Lunch box Ideas with Leftovers

A sponsored guest post:

As a family we tend to cook mostly on Saturdays and Sundays. That often means that if we don’t eat everything, there’ll be left overs in the fridge Monday morning. I’ve now got into the discipline of using whatever is left over to fill the kids’ lunch boxes. Having had a stuffed pepper and steak dinner on Saturday, I found myself on Sunday evening with two red peppers and some carrots in the fridge. We had some pitta breads and dips on Sunday evening and there were four pitta breads left over.

I went for pitta bread carrot and red pepper wraps with cream cheese (I always have light cream cheese in the fridge!) I washed and dried the peppers and then cut them into thin strips, making sure all the seeds were removed. I then washed and peeled the carrots and cut these into small thin pieces, about the size of a baby’s finger. Making sure that I didn’t over-fill the pitta bread, I placed pepper and carrot in the wrap and added the light cream. I then completed the lunch boxes by adding a low fat yoghurt and a pear. Off they went to school, and I was pleased to see that later that afternoon they came trotting back to the house with their lunch boxes empty. Clearly the fridge leftover makeover worked!

Another favourite with my kids is making a tasty salad in a plastic bowl that I seal with clear cellophane and pop into their lunch boxes. Depending on what is leftover in the fridge, you can make this with turkey, tuna or chicken. Cut the meat into small pieces and then add sliced celery, some walnuts and raisins. Mix them altogether with a low fat mayonnaise. Pop the sealed bowls in the lunchboxes along with an apple and a couple of crackers with a low fat cheese slice or two. Hey presto!

Finally- what to do with that leftover potato salad? Here’s what you can do to give the kids a really tasty lunchbox special: Add some tinned tuna, balsamic vinegar, a little corn-starch and some chopped parsley (or other herb that the kids like). Mix it all together in a bowl and then spread out into fritters.  Fry in a little vegetable oil. They can then be put into a plastic bag and kept in the fridge until the morning. Put them in the kids’ lunchboxes next morning along with their favourite low fat dip or salad cream, and remind them to heat them up in the school’s microwave for a tasty and nutritious lunch.

The secret is really just to be inventive when coming across leftovers in your fridge. And don’t call them leftovers! That can be off-putting for the kids. I call mine “second helpings”.

Good luck! Some more creative ideas here!

Organix 'Veg & Oat Bars' review

We are huge fans of Organix snacks in our house, my daughter's favourites have to be the fruit bars, so I was really interested to find out what their new savoury versions were like.

It's a great idea, I never leave the house unless armed with some kind of snack (bribe) but I don't always want to be giving S something sweet - the savoury options are a lot more limited! Organix very kindly sent us two boxes of their Veg & Oat bars to sample and here is what we thought...

First up was tomato and carrot:

Squiggle recognised the packaging straight away and was very excited, I explained to her what flavour they were and she said "yum I like carrots"... Her review was... "They taste nice, they taste like tomatoes, the smell like tomatoes, I like tomatoes..."

And that pretty much sums it up! She did like them but she also said I could have the other half. She does quite like sharing food with mummy, but she would NEVER share her fruit bars!! I had some too and they do have quite a strong tomato flavour. I think she would have liked them even more when she was younger and was a real fan if those strong flavours, she is almost 3 now and knows what she likes!

Our second box were sweetcorn and red pepper flavour:

Again these are both flavours that she loves so she was excited and these went down even better. The texture and quality of the bars is up to the Organix brand's usual high standards and of course they have the no junk promise to put your mind at ease!! I think the bars are well worth a try, some kids will love them. I remember being at the earlier stages with squiggle when I was trying to avoid sweet treats, I would have stocked up on these. In bribery terms I have to confess I'll probably still reach for the Organix carrot cake bars instead. She really enjoyed the savoury bars but she begs and pleas for the fruit ones!

Has anyone else tried them? I'd love to hear what your little ones thought? Well worth a try I'd say!

Please not we were sent these to review but my thoughts are my own.

