NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCHBOX TIMETABLE MENU PLAN FOR 4 WEEKS
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| Plantain with scrambled eggs and fruits in the Nigerian school lunch box. |
My Nigerian school lunchbox timetable. How to pack school lunch for Nigerian school kids this Nigerian lunch box organizer covers one month of school lunch box packaging with photos taken daily, that’s 20 lunch box meals to serve as a guide when we rush in the mornings for the kids.
Packing school children’s lunch boxes daily for three months multiplied by three terms yearly is not easy o.
But, can be simplified if parents/guardians know ahead of time what to pack for the kids. Time seems to run too fast in the mornings and thinking about what to pack early can cause delays, confusion, unnecessary stress, and lateness to school.
I have carefully taken these pictures of my son’s school lunch box for about a month so that other parents can from these lunch box food timetable, organise themselves and have stress-free mornings.
PREPARING for making school lunch AHEAD OF TIME
If you pack all these daily, before you repeat thrice, the term would have ended in ease. Having this lunch box meal plan helps us prepare very well ahead.
What I do is shop on Saturdays or drive straight to the market after Sunday church service, pick vegetables and other items that I’ll need for the week’s lunch box, keep.
Everyday, I pick from there and if it’s something I can prepare the previous day, I get it ready at night, just heat in the morning and pack. Knowing what to pack in your child’s lunch box and having it ready ahead.
Saves precious time in the morning and leaves you smiling while getting the kids ready. There is nothing as stressful as trying to figure out what to put in the lunchbox while time is quickly ticking away.
I posted Nigerian school lunch box ideas and school lunch box tips on this blog, but this is here is more detailed with recipes on how to make them if you’ll like to try my recipes. One good thing that makes this easy to follow is that we are not compelled to serve every day, what is on this lunch box menu plan but we can use it as a guide to reduce stress and early morning headache.
PLANNING A NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCHBOX TIMETABLE:
When planning or packing our kids’ lunch boxes, nutrition should be number one in our heads. The food has to be balanced because some kids eat better at school with friends and classmates than at home.
Most kids do lose some inches weight during holidays but gain it back when schools resume, why? because watching their classmates eat, makes them want to eat more, want to impress the teacher, and want to be applauded.
If the meal in the lunch box is balanced, the day is covered as some may not even be able to eat heavy again at home, after school. After nutrition, think about what your child loves to eat and pack more of that. It’s better for the child to come home with an empty lunch box than for you to empty a lunch box full of nutrition into the waste bin because even though what is packed is nutritious, it’s not what that chile likes to eat.
CAN WE REPEAT FOOD ON SAME WEEK? YES!
Very importantly, try to make the food attractive. If your child doesn’t like boiled eggs, you can serve them in a different form and the aim is achieved.
You can scramble and they’ll just eat. That doesn’t mean that you have to pack only dodo daily because that’s what your child likes.
Anyway, I can pack that every day and still make it different and nutritious. You can actually repeat the food your child truly loves. If it’s rice, there’s nothing wrong with packing rice two to three times a week, like on Mondays, Wednesdays, and maybe Fridays while other foods are served on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Sometimes, if what I’m supposed to pack on Friday is what is available on Monday, I swap the days. If I have ripe plantain for dodo, it can’t last till when it’s supposed to be served, so I serve that and swap. This school lunch box timetable/meal plan is dedicated to all mums who sweat it out in the mornings daily for years and still find time to freshen up before taking the kids to school, then work. E nor easy!
WEEK ONE NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCHBOX TIMETABLE ORGANIZER:
MONDAY:
Drinking water, Rice and stew with a fruit. I used bananas, snacks, and juice. This rice and stew are leftovers from Sunday lunch, so Monday school lunch box is never stressful at least for me.
Sausage pasta is easy to make in the mornings.
For hot dog loving kids. You could also pack easy recipe jollof spaghetti which is very easy to cook.
TUESDAY:
Drinking water, Plantain with – fish sauce, you can serve any sauce of choice or stew, a fruit, I used pineapple, snack and juice.
WEDNESDAY:
Sweet potato porridge with fish, boiled eggs, drinking water, a snack and juice.
THURSDAY:
Fried Rice with plantain, protein, snack and juice.
Check out different fried rice recipes.
FRIDAY:
Noodles with boiled egg and a fruit, a snack and juice. On Fridays schools close early, so, we can do without snack and juice.
WEEK TWO NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCH BOX:
MONDAY:
Jollof Rice (Perhaps Sunday leftovers) a snack, fruit, water, and juice.
CHECK OUT more jollof rice recipes.
TUESDAY:
POTATO CHIPS (Fries) with ketchup and scrambled eggs. A fruit or vegetable, I used watermelon, snack, juice and drinking water.
WEDNESDAY:
Boiled macaroni with sauce, a grilled sausage (Protein), snack, water, and juice.
