Packed Lunches for School

chirpchirp

Still not sure packed lunches will work out much cheaper, but it appears in the short term that son will stop raiding "goodies" as he realises this will mean he'll be back on packed lunches. From what I can gather he was feeling it was unfair if his sister was getting things in her packed lunch that he wanted but couldn't have as they were for her packed lunches.

He had his first packed lunch and even ate the tomatoes which I insisted he had in there. Daughter also added carrots and a clementine to her lunch today whilst he had carrots and tomatoes.

I have tried to bring them up not to be fussy eaters, she will eat fruit whilst he's more likely to eat vegetables. Their schools do have guidelines for what isn't allowed such as fizzy drinks and chocolate bars. Both schools allow crisps and a cake or biscuit.

Lizling

BAGGY wrote: »

I dissagree with the comment that parents should know what to put intheir lunch packs. Once upon a time you had hme economics classes at schoool and were taught how to budget and how to make up a nutritious meal. Then they DID know. Nowadays cookery classes consist of putting a jar of pasta sauce together with fresh pasta and that's a meal. No thought for nutrition or economics involved there. My friend was shocked that I bought bacon joints/chicken etc to slice for sandwiches and asked why when I can get 5 slices of pink preformed carp for £1 when it's on offer. I pointed out the chemical content and she was non-plussed.
I am an older parent of young children. I was taught the value of a pound and am not sucked in by the latest 'youghurt in a tube with a character on it' adverts. My kids, never having had these unless at a party, prefer home made or value yogs with h/m fruit puree. Another alternative I sometimes do (although not for shcool as they are messy eaters) is blancmange with fruit at the bottom.
Sorry about the rant but I firmly believe we are doing our school kids an unjustice and life skills (balancing the books, proper cookery, needlcraft, basic diy) should be taught in every school.

Nutrition is still a compulsory part of the school curriculum for 6 years and it's normally taught right from 4 or 5 to 14. I’m not sure it does much good though – almost everything I was taught about nutrition at school has turned out to be wrong as the science moved on.

Poppy9

My neice was given this booklet for her little one when starting school

cutestkids

I help in a school and i was horrified at what some of the children bring in for lunch,
One example of a recent lunchbox a year 1 child had was

2 packs of crisps
1 chocolate biscuit
1 baker boy muffin
2 small packs of chewy sweets
chocolate pudding
carton of full sugar squash

Not a single bit of decent nutrition in there it really beggars belief that anyone would actually send their child to school with that for lunch but they do.

grumpybear_3

I don't have kids or do school lunch boxes but wonder about doing a wrap instead of a sandwich now and again?

I don't know if your kids are salad eaters but there's a lot more space for salad / veg in a wrap and rolled tight in a bit of tin foil they're a lot more filling and interesting to eat than a sandwich? and handfull of carrot sticks and a piece of fruit / yoghurt.

My other half grew up in the USSR where cottage cheese is a big thing - so perhaps a small pot of that with some seasoning perhaps some nuts (if they're cool with them) and side of vegetables and a fruit?

When I was a kid I certainly loved going home to raid the cupboards, but in many ways it was kind of an adjusting to home / feeling a bit bored sort of eating than eating because we were hungry so our mum used to have a plate of carrot and celery sticks with a splodge of hummus / dip / squeezy cheese waiting in the fridge for us; cheap, tasty, easy and filled the gap in wanting something to crunch on without spoling our tea.

BAGGY

My friend's son ( in 2nd yr seniors - whatever that is nowdays ) has had no training what so ever in his cookery classes to budget. He is sent home with a recipe that the teacher has either cobbled together or printed from the internet. An example was duck stir fry for the Chinese new year that fed 4 - 6. Not many families I know are that large (he lives with his mum only) or could afford duck and 5 spice (that would be used once) for a mid week meal. The bolognaise recipe she sent was attrocious. No herbs or seasoning involved and they have made pizza 4 times so far this year with base mixes just altering the topping, which is tom puree and cheese. The lasagne recipe included packet/jar white sauce. How hard is that to teach? Rather spend a lesson perfecting bechamel so they can turn it into cheese sauce for mac & cheese surely? They then have a 'staple' recipe to add to stuff. Likewise no lessons on pastry, cake methods, identifying which cut of meat is best for what. I do believe these are the staples that stand you in good stead to feed yourself in later life - uni for example.
Someone said parents should be teaching their kids life skills. In an ideal world that would be the case but with the econimic climate and many parents working full time how many have got time to show kids how to cook a roast?
Re the sewing. We live in such a throw away society with cheap imports that no one can be bothered to replace a zip or the like. I was not including embroidery classes in my previous quote, it's just something I think kids should know. There is no shame in wearing clothes tat hve been repaired. Surely that's MSE ?
(I'll shut up now......)

tessie_bear

thankyou for the tip on the pitta bread...my kids like them but i havent had much sucess with pack ups but i will try the toasting tip

flubberyzing

A friend of mine has a useful strategy with her 6 & 12 year olds. She sectioned off a shelf in the fridge into 4 small sections (but would work just as well with a drawer, cupboard or even 4 carrier bags!
In each section was a different type of food, eg: fruit, yoghurt, cereal bar, cheese (but these would change all the time), and the deal with the kids is, they have to choose AT LEAST ONE thing from every section for their lunchboxes. There is plenty of choice within the section, so eg: a kid can pick a strawb yog over a peach, or a banana rather than an apple. But they HAVE to pick something.
This gives the kids some choice and chances to express preferences, but means the mum can ensure the kids get a bit of everything.

loupy

Poppy9 wrote: »

My neice was given this booklet for her little one when starting school

Thanks for this Poppy9. I went to have a look thinking it would be full of useful tips but...apparently a banana doesn't count as a piece of fruit! Basically packed lunch = bad School dinner = good.

As other posters have said, you have no real idea what your child is eating at school. The advertised menu at my son's school doesn't tend to mention the daily pasta choice which he inevitably picks from. I don't mind him eating pasta (we have it at home once or twice a week) but I spoke to him about trying to have different things every day.

We're now trying packed lunches as my son wanted to and I find it's not taking as much time as I thought it would. I have enough variety at home to send him in with different things every day including fruit and veg options and when he comes home I have an idea of what did and didn't get eaten unlike when he has school dinner and can't remember what he had (and certainly not how much).

Still can't get over that leaflet!

cyclingyorkie

cutestkids wrote: »

I help in a school and i was horrified at what some of the children bring in for lunch,
One example of a recent lunchbox a year 1 child had was

2 packs of crisps
1 chocolate biscuit
1 baker boy muffin
2 small packs of chewy sweets
chocolate pudding
carton of full sugar squash

Not a single bit of decent nutrition in there it really beggars belief that anyone would actually send their child to school with that for lunch but they do.

I work as a school dinnerlady and whilst most packups are better than that we do have some kids who bring that sort of lunch every day. We have one kid who's mum swears he will only eat what she sends - she's had him to the GP's who has said he will grow out of it ( he's in Yr 4) ..... but the kid is so pale... and as for the state of his teeth.......:eek::eek:

Some parents send brilliant, well thought out lunches... but there are far too many where I work that have come straight out of the nearest supermarket/corner shop......

I've had a look at that leaflet - and i can't work out why a banana isn't a piece of fruit - it certainly is in my slimming world group....

On a positive note we have kids who bring flasks with hot meals in, homemade wraps, dips and veg sticks. It doesn't take much time and effort... but it does need a little thought...