As a parent, there are 3 words that often cause some stress and anxiety…… Back….To….School!
Yes, we’ve all been there, slowly falling into the false sense of security of school holidays, sleep ins, no tight deadlines, no school drop offs and no lunch boxes to pack. But then, come the end of January, it’s those 3 little words that can throw your household into disarray!
It’s often hard to think of new and exciting ideas for lunch boxes and after school snacks and ensuring that your child’s lunch box isn’t filled with the high ‘wrong’ sugar contents.
And now we find ourselves already halfway through Term 1 and finding it hard to think of new ideas. So bearing in mind that our young little minds need constant slow release fuel and that our little people are often traipsing off to an after school sport or activity, here are a few of handy hints to help making the lunch box decision a little bit easier!
Wholemeal Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup wholemeal plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbs raw sugar
- 1 egg
- 170mls milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- butter for melting
Method
- Combine the sifted flour, baking powder and raw sugar in a bowl.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
- Add egg, milk and vanilla essence and whisk until smooth.
- Heat a non stick fry pan over medium heat.
- Using the butter to grease the pan, place small spoonfuls of mixture and cook until bubble appear.
- Flip pikelets and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Afternoon Smoothies
Ingredients
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tbs of natural yoghurt
- 1 tsp almond meal
- 1 banana
- 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 tbs honey
Method
- Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until a smooth consistency.
NB: You can substitute the banana and blueberries with any type of fruit.
Sneaky Parent Tip #1 – Instead of margarine or butter on sandwiches, use avocado! They will never know!
Sneaky Parent Tip #2 – Try brown bread instead of white – yes there may be a few complaints in the first 2 days, however in no time your children will no longer notice!