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As the countdown to the return to school began, tensions began to rise.
There were tantrums, tears, and meltdowns - and that was just from me!
And the biggest cause of stress? School lunches!
After a delightful few weeks where the kids could eat pretty much
whenever and whatever they wanted, I realised I would once again be challenged with the task
of filling small packages of healthy but yummy food that would carry them
through the day. Food that would actually be eaten, and not returned at the end
of the day, stinky and soggy.
Mr 13 has always been a challenge in the food department. With his
serious food allergies, and ASD sensory issues, his choices are limited.
He's never liked sandwiches, and anything in the nuts or tree nuts
department is immediately ruled out, due to anaphylaxis. His sister has also
tested positively to tree nut allergies so she has to stay away from them as
well. To top it off, she recently decided she hates bread too.
While I'm hardly an obsessive lunchbox Mum, I do admit to cutting
sandwiches into cute shapes when they were toddlers - just to encourage them to try bread once again.
This was before it was trendy and there were special sandwich cutters. I just
used biscuit cutters instead.
But it was wasteful and time consuming. And the novelty quickly wore
off. For all of us.
Sometimes I make sushi, because it's something both kids love. But
that's time consuming and messy in the morning, when you just want to get
everyone out of the house on time.
Plus there's the challenge of keeping everything cold until lunch time
in the Queensland heat.
These days, I tend to stick to chicken salad wraps, crackers with cheese
or vegemite, home-made snacks, and fruit.
They always get water, and usually a popper.
My two won't eat yoghurt at school, and they've never gone for the pasta
salads, frittatas, savoury muffins and other recipes suggested by so many
magazines and parenting websites for kids’ lunches.
They will occasionally eat leftovers at school - Harmonie loves curry, spaghetti bolognaise, and noodles - and the children both like soup in winter.
I’m not perfect, and I don’t always have home-made snacks ready to go,
particularly as we get towards the end of the week and stocks get low. So I keep an eye out for
yummy things I can pop into the lunch bags at the last minute to brighten their
meals and help them through their day.
The
nut thing rules out most muesli bars, and I’m not big a fan of chips, commercially-made biscuits, or
so-called fruit snacks.
So
I was interested when SunRice sent us some of their SunRice Mini Bites to try.
These
are delicious, bite-size rice cakes, seasoned with tasty natural flavours and
packed with whole grains for goodness. They have less fat than regular potato
chips, so I don’t have to feel guilty when I slip then into the lunch box with
some cheese, dip and carrot sticks. (Okay, only Harmonie eats the carrot sticks,
but I’m hopeful Chase will one day!)
SunRice
Mini Bites’ wholegrain and nutritional content makes them National Healthy
School Canteen Amber compliant. And one pack contains almost 70 per cent of the
Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council’s recommended daily intake of wholegrain
for toddlers, and around 40 per cent of the target intake for 4 - 9 year olds.
They
are available in three flavours: Spooky Original, Devilish Chicken and Creepy
Cheese.
My
kids loved the chicken ones the most, while my neighbour’s younger children
enjoyed the cheese flavour the best.
SunRice
Mini Bites are available in the Woolworths’ health food aisle.
Thankfully,
my kids have started to help make their own lunches, and these
little snack packs are often one of the first thing they reach for after their
wraps are made.
What
are your kids like when it comes to school lunches? And do you ever stress over
the contents?