Lunchbox Ideas … Silicon Food Bands …

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Well, school holidays ended here in Queensland on Monday, the kids returned to school, so it’s back to the old Lunchbox Routine again … no complaints though because I love getting creative! Here is the lunchbox I whipped up for Tuesday and I wanted to share these fantastic Silicon Food Bands that I used for my daughter’s wrap … sort of like a hair band but for food!

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I have been using these for a while and I picked mine up in Kyoto in Japan, however, I have seen them on ebay. Just search for things like Bento or Bento Box and loads of cutters, food picks and other accessories will come up. As the name suggests they are made from silicon meaning they can be washed after each use in warm soapy water, dried and reused. I love them, not only because they keep the wrap nicely secure as the kids eat but they also reduce the need to use lunch wrap and that means less waste.

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I also thought each week I would mention some of the lunch containers I use and where I have purchased them as I’m also getting loads of questions about that as well. The container used this time is a Décor container that is widely available. I have a few of these and I’ve picked them up at Coles, Woolworths and KMart. They do appear to go on special quite regularly, so wait for a sale to grab one. I like these containers because of their versatility. They are great for separating different items but can also be used with or without the white dividing trays. The kids do, however, need to be reminded to bring all the inserts home and not lose them … good luck with that one!

I’ve also had loads of questions from readers about the amount of time it takes to create some of my lunchboxes. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take that much longer if you do a bit of planning and organisation. I do some preparation the night before, so each week when I feature a new idea, I will also share my “how to” guide for each lunchbox. Don’t forget to also download completely free my Lunchbox Planner and that should help.

 

So, here’s what was in Tuesday’s lunchbox:

  • Wrap with shredded barbecue chicken, grated cheese, grated carrot, mayonnaise and lettuce
  • Sultanas
  • Orange slices
  • Strawberries
  • Corn Chips
  • Mini Chocolate Muffin
  • Celery sticks
  • Yoplait Strawberry Yoghurt Squeezie
  • Moo Milk
  • Water (not in the picture)
  1. The wraps I keep in the freezer … just remember to loosely separate them beforehand so they don’t stick together once frozen.
  2. The chicken was shredded the night before and stored in a container in the fridge. The carrot and cheese were also grated a stored in separate containers in the fridge.
  3. The orange was simply cut in half and then sliced. The slices were placed in the container (one slice up, one slice down) ready to go and put in the fridge. Same with the strawberries … they were washed, tops removed, dried with paper towel and placed in the container in the fridge.
  4. The chocolate muffin was baked the previous week and frozen. It was simply removed from the freezer in the morning and placed in the container to defrost in time for morning tea.
  5. Celery was washed, chopped and dried with paper towel the night before and stored in the fridge in the container with the lid on.

So as you can see, most of the preparation was done the night before. All I had to do in the morning was make the wrap with the pre-prepared ingredients, roll and secure with a silicon food band. The orange and strawberries were already in the container and the sultanas were added (although that could have also been done the night before). The corn chips were added to the second container, along with the celery and then everything was packed into a lunchbox with ice bricks. Really quite easy, almost no extra time and I’m confident the extra effort and presentation would tempt even the fussiest eater.

So tell me, do your kids like the same things in their lunchbox every day or do they prefer the variety?

Just in case you missed them, here are the links to some other Lunchbox inspiration …

Put a Little Love in Your Lunchbox

Lunchbox Ideas … Fruit Kebabs

Apricot Muffins

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