Kids embarrassed by OS?

bluestarrz

First post by a long-time lurker!

We (Me, DS and DD) have recently moved home and with that, DS has had to change school, his new school is in a wealthier area than his last. He came to me and asked if I could change his packed lunch to "What the other kids have". When I asked what he meant he explained that the kids at his school have fancy baguettes and wraps with various fancy fillings i.e. pesto, meatballs, south west sauce, rocket, parmesan etc and he was a bit embarrassed by his plain old sarnies

Generally he is fine with the OS ways that I've introduced so far and is happy to eat OS at home etc. but I worry about him not fitting in. He is very sensitive and a worrier and I thought if I could come up with some OS style lunches (maybe with a little fancy twist..) this might ease some of the pressure of the upheaval of moving, changing school etc..and make him a bit more confident.

Just wondering if any one had any ideas where to start and also ideas on packaging etc as I don't think my cheap sandwich bags will cut it..

Am on quite a tight budget since moving so hopefully won't be too expensive if I put in a lot of work on my part?

Any ideas gratefully recieved!

Alcmene

You could do some fancy wrapped tortillas for him they are not expensive (actually you could MAKE them) he can always tell people he gets his lunch made especially for his specific needs fresh every day!

Also posh looking salads cannot be that expensive to make. Maybe some cous cous? or pasta? What does he like?

topher_2

For wrapping the sandwiches why not use something like:

http://www.onyabags.co.uk/shop.php?crn=213

I imagine better colours could be bought from somewhere. or possibly make your own?

Could you bake your own bread and add seeds etc to make it "more special"?

Taye

My kids love Tortilla wraps, they arn't expensive about £1 for a packet of 10, though im sure some clever OS'er could give you a recipe to make your own even cheaper.

I fill the tortilla's with alsorts, chicken, ham , egg mayo and salad etc, i bet you could make meatballs really easily with bolognaise sauce to go in them.

they look abit fancier than plain old butty's.

bluestarrz

He eats pretty much anything (or at least will give anything a go!) Great ideas, thanks for the quick replies wa hoping to experiment today!
How do you make wraps? I've tried baking bread before which resembled a brick...not a good idea when trying to make a good impression lol!
Would love to give it a go again if there are any fool proof recipes?

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

Well at least he isn't wanting lunchables and the like and has picked things you can do yourself :T

Here is the recipe I use for tortillas -really easy and much nicer than shop ones
I make these on a regular basis..they are brilliant -and easy

CHEWY SOFT FLOUR TORTILLA
2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR about 300g
1 ½ TSP BAKING POWDER
1TSP SALT
2TSP VEG OIL
¾ CUP WARM MILK -180ml

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl
Whisk milk, oil and salt
Pour into flour -stirring to mix -actually this bit I put the milk in a large jug and warm in the micro and then throw everything else in and mix -saves faffing
Once mixed -turned out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 2 mins
Cover and leave for 15 mins -it won’t rise but needs to relax
Cut into 8 balls (approx 50g each)
Cover and leave to relax for 10 mins
Roll each one out into a round -approx 8”
Heat a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron)
Drop in one tortilla and turn after about 2 mins -the surface should bubble -press down with a teatowel (watch you don't steam your fingers )
Place inside a dry tea towel to keep warm whilst you cook the rest

You can freeze the balls of dough too... when they are defrosted they will be a bit stickier so you will need more flour when rolling out-but they roll out bigger after freezing too
Do you have a little patch of earth or even a washing up bowl filled with compost where you could grow a bit of rocket and a few of the fancier salad leaves? again its really easy ...

When I do the wraps for hubbies lunch I put the filling in and then fold in the 2 sides and then roll -it stops the filling falling out the end -and you could always cut them in 2 at an angle like the shop ones...I just wrap them in clingfilm nice and tight..

Forgot to say that I do sometimes make meatballs to go in them and do caramalised onions, peppers n mushrooms to go with them so you have something moist but not sloppy .

bluestarrz

Great idea! Can I ask what fillings you use in them? Will definitely try this recipe out today! Also will look out washing up bowl or similar and try and pick up some seeds for 'fancy' salads! Thanks for the advice!

ceridwen

You could try growing rocket and the like of more exotic salad leaves at home. Buy a packet and sow them in any container of about 4" depth. I'm working on this at the moment myself - so far I think the best approach is to sow 2 or 3 seeds at each little "spot" in my trays and have each "spot" about 2" apart. I may be wrong on that