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Back to work and back to school in 2022. Try these lunchbox hacks to beat the morning rush

Getting kids ready on time in the morning can be tough. Adding your own make up, hair and work-wear into an already busy morning schedule can strike fear into the heart of even the most organised return-to-work mum.

And packing a nutritious lunchbox that the kids will actually eat is one task that lots of families find challenging, even more-so when time is limited!!

Talk to your family about how they can help with lunch preparation. Could your partner prepare breakfast or dress the kids while you do lunchboxes and bags? Are your kids old enough to do it themselves? For younger children, could they put a lunchbox together if all the components were pre-prepared? Kids love to make their own lunches, plus they’re more likely to eat it!

We asked our mums’ community to share their lunchbox tips and tricks to save you time, and get you out the door and off to your new career:

Your freezer is your friend!

Have everything to hand by pre-cooking and freezing a variety of lunchbox items in advance. Just throw them together in a lunchbox, and they’ll be defrosted and ready to eat by first break!

  • Sandwiches – try fillings of roasted chicken, vegemite or ham with grated cheese, peanut paste or nut butters, pork and apple sauce, or ham, grated cheese and mustard pickle. Just make sure the bread is ultra-fresh when you prepare them, butter the bread well, put the condiments in-between the slices of meat (not against the bread), and slice then wrap the sandwiches in glad-wrap individually before freezing.
  • Savoury items – for the non-sandwich-eater in your household, pre-freeze pizza scrolls, savoury muffins, veggie fritters, or vegemite cheesy scrolls.
  • Morning tea snacks – the trick with all these items is to wrap them individually in glad wrap then put the batch in a big ziplock bag or container to freeze. Slices of banana bread, carrot cake, fruit muffins (add a little extra oil when cooking), and even pikelets sandwiched together with butter and jam, all thaw out beautifully. Do some holiday baking with the kids and freeze on the day they’re made.

Divide and conquer.

When you do the grocery shopping, split larger packs into smaller snack containers at the start of the week so they’re ready to go on those busy mornings. Great options include:

  • Pretzels
  • Roasted chick peas or fava beans
  • Yoghurt
  • DIY trail mix with nuts, seeds and dried fruit
  • Dips such as hummus, salsa, cream cheese, or nut butters can be decanted into the little salad dressing sized containers and stored until needed in the fridge. Pair them with veggie sticks, brown rice crackers or grissini sticks in the lunchbox. Yum!
  • Hard–boil some eggs – refrigerate within two hours of cooking and use within one week.

Whole fruits save time.

Everybody loves sliced melon and little golden chunks of pineapple, but you can save lunchbox prep time by opting for whole fruits that don’t need to be sliced. Select fruits that are easy and age-appropriate for your kids to eat.

  • Apples and pears
  • Mandarins
  • Bananas (use protective banana-shaped containers to stop them squashing)
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Grapes
  • Kiwi fruit (with a plastic kiwi spoon/knife)
  • Berries or stone fruit when in season.

As an added bonus, whole fruits won’t brown if you pack them the night before.

Lovely left-overs.

Add a bit extra into your evening meal preparation and reap the benefits!

  • If you’re having salad, chop up enough to fill lunch containers as well. Just top with deli-meat or a peeled boiled egg and tomorrow’s lunch is done!
  • Cook a bit of extra meat – who doesn’t love a cold sausage with tomato sauce dip, or a chicken drumstick?
  • Making meatballs? Pop some of those bad-boys in a bread roll with some grated cheese, and you’ve got a yummy sub.
  • If you have left over cooked pasta or baked potato, team it with tinned corn, chopped shallots, capsicum, diced ham, and a diced boiled egg. Mix through some sour cream and mayo to make a yummy salad. Don’t forget the fork!
  • Did somebody say, ‘corn on the cob’?
  • Roast beef dinner is very versatile! Roast some extra pumpkin or sweet potato and combine with green leaves, cherry tomatoes, pepitas and crumbled feta for a more grown-up salad. Or try a salad of roast beef with green leaves, cucumber and roasted Mediterranean vegetables from the supermarket deli.

Our mums’ biggest tip is to think about lunchbox items that will work if you prepare them the night before. Lunchboxes that are already packed and ready to go in the morning are definitely a winning formula.

Why not share other time-saving hacks with your circle of friends? Your network of mums is a great resource that can support you to return to a career that you love.