What goes in the lunchbox?
Each of the 13 dishes now has its own page. Open the recipe for quantities, steps, shopping and tips for carrying it safely.
When do we prepare?
We settle on the five options and the shopping. We bake a tray of muffins or meatballs for the first few days; we freeze the portions meant for later rather than keeping them in the fridge all week.
We portion the main dish, wash the fruit and prepare the vegetables. Cooked dishes are cooled quickly in shallow containers and go into the fridge within two hours at most.
We add the crunchy fruit, take the cold lunchbox out of the fridge just before leaving and put two ice packs in the insulated bag. For a food flask, we reheat the food thoroughly before filling it.
How do we keep food safe?
Eggs, meat, cheese, yogurt, and cooked orzo or rice need to be kept cold. We use an insulated bag and at least two ice packs, above and below the lunchbox.
A preheated food flask, filled with hot food. We choose one that really keeps the food at that temperature until lunchtime; food that is merely still lukewarm is not enough.
Perishable food should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours in total; the limit is one hour above 32°C. For a late lunch break, we choose cooling or a tested flask.
Cooked food stored correctly in the fridge should generally be eaten within 3–4 days. Leftovers are reheated to at least 74°C before going hot into the flask. We respect allergies and the school's rules on food brought from home.
Less improvising. More eating.
Choose two or three options your children like and rotate them with seasonal ingredients.
