Simplify School: From Dinner To Lunch Box

February 7, 2016

Recipes for using up dinner leftovers for the kids lunchbox

I’m all for making lunch box packing easier for us mummas. I get it: packing a lunch box that comes home untouched is exhausting and über-deflating. Well fear not, there is an answer – re-purposing dinner from the night before. The end result? A yummy lunch box that’s quick to pack and gets eaten. It’s genius and oh so easy to do.

Let me give you some ideas of how you can re-purpose last night’s dinner into a super yummy lunch box meal:

Dinner was:	Lunchbox is:	A little tip:
Chicken Stir Fry	Rice paper rolls	Wrap the stir fry in rice paper sheets for a portable lunch option. Just wait for the stir fry to cool completely before you get your rice paper groove on, otherwise you’ll end up with mush.
Spaghetti Bolognese	Leftover spaghetti cups (checkout the recipe for this one below)	These are addictive; my babes now like these better than the real thing. Oh, and they freeze GREAT!
Barbecue	Toasted sandwiches	Slice everything thinly (even the salad) and make these up. No need to keep the sandwich warm, they’re just as good cold.
Meatballs	Meatball rolls	Channel your inner ‘Subway sandwich maker’ when making these babies.
Indian Curry	Sushi	Use a double quantity of sushi rice and ‘mash’ it together so it’s nice and thick and holds together.
Soup	Soup – Whip out the thermos and heat the soup up the morning and pour in	I use a thermos for 90% of my lunchbox lunches in the colder months. The options are endless.
Meatloaf	Meatloaf sandwich	Really ‘mush’ the meatloaf into the bread so it stays put.

Now let’s get our leftover spaghetti cups on. Oh and don’t think these cups always need to be made with ‘meat’ spaghetti – they work really well with lentil and vegetable-based pasta sauces too.

Leftover Spaghetti Cups Recipe

From dinner to the lunchbox

Stace is a healthy mum to two young boys and an accredited health coach to the masses. She spends her days running after her busy babes who always seem to be getting in to something. Her nights are spent cooking for her website or helping other mummas on their own family's health journey in her health coaching services. Her food philosophy is all about simple, easy-to-cook food the whole family wants to eat. Yep, same food for the 9 month old and 32 year old, because really who has time to cook multiple meals? You can view some of Stace's recipes here, connect with her on Facebook and Instagram or grab a copy of her lunchbox eBook which is packed full of healthy recipes that can be stored in the freezer!