wow school goes back this week! I can almost feel the tears as I think about waving my little twinnies off to big school. And I’m getting organised with all of the lunchboxes and drink bottles out to make sure I have enough, name tags have been sewn into every item of new school uniform, bags are out and a few last minute supplies to get before I send them off this week.
And a few of you asked for lunchbox ideas. I’m afraid I’m not that exciting with lunchboxes here. I try to pack healthy lunchboxes with lots of fruit that the kids love, they are pretty easy going with their sandwich requests – ham, cheese, vegemite. We don’t do a lot of prepackaged things but I do keep a box of muesli bars or le snaks up the top of the pantry for the end of the week when things are usually running out.
so if you like baking I’ve put together a list of some of my favourite recipes that work great in lunchboxes and I’m making a list of gluten free treats that can go in lunchboxes as I send my littlest miss off to preschool for the first time with a gluten free lunchbox every day.
Quick banana bread in the thermomix
This is an oldie but a goodie, it never lets me down. For the gluten free version I’ve just been using the white wings gf flour or macro and it tastes great. You can even leave out the butter and just add a dash more milk if you want to
another oldie but always a winner. I find if you use butter that you need to add more so use 200g butter or 125g margarine in this recipe. Always goes down a treat
You can leave out the choc chips to make these a dairy free treat, this recipe goes a long way.
Need no explanation, absolutely delicious and a great little treat.
Leave out the nuts please! Super healthy and delicious.
great to send in to class when it’s your little one’s birthday. Always be sure to ask if anyone has an allergy so that you could send something for them in – I like to do a few freddos or simple lollipops.
this is a little treat but has to be one of my favourite recipes and is also great for afternoon tea as a treat. It never lasts long and retro daddy is lucky to get a slice when he comes home at night.
perfect for big families or bulk baking!
Choc chip, coconut and raisin cookies
Leave out the choc chips and double the raisins for a healthier cookie
Make sure you use a nut free muesli for these babies
Pioneer Woman’s Oatmeal Crispies in the thermomix
These would be great for lunch or morning tea and especially for those non sandwich eaters in the family or for something a little different
You could throw in some chopped dates or another dried fruit for something different
not baking but a great treat for lunchboxes and picky eaters
Now that looks like a whole lot of sweet treats. I try to bake at least once or twice a week for lunchboxes and sweet treats aren’t in there every day. Other favourites are cheese and rice crackers, corn thins, cheese sticks, yoghurt, muesli bars, lots of fruit and I buy fruit that the kids love and doesn’t come back in the lunchboxes. Got a favourite baking recipe you’d like to share with my readers, just let me know about it…………..
Oh that looks lovely but at our school there are so many restrictions that we cannot bring anything with egg or dairy, fish or nuts and hence no chocolate products of any variety so I am left with so little choice from these lovely treats- will have to make them for myself to eat instead!!!!
wow that’s strict! rice cakes, corn thins and fruit then?
yep hope you can make some for after school treats! the twins can’t have yoghurt, cheese or egg products this year but apparently its ok if it’s baked into an item like a cake but not frittata. Just for the infants school then they are fine.
Corrie, that’s a fantastic list. I’ll be trying a few myself. My daughter does little egg and bacon pies and mini quiches for her two. I’ll be thinking of you when you send your babies off to school. Have a great week. cheers
thank you! wow little quiches is a great idea especially when kids get sick of sandwiches
and thank you I’m already a bit emotional just thinking about it
PS. I just adapted your chicken pie for the thermomix. Fantastic! and I made my own puff pastry as well- so easy and much better than pre packaged puff and very quick too.
oh wow you made your own puff! that is something that I’ve done at cooking classes but takes so long. I’m impressed trish! well done!
