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Now that the twiglets are in Year 3, we pay for them to have school lunches. For this reason, they’re now having a mix of school and packed lunches to save money. So I thought I’d share a few little tips and tricks I’ve learned on how to make boring packed lunches that little bit more interesting!
No elaborate lunches here…
Let me start by saying you won’t be finding any involved and intricate recipes here. You also won’t see any of those beautifully creative bento box ideas with cucumber stars and little characters with googly eyes on. I am NOT the type of mum who cuts sandwiches into pretty little shapes or any of that jazz! So if that’s what you’re after, this is not the post for you! Maybe have a look at Eats Amazing on Instagram for that sort of stuff!
Also, my kids are fussy eaters. My daughter will literally only eat one sandwich filling. So their packed lunches are pretty damn boring, I’m not going to lie! But I’d rather they ate a decent-sized lunch than try to pack a load of exciting stuff that will inevitably remain untouched.
So these ideas for making boring packed lunches more interesting are just little cheat tips I’ve picked up. Nothing revolutionary and definitely nothing very exciting. But EASY! And as a busy (and chronically overwhelmed!) mum, I am all about making things that little bit easier! 🙂
How to make packed lunches more interesting:
TIP 1 – Have different lunchbox options
So after saying I don’t do bento boxes, I’m going to contradict myself and say I actually do like a bento box! I just don’t fill it with anything exciting or exotic! But there is something quite satisfying about having different little compartments to put a variety of bits and bobs in. I definitely find making the packed lunches slightly less mind-numbingly boring this way! Check out this post for lots of bento lunchbox ideas!
If you want to be fancy, you could invest in a Yumbox. Personally I bought some cheap Sistema ones from Tesco and I find they do the job perfectly well. The twigs also have a Smiggle lunch bag each so we swap between that and the bento style box to vary things a bit.
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TIP 2 – Vary bread choices
As I mentioned already, my daughter will only eat one sandwich filling. If she ever goes off Marmite, it’ll be game over! She’s quite happy eating a Marmite sandwich every day, but I do feel it’s pretty boring! So where I can’t vary the filling, I vary the bread instead. I’ll rotate between normal bread, rolls, sandwich thins, bagels, wraps, pitta etc. If I buy a pack of something that we’re not going to finish in the week, I just freeze the rest then use them another week. Great for emergencies when I realise we’ve nothing in!
TIP 3 – Use hot food flasks
This has been a game changer! I invested in some hot flasks from SHO. They’re not the cheapest but I had read a lot of good reviews. Plus they have loads of colours and designs to choose from, are a decent size and are really good quality. I haven’t actually used one for myself as yet. But the twigs always seem happy and say their food is still pretty hot by the time they eat it at lunchtime.
Using a reusable hot food flask opens up lots more options for making packed lunches more interesting. We’ve put sausage pasta in ours, meatballs, bolognese etc. You could also do soup, fish fingers or hotdogs. It’s a great way of using up leftovers too! Lots more hot food flask ideas here 🙂
TIP 4 – Use reusable pouches
I first saw Nom Nom Kids pouches on my lovely friend Kaz’s blog – The 3am Diary. They are super practical and great for the environment as they’re reusable. They’re easy to wash and fold completely flat when empty, so take up way less space than tupperware. And best of all, they have such cute and colourful designs so they’re perfect for brightening up boring packed lunches! I bought two of their sample packs which contain six different sized pouches and bags.
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TIP 5 – Do some DIY
For some kids, a packed lunch can be made more interesting by adding a DIY element. This doesn’t work so well for C as there’s not really anything she’d eat! But H really enjoys having something to put together himself. You could do DIY lunchables with crackers, cheese and ham. Or wraps with a few various fillings.
I hope this post was useful! What are your tips for making packed lunches more interesting?
Thanks for reading! Til next time,
Hannah xx
Check out these posts:
- Things I learned from my kids’ first term of school
- Feeling sad when your children start school
- 11 super simple eco swaps
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