Lunch Box Wednesday #1

I have set myself a mission this year to come up with some more snack and lunch box ideas for Oscar before he starts school next year.  So to keep me on track I am going to post my new ideas on the last Wednesday of the month – “Lunch Box Wednesday”.  This first post isn’t actually anything new, but I recently wrote a guest post on Little Bento Blog, “Lunches and Snack Ideas on limited diet”, and realised that not all of those ideas are actually on my blog.  So that post is the starting point for the first “Lunch Box Wednesday”.

Recipes are linked in the captions, and new recipes are at the end of the post.

Oscar loves this little Cars box, sent to him for Christmas from friends in Japan.

Snack Box with pretzels, rice crackers, cashews, carrot shapes, biscuits and cereal bites.

This cute little bento box was Oscar’s first snack box.  He is so proud when he takes it out with him.  I bought this one online from Japan a couple of years ago, but you can now by them quite easily in Australia, including from a new store from Little Bento Blog (that was a free, unsolicited plug 🙂 ).

Japanese Snack Box

Snack Box with pretzels, cereal bites and dried fruit.

The egg rolls (see recipe below) in this lunch box are super easy to make and the cute little toothpicks (Japanese) make them a bit more fun.  The carrots are cut using Japanese vegetable cutters  (I keep the leftover carrot bits in a bag in the freezer for making stock).

Lunch box with Egg Rolls and carrot shapes.

Muesli Bars are a favourite lunch/snack box treat for Oscar.  My favourite recipe (see below) is one I adapted from Real Meals that has carrots and zucchini in it.  This makes it moderate salicylates of course, but if you’re looking for a low chemical or FAILSAFE version you can try my Chewy Muesli Bars or Cereal Bars recipes.

Lunch Box with Cereal Bar.

Rice balls are very easy to make, these ones have been shaped using Japanese rice molds, but rolling balls in your hands work just as well.  Sushi rice works best as it is stickier.   These ones are served with Failsafe Foodie’s Magic Sauce, which I’ve put into a little “truck” condiment bottle.  The bottle is also from Japan and comes with a little syringe for transferring the liquid into – it’s a bit fiddly but adds a bit of fun.

Rice Balls/Shapes with Magic Sauce

Rice Balls

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Serves	1
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	15 minutes
Total time	30 minutes
Allergy / Intolerance	Amines, Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Dairy, Egg, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates, Wheat
Suitable for	Dairy / Lactose Free, Gluten Free, RPAH Elimination Diet - Low Chemical / Failsafe
Meal type	Lunch, Lunch Box, Savoury Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Picnic
Region	Japanese

Easy rice balls for kids.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sushi rice (sticky rice works best)
• pinch salt
• water

Optional

• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• Failsafe Foodie's Magic Sauce (to serve)

Directions

1.	Cook the rice as per the directions on the packet and allow to cool enough to handle.
2.	Add a pinch of salt and the poppy seeds (if using) and stir through.
3.	With wet hands shape the rice into small balls or use rice moulds to create shapes.
4.	Serve or pack into a cooled lunch box. Serve with Failsafe Foodie's Magic Sauce for dipping.

Note

Low chemical / FAILSAFE

The recipe for Failsafe Foodie's Magic Sauce can be found here.

Egg Rolls

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	5 minutes
Total time	10 minutes
Allergy / Intolerance	Amines, Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Dairy, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates, Wheat
Suitable for	Dairy / Lactose Free, Gluten Free, RPAH Elimination Diet - Low Chemical / Failsafe
Meal type	Lunch, Lunch Box, Savoury Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Picnic

Easy egg roll snacks for kids.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon milk (or milk substitute)
• pinch salt
• butter or Nuttelex (for frying)

Directions

1.	Lightly beat together the egg, milk and salt.
2.	Melt a bit of butter or Nuttelex in a frying pan and spread over the surface. Once it starts bubbling pour in the egg.
3.	When the top of the egg is cooked, turn off the heat and roll up the egg. Remove from the frying pan and allow to cool.
4.	Cut into 4 or 5 pieces and secure with a toothpick.
5.	Serve immediately or pack into a cooled lunch box.

Note

Low Chemical / FAILSAFE

 

Carrot and Zucchini Muesli Bars

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Serves	10
Prep time	45 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 5 minutes
Allergy / Intolerance	Amines, Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Egg, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates
Suitable for	RPAH Elimination Diet - Moderate Chemical, RPAH Elimination Diet – Very High Chemical
Meal type	Lunch Box, Sweet Things
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold

Muesli bars with hidden vegetables for kids.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cereal (Refer to note)
• 2 tablespoons quinoa flakes
• 2 tablespoons puffed amaranth
• 1 Small carrot (finely grated)
• 1 Small zucchini (peeled and finely grated, excess liquid squeezed out)
• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil
• 1/4 teaspoon tartaric acid
• 200g light condensed milk (Refer to note)

Optional

• 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut (Refer to recipe)
• 1/4 cup Nestle White Melts (or chocolate chips if amines are OK)

Directions

1.	Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large baking tray.
2.	Combine the quinoa, amaranth, cereal, carrot, zucchini, coconut (if using) and tartaric acid in a large bowl.
3.	Add the oil and mix until the cereal mixture is well coated.
4.	Spread the cereal mixture onto the baking tray and place in the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cook until lightly browned.
5.	Remove from the oven and allow to cool and pour into a large bowl. Reduce the oven to 160°C.
6.	Add the condensed milk and White Melts or chocolate chips (if using) to the cereal and mix until it is well combined.
7.	Divide the mixture into 2 silicon trays of mini-loaf molds (I fill 9 or 10 molds).
8.	Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.
9.	Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning out of the silicon molds.
10.	Store in an airtight container. These muesli bars keep well for up to 2 months.

Note

Moderate Salicylates, Low Glutamates, Low/Moderate/Very High Amines

Variations:

• Fresh coconut is moderate chemical and contains both amines and salicylates.  If these can be tolerated the fresh grated coconut can be included.
• Nestle White Melts are a milk based confectionery and are not derived from chocolate, so they are low chemical.  If amines are tolerated you can use any white, milk or dark chocolate that is tolerated.
• I use tartaric acid as a preservative to keep the muesli bars for longer so that I can send them to Oscar's day care centre.  You can use citric acid instead, or leave this out if they are going to be eaten quickly.

For the two cups of cereal, start with oats and make up the two cups with other allowed cereals.  We use puffed rice, millet rings, processed bran and/or Special K.

200g of condensed milk is half a can.  The remaining half can be kept in the freeze to use later.

This recipe has been adapted from Muesli Bars - Moderate Chemical by Frilly Pants at Real Meals.