Lunchbox Ideas

We're all back to school now, the Summer hols seem like a distant memory....I could cry about that, I love the holidays......so its time to get back in the swing of organizing. Yaaayyy!!!!!!

And I think I've found a little way to help out. Sunday morning. This can be your best friend when it comes to saving you time and money for the school or work lunch boxes for the week ahead. An hours work here could be a real saving. An extra pair of hands...what I wouldn't give for those!!!

This post is about 3 items that I know you can make in about an hour, pop in the freezer and get them out, as and when you need them each day. Taking a little stress out of the daily lunch box routine.

Sausage and Apple rolls
A pack of puff pastry
8 sausages
1 Gala apple
1tsp dried Thyme
Sprinkle of onion powder
Salt and pepper
1 beaten egg for egg washing the pastry

Put skinned sausages into a bowl. Peel the apple and finely grate. Add to sausage meat, along with thyme, onion powder, and salt and pepper.
Roll out the pastry until it is approximately the 25x30cm in size (about the size of a small baking tray). Put a sausage-shaped amount of meat along the length of the pastry. Brush the beaten egg along one side of the pastry and roll-up. Use a fork to seal the edges. Brush pastry all over with beaten egg then cut into equal lengths. Cook on Fan 180C for 15-18 minutes until cooked and golden.
Leave on a wire rack to cool

Cheese and Bacon Stars
110g plain flour
75g butter
50g cheddar
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
Egg yolk
Finely chopped and cooked bacon lardons
Sprinkle of onion powder
Salt and pepper

Rub the flour into the butter, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the cheeses, egg yolk, cooked bacon lardons, onion powder and salt and pepper. Mix together in a bowl, until the mix becomes a ball of dough. Next roll out dough until approximately a centimetre thick and cut with a biscuit cutter of your choice...we are always swapping between hearts and stars in this house. To add a little extra butteriness you can always brush the top of each star with a little melted butter. Put on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and cook at 180c for 8-10 minutes. These should keep for 2-3 days in an air tight container, or even individually freeze them, and get them out as and when needed

Fruity Flapjacks

80g Brown sugar - light or dark brown sugar, whichever you have works

100g Butter

250g Oats

Pinch of salt

2tbsp Golden syrup

A good handful of dried fruit - these are orange and lemon mixed fruit peel and cranberries

Melt the butter on low heat. Add brown sugar and golden syrup and stir until it becomes a paste. Remove from heat and add in the oats and salt and keep stirring until everything is combined. Add in the fruit and mix in well. Pour into a baking dish, lined with baking parchment and cook on 180c for 14-16 minutes until golden. For a real touch of sweetness, sprinkle on top with a little demerara sugar before cooking. When out of the oven and cooling, score the flapjack into equal pieces. Leave it to cool fully in the tin. Flapjacks freeze brilliantly. Individually freeze and use as and when needed. Even if you forget to get them out the night before school, you can always add them to the packed lunch in the morning and they should be defrosted by lunchtime.

The 3 items can all be prepped and cooked within an hour. Its an hour well spent on a lazy Sunday which will save some time during the stressful working week. Plus you also know what's at hand for filling up the lunch boxes. I might plan my families evening meals but often school lunches just happen and I hate looking through the cupboards trying to find something....anything....to send them to school with, because we all have those days!!! If it means this can save you time on a school run morning, then its definitely a winner.

Bye for now. xx