Organically Aussie

School lunches are a pain to make, lets all be honest here. Its especially frustrating when the kids don’t eat their lunches, and in this economy, it hurts even more than it used to. On top of this economic crunch, my son has been going through multiple growth spurts and so has been eating…. A LOT! I swear, I have never seen a child eat so much in my life! So, because of this constant eating, I have had to get creative with his lunch boxes for school. Keep in mind, I only have one child, an almost 6 year old boy, so the amount I make will likely go further than those of you with multiple children.

So, my main focus on my sons’ lunches is protein. Back when I made him lunches that were the “standard” lunch, you know, with a sandwich, some crackers or popcorn, some fruit, some veggies and a sweet (usually a homemade muffin or something), he would eat his lunch at school, then come home and snack constantly until dinner, then not eat his dinner. He would also have trouble going to bed and would be super hyper all afternoon. I was doing some research on diets for myself (due some hormonal and digestive issues I have, but that’s a story for another day), and I had the realisation that my son was eating primarily carbohydrates for lunch, and so again, I did a bit of digging, and I read a study about children with ADHD (my son does NOT have ADHD) where parents had their kids go on low carb diets and their symptoms improved. I had the thought that if it improved the symptoms of children with ADHD, maybe it would my son too. So I then embarked on the treacherous journey of getting my son off bread and sweets. Well, it took a bit of work, but after a few weeks, he’s been doing amazing. His hyperactivity has reduced significantly, he no longer snacks constantly after school (still has one or two, but not constantly), and now he sits down and eats his dinner (albeit very slowly, but he does eat it). He is also better at school, behaviour wise that it.  So now, my son gets a selection of the following in his lunchbox:

MAINS

• Homemade chicken nuggets with sauce
• Mini beef burgers sandwiched between cucumber slices
• Mini protein pancakes
• Ham sandwich on homemade sourdough bread

FRUIT

• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Mandarin
• Apple
• Pear

VEGGIES

• Cherry tomatoes
• Cucumber slices
• Capsicums
• Carrot sticks

DAIRY

• Yogurt pouch (organic, no added sugar)
• Cheese

EXTRAS

• Homemade sourdough crackers
• Home popped popcorn
• Assorted nuts (his favourite is cashews, always raw or dry roasted, preferably organic)

SWEETS

• Homemade marshmallows (made with grass fed beef gelatine and maple syrup)
• Protein muffins

Some other ideas, depending on what your own child likes, could be homemade sushi, sliced steak, hard boiled eggs, chicken and salad, quiche, lentil or chickpea pasta with sauce, nut bars. There are so many options for healthy, protein rich lunch box ideas for kids. You just have to work out what your kid likes and will eat. There are also ways of making baked goods and sweets higher in protein, again, you just have to get creative. I definitely recommend reading up on higher protein lunch boxes for children, it is so eye opening.

Thanks for reading this far, I’ll get some recipes up soon for some of our favourite recipes.

Have a great day

Ashlee xx