I am super excited and proud to be an Ambassador for No Packet November. Some people have reached out asking for some help to go packet free, so I thought I would share with you some of my No Packet Lunchboxes and 3 Simple Steps To No Packet Lunchboxes.
Step 1 – Plan Ahead
You probably adopt planning in many areas of your life without even thinking of it. For example, each week you get the kids out of the house for school by say 8.15am, pick them up by 3.00pm, take them to gym Monday 4pm, Swimming Wednesday 3.30pm, Basketball Friday 5pm. You need to be at work by 9am each day, and on Tuesdays you run a team meeting at 10am. All of this requires planning.
Just like this kind of planning, packing lunchboxes free from packet foods laden with additive, preservatives, sugars and salt requires some planning too. We just need to build our muscle at doing it.
The easiest way is to create a simple plan of what you’re going to include in the lunchbox each day. One of the easiest steps you can take in planning lunchboxes, is to identify your staple fruit and vegetables that your kids like and include these in your plan. You may like to read this post about Go With What They Like to understand more about this. In doing this, you’ve immediately got almost half of the lunchbox sorted. Then think about a food which they would consider to be fun but still healthy and make that. Some ideas are popcorn, pikelets, slices, muesli bars – there are loads of recipes on our website to help with this. The final piece of the puzzle is the main lunch. Ensure this includes a protein source to help keep their tummies full and if you’re having grains, as in a sandwich, use a wholegrain source to ensure longer lasting energy.
Below is my menu plan we had for all our meals last week. You don’t need to go as far as planning all meals, but if you plan your lunchboxes you’ll definitely find packing lunchboxes free from packets so much easier.
Step 2 – Shop for your plan
Now you have your plan, write your shopping list from this and shop from your list. You’ll find in following this list, you will be less likely to just randomly pick up things and throw them in the trolley. If you do pick something up that’s not on your list, ask yourself what do I need this for. You may also be pleasantly surprised at just how much money you save by shopping like this.
Step 3 – Prepare Ahead
Do what you can to prepare your lunchbox food ahead. The very first thing you can do is prepare ahead your fun and healthy lunchbox snack. For instance, if you’ve chosen popcorn, make a big batch of popcorn on Sunday and pop it in a container. If you’ve chosen to make a slice, make it and pop it in the freezer.
The next thing you can to is make sure your staple fruits and vegetables are washed and ready to be cut up.
On School Days
Have your plan in front of you (pop it on the fridge or blue tac it to the wall near where you pack lunches). Pack the lunchbox according to what’s on your plan. It really is that easy.
If you’re looking for ideas, have a look at some of our lunchboxes below. You may also want the check out The 5 Minute Healthy Lunchbox System eCourse – it has over 140 recipes, 12 weeks of menu plans and shopping lists, plus education modules and a closed Facebook community. The eCourse is totally self paced and the content is delivered over 4 weeks, but you have access to the content for a lifetime.
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