He’s the girl dad of two, who’s made a career out of his inspiring school lunch boxes. Now, George Georgievski, aka the Insta-famous School Lunchbox Dad, has partnered with Westinghouse as part of our Home Hack Heroes content series to help Aussies feeling the pinch revive their lunchbox approach.
Behold, his golden lunchbox rules to live by.
1. Throw puff pastry at it
If you’re stuck on what to bring to that school concert or bring-a-plate social, wrap it in puff pastry. Wrap some gourmet sausages in frozen puff pastry and cook for 20 minutes for a cheat version of making your own sausage rolls or some ham for pizza scrolls.
My built-in-Australia Westinghouse 90cm Dual Fuel Pyrolytic Freestanding Cooker (WFEP917DSD) has an incredible EasyBake + Steam function that helps me get a better rise and fluffier centre for the pastry and the best sausage rolls and pizza scrolls ever. Serve these on the side of a sauce of your choice and a leafy salad to nail it!
2. Chicken is the answer. Always.
A roast chicken is your MVP. The AirFry function in my Westinghouse 90cm Dual Fuel Pyrolytic Freestanding Cooker (WFEP917DSD) helps me create perfect crispiness to the outer layer of the chicken and offers a healthier option for my whole family.
To me, chicken is a core ingredient in the kitchen and is so versatile. I love batch-cooking and making a variety of dishes with it for the week, like satay skewers, teriyaki chicken, sticky finger sesame chicken, salad, or sandwiches. This can be especially helpful around the festive season too, to provide a variety of dishes for kids who aren’t too fond of turkey or other meats.
3. Plan a week ahead and save time
I do my shopping on a Sunday and make sure it includes standard fruit and veg, plus some in-season treat fruit like mangoes, a baguette, sliced bread and puff pastry so I can create a variety of lunches for both the kids and my work lunch.
Knowing what I’m making streamlines the morning lunch-making process to 10 minutes and with the programmable timer of my cooktop, I can control the time going into my favourite recipes by when I’m in a rush to get my daughters to school.
4. Eat with your eyes
Kids do and so do adults. That’s why that sad salad or sandwich is so unappealing. Go for bright produce – think cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, and matchstick carrots, and cut your sandwich into bite-size mini ravioli-style versions. When in doubt make pizza scrolls or Mexican party pies from puff pastry, freeze, and use when you need.
5. Rotate your lunchbox menu
To keep things interesting, I make a different lunchbox every day in a 5-day week. I figure that I won’t enjoy the same lunch every day for the week so it’s important to not expect our kids to do the same. Plus, if you have a Westinghouse Freestanding Cooker (WFEP917DSD) that was built in Australia, you have the ability to bake, grill, AirFry and steam, meaning you can diversify the way ingredients are made for each day of the week.
Of course, you can use the same fruit and veggies daily but change up the main meal whether it’s swapping a baguette, for pizza scrolls, or a creative sandwich for dinner leftovers. The same rules apply to adults heading into the office!