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Healthy Lunches – #GreatLunchBoxChallenge With Pomegreat

amomentwithfranca · 13 November 2018 · 28 Comments

There has been a lot of debate in recent years about school lunches. I am sure you have seen Jamie Oliver getting very involved with the topic as he has spearheaded a national campaign to improve the content of school lunches a few years ago. This is definitely an issue and it is very important to keep our kid’s lunches healthier as much as possible. That is why Pomegreat has challenged us with the great lunch box challenge (#GreatLunchBoxChallenge). They asked us to document a week of preparing a healthy, balanced lunch box for our girls. You can see our Instagram Stories of last week’s lunch boxes where I shared what we put in our girl’s lunch boxes each day!

I was really interested in doing this challenge because I thought it would be good to try our best to reduce any high sugar content that we offer to our girls. We always do our best to pack a healthy lunch box but there are sometimes some products that perhaps contain more sugar than you actually expect so last week we tried to be more aware of this.

Of course, we incorporated Pomegreat so they can drink it at school. We poured it into smaller bottles so they can enjoy them at lunchtime together with their lunch boxes. They really liked it, especially Bella who brought her bottle home completely empty on most days.

If you follow my blog, you have probably noticed that I have mentioned Pomegreat several times. We have been following their journey of reducing the amount of sugar we all intake very closely. It is great to be able to take part in challenges where we can see if we can reduce the amount of sugar we take each day. Last time we did a family challenge and even though we did well, I must admit that we failed some days! I guess the most important thing is that we tried.

For those of you that haven’t heard of Pomegreat, it is a great, sugar-free juice for all the family! Unlike most fruit juices, this juice contains absolutely no added sugar and is sweetened naturally using Stevia, with added vitamins (rich in vitamin A, C, D and E). It is perfect to offer to your little ones.

WEEK OF LUNCH BOXES

We normally get what we need for the week on Sundays and tend to buy in batches. That way works better for us so we know what we have per day. Sienna is very easy to please because she really eats everything we put in her lunchbox. Then on the other hand, we have Bella who can be quite fussy so it is harder to please her. So we try different things each week.

Monday

On Monday, the girls took apple slices for their short break. Then for their proper lunch break, they had spaghetti bolognese. We like giving them warm meals inside small thermos flasks which keep their meals warm. We used to do cold lunches before but we find that the girls enjoy their meals more when they have warm food.

They also got sugar free strawberry jelly and strawberry fruit bakes. All of these together with their Pomegreat Juice poured in small bottles.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, the girls had apples slices again for their short break. Then for their proper lunch break, they had lasagne. The girls love lasagne so we try to give it to them on at least one day per week.

They also got yoghurt. Bella had apricot and Sienna had strawberry. They also got fruit bakes for today. We bought a box of 6 so we could repeat some days during the week. And we added their Pomegreat Juice poured in small bottles.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, I had to leave the house super early as I had to be on the other side of London by 8am so I accidentally missed taking a photo of their hot meal. I was rushing and forgot to open the thermos! Sorry about that. But I managed to take a photo of the whole contents of their lunchbox for that day.

The girls had grapes with apple slices for their short break. Then for their proper lunch break, they had shepherd’s pie Sienna absolutely loves this meal! She always asks for more! Bless her!

They also got orange jelly as well as blackcurrant YoYo bears for Sienna and Soreen for Bella. And again we added their Pomegreat Juice poured in small bottles.

Thursday


On Thursday, the girls had grapes for their short break. Then for their proper lunch break, they had macaroni cheese. As you can see we are big fans of pasta so the girls have a lot of pasta dishes which they love.

They also got squeezy yoghurts in shaped containers which is a lot of fun for them to have as well as Blackcurrant YoYo Bears. These seem to be very popular at Bella’s school. All her friends have those and they are yummy with no added sugar which is great! All of that together with their Pomegreat Juice.

Friday

For Friday we did something different. As it is the end of the school week we thought to prepare them what they love the most. And what is that? Chicken nuggets! These are my girls’ favourites but we don’t do them much as we are worried they won’t taste as nice after it is not eaten straight away after cooking them but these lunch boxes my girls use are great and keep them warm. We gave them golden rice with veggies with it which they loved!

They also got grapes and apple slices as well as corn thins and yoghurt. And as a bonus, they also got cucumber slices with hummus dip. And finally, we gave them Pomegreat Juice.

AND IT IS A WRAP

So that was the girls’ lunch boxes for last week. Most of the things we chose are easy to do and healthy. The girls enjoyed their hot meals very much and of course, it was lovely for them to have Pomegreat juice to drink with their main meal as well as water as sometimes this can be a little bit boring, so Pomegreat is a great alternative to give some flavour to their lunch boxes.

It was fun taking part in this challenge. I hope we did a good job. We are very simple with our choices but as long as the girls eat healthily and are happy we are all happy too! I hope you enjoyed the post and let me know if you also try this challenge!

You can get Pomegreat at most supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco amongst others. It is very tasty and has no added sugar packed with lots of vitamins, so I can highly recommend you to try it for you and your whole family, especially for the little ones.

What do you usually put in your little ones packed lunches? Do you try to keep it healthy too?