Thank you for this great post! I have just turned my mind to back to school after being away for the past week on a family holiday… and now will be whipping out the sewing machine to do a few name tapes and thinking of what to bake for the first day back at school. I’ll be bookmarking this for future reference…
happy to help! good on you getting the name tapes done. I ordered mine and sat and sewed them in and actually enjoyed it, had no luck with iron on ones
The iron on are disgusting. They come off in the wash. So like you I have sewn mine in.
oh they are so bad Nancy! I learnt the hard way and they peeled off and looked terrible. it didn’t really take too long to sew them in and at least they are sewn in with love:) 😉
My littlest one starts school this week – well, he has his best start survey on Thursday morning, then actual class next week! I don’t bother baking for my kids lunchboxes, I find if I do put in a treat it will be eaten, and nothing else touched! At their preschool home baked was banned because of all the allergies and the chance of cross contamination, pre packaged had to come in with the label and cakes, bikkies etc were just sent back home. So its fruit and sandwiches for my darlings, at school anyway! Though I should get motivated and bake for their afternoon teas eh? Good luck with the twins heading off, I’ve already cried over my lad today in anticipation – he keeps reassuring me it will be ok!
yes at least you can have the best afternoon teas ever! and my kids go through a lot of food when we get home from school. And yes I have been a little emotional thinking about the first day and I’m sure there will be a big lump in my throat leaving them there….meanwhile they are so excited!
Thanks Corrie for all these fab recipes. My daughters don’t start kindly or school till next year but I like to have baking for hubby to take to work with him for his lunch and even just morning tea stuff for the girls at home. Gosh the kids are growing up fast! But I hope they love school and that you can adjust to their new routines. So does that mean you have days just with Emerson? X
oh yes get some practice in and hubbies always love baking! in fact he’s probably the biggest eater of it. yes 2 mornings a week it’s just me and emerson so hoping we can do the park and some long walks at manly beach since he’s so easy going and loves to be out and about. it’s exciting to think about
Yum and thankyou. With my big kid going into year 7 and my wee miss off to grade 3 we’ve been dong this for a few years and I was desperate for some new ideas. We’ve done meatballs, pizza scrolls, pizza muffins, mini quiches, mini sausage rolls and veggie slice, with sandwiches a couple of times a week, on pretty regular rotation for a couple of years and we’re all getting a bit bored with them…
yep even I need a bit of variety with the lunches!!!! good luck, wow one going to high school!
Well done a great list,I usually do wrpas with the standard lettuce cheese and ham or chiken though sometimes they complian they turn out soggy,Im going to add chicken pieces this year as adult tatses take over with surprises like grapes etc,its hard to put a bigger sized lunch box in a school bag thast already chock full of text books,I pack at 6am and he on the bus by 7 so keeping food cool enough is a problem,frozen poppers help but they are so sugery
wow 7am bus stop! that is early! yes keira loves wraps and is always giving me some lunch time suggestions!
I have a funny story about your jam drops. My 9 yr old loves the thermie and made jam drops the other day. She does it all now including use of the oven. Anyway, I took some into my mums 96 yr old neighbor who is housebound (poor thing). I also got her a cooked chicken for her dinner. I spoke to her later that night and she confessed she didn’t eat the chicken for dinner and ate all the biscuits for her dinner instead! She loved them so much.
oh that is so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love it! bless herxxxxxxxx
Thanks for the ideas! I’m going to need lots of ideas this year- my first year od school lunchboxes. I can’t believe it! I just finished up a round of lunchbox baking over the weekend (some muffins)! Kids loved ’em
oh wow first year! I love the enthusiasm of first time school mums in packing an exciting lunchbox
it does wear off
Thanks for these great lunch box ideas Corrie my little one is starting kinder think I’m more nervous than him!
Just made the CWA banana cake we demolished nearly half already so yummy and easy! Looking forward to my morning coffee and piece of cake already!
I’m drooling! Thank you for all the great recipes. Will try loads of these. Always nice to have fresh ideas for a new school year xo
I can bake most biscuits but Jam Drops leave me stumped! They spread across the tray. What am I doing wrong???
I have to say I love any receipe that starts with Melt. My days as a typist put paid to creaming by hand so I’ve adapted recipes to suit me. I will definitely be trying out that banana bread recipe. And as yesterday dgs mr3’s hand snuck up to the bench to pinch a 3rd slice of brownie (he usually only likes things with icing – and that gets licked off), I now take that as a compliment to our cooking and think Keira was showing her appreciation of your baking:)
Fantastic help, with 4 lunchboxes to fill everyday. Thank you