School start means lunch pack start: Here's how to avoid it ending up in the trash bin

School start means lunch pack start: How to avoid it ending up in the food waste bin

Everyday life is knocking on the door, and in the midst of all the practicalities, the task that can make even the most energetic parent stare blankly into the fridge in the morning awaits – the lunch pack.

The good old classic: liver pâté sandwich. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but Britta Surland offers some inspiration for other options.

15 minutes ago

Anyone who has had a child in school knows that the lunch pack can quickly turn into a daily creative pressure. And if you get it wrong, it comes back lukewarm, squashed, uneaten, and ready for the food waste bin.

But help is at hand! Because if you read on, you’re lucky enough to get the head of Arla’s food inspiration kitchen, Britta Surland’s best tips for the good lunch pack (and psssst: it doesn’t have to be a perfect Pinterest project or look like love carved out in cucumber hearts).

According to Britta Surland, a wrap is a brilliant lunch pack. It’s easy, you can put anything in it, and it can be eaten with one hand. (Photo: © Niels Ahlmann Olesen, Ritzau Scanpix)

It may sound trivial, but it can be crucial. Can the child actually eat the food during their break?

At some schools, the lunch break is short. At others, children would rather go out and play than sit and eat for a long time. That’s why one-handed food can be a lifesaver, says Britta Surland.

And here she mentions wraps as a good example. They can be filled with many different things like chicken, vegetables, eggs, and even leftovers from dinner. And most importantly, they are easy to take outside if lunch is eaten on the go.

Other classics are sausage rolls, pizza swirls, and lunch pack buns. And they don’t have to be pure white bread bombs.

- You can easily put some oatmeal and some vegetables into many of these things, so that it also becomes a good meal, even if it’s sausage rolls and pizza swirls, she says.

Instant noodles are a sure winner for many teenagers, but they are not the ideal meal. But maybe with a little imagination you can ‘trick’ your child into eating a bit healthier, while still feeling like they’re eating the delicious noodles. (Photo: © Bo Amstrup, Ritzau Scanpix)

If your child has some favorites that aren’t quite healthy, it can be a good idea to try alternative interpretations of the food, says Britta Surland.

For example, her own son loves instant cup noodles, but they are often full of salt and additives. And so she has instead come up with a brilliant, child-friendly solution.

- He gets a box with noodles, chicken, lots of vegetables, and a small box with broth or seasoning mix. Then he can pour boiling water in himself, and it works really well, says Britta Surland.

According to Britta Surland, it’s much easier to get satisfied ‘lunch pack customers’ if they are involved in making it themselves. (And that also makes it harder for them to complain, by the way) (Photo: © David Leth Williams, Ritzau Scanpix)

Children can be ruthlessly fickle when it comes to lunch packs. What was a huge hit on Monday can be totally unacceptable on Thursday.

That’s why Britta Surland recommends involving the children in the lunch pack. Not necessarily so that they get to freely choose chocolate muffins and biscuits every day, but so that they have a say in what ends up on the lunch pack menu and help cut the cucumber themselves.

She points out that parents can use the lunch pack that comes home as a kind of daily status report.

- What is left over, and what was eaten? And what wasn’t eaten at all? she says.

In other words: If the carrot sticks have been on a tour of the bag for three days in a row without being touched, it might be time to try something else.

If you have leftovers from dinner, according to Britta Surland, that’s a brilliant lunch pack. Here you can transfer all the work you put into yesterday’s dinner preparation, put it in a box, and then you have a ready meal the next day. Two birds with one stone. (Photo: © Søren Bidstrup, Ritzau Scanpix)

For many parents, it’s not the actual spreading that’s the worst. It’s the eternal question: What should I come up with?

Here, a little preparation can make everyday life less hassle. Cook pasta for several days on Sunday. Fry a little extra chicken. Cut vegetables ready. Then the lunch pack doesn’t have to be invented from scratch every morning, says Britta Surland.

According to her, leftovers are also a gift. If the child likes yesterday’s dinner cold, or if the school has a microwave or the child has a thermos box, dinner can easily become the next day’s lunch.

- There’s no doubt that many people also really want leftovers. And that’s a bit like going back to meal prep. Then you just have to make a little more dinner, and it’s ready for the next day, she says.

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