Back to School | Free Lunch Box Planner & Easy Recipe Ideas
Can you believe it's back to school week in 2021? Feels like yesterday we were preparing for back to school and that was a year ago, time does fly when you are having fun they say but not sure that saying rings true anymore! Can you also believe I have three kids that are not fans of sandwiches? I used to think that it was unusual to have children that don’t like sandwiches but, I have since discovered that its actually quite common and that there are lots of people out there struggling to come up with interesting non-sandwich lunchbox ideas for their children.
Even though I have been making lunch boxes for a while now, I still struggle to come up with ideas that are not expensive to put together, easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time because if your household is anything like ours, every second counts in the mornings!
With back to school upon us down under in Oz, I thought it would be a good time to share something to make back to school a little easier this year. I have not only put together some of our favourite go to lunch box ideas for busy families but I have also added a FREE Printable Lunch Box Planner too! You can print your A4 lunch box planner, laminate it and reuse each week or however often as you like to keep your little one's lunches fun, interesting and healthy!
Here’s my go to list of easy and healthy school lunch box ideas that can be made ahead, just click on the recipe names x
Homemade pizza scrolls can be filled with veggies and cheese, or even ham or salami. You can make them easily from store bought puff pastry or make your crust from scratch. Either way, you can make a big batch and then freeze.
Sausage rolls don’t have the healthiest of reputations, but when made at home, you can fill them with veggies making them a delicious lunchtime treat.
These rainbow fritters are gluten free and can be frozen once cooked. They’re also a great way to use up any left over veggies you might have in your fridge.
With 3 serves of veggies, zucchini slice is a healthy non-sandwich lunch box alternative. It’s super quick and easy to put together too.
Left over meals like fried rice make really yummy lunches. You can even serve the rice in a thermo so that it stays warm until lunch time!
Meatballs make the perfect lunch box filler. They can be served on their own or added to pasta or just a dipping sauce.
Often the thinking about what to make for lunch is the most stressful part. Now that you have this list of super easy non-sandwich lunchbox ideas, speak to your children about what they would like for their lunches and get them involved in the thinking and making process. Then plan out your shopping and lunchbox ideas for the week. You may even be able to prepare some of these recipes in advance, pop them in the freezer and then simply pull them out each morning and transfer straight to your lunch box.
I have included a free lunchbox planner printable to make the planning process easier for you.
Feel free to share this information, and if you have any great lunch box ideas, please comment below. I would love to add to my list of non-sandwich lunch box favourites.
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