix are: pretzels, mixed nuts, dried fruit, peanuts and raisins or almonds, popcorn, mini marshmallows, cheerio’s, m&m’s or smarties and jelly babies. I’m sure there are other options, but just adding three or four food items together will give you a yummy trail mix. You can put the mix in a cup with a sealable lid or just into a plastic zip lock bag. All ready to go.

Bored of the old sandwich? Here are some alternative ideas:

Salad in a cup:

There are quite a few combinations to this idea, figuring out what your kiddie likes is the most difficult part. A simple green salad with some seeds and nuts; or try adding some corn or cheese. Carrots are also a good option; try to cut it into strips (Vegetable Julienne Peeler) along with some cucumber. Making a pasta or couscous salad might also go down well.   Another option is to make a fruit salad layered with custard or yoghurt. Layer your salad in a cup with a sealable lid and off you go.

Image credit: Hello Wonderful

Spaghetti and mince muffin:

You will need: Spaghetti, mince (chicken or beef), cottage cheese, cheddar cheese and a large muffin tin.

Start by cooking your spaghetti and your mince. Add spices and seasoning to the meat mixture. Drain your spaghetti and place small amounts into each muffin container, press until you have a basket shape for the meat to go into. Take the cottage cheese and place a spoonful into each spaghetti basket. Then take the meat mixture and fill each spaghetti basket, sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about half an hour until the cheese has melted on top.

This you can eat straight away or let cool and place in the fridge to enjoy in a lunch box the next day.

For the hot summer days, you can always try these "make- and-freeze" lunchbox ideas:

Lunch box smoothies:

You will need: To make the smoothies you can use fresh or frozen fruit.

You can use about 4 cups of different fruits.

½ Cup of milk

½ cup of yoghurt

Table spoon of honey

Blend this all together and pour into cups with sealable lids and freeze.  If you make too much you can always freeze the extra as well to use later.  Take out the freezer when required and put into the lunch box. The cold cup will keep everything else in the bag fresh and cool and by the time lunch rolls around it would have melted enough to drink.  Enjoy.

Photo credit: http://foodformyfamily.com/

Pancake bites for finger food options:

You will need: Your best pancake recipe or just buy a pre- mix product from the shop

Filling/topping for your pancake

Muffin tin   

Prepare your pancake batter and add what you want to put into the pancake and pour into your muffin tin. I made some nice healthy spinach and cheese bites for my two nieces, that didn’t go down too well, I don’t even think they tasted it, first spying the green stuff in them and asking “what’s that?” Maybe your kids don’t mind spinach, but there are other options available such as; chocolate chips, blueberries or strawberries, and plain cinnamon sugar.

If you use whole strawberries, which are a bit bigger you can add this on top of your plain batter and bake. The cinnamon and sugar bites are made by coating the pancake bites after it has been cooked with some butter and rolling them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Of course, all of these pancake ideas can be frozen and used at a later time.

Hope you had fun preparing these- feel free to share your recipes and ideas in comments - Charlene