Tasty and healthy lunchbox recipes for kids

The recipes were created by Little Cooks Co, a monthly subscription based recipe kit that’s posted through the letterbox, direct to kids.

Carrot cake bars:

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 10 portions

Allergens: Nuts, sulphites and gluten*

*oats do not contain gluten but are handed on the premises that process gluten.

Ingredients:

2 carrots

¼ cup of almond butter

½ cup of honey

120g oats

75g raisins

70g cashew nuts

25g desiccated coconut

2 teaspoons of linseed

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Implements:

Grater

Small bowl

Food processor/blender

Small pan

Mixing bowl

Wooden spoon

Baking tray

Spatula

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan assisted/gas mark 4).

2) Mix the linseed with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and set aside.

3) Carefully grate the carrots on the finest setting and set aside.

4) Blend the oats and cashew nuts in a food processor/blender until smooth.

5) Pour into a mixing bowl and add the linseed mix, grated carrot, coconut, cinnamon and raisins.

6) Gently heat the honey and almond butter in a pan until it is easy to stir.

7) Add it to the rest of the mixture and stir thoroughly.

8) Place the parchment paper on a baking tray and tip the mixture onto it – Use a spatula to shape it into a square about 1cm thick.

9) Pop in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes.

10) Wait for it to cool and then chop into bars – store in a Tupperware for up to 5 days.

Cheese and chive muffins

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Allergens: Dairy (optional).

Ingredients:

40g coconut flour

80g gram flour (or oat flour)

100g grated cheese

2 spring onions, finely chopped

A handful of chives, finely chopped

A handful of spinach, finely chopped

50g Greek yogurt

20g melted butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

Implements:

Sieve

Mixing bowl

Muffin tray

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170c.

2. Sieve the flours into a large mixing bowl and mix in the cheese, chives, spring onion, spinach and baking powder.

3. Separately mix the yogurt, eggs and melted butter and then add it to the dry mix and combine it all.

4. It should be quite a thick mix that you can handle - roll into balls, place in a greased 12 hole muffin tray, squish the balls down a bit and then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Little Cooks Co a delicious, healthy and fun recipe kit, for kids, delivered straight to your door from £8.33 per month. Visit www.littlecooksco.co.uk

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.