Episode 55: Conquering the school lunchbox

Episode 54: Why gut health is so important for our children

With a new school term around the corner, it’s time to get back into the lunchbox trenches - with me!!! . I’ll walk you through my tips for building a nutritious, realistic lunchbox while keeping the pressure off. Remember, no lunchbox is perfect, and that’s perfectly okay!

We’ll discuss the balance between what kids love and what they need, plus strategies to simplify your routine while making sure your little ones are well-fed and ready to thrive.

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Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.074)
Lunchbox Challenges and Solutions(00:29.08)
The Importance of Achieving a Perfect Lunchbox(02:51.018)
Lunchbox Management and Parenting Perspectives (05:07.5)
Stocking Up for Healthy Lunchboxes (07:20.546)
Healthy Snack Choices for Children (09:44.254)Balance of Colour, Fiber, and Protein in Diet (11:56.718)
Grainy Bread and Wholemeal Options for Children (14:15.032)
Promoting Vegetables in Children's Lunchboxes (16:31.914)
Approaching School Lunchboxes with a Fresh Mindset (18:42.458)
Focusing on Healthy Lunch Options for Children (21:00.696)
Lunchbox Tips and Tricks for Kids (23:20.792)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

We’ll discuss the balance between what kids love and what they need, plus strategies to simplify your routine while making sure your little ones are well-fed and ready to thrive.

Highlights:

Lunchboxes: More Than Just Food
Learn why a lunchbox contributes to a third of your child’s daily nutrition and how to make it count.
Protein Predicaments
Easy protein-packed ideas that won’t spoil in a lunchbox—even on a hot day!
Tackling the Sugar Debate
How to strike a balance with treats so kids feel included without compromising their health.
Healthy Shortcuts for Busy Mums
From freezer hacks to ready-made options, discover how to save time without guilt.
Creating Colourful Lunches
Simple strategies for adding veggies and fibre to every meal—even for the pickiest eaters.

Let’s keep it real and manageable, one small change at a time. 💕

Show Notes:

Nourishing Kids Membership Waitlist: Sign up here
Lunchbox Guide: Explore now
Related Episode: Do Kids Really Need Vegetables?

Don’t forget to leave a ⭐️ rating and share your feedback. Together, we can make mealtimes easier for mums and healthier for kids. 🎧

Introduction (00:00.074)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 55, Conquering the School Lunchbox. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Lunchbox Challenges and Solutions(00:29.08)
Well, hello there. hope you're well. Today we are talking about lunchboxes and this is because they are creeping up on us. Before we know it, they are going to be back and we are going to be in the lunchbox trenches. my goodness. No one can escape it really, unless you order lunch orders every day. Well, you can escape it, guess, until your children get to school. But even when you've got toddlers, we tend to take Fento lunchboxes.

out with us to, you know, if we went to the zoo or we went to the playground, you pack a little bento lunchbox. And so even at that young age, you're still having to prepare a lunchbox. Well, it depends on whether you choose to or not, but certainly once they get to school age, you cannot avoid it. You are in the lunchbox trenches. And I must say that as children get older, the lunchbox

Absolutely changes. Now I know that I'm preaching to the converted here. I know that I'm preaching to people that are health conscious and want their kids to eat well. And for this reason, you probably do try to get healthy homemade things into them. And whilst that is absolutely the goal to continue and put these things in the lunchboxes as children get older, I feel that it gets harder to hold on to that.

Healthy Perfect lunchbox because they see all the packets of Oreos and chicken crimpies or barbecue shapes or Tim Tams that other kids are having in their lunchbox. And it makes it harder for us to not have any of that processed junk in there. And look, you know, the hardcore moms will be like, nah, no, that's going in there. And that's fair enough because it is all rubbish for our kids, but.

It's also, I think, important to have some sort of treat and it can be absolutely a cleaner version of a treat than some of these processed foods that have a whole lot of food additives and colors and nasties in them. But absolutely, as your children get older, their lunchbox will evolve and they will want more sugary junky foods in there. And it gets harder to stick to that really super clean lunchbox that we are told that we should.

