Post Category - EatEat - Post Category - Eating OutEating Out - Post Category - Eating InEating InLive In Jumeirah Or Umm Suqeim? Check Out These Brilliant New School Lunches, Mamas!
School mornings are hectic. Add to that the not-so-small task of packing lunch boxes and it can all get too much! I vowed to pack lunch boxes the evening before but frankly by the time the kids go to bed I’m not in a state to do anything hugely productive. And now, my wonderful helper has been away on a well-deserved holiday for five weeks so anything (everything) to make life a little easier while my husband and I juggle school runs, laundry, cooking, cleaning, pets and the constant picking up that comes with gets my vote. My latest discovery? A brilliant new packed lunch service by BookMunch, one of our favourite family friendly cafes in Dubai, whose founder Dareen is a mama herself and understands exactly what the kids need to be taking into school (so you can rest assured that the menus won’t include anything you wouldn’t give them yourself).
Read More: The Sassiest Mama Awards: Dareen Charafeddine
Whether you’re running out of lunchbox ideas, you need a helping hand or you want to introduce your kids to new recipes and flavours, these school lunches can do it all! The menu is fun and rotational over six weeks, designed to expose children to lots of tastes while still offering simple and familiar foods (so they don’t get freaked out – we know how kids can be!!). And because Dareen is really particular about the quality of the ingredients that get used, you can rest assured that there’ll be fruit and veggies hidden wherever possible (the beetroot brownies were GENIUS!) and that your little people aren’t eating anything icky.
Read more: 5 Back to School Lunch Box Recipes
We signed up for a five day plan (and have since extended because the kids are loving it, as are hubby and I (particularly because sometimes, if there are leftovers, we get to eat them too 😉. And here’s the thing, these lunches are NOT crazy expensive! Five days will cost you AED 130 per child for under six year olds or AED 160 per child for 7-11 year olds and 20 days AED 420 or 520. Not bad right?! Here’s how it works. You book your child’s plan by filling out an online form, make payment by bank transfer et voila, all done. A lovely chap on a bike has been arriving at our home every evening before 9pm with beautifully packaged lunches for my three. Which brings me to the other thing – children eat first with their eyes so the super cute packaging including little ‘eat me’ stickers and other fun mottos don’t go unnoticed. And Dareen says that you’ll soon be able to return all packaging for re-use/recycling which is BRILLIANT! Hubby and I then pop the boxes in the fridge before adding them to our children’s lunch bags the following morning. And what lucky, lucky kids they are! While my lunch on most days is a piece of bread with whatever I can find in the fridge or a quick bowl of leftovers, my little ones are enjoying everything from potato salad with chicken, basil and peas (a big fave), mini croque monsieurs, deconstructed lasagna and then desserts and snacks including orange segments dipped in chocolate, fruit pots, mini muffins and more. Yum!
Check out their website for a sample menu. Occasionally one of them will grumble about something (middle child doesn’t like green grapes, only red ones – go figure..) but they try everything and most of it gets gobbled up. BookMunch are able to take into consideration any allergies or dietary requirements so that’s not a problem in most cases. Any special requests are charged at an extra of AED 7 per child per day (eg gluten free, dairy free, egg free, allergies to certain fruits etc). They’ll happily discuss your needs etc with you to make it all work – and vegetarian meals are available at no extra charge too. Healthy, delicious, easy, easy, easy (did I say easy?), these lunches have been a complete savior – we might just sign up for another week or so…..
Read more: Annabel Karmel’s Superfoods For Healthy Kids (Bye-Bye Cough!)
BookMunch currently deliver to all areas in Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim. Please allow for 24-hour processing time. To know more click here.