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post with Pomegreat. We also received vouchers to buy Pomegreat at our local supermarket for the purpose of taking part in this challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love you all ❤️

Franca  💋

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Comments

  1. Lydia C. Lee says

    25 November 2018 at

    I love the miffy lunch box. too cute! #KCACOLS

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      25 November 2018 at

      I love them too! 🙂 x

      Reply
  2. Emma Me and B Make Tea says

    25 November 2018 at

    These look super healthy and varied. and like you say, it’s nice to have something other than water now and again isn’t it! #KCACOLS

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      25 November 2018 at

      Exactly! It was nice to be able to offer them something different to try! 🙂 x

      Reply
  3. Karen, the next best thing to mummy says

    25 November 2018 at

    I love this post as I always struggle to think what to put in children’s lunch boxes that is healthly and as a former early years proffessional keeping children healthy is so important#kcacols@_karendennis

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      25 November 2018 at

      Thank you! It is hard to come with new ideas all the time, isn’t it! X

      Reply
  4. Anthea Holloway says

    25 November 2018 at

    I think that children often love something new and different in their lunch boxes and it is much easier these days to find healthy options. Thank you for these hints.

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      25 November 2018 at

      Yes, you are right! You are welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  5. sandy lynn ralph says

    25 November 2018 at

    oh it really is hard to find healthy things that the kids will enjoy to eat , some great ideas here

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      25 November 2018 at

      Thank you Sandy!

      Reply
  6. Acorn Books says

    25 November 2018 at

    You make brilliant packed lunches! I’d never thought of sending kids in to school with a warm meal in a thermos, will bear that in mind for my fussy eater. #KCACOLS

    Reply
  7. Alice V says

    26 November 2018 at

    Those are some delicious looking lunches. I wish mine were more like that. I just throw together whatever leftovers I have from dinner for my lunch. #KCACOLS

    Reply
  8. Fiona Cambouropoulos says

    26 November 2018 at

    Lovely varied looking lunches and that pomogreat looks really tasty

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      Yes you should try it! It is lovely!

      Reply
  9. Lana says

    26 November 2018 at

    I love this. I think it is so important to try and find healthier options for our children. I haven’t had to start worrying about making school lunches yet, but I will have to next year. Thanks for sharing! #KCACOLS

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      It is hard to come with ideas for every day! It was fun doing the challenge!

      Reply
  10. Carol Cameleon says

    26 November 2018 at

    I very often feel like we’re stuck in a lunchbox rut and have honestly never thought of the thermos flask idea! Genius! Will be trying that with our 9yo, thanks for hosting #kcacols

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      Definitely try that! It is so handy! My girls love having warm food so works wonders! 🙂 x

      Reply
  11. Sarah | Digital Motherhood says

    26 November 2018 at

    It is really hard to find sugar free options isn’t it. I’ve never thought to send hot lunch in for my daughter’s packed lunch! #KCACOLS

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      Get a flask and try it next time! It helps a lot as you have more options to offer! My girls love having a hot lunch! 🙂 x

      Reply
  12. Madeline (This Glorious Life) says

    26 November 2018 at

    I love the variety of things you give your girls for lunch at school. We tend to just do a standard sandwich, fruit, cheese and crisps type packed lunch every day. I do wonder if my son would prefer something warm now and then, it has just honestly never occurred to me to give him something like that! x #KCACOLS

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      Maybe try to give him some days some warm food. He might love to have something different! My girls are really happy at the moment so it is working so far, x

      Reply
  13. Becka @ Becka's Bubble says

    27 November 2018 at

    My son has school dinners while they are free. I’m not organised enough for lunch boxes at the moment! Ha ha! When at home, I do “picnic” style lunches for the kids which they always love. Its a mx of fruit, diary, carbs and a treat of some kind. My son takes a bottle to school with him but he’s only allowed water which I’m pleased about….not that he drinks it often! #KCACOLS

    Reply
  14. natalie says

    27 November 2018 at

    I always struggle with inspiration for the girls lunches, especially keeping them healthy. I love these ideas thank you #kcacols

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      27 November 2018 at

      Yes it is hard to keep getting new ideas all the time! So happy to hear that you like these ideas! 🙂 xx

      Reply
  15. Malin - Sensational Learning with Penguin says

    1 December 2018 at

    Ooh this has made me hungry now, looking at all these yummy lunches! I’m happy to see that Pomegreat is sweetened with Stevia, as that seems to be one of the more healthy options for sweetening. Otherwise we generally avoid products with sweeteners in, as much as possible. When it comes to fruit juices, we like orange juice most, and that only has actual orange juice in it, no sugar or sweeteners!
    Though look out for packets that say ”Orange Juice Drink” rather than just ”Orange juice”, as that means they’ve diluted the juice with water, and then added other (cheaper) ingredients to make it taste okay (such as sweeteners and flavourings)… x #KCACOLS

    Reply
  16. Lisa Pomerantz says

    2 December 2018 at

    I don’t know what is worse – making the school lunches, or cleaning out the (nearly full) boxes on return. Looks like you are on to something. We have the problem of what is good today may be awful tomorrow. We always try healthy lunches, and it looks like you are onto something! We love pasta too 🙂
    #kcacols xoxox Thanks for the great review xoxo

    Reply
  17. Sarah | Mummykind says

    2 December 2018 at

    Olivia loves the Bear Paws and YoYos and they are the ‘treat’ in her lunchbox! Though some of the other children she goes to playgroup with will literally have chocolate spread sandwiches and no fruit whatsoever in their lunchboxes! It’s crazy – couldn’t imagine sending her in with no fruit for lunch. #KCACOLS

    Reply

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HI THERE, I’M FRANCA!

Hi, I'm Franca, a lawyer mum of 2 gorgeous girls married to my best friend, living in London. Award nominated parenting & lifestyle blogger. Read More…

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