Packed Lunches for School

Penny-Pincher!!

I have been given the menus already and all the vending machines were taken out last term. They have 3 main meal choices, choice of spuds/rice/pasta and choice of veg. There are 2 choices of pudding. If they dont want a hot meal there is a choice of sandwiches or salads. The only snacks they sell are fruit, HM cakes/biscuits or milk. Chips are only offered on a friday which is fish day.

I have just looked through the paperwork for her school and they have suggested £2.60 per day for a main meal, pudding and drink. Not sure how much her "token" will be worth, but assume this amount if this is stated as an average cost.

PP
xx

Ronankfan

Lucie wrote:

last month's good food mag had a great packed lunch planner with lists of carbs, protein, calcium, fruit & veg. The idea is you pick one from each column & have a healthy balanced lunch.
I'll post the lists (in a my-version non copyright way of course ) if anyone is interested.

Could you post the list - that would be a great help to me

thanks

V.Lucky

Good thread, as my son is starting school full time next week and had been wondering about this.

His favourite sarnie is marmite and cucumber (!!) so that's a good one for the first day.

He has also requested carrot sticks, cucumber slices and raisins. He doesn't eat (or like) crisps. Never thought about hm biscuits, as I am sure other kids will have chocolate, so if he has a car or aeroplane (we use play-doh cutters) biscuit he won't feel left out.

How do you give fruit to a 4 year old. At home he would have an apple cut up - but obviously can't do that at school. Is it just take a whole one, or will the school help him if he asks?

He is really excited and has his Spongebob lunch box ready and waiting. It's already had a couple of trial outings in the garden lol

thriftlady_2

There are some ideas on this thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=242606&highlight=picnics

thriftmonster

I sometimes give a "lunchables" with thin slices of cheese and ham cut into tiny squares and some HM crackers. Also if you have a stainless steel flask (no breakages) soup or baked beans are a possibility with a chunk of bread. If you cut oranges into wedges these are ok in a bag and easier to manage.

Pink.

There are some good ideas for packed lunches on these older threads:

Cheap healthy playground snacks

advice about kids lunch boxes

Pink

RubyMurray

V.Lucky wrote:

Good thread, as my son is starting school full time next week and had been wondering about this.

His favourite sarnie is marmite and cucumber (!!) so that's a good one for the first day.

He has also requested carrot sticks, cucumber slices and raisins. He doesn't eat (or like) crisps. Never thought about hm biscuits, as I am sure other kids will have chocolate, so if he has a car or aeroplane (we use play-doh cutters) biscuit he won't feel left out.

How do you give fruit to a 4 year old. At home he would have an apple cut up - but obviously can't do that at school. Is it just take a whole one, or will the school help him if he asks?

He is really excited and has his Spongebob lunch box ready and waiting. It's already had a couple of trial outings in the garden lol

Ah bless!

My son will only eat apples if they are cut up (even though he's 9!), I persevered with sticking a whole apple in his lunch box daily but it always came back battered and bruised with perhaps a tiny nibble out of it. So for fruit I used to stick a few grapes or strawberries in a twist of clingfilm which he really liked. He has school dinners now as they're not quite so bad as I thought at his school, he has salad and veg daily.

Maybe you could put apple slices in a little container with a little lemon juce to stop them going brown if your boy is not averse to lemon?

HopeElizzy

V.Lucky wrote:

How do you give fruit to a 4 year old. At home he would have an apple cut up - but obviously can't do that at school. Is it just take a whole one, or will the school help him if he asks?

I know I'll have the apple problem with my 4yo as well. Was going to try pieces of orange/satsuma already peeled in a tub, grapes, banana, plum (bit smaller than an apple so dd will have a go at that), dried fruit. Will a pear be alright cut into pieces in a tub?

Also, forgot to say, when we went to a parents evening for children starting this term we were told there are dinner ladies specifically to help the little ones. perhaps this will be the same at your school.

beachbeth

Another good idea is the banana loaf. If you have a breadmaker it can be made in this but you can also make it in an ordinary oven - recipe is in the BeRo book. This would be a filling and healthy dessert for a lunch box.

V.Lucky

Thanks beachbeth - I don't have a BeRo book - would you be kind enough to post the recipe please?