Snack Box Ideas
I remember having the same thing in my lunch box for years, white rolls, a banana
(to squash in the middle) a bag of crisps with extra salt, a chocolate bar and it
wasn’t even remotely considered unhealthy. I blame the late 70’s and
the 80’s, the invention of microwaves, mums working more and our fascination
for all things American – remember Southfork.
Nowadays we see the importance of a varied diet, a rainbow cocktail of fresh foods
and the future health benefits of healthy eating as well as foods for physical
development and brain power.
It starts with a breakfast and any breakfast is better than no breakfast, try
encouraging fresh water throughout the day, incorporate 5 a day, try for one hot meal
a day and steer clear of sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks save those for a treat.
- Tortilla wraps rolled with hummus, salamis, salad leaves and yogurt, taramasalata, cream cheese and avocado, beans in chilli sauce, tinned oily fish and celery etc
- Pasta salad – use up cooked pasta (try wholemeal), mix with Greek yogurt, tuna and sweetcorn with spring onion and a twist of black pepper
- Lettuce wraps –wrap your favourite filling in cos lettuce to make fist sized wraps
- Cous cous salad – soak cous cous in boiled water, leave for a few minutes, cool and mix with oil, fresh juice, dried fruits and nuts
- Chickpea or bean burgers in wholemeal baps with a blob of tziki dip
- Chapattis with dhal or spiced beans
- Bagels with cream cheese and gherkin or cottage cheese and pineapple or turkey and coleslaw etc
- Crudities and dips – serve strips of carrots, cucumber, peppers, cauliflower florets, wholemeal pitta bread etc with yogurt based dips or homemade B.B.Q sauce etc
- Rice cakes with a pot of spread, hummus, bean puree, olive paste etc
- Fruit salad squeezed with a little lime
- Grilled hallomi with olives and roasted peppers – served as a salad
- Wholemeal banana rolls
- Wholemeal baguettes with turkey and fruit chutney or ham and tomato or cheese and cucumber
- New potato salad – cooked and quartered mixed with red onions, grated carrot, sesame seeds dressed with lime juice and olive oil
- Pitta bread pizza – pitta bread topped with fresh tomato sauce, favourite toppings and grated cheese baked for 8 minutes – cooled and wrapped
- Rye bread double deckers –3 slices of rye bread filled with tinned oily fish and the other layer salad
- Dippers – a pot filled with yogurt mixed with mango chutney served with wholemeal breadsticks, sesame sticks or cheese straws
- Kebabs – small/medium wooden skewers threaded with things like rolled salamis, chorizo, sausage, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cooked courgette, spring onions, olives, pickled onions, baby beetroot, cucumber etc
- Mini pancakes – make a thick batter by whisking self raising flour with water and herbs or spices of choice – throw in small chopped vegetables and fry spoonfuls in hot oil, serve with a tomato or chilli dip
- Onion bhajis – sliced onions mixed with a chickpea batter, shallow fried in hot oil till golden – serve with cucumber and yogurt dip
- Melba toast with veggie pate
- Chicken strippers – strips of fresh chicken marinated in lemon and honey rolled in sesame seeds and baked till firm – serve with a sweet and sour dip
- Sushi rolls with Japanese pickles
- Noodles – soak egg noodles in boiled water till soft, drain and cool – mix with pineapple and quick and easy sweet and sour sauce
- Rice noodles – soak in boiled water till soft and cool – mix with finely stripped carrot, beanshoots and spring onions – dress with crushed cashew nuts, lime juice and rice wine vinegar
- Homemade wholemeal vegetable pasties
- Cheese and biscuits with celery, apple and grapes
- Homemade vegetable crisps with a dip, just finely slice or peel slithers of parsnip, sweet potato, beetroot, celeriac, potatoes drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven on medium/high till crispy
- Stuffed Ham – ham slices spread with cream cheese and sweetcorn and then rolled or use smoked salmon
- Yorkshire puddings with sliced sausages and horseradish
- Bean salsa – drained tinned beans, like haricot etc mixed with chilli sauce, diced avocado, tomatoes and onion
- Brochettes – baked olive oil drizzled slices of baguette topped with meats, fish, cheese or spreads
- Feta, roasted pepper and chilli spread – puree feta with half the quantity roasted peppers with a little chilli serve with a roll or toasted bagel
- Croquettes – left over mash, mixed with pureed meats, fish or vegetables –rolled in a cigar shape, dip in flour, egg and breadcrumb – fry till golden – cool
- Marinated seafood’s mix – preserved in oil and lemon juice
- Croutons and salad – break up small chunks of stale uncut bread, drizzle with olive oil and bake till crisp and golden – cool. Serve separately with a favourite salad
- Coleslaw – mix thinly sliced white cabbage with grated carrot and a little sliced onion –bind with Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
- Raw Crunchy vegetables – mange tout, cauliflower florets, pepper slices, spring onions, radish, watercress all served with a mayonnaise based dip
- Homemade flapjack enriched with seeds and dried fruit
- Dried fruit, like sultanas, raisins, apricots, prunes, dates, mango, paw paw, coconut, pineapple – make sure they contain no sugar
- Yogurt or make your own by mixing Greek yogurt or fromage frais with fresh pureed fruits
- Fruits - fresh or tinned
- Fruit salad squeezed with juice to stop it browning
- Fruit kebabs with chocolate dip
- Homemade carrot cake
- Cheese and water or oat biscuits
- Fruit smoothies
- Cold creamy rice pudding sweetened with maple or honey
- Fruit jellies
- Seeds and nuts