In Australia, School holidays are upon us, and probably the last thing you want to think about is school lunchboxes. But school holidays are the perfect time to try different foods at home in preparation for packing healthier lunchboxes next term (and ongoing).
Here’s my top 3 top tips for school holiday lunches:
1. Stock up on fresh food rather than packets.
Your fridge and pantry rules. Whatever you buy and stock is what will get eaten. Get them used to finding alternate snacks during the school holidays from the fresh food you stock. Just so you don’t have a total backlash, you may find it useful to have one of their usual kinds of snacks on offer too – my suggestion is have a rule of fresh first, then package. My other suggestion is to find the healthiest version of the snack. For instance if they are used to having BBQ chips which are laden with additives and preservatives, change it over to just plain chips. They are still getting the crunch and saltiness which tends make them happy enough, but without the extra doses of additives and preservatives.
2. Make more finger food available as snacks.
Get your children used to having fresh fruit and vegetables as finger food with these 3 simple dips. Serve them for morning or afternoon tea, or you can also add them to the table for dinner too Remember, it’s really about consistency. If you consistently have this food on offer, it will become accepted that this is what’s on offer. For younger children, you could even have fun playing my taste testing game.
3. Pack a lunchbox for outings.
This will not only save you money but it will stop the temptation of buying sugary, salty food. Use these holidays to break the taste of these foods.
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