For years and years and years I’ve been able to be smug about lunch box issues. Even last year when Big started school I got away with it, as she mainly ate from the cafeteria, and even though I winced at the prices, it meant I didn’t have to plan, buy and pack.
This year however, she is quite determinedly taking a packed lunch every day to sixth form, which is much better on my budget but oh the pain of trying to balance meals and not bore her to tears, and actually pack some nutritional goodness in there. Not helped by the fact that her healthy teen appetite needs to support hours of swim training on top of day to day life.
I confess we were quickly stuck in a rut of daily ham sandwiches, piece of fruit, cereal bar. The Flora lunchbox challenge happened along at just the right time, and broadened our horizons massively.
Sliding quickly past the references to little ones here, I quickly had my teen sorted out which a healthy lunch of pasta, tuna and sweetcorn with a bit of flora in there to give it that little goodness boost. (According to Flora, every Flora tub contains plant oils, such as sunflower, rapeseed and linseed oils. Flora is lower in saturated fats than butter* and provides a source of healthy Omega 3 and 6. These essential fats contribute to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels and are also needed for normal growth and to support the development of children.)
My life got even better when I managed to meal plan in such a way that her lunch was effectively leftovers from my actual little ones’ tea from the night before 😉
I do think it’s a shame that she doesn’t really like eggs in a packed lunch, as they were always my go to for an extra protein burst when I packed my own lunches long long ago. But at least we’ve made the first step beyond ham sandwiches, and there are a few more ideas on the Flora site for us to explore as well. Which is good, as we’re at the start of two years of this sixth form lark, and that’s a lot of packed lunches to go.
This post is an entry for the #FloraLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Flora. Check out their lunch planner and recipe ideas here
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