Kids packed lunches

JC-P

She does like veg sticks so could maybe add some of those.
She likes hoummus too.
Some good ideas, my mind went blank!

blottedcopybook

Oh! Right, I have loads of tips I can give you and hopefully some of them will help!

I invested in a couple of laptop lunchboxes for my two youngest, they are bento-style lunchboxes with lots of different compartments. I have two very fussy eaters and one who doesn't care what he eats as long as it's not brocolli! Again, like your daughter my kids aren't great sandwich fans.

I've found if I make them something heavy at lunchtime, they're quite sluggish during the afternoon and don't engage well so my advice would be to steer clear of mac & cheese type food at lunchtime and keep that for teatime as she'll be satisfied and it'll encourage her to sleep better.

The best thing I've found is something that they can put together themselves. Their standard lunch these days is a tortilla wrap (pre-spread with a little bit of sour cream and guacamole, a little box of sliced chicken (I usually use leftovers from fajitas so the chicken has a marinade), a little box with grated cheese and a little box with some bell pepper, tomato, mushroom and grated carrot. If they want to eat everything individually they can, or they can make a tortilla and my 18 month old can do this herself with a little bit of help to roll the tortilla up. If you're not a fan of the tortilla idea, the same kind of approach with lots of different bits and pieces still works and will also be a great way to use up leftovers. Anything they can dip works well too, so guacamole/houmous/tzatziki type stuff is great (if you can handle the smell!)

Is she a fan of cous-cous, tabbouleh, quinoa or anything like that? My youngest will eat cous-cous with anything I can find mixed in, my middle son isn't a fan. Also, what about crackers? Would she eat some nice crackers or digestive biscuits with some cheese or cold meat that she could build up herself?

I also keep with the staples - a piece of fruit, a yoghurt, raisins and milk so that if they really aren't into their lunch there's something else they can snack on.

I should mention too that at my kids' nursery their lunch has to include morning and afternoon snack which is why I make so much!

xcat_girlx

maybe some chicken and rice. the sauce on it could be reheated.

i still find sandwiches too stodgy now so i prefer wraps normally for lunch. also, would she have soup in a flask?

Reggie_Rebel

Naan breads go down with my two. Also carrot sticks seem to be liked