By Leigh O’Connor.
It all started when George Georgievski was home sick from work one day and saw just how much his wife had to do making school lunches in the mornings.
"Usually, I’d be out the door before anyone woke, but eight years ago I took over making the kids’ lunches from my wife,” he shares. "She already had too much on her plate with everything and so I had to make sure I did my bit too. Here we are eight years later!”
‘Here’ is an understatement as George has become known as the ‘Lunchbox Dad’, written four cookbooks and creates recipes to inspire Australian parents to meet the daily lunchbox challenge.
Next month, George will be appearing on The Australian Eggs Flip It Cooking Stage at the Good Food & Wine Show in Brisbane from October 25-27 and we had the chance to chat exclusively with him about how he embarked on his lunchbox journey and where his inspiration comes from:
Coined as the greatest lunchbox creator in the world, George says he has always been creative, whether it is writing poems, putting songs together on his guitar or even painting.
"I found that food was also a way to release my creativity and my family would directly benefit from it. I also like to take a complicated recipe and figure out ways to simplify it, so much so that I’ve made dumplings in the toastie maker to help speed up the process and make it more accessible to everyone.
"Being a hands-on parent, I’m inspired by just how busy raising kids makes us, so I like to figure out ways to speed up the cooking time and process, by making it fun and creative also.”
What is his biggest hack to pass on to stressed parents who see their kids’ lunchboxes come home still full?
"The struggle is real, try foods they are familiar with, that you know they eat at home. Turn their favourite pizza into a pizza scroll so the taste is similar to what they’re used to. At times, it’s not the food that’s the issue, it could be that they just want to play at lunchtime with their buddies.
"Never take it to heart and make sure they tell you why they didn’t eat their lunch. If they give you a reason other than ‘they didn’t like it', serve it to them as an after-school snack.”
George says kids eat with their eyes so use colourful produce and make sure it’s bite-sized as bite-sized food is always fun to eat and less daunting. Be a little creative and get them to help you with choosing food for their lunchbox.
His cheapest and best lunchbox treats are homegrown – grown your own produce, even if it’s a small mini tomato plant:
"Let children appreciate the time and effort it takes to grow produce. It’s cheap, colourful land delicious. Otherwise, batch-cooking pizza scrolls or empanadas and freezing them is always a cost-saving way to prep lunches.
"Buy your fruit and veg from your local grocer and always look for good deals. Serve seasonal fruit and veggies as usually supply exceeds demand and you can pick up great bargains – fresh is always best!”
George says for the lunch to stay fresh and vibrant, make sure you invest in a good leak-proof and airtight lunchbox; bento boxes are a great way of securing lunch while an ice pack in a cooler bag is also a great way to store your bento to keep everything looking fresh and delicious.
"Though it’s easy to throw in a pack of chips, chocolate bar and flavoured drink, don’t! We want our little humans to be able to concentrate at school, so avoid sugary items.”
George shares his recipe for Italian meatballs with eggs, which he will be cooking at the Good Food & Wine Show in Brisbane:
"I love cooking in front of a live audience, it’s almost like a Dad Comedy Cooking Show, so I can’t wait to cook at the Australian Eggs Flip It stage. I’ll be making this Italian meatball dish, elevated with Aussie eggs. I never get sick of eating this high-protein delicious meal, so I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”
There are not many people who can say Jamie Oliver sneaked into their DMs, but George can!
An Ambassador for Jamie’s Learn Your Fruit and Veg programs throughout Australia, George has been battling the State Government for some time to try to regulate canteen food in schools.
"I think I might have ruffled some Parliamentarians and it must have got the attention of Jamie’s team. I was offered to be an ambassador and help showcase the program around the country. I will do anything to help parents and carers better feed their kids.”
The rest of 2024 will see George creating new, healthy recipes for his family to enjoy along with cooking live on TV morning shows, segments and food festivals across the country.
"I still work full-time in the construction industry so I will be hoping to cook more and work less LOL!”