THURSDAY:
Plantain with scrambled eggs, fruit or vegetable, snack, water, and maybe juice.
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| Recipes for fried noodles |
FRIDAY:
Fried noodles, protein, fruit, snack and perhaps juice.
WEEK THREE NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCH BOX ORGANIZER:
MONDAY:
Leftovers Sunday rice could be fried rice, jollof rice, rice and stew, rice with sauce, and so on. Heat and pack with a fruit or vegetable, some protein, and a snack.
TUESDAY:
Plantain with tomato stew, some protein, fruits… I served orange, snack, juice, and water.
WEDNESDAY:
Boiled yam (very Soft), with stew, proteins, fruit, snack, and water.
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| A snack doesn’t always have to be crackers like me. You can pack any snacks of choice, small chops, puff puff, biscuits, buns, meat pie, egg rolls, Etc. You can even pack a club sandwich for your child if that’s what the kid likes to eat. |
THURSDAY:
Jollof rice with proteins, snacks, water, and juice. Not three eggs oh. Those are egg halves.
FRIDAY:
Spaghetti with stew and proteins, fruit, snack, and water.
WEEK FOUR NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCH TIMETABLE:
MONDAY:
Sunday leftover rice, macaroni or spaghetti, protein, fruit, and drinking water.
TUESDAY:
Boiled yam (boil Very soft) with egg sauce, snack, fruit or vegetable, water. The dressing on that cucumber is my homemade Nigerian salad cream
WEDNESDAY:
Noodles with boiled eggs and fruits, snacks, juice, and water.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO INCLUDE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN A CHILD’S LUNCH BOX?
THURSDAY:
Fried spaghetti, protein, fruit, snack, and water.
FRIDAY:
Club sandwich (Made with mixed sardines, cabbage, carrot, mayonnaise etc) Snack, drink.
OR
Nigerian Jollof macaroni with vegetables… cucumber, snack, juice, and water. Watch me cook quick Jollof macaroni for my kids.
Here is the recipe for my homemade salad cream that makes him clear all his cucumbers and salads.
EXTRA:
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| Spaghetti with stewed meats and grated carrots. |
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| Nigerian jollof macaroni. |
See How to cook Nigerian jollof macaroni.
See Also: Boiled rice with vegetable stew.
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| Boiled rice with vegetable stew, protein, snack, water and orange. |
To make this green vegetable stew, you need less than 10 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch ugu leaves (Fluted pumpkin)
One bunch waterleaf
1 medium-sized iced fish (mackerel a.k.a Titus)
One cup palm oil
1 small size onion
2 seasoning cubes
1 teaspoon or more ground fresh pepper
Salt to taste.
DIRECTION: To make green vegetables for NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCH TIMETABLE
2. Add the washed and chopped vegetables, seasoning cubes, and pepper. Cover for about 2 minutes. Stir and check for salt. Cover to cook to your preferred green pot whether half-cooked or well-cooked vegetables is what you like, no wahala.
3. Stir very well and serve with boiled rice. Great for the school lunch box because it cooks really fast and easy. To serve in the kids’ lunch box, first, mix rice and vegetables very well on a different plate before emptying into the lunchbox.
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| Concoction jollof rice with sweet potatoes and sausages, packed with fruits, snacks, and water. |
There are so many foods not included in this Nigerian school lunchbox timetable. I just remembered moi moi, agidi (eko) with stew, and so on. We can pack those too.
Happy Lunch box packing!
Most kids love rice and there are so so many different rice recipes on this blog. See the rice recipes here.
Here is a Video of me making quick 10 minutes Jollof macaroni
On this Nigerian school lunchbox timetable.
NOTE: Some meals appear only in one week, that doesn’t mean that we cannot repeat a week’s plan the following week. We can! By the time you repeat this lunch box meal plan three times, the term is ended and you are resting and more relaxed in the mornings. Cheers!
My son doesn’t eat breakfast before leaving for school and he closes late, so I try my best to pack what can sustain him for that long.
NIGERIAN SCHOOL LUNCHBOX TIP:
Most kids do not like to repeat meals, so, if you want your child to eat their school food very well, avoid serving that as breakfast. Give them something light in the mornings, like bread with beverage/hot chocolate (Nigerian tea), biscuits, or a small piece of cake with Nigerian tea or just any food that’s not heavy. That way the food in the lunch box is first seen/tasted during the break as a surprise and they’ll enjoy eating.
Welldone mums and caregivers. This is how to pack lunch for Nigerian schools.
HOW TO PACK LUNCH FOR SCHOOL (NIGERIA)
Can you think of any other food that can be packed in the kids’ lunchboxes? Please share it with us. Leave a comment below.