Food for thought

How do you feel about your children's food and nutrition?

Sorry if the title is misleading, sadly I am not offering cake in return for your comments, as much as I'd love too! But I would really love to hear your opinions. The Pineapple Lounge are conducting some research into this area and are really keen to hear the views of mum's like you. It would be great to get some discussion going so please go ahead and leave your opinions, experiences, success stories and of course your not so successful stories!

Here's mine...

Starting out and worrying a little too much

I think our children's nutrition is a really important issue for most patents, after all it is all down to us to give our little ones the best healthy start in life we can – this can often weigh heavy on our minds. I have suffered quite a few spouts dinner guilt in my time and have spent many a time worrying if my daughter is getting all she needs. I started motherhood with a host of preconceived ideas on how I would feed my child – no ready-made foods or jars – why would I do this when bananas or avocados are such a delicious healthy snack. I soon got a few wake up calls and my approach to feeding my daughter quickly became more laid back, but the worry that I'm doing the best for her in terms of nutrition is always there.

When I weaned my daughter I was really keen to make up the purees myself and the ice cube technique worked well for me. I used a great Annabel Karmel cookbook as I guide and tried to give her a good mix or fruit and vegetables. I tried not to worry if she didn't take to certain things as I didn't want to make meal times an issue. I remember at first she loved everything orange: pureed carrots, swede and butternut squash. Then I heard a story about a baby that ate so much orange food her skin turned that colour and I panicked! So funny looking back.

What are your worries when approaching your children's diet?

So I gave my baby a jar of food 

When away on holiday and completely stuck for food one day, shock horror, I brought my first jar of baby food after my mum told me it would do no harm (jars just always felt unnatural and I mistrusted what was in them). Squiggle loved it and I was pretty gutted after all the effort I had been putting in but it did mellow me and helped me realise there were other options out there designed to help. I didn't always have to do everything!

I soon fell in love with Ella's kitchen pouches for when I was out and about. I loved the variety in the flavours – from butternut squash, to spinach, to fruit. I felt they hit the nail on the head with the recipes as there was a great variety of ingredients across the range. This is my main concern when feeding my little one, that she is getting enough of all the different things and not just one food group. She loved the taste and they were very practical to carry round and re-seal.

Another product I loved were the 'organix steam cooked meal' pots. The 'no junk promise' is the simple reassurance you need and I found these great for emergency in the cupboard meals.

Have you discovered any life saving products?

My happy eater

Growing up and facing new challenges 

Now she's older, I fear I'm probably less wise! She is two going on three and I struggle to find inspiration now. I want her to get a good variety of flavours to set her up for a good varied diet later in life and don't want her to become bored with her dinners. I'm lucky that she loves her greens but she doesn't like potatoes so I struggle to find something filling that isn't always pasta! I do guiltily give her chips sometimes but she's not even that bothered about eating them. Sometimes I feel like she is on the Atkins diet does anyone have this problem and have any good carb alternatives?

My other worry is meat, she loves anything with mince and is pretty good with fish but won't touch chicken, this narrows our options and leaves me stuck for ideas! I am quite fussy with the meat I buy, I'll only buy good mince and free range chicken.

Are you a free-range person or does the budget take over?

I've never worried to much about buying organic produce for her, I wonder if most mums do? Budgets have to come into the equation on that one! 

Trolley dash 

We normally hit the supermarket together on the morning of my day off and my priority is too get variety on a budget. We normally choose a couple of different varieties of fruit – I prefer it when the shops do the offers on smaller packs, e.g. 3 for £4 so you can get a selection of fruit that won't go off before you get to eat it all! I always watch out for the offers in the fruit section in case there is a chance to try something new. We then pick up some salad things as these are a always a hit and a couple of greens. We are quite good with our vegetables but I rely a lot on the good old favourites of peas and sweetcorn and I worry I have become lazy food mummy!

