Top 6 Nutritious and Delicious Lunch Box Ideas

Tip: Prepare the night before

Snacks:

1.Homemade Hummus with Raw Veggies

2x 400g tinned chickpeas

3 clove garlic, minced

80ml tahini

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon paprika

juice of 2 lemons

80ml flaxseed oil

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor with 60ml of filtered water and blend until creamy. Add more water if you want a thinner consistency.

Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week

Vegies: Choose 2-3 of the below to dip into hummus as your snack

1 carrot, chop into sticks

1 sprig celery, chop into sticks

½ Zucchini, chop into sticks

4-6 snow peas, washed

4-6 string beans, washed

A light, quick and easy high protein and fibre snack with all the extra nutrients packed in there as well- keeping you and the kids fueled and nourished throughout the morning or afternoon.

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2. Fresh Chicken Spring Rolls with Tamari sauce

Makes 8

1 single fillet of chicken breast

8x 20cm rice paper sheets

8 large mint leaves

1 red capsicum, seeded and thinly sliced

1 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced

½ large ripe avocado, sliced into 8 length ways

½ cup mung bean sprouts

60ml tamari

Lightly cover a grill pan with some coconut oil, and heat on a medium to high heat. Place the chicken into pan and cook well, until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Submerge the first sheet of rice paper in a large bowl with warm tap water for 5 seconds, then lay on a clean tea towel. Place a mint leaf in centre, then top with a few strips each of capsicum, carrot and cucumber, and one strip of chicken and avocado, drizzle over some tamari sauce. Top with some mung bean sprouts.

Fold sides over on to vegetables, starting closest to you, roll it up. Repeat with rest of sheets, mint and vegetables.

3. Buckwheat Pikelets with Pear

Gluten free

Makes 16

1/2 cup of buckwheat flour

1 tsp gluten-free baking powder

1 organic egg

5 drops of stevia

1 cup rice milk or almond milk

¼ pear

lemon juice

In a large bowl mix the flour and baking powder together. Add the egg, stevia and milk and whisk, move any lumps. Leave for 10minutes to settle.

Pour a light coconut oil into a frying pan and place over high heat. Carefully pour in 1-2 tablespoons of batter in to the pan to make a small thin layer. You can probably fit 2-3 in the pan at a time.

Reduce the heat slightly and when the underside of the pikelet is browned, flip it over to brown the other side. move from the pan and continue makings more pikelets from the remaining batter, oiling the pan with coconut oil as needed.

Chop up a ¼ of a pear into small thin slices, and squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top, to stop it from going brown, wrap the slices in foil, ready to eat with your pikelets.

Lunch:

4. Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

Makes 2

1 single fillet of chicken breast

150g of dried pasta of your choice; gluten free if you like

1 small carrot, peeled, coarsely grated

10 cherry tomatoes, halves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh continental parsley or corriander

¼ cup of feta or shredded cheddar cheese

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Squeeze of lemon or lime juice

Sprinkle of cracked salt and pepper

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water until soft. Drain. Refresh under cold running water and drain well.

In the meantime, lightly cover a medium pan with the extra-virgin olive oil, season oil with some cracked salt and pepper. Heat the oil on a medium to high heat, and then place chicken into the pan and cook until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Then cut into thin strips.

Add the carrot, tomato and parsley/coriander to a bowl, add cracked pepper and salt and then the drained and cooled pasta and chicken, add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, mix well and add cheese ..Yum!

5. Zucchini Fritters

Makes 4-6 fritters

4 large zucchini, grated

2 teaspoon Himayalan salt

¼ cup coconut flour

2 eggs

1 avocado

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Reduce the liquid in the grated zucchini by sprinkling salt over the top and letting it sit for 10minutes. Then pick up the zucchini in handfuls and squeeze as much liquid out as you can (I do this over the sink)

Place the squeezed grated zucchini in a bowl. Add coconut flour, eggs and pepper and mix well.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, grab little handfuls of the mixture- about ¼ cup- and shape into fritters, then place in to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes. Once they start turning golden underneath, flip them over and cook the other side for 2 minutes. You can probably fit 4 in a pan at a time. Once they have cooled, keep them in the fridge over night until you’re ready to pack them in your lunch box. Optional: You can add some rocket, avocado slices and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

6. Spanish Frittata

Serves 4

4x eggs

1/2 red capsicum

1/2 green capsicum

4x button mushrooms

2x garlic gloves

1/2 spanish onion

2 cup of rocket

1 avocado

1/4 lemon or lime

1 tsp of coconut oil

Salt and pepper

Pre- heat a small fry-pan on a medium heat, add the coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. You could also add: Indian spices or 1/2 cup of any culinary herb you like to the oil for extra flavor.

Add in the spanish onion and garlic, cook until golden brown. Then add the capsicum and mushrooms, cook until soft.

Whisk your eggs in a separate bowl and pour over the ingredients in the pan. Make sure the ingredients in the fry-pan are evenly spread before pour the eggs on top.

Keep the heat at a medium temperature until the eggs are cooked. If the eggs are still a bit runny on top, pop the fry-pan under the grill for 5minutes or until cooked.

Once the frittata has cooled, remove it from the pan onto a plate and put it in the fridge over night until you’re ready to pack in to your lunch box.

Cut frittata into ¼ or 1/8th

You can add some rocket, avocado slices and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.