Hope you like our Nigerian school lunch meal plan? This school lunch timetable is aimed at making life easier for families. Enjoy using it and have fun packing snacks and food for the beautiful young ones
Whaooo!!.I love this,thanks a lot madam Eya
Thanks too F. T Welcome bak
Thanks Eya for this but I think adding juice every day is too much. I do juice with snacks twice, natural fruits with snacks twice, and 1 day only water and snacks to make a week's lunch packs. We should encourage our children to take less sugar.
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Thank you so much Omoba. I always thought that little pack juice is not upto a glass full and so shouldn't matter, considering he doesn't take beverages (Nigerian tea) in the morning, but your plan also makes sense. Bless you. I';ll sure cut down and give juice maybe three days a week. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Eya thanks for the ideas they are really great let share mine with you.
Monday: white rice and stew with egg water melon 2 crackets and water no juice.
Tuesday: jollof pasta with chicken pineapple 2 crackers and water
Wednesday: beans and bread with fish tangerine 2 crackers and water
Thursday: jollof/fried rice with fish banana 2 crackers and water
Friday: semo/ amala and ewedu with stew boiled groundnut 2 crackers and water.
Juice is only weekend and its fresh juice.
I leave swallow fufu and soups out of school lunch. He eats those at home . He can’t use cutlery to eat them and proper washing of hands before and after eating in class…? Not sure…
Thank you so much. You just gave me a few more ideas to use. Bless you.
I wish you can explain a little on how to serve the beans and bread. Do we sandwich the beans or just keep them in separate bowls in the lunch box?
Good Evening Eya, you are a life saver. Thanks so much for these pictures and ideas. God bless you richly
You are welcome.
Thank you so much for this. I don’t include fresh fruit in my sons lunch pack because of the fear that it might get sour. But your tips has helped me
You are welcome. Thanks for the comment.
Please will fresh fruits get sour when packed for school lunch?
Yes they might if cut or shredded.
Thanks so much for this ,am grateful ma
This Article is so helpful Eya. Thank you so much. You can also include akara balls, beans porridge, plantain porridge, homemade freshly squeezed juice, even zobo, pancakes, etc. Thank you very much.
Makes sense. Thank you Golden H.
Thanks Eya for insightful.
You are welcome. Thanks too for your comment.
Good morning ma’am!please what time does your toddler roundup up with school activities?
This is so helpful,thank you
You are welcome.
Thank you EYA
You are welcome.
God bless you for this diligent work.
Amen. Thanks.
thanks so much. This is really helpful and relieving. I will put lessons learnt into action. I will like to ask if this can help for a child that closes late at school like 5pm
You can increase the quantity of food or double.
Thanks ma for this. Its so helpful. Really finding it difficult to pack my child’s lunch. But with this am good to go. Thanks
This is helpful
Thanks for your time of love
You’re the best
Thanks for this information my children school recently gave us fruit timetable and this gave me a better idea on their foodie.
Thanks so much for this ideas. God bless you
I love this
God bless you.
Lovely..Thanks so much ma’am.
You really save the stress.
This is has been so helpful. God bless you
Thanks a lot for the clue.it is very helpful
Thank you ma, for this great information am speechless
This is so helpful. I have been having problems with school lunch box. But this your tips are the best 😘
God bless you for this tips !! Really helpful
This post is very helpful, thanks a lot.
Thanks so much. Got value
For a first time mum whose toddler is about to begin school, THIS IS A LIFE SAVER. Thank you so much ma
This is truely amazing, you saved a mom, been having difficulty but thanks for this tips.
Thank you so much Eya… this was extremely helpful
You are welcome. I’m happy you found it helpful.
Thank you so much ma. Please I want to learn the home made salad cream
God bless you I need to say it again God bless you. Because this is a life saver. Thank you
Thanks. I appreciate 🙏🏿
Thank you for these great ideas….this is definitely going to save me from cracking my head on what to give my child. Because getting to plan my daughter’s daily daycare foods is really a lot of stress for me…she 2yrs and she stays at the daycare from 7am to 5pm, when I close from work to get her..,so I always pack two different meals daily, with lot of snacks, 1 juice, fruit and water..and she’s also the picky type, so it’s really not been easy for me at all!…
Thank so much EYA, you such a life saver. I literally crack my brain all day because of my baby’s school lunch, and I really find dis helpful.
Great one indeed. Thanks a lot for this.
Thanks so much for the heads uo
Wow, thanks
Weldon ma, this is so helpful but, my 2years child does not like to eat pepper don’t know what to do
Scoop out the child’s portion before you add pepper. I hope this tip helps.
Job welldone n thank you, for those whose children would be closing late after cooking their lunch u can pack cereal for them such as cornflakes, golden morn, Coco pops etc
Thank you.but my kids eat in d morning before going to school.so I have to prepare break fast to accommodate the older ones and then prepare the lunch box too for the younger ones.its really stressful Any advice?
Do you have some free time in the evening of the previous day to get some things ready ahead of time?
This is really amazing and it’s has been very helpful, thanks so much, I do really appreciate.
You are welcome