The Importance of Achieving a Perfect Lunchbox(02:51.018)
achieve. And that's why I just wanted to say, don't be too hard on yourself because it's not always achievable. Well, it's never achievable to have that perfect lunchbox. But look, we try, we try to get close and I'll go through basically the makings of a healthy lunchbox a little bit later on and what to aim for. But I want to put it right out there that my kids' lunchboxes aren't perfect. No one's kids' lunchboxes are perfect. And all of the stuff that you see on social media about

the perfect lunchbox and how, you know, you got to make all this fun, cool little stuff and shapes of this. And I think it makes us feel inferior. think it makes us feel like we're not doing a good job when we just put like a plain sandwich in our kids' lunchbox. Well, maybe you don't care. Maybe you're like, yep, well, that's what they're getting and I'm not going to feel guilty about that. And that's fair enough because we have to remember that lunchboxes are a third of their day, basically.

You know, we've got breakfast, then we've got afternoon tea, dinner, supper. So there's four other opportunities for them to eat healthy foods and lunch boxes are the other third effectively. So yes, it's ideal if we can get some good stuff into them in the day, but also remember that there are other opportunities to give them protein rich foods because I think protein actually is one of the biggest challenges in these lunch boxes these days.

And it's for a variety of reasons. I think it's firstly related to kids' food preferences, but also can be related to not wanting to put meats in the lunchbox for it to sit around for three or four hours in the heat before they eat it. I feel that protein for me certainly has been one of the biggest struggles for my daughter. And that's why I've really relied heavily on plant-based proteins to boost her intake of protein in the lunchbox.

So lunchbox has put strain on us for many different reasons. I feel that time constraints really impact our ability to prepare the lunchbox that we would like to prepare because we're busy. Sometimes it's not possible to do it all in the morning. So you got to do it the night before. You've got to rely on stuff that's prepared on the weekend and frozen and then literally grabbed out the freezer and thrown into the.

Lunchbox Management and Parenting Perspectives (05:07.5)
lunchbox and you shouldn't feel guilty about that. Cause at the end of the day, kids are still getting food in their belly, right? They're not starving. So whatever your lunchbox situation is, don't be too hard on yourself because kids are still getting fed. Right? So we need to put some perspective on this. The goal for what you would like your children to eat. And then there's the actual real life scenario of what they are eating.

and what you can give them with the busy schedule that you've got. And, you know, sometimes you forget to get that bag of popcorn. So it's like, oh, now what snack are they going to have? But it's also what food they're actually going to eat. That's the other thing, because we can have all these aspirations and prepare this amazing lunchbox, but then half of it comes back home and you're like, oh, great. So lunchboxes are always a compromise between our goals for what we would like our children to eat.

and what they actually eat, what they actually put in their mouth and what comes home. Because I'd say at least 70 % of the time, stuff comes home in my kids' lunchbox. And I'll have a little happy dance on the days that it's empty, but most of the time stuff comes back. And so again, you know, we put the healthy stuff in there, but it doesn't always get eaten. And you hope that children aren't throwing it in the bin at school.

Nowadays with schools and waste and whatnot, most of it actually comes back home, which is kind of nice because you can see what they are and aren't eating. But then sometimes they swap foods and bin foods. And so it becomes a little trickier to know exactly what they're eating. But I think there's a lot of pressure on lunch boxes these days. So next time you see that really pretty looking lunch box on social media with all the little faces and bells and whistles.

Just remember that that's not the majority of us. think to make things easier for ourselves, planning ahead does help. And by planning ahead, mean two things. Number one, having stuff in the pantry that you can literally grab and throw into the lunchbox. That's a real game changer. And number two, if you can make something on the weekend that value adds to the nutrition of their lunchbox.

Stocking Up for Healthy Lunchboxes (07:20.546)
Then that's a bonus too. So, I mean, for me, I really like to stock the cupboards with things like the cobs, popcorn. I'll even buy some Jats. I'll buy the Sakata rice crackers. I'll try and have some little tubs of hummus, try and have some chopped veggies, try and have fruit, course, sultanas, the fava beans, although my kids are starting to get a bit sick of those, but the, you know, you've got the...

pizza-flavoured fava beans, you've got the chickpeas, you've got the chocolate chickpeas. What else do I put in my usual shop that I like just to have there on hand? mean, fresh bread, wraps. And I also like to have some little cookies or some little treat that I can put in the lunchbox. And then ideally I've made something, but you know, time constraints, it doesn't always happen. But if I've made, I really like to make the choc apricot cookies.

My daughter loves those and they are loaded with fiber. put chia in them and they're a really great lunchbox snack because they're nut free, but also for after school. I also love my black bean brownie, which I pop in the lunchbox and it's a great source of protein and fiber. Healthy muffins are another great one. Look inside my membership. I've got heaps of great no bake and bake healthy snacks for kids for the lunchbox and it's.

Just good if you can make at least one on the weekend, just to have in the pantry, in the fridge, that you can grab and throw in the lunchbox, or they can come home and they can have it after school. So they're not just always grabbing the stuff that you don't want them to have. And there's another point, ideally try not to have those things in the cupboards. If you don't want your kids having lots of cheese and onion chips or Tim Tams, don't have them in the cupboard. Perhaps have.

a little stash somewhere of, you know, the treat chocolates or the treat Chucky biscuits that you will put in their lunchbox, but don't have boxes just sitting there that they can see and grab because, you know, if they're able to go to the pantry and help themselves, there's every chance that they're going to be going for those, especially after school unsupervised. And we just want to make it easier for them to make healthier choices. So if you've got the packets of popcorn or sultanas or nuts or, you know, chop ring veggies.

Healthy Snack Choices for Children (09:44.254)
They're ready for them. It's going to be a lot easier for them to make healthy choices. And it's not always possible to have a healthy snack platter ready for when they walk in the door from school, but certainly just having those healthy options in the cupboard makes it slightly easier for them to choose those healthier options. Even if it's a rice cracker instead of.

cheese and onion chip is still going to be better in terms of the quality of what's going in their mouth. Well, actually I should say it depends on the rice cracker, because some of the rice crackers are loaded with rubbish, but definitely the Sakata plain rice cracker I quite like. And as I said, we talk about all this stuff all the time inside nourishing kids. So pop your name on the wait list if you're interested in getting in. We will be opening doors very excitingly in early February, pop them in the show notes and keep your ear out because

It will only be open for just under a week and you can jump in and join us and learn all the tips and tricks on getting more nutrition into your child and feeding them cleaner, improving their gut health. Because at the end of the day, that's all going to significantly influence their growth and development. Their sleep, their mood, their learning, their concentration, their risk of disease as an adult, everything. So the more we can get good nutrition into them now, the better we're saving them up for life. So yeah.

Jump on the wait list when Nourishing Kids opens in Feb. I think another important tip for preparing lunch boxes is to try to have some sort of plan and keep it simple so that you can follow it daily and you're not getting all caught up in, what should I do this day? What should I do that day? It actually doesn't matter if it's quite similar day in, day out. And often kids like this because

It's what they know, it's what they like, kids like routine. And if you have a plan in your head, that's like one protein, two fruit, two veg, three grainy carbs or three carbs, preferably grainy, that's a good plan to have in your head. And then you can sort of mix and match the proteins each day if you want. But at the end of the day, it's better if they're getting that balance rather than all white.

Balance of Colour, Fiber, and Protein in Diet (11:56.718)
So that's really the goal, isn't it? To try to have that balance of colour, fibre, protein, rather than all white, which we're often battling with. In terms of protein foods, I'm really not fan of the ham scenario because there's not much nutritional value to it. It's loaded with salt and nitrates. It would be much better to put either a hummus or

chicken breasts, like a lean chicken breast or chicken lettuce mayo, they're much better protein options than your ham or your bacon or your processed meat. Again, they're not good for you, not good for your kids, not good for gut health. So your cabanissi, your salami, your twiggy sticks, your ham, all of those I would try and avoid. Actually now is a good time to let you know that I have a great lunch box guide.

On my website, if you had to nourish with karina.com forward slash lunchbox, you will see a lot of good information there and lunchboxes gives you different examples. actually talks through some of the examples. I was on General Seven. That was actually last year now, 2024, when we were talking about lunchboxes and I typed out different types of lunchbox options. So the, the ideal lunchbox and then the busy mom lunchbox and.

You have a few different options, so that's, that will be good to check out. And then I also have a guide on what types of protein foods, what types of carbohydrates. So if you head to nourishwithKarina.com forward slash lunchbox, and you'll be able to find out a lot more information on lunchboxes and it will just reinforce what I'm talking about now. In terms of carbohydrates, it's always the goal to try to increase the grainy carbohydrates as much as possible. Fiber is king. Fiber.

feeds the gut bugs. You know, I talk about gut health a lot because it is the center of our health. And if we are using higher fiber whole grain carbohydrates every day consistently, it will add up. It will increase your child's fiber intake. It will nourish their gut bugs. It will feed their gut bugs and it will make a big difference over the days and the weeks and the terms. So if you can move from white bread to wholemeal bread, great. If you can move from wholemeal bread to

Grainy Bread and Wholemeal Options for Children (14:15.032)
grainy bread even better. Yes, grainy bread is king because you get the whole grain. It's not ground up. Wholemeal bread is high in fibre and it's a very good option. But if you can move to grainy bread, even better. Even if it's the white bread based with the grains, it's still a great option. Wholemeal wraps are good. The rice cakes that are multi-grain, excellent.

Anything that you can give them that's got whole grains, amazing. So where you see the little seeds in the grains in the product, that's better for them. It's better for their gut health. Rice crackers, they're not really high in fiber, but things like Vita wheats or ravihtas that are grainy, absolutely high in fiber. Sometimes the salt creeps up a bit, but I'm not as fussed about that if they're getting a good quality high fiber grainy product.

Popcorn is a whole grain product and it contains iron, so popcorn is a much better option than rice crackers or potato chips. And if you do have the time to make bliss balls, energy balls, healthy muffins, using oat, wholemeal flour, it's all going to increase the whole grain and fibre content of their day. And these whole grains come with other valuable nutrients such as zinc and iron, which are really valuable for immune health.

Okay. Moving on to colour. Colour is often the challenge, especially the veggies. Now there are some children that I see that have absolutely no fruit or vegetables in their day. And then often it's the vegetables that are the real challenge, especially in any child from pretty much the age of two, once they realise they can start saying no. often it's the raw veggies that kids do better with. And that's where I would definitely encourage you to include

include chopped raw cucumber, capsicum, carrots, maybe different veggie snow peas, sugar snap peas. They're all good options. Edamame is a great one. But if your children will not eat them in that form, I would still put a little tiny bit in there in that form, but then you may need to hide them in things like cairn, well, not cairn, walnuts muffins, you can't send the walnuts to school unless they're not aware school, but otherwise you'll have to do like.

Promoting Vegetables in Children's Lunchboxes (16:31.914)
I think I've got it in my membership. I've got a great carrot, orange and apple muffin recipe that uses wholemeal flour. So great way to hide carrots in. Or as I said, my black bean brownies loaded with fiber. So if your children are not eating vegetables, then you have to be creative with getting them in other ways. Still show them a bit of vegetables, still put a bit in their lunchbox, but also try to hide more vegetables in their food. I do have a great podcast episode.

Can children live without vegetables? It's episode number nine. So check that one out. It's called Do kids really need vegetables? And it's a nice one where I talk through the nutrients found in vegetables and how we can substitute and find these nutrients in all the other foods and basically whether we can do without vegetables. So check that one out for more information on that. Now on the sugar front.

As I said, I'm a big believer that we should teach children how to have a healthy relationship with food that includes treats. So I'm not saying put chocolate in your child's lunchbox every day. And I'm definitely not saying to do this or take this approach in children under the age of probably six. But once children are aware of what everyone else is getting in their lunchbox and they're starting to ask you for treats. Look, if you can make it to.

eight or nine without your child asking for treats, then don't put treats in their lunchbox until then. But once you get to the point where your child's feeling deprived, or if you get to the point, I should say, your child may never have this conversation with you. And if not, great. Just keep giving them healthy lunchbox without any treats or sugar. Amazing. But if you do get to the point where they're like, mom, I really want a packet of Oreos or I really want a Tim Tam.

Then I think it's important that you do consider putting some sort of a little treat in their lunchbox most days, or at least sometimes so they don't feel like they're missing out because it's those children that never get a treat that will start to then either buy them at school or sneak them.

Approaching School Lunchboxes with a Fresh Mindset (18:42.458)
And it becomes a problem because they feel like they're so super restricted that they need to hide and they need to sneak. And we don't want kids to feel that way or to start eating that way. So as we approach the school term, my advice would be to head to that website link, download the cheat sheet on lunchboxes, and then approach the school term with a fresh open mindset.

But knowing that it's okay if it's not perfect, it's okay if your child refuses food, it's okay if sometimes the lunchbox comes home, you know, hardly touched. It happens to all of us. It happens to me. And then you serve it as part of afternoon tea. If they're not touching a vegetable in the lunchbox, it's okay. We can get fiber and color in other parts of the day.

You know, it's a work in progress. So wherever you're at with lunchboxes, if they literally having a completely white lunchbox, we will work on that this year. Just focus on one small thing to change. Maybe you do one half of the sandwich white, one half wholemeal. Maybe you just start by putting a tiny bit of snow pea or grated carrot into that lunchbox or half a cherry tomato. I mean, whole cherry tomatoes are okay too for older kids, but you know, just one small thing because we can

always improve, it's about not being too hard on yourself, not judging yourself or your child and just working on one small improvement, getting that done and then moving on to the next thing because it's those small changes done consistently that will make a huge difference. And I think in our busy, overwhelming lives, it's about trying to strip it back and focus on one small improvement. So as we move into term one of this year,

just focus on one small change that you can make to your child's lunchbox that will improve their health. Whether it's adding an extra bit of fruit or vegetable, whether it's making something that's higher in fiber, whether it's swapping one of the, you know, packet of chips for some popcorn. One small change is where I would start rather than trying to make the perfect lunchbox because A, no one makes the perfect lunchbox and B, it's too hard. No one's got time for that. So keep it real.

Focusing on Healthy Lunch Options for Children (21:00.696)
Focus on one small change and start from there, but definitely consider, you know, one protein, couple of fruit, couple of edge, three whole grains. Look, you know, if you've got a tiny little tot that's just starting school, they're not going to eat as much as a 12 year old, you know, going into year six. And so the lunchbox is going to be very different in terms of the serve sizes and the volume of food consumed.

And some kids are just so busy. They don't eat much at school. They just want to play. Some kids are on medication that knocks off their appetite during the school day. So there's all of these different factors that will influence how much a child will eat and what foods they will eat. But really, I think you need to be kind to yourself and say, look, this is where we're at. This is where our family's at. And these are the things that we're going to focus on. Or this is the one thing that I'm going to focus on. Just keep it simple.

And remember that your child is still far better off than plenty of other children in the world. He's getting food every day at lunchtime. You know, who cares if it's all white, there's always room for improvement. And we're just focusing on one small improvement at a time. In terms of lunchbox containers, really at the end of the day, do what works for you. Do what you can afford and do what works for you. What actually works in terms of the fit.

in the lunch bag, in the school bag, because some lunch boxes are very bulky. Some kids prefer them in different little containers. Some prefer the bento box style. I think it's just got to be what works for your family, what you can afford. And at the end of the day, when it's really hot, I would recommend putting in a freezer pack into the lunch bag. So you have the little lunch box containers or your bento lunch box, and then you've got a freezer pack that sits in the bag that helps to keep it cool.

On the flip side, you've also got thermoses, which are also very useful to repurpose leftovers with. So if you do a spaghetti bolognese or a fried rice, then you can send that to school in the thermos. Now, what I would do is I would put boiling water in the thermos for a good couple of minutes, let it sit there, heat up the food so it's very hot. And then at the last minute, as long as you can leave it before they go to school, so like close to when they're going to school.

Lunchbox Tips and Tricks for Kids (23:20.792)
Then you tip out the boiling water, you pop the hot food in there, you close the thermos, make sure you grab a fork or a spoon so they can eat it with it. And then you send them off to school. So if it's really hot and you want to send food that's not going to go off, put a freezer pack in the bag, or you can use the thermos as another option for food variety and repurposing leftovers as well. And it just makes things more interesting, especially if you get to the point where your kids are sick of sandwiches. So that could be another good option.

As I said, I've got heaps more options, heaps more lunchbox tips and tricks inside Nourishing Kids. Pop your name on the wait list and you'll be the first to know when it does open in February. But in the meantime, head to my lunchbox guide on my website nourishwithKarina.com forward slash lunchbox and that will be a good start for you. I hope you have a beautiful week and I can't wait to chat with you again soon. Once you're at the end of this podcast, please hit the star rating.

please leave me a review. I would love to hear from you and I can't wait to chat to you soon. Bye for now.