What’s In The Box?

 in Diabetic Friendly / Lunchbox Fillers  tagged Diabetic Friendly by

Well, they’re all back at school, full of energy and continuously hungry.  I thought you might like a peek into our lunch boxes this week, I’m packing four at the moment.  It can be hard to know how much to send to school with them.  While you don’t want a box full of spoiled food at the end of the day, you don’t want them to go hungry either, so I’m planning each box, each day.

At the beginning of the week I write out a chart,  I have been doing this by hand but will post a proper one when I get around to doing it up.  This means I can pre-calculate the carbohydrates for my little diabetic to key into her insulin pump when she eats instead of calculating everything daily, and I can make sure I have everything I need so there are no last-minute trips to the shops.

There is a column for the child’s name and a column for each day of the school week.  Each weekday box covers Morning Tea, Lunch and Afternoon tea, and goes something like this:

M – Pear

L – Egg and Lettuce Roll

Yoghurt with Blueberries

Jatz with Cheese

A – Banana Muffin

I don’t always pack three things for the lunch break, but when I do it gives them a bit of a choice, covers a very hungry day, and in the case of my little diabetic leaves an extra carbohydrate snack in case it is needed.  I also try to include two serves of fruit, but I don’t panic if  I don’t because most of my kids eat fruit at breakfast or after school anyway.  Our school has a Fruit Snack (or Brain Snack) at 10am in class, then a 40 minute Lunch Break at 11am and a 40 minute Afternoon Tea Break at 1pm, and the kids tend to be quite hungry at these last two breaks.

Here’s what I am packing this week:

 

Fruit Snack:  Oranges, Apples, Pear with Cheese (apparently a match made in heaven), Green Grapes and Blueberries (with yoghurt)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn

 

 

 

 

 

Premium Light Crackers, Jatz

 

 

 

 

Banana Muffins and Crunchy Biscuits (recipe to come)

 

 

 

 

 

Yoghurt with Blueberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muesli Bars and Tiny Teddies (with the back to school rush I packed store bought this week)

 

 

 

 

Sandwiches/Rolls:

Chilli Chicken

Egg and Lettuce

 

 

 

 

Vegemite and Carrot

Ham, Cheese and Lettuce

 

 

 

 

 

Volcanoes (recipe to come)

 

 

 

Chicken, Carrot and Sultana Toss with Rice Crackers (recipe to come)

This might seem like a lot of variety, but remember, I’m packing four lunch boxes, not one!

I hope your kids enjoy their first week back at school.