Back to school, always comes with mixed emotions in this house. It is exciting that our girl is growing up and enjoying her school years but it is sad that holidays are over, sleep ins must come to an end and we can’t just hang out at home or do whatever we feel like each day! Alas, we are embracing it and getting ourselves prepared for the big year 2 world that awaits us on Tuesday!

We have had a bit of a school lunchbox cook up to ensure that we start the year off prepared, organised and healthy.

Here are a couple of the things we have made for Term 1.

Simple Spelt Pancakes

This recipe is not my own, it is one I have been using for ages and I honestly don’t know where it came from so can’t give proper credit

Ingredients

2 cups Whole spelt flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan rock salt)

1 3/4 cups milk (I use oat milk – you can use any milk you like)

2 Tbsp butter (I use Nuttelex for dairy free version), melted

2 tsps Natural vanilla extract

*2 Tbsp sugar (optional, I use a drizzle of honey – you could use any sweetener you prefer)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Combine the milk, melted butter and vanilla

3. Form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir the batter just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened (it will seem quite wet but will thicken as it sits). Let the batter sit for 15 minutes before you use it.

4. Heat a non stick pan. Spoon the batter onto the hot surface, make them as big or small as you like. I do them fairly small for lunchbox snacks.

5. Let the pancakes cook on first side until bubbles form (about 2-3 minutes), when they are just beginning to set, flip them and finish cooking on other side (about 2 minutes) until they are golden brown on both sides.

Banana Bread (I made it into muffins for lunchbox snacks but you could do bread slices)

This recipe is from The Healthy Chef and it is yummy

300g smashed ripe Banana (I actually use 1 large banana)

3 free range or organic eggs

2 Tbsp raw honey or organic maple syrup

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

1/4 cup oil (I use coconut oil)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 cups almond meal (if you’re school doesn’t allow almond meal you could use any flour you prefer, I have used whole spelt flour)

1/4 cup ground flaxseed (linseed) or chia seeds

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 160 Degrees Celsius.

Combine smashed banana, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, baking soda and lemon in a large bowl.

Add the almond meal or flour and flaxseed/chia and mix well.

Lightly oil one loaf tin (or muffin pan if making muffins) and coat with extra almond meal or desiccated coconut to stop sticking.

Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 45 mins – 1 hour (a skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry). I usually cover the top with foil for about 30 mins of the baking time and then uncover for the last part to let it brown up without over-browning.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.

* I also usually add 1/2 cup blueberries to the batter and lightly fold through before pouring in loaf tin. You could use any berries.

A few of our other lunchbox favourites that we have stocked up on are:

Tucker’s Natural Tiny Dippers

We love the Australian, family owned business, Tucker’s Natural and we love even more that their healthy eating criteria are:

• No preservatives
• No artificial ingredients
• No artificial flavourings
• No genetically modified ingredients
• Yeast, soy and MSG free
• No trans fats
• Suitable for vegetarians
• We keep the fibre content as high as we can and we use a mix of natural complex soluble and insoluble fibre
• We keep the salt, sugar and saturated fat content as low as we possibly can
• We keep the calorie content as low as we can without sacrificing flavour, texture and a great eating experience

The Tiny Dippers are perfect for the lunchbox, with just enough crackers and dip for a good healthy snack. They are also great for an on the run after school or sports snack.

These products are available to purchase online and at selected Coles and Woolworths.

Lily also loves it when I cook a corn cob and cut it into thirds and put it in her lunchbox along with carrot sticks.

Dried fruit (such as diced apricots, cranberries, sultanas) is also a winner as well as fresh berries (blueberries, strawberries and raspberries).

We also cut a wrap or mountain bread into quarters for her to snack on.

I don’t normally buy bars or fruit sticks but we found these ones (below) at Coles so thought we would try them. So far the verdict is good and they seem fairly healthy for store bought bars, so they might be a good snack to add in once or twice a week.

These are just a few ideas and things we do for snacks. Lily’s main lunch always consists of a sandwich or sometimes leftovers from the night before (cut up cold meat, pasta, veggie slice etc). There are some fantastic ideas for healthy lunchboxes on Pinterest. I like the look of this one….

Happy back to school prep, FitMummies! xx