The rest of the shop is a bit of a minefield of confusion and I usually go with good offers I find. Sometimes I come out with no clearer idea of what we are going to eat for the next few days and usually the worry that I haven't got enough balanced meals for my daughter. In a way the puree days were easier as I had a much better idea of what she was eating and had it all ready and under control. Saying that a big bonus is that in general she can now eat what we eat and that does make life easier and we love our family roasts together. If I can't face the big supermarket and I need a quick fix I have been known to pick up something from the M&S kids range for her tea, I know they will always go down well.

Do you leave you shop satisfied you have brought the right things for your child or do you leave with worry on your mind like me?!

Top treats

We always head to the toddler aisle and I stock up on a big bag of Organix raisins and cereal bars. She LOVES these and it's important for me to have some healthier snacks on hand at all times. My biggest gripe with these things is that you can only ever get one flavour in a pack, why not mix them up so they can get more variety?

My little girl loves the kids Innocent smoothies, these are only for a treat sadly as they are very pricey! Brand wise however, they have got it right. She loves pretending to read the packaging as the cartons have pictures of all the fruit included and she loves to tell me about them. I think this is a great touch! I struggle to get my daughter to drink so am always on the lookout for products which will help.

Do you go for healthy treats or treat treats?!

Brand bugs

Are there anything brands do or say that annoy you? 

For me there aren't especially – it's their job to sell products and I have a mind of my own and my own will power against them and my toddler. 

I do get a little bugged by those 'clear' fruit drinks which are supposed to be better for children but if you taste them they actually taste really fake and unnatural and not really a flavour I would like my daughter getting used to. 

I don't especially like it when I think brands TV adverts are trying to put nutritional worries into the minds of parents, we have enough to worry about!! I have been giving my daughter toddler milk at bedtime as I thought it provided peace of mind that she was getting nutrients until my sister pointed out that they contained sugar, cows milk is fine! 

I thought a great brand touch was when Sainsbury's used to send me recipe cards to give me ideas for children's meals. This gave me lots of inspiration and was just the sort of inspiration I needed.

Sweet tooth

We are far from perfect and I don't want to spend my life worrying or looking like a neurotic mum so we do have treats. In fact if you asked my daughter her favourite foods she would probably say:

Cake,

Chocolate buttons,

Sweeties, 

Crisps,

Strawberries,

Petits Filous,

Grapes,

Bananas,

Cheese

Bars (organix),

Spaghetti Bolognese,

Peas,

Broccoli,

Carrots...

luckily she doesn't get to choose! She really loves her pudding but I do struggle to come up with new ideas. She has a lot of Petits Filous / yogurts, alternated with some fruit but there must be some more options out there? 

Does anyone else have any good pudding options?

We used to get the Heinz mini tins of rice puddings or custard when she was younger but I think she has grown out of them now. 

At dinner the other night Squiggle ate one pea then announced, "I'm finished, can I have my yogurt now?" You can't avoid sweet treats – even if you don't hand them out, others will, but I don't want her sweet tooth to get out of control! 

Crunch time

Do you give your children crisps?

I went for a long time not allowing her crisps as I was mainly worried about salt content. I loved the healthy baby packs of puffed carrot or puffed tomatos which made her feel she was eating the same thing as the grown ups. Having been slipped quite a few crisps in her time she's wise now and loves them so I've relented and have occasionally been buying the children's teddy shaped crisps. The ingredients don't look too bad but I always hand them out with a big pang of guilt!

Big eyes little tummy

She doesn't know much about nutrition or healthy eating herself and I don't want it to be an issue, just something she does naturally. She will often ask for a treat but I can normally fob her off with some blueberries and she does see fruit as a treat which is great. I have however been embarrassed on quite a few occasions round peoples houses when she asks them for a biscuit or some cake! 

Have I become too complacent? Greens don't actually cancel out fat and sugar do they?

Am I way off track? I have no idea!

How do you approach food with your children? 

Please share in the comments, I'd love to know!



Little note! I am receiving a small financial bonus for writing this post but it's all my own work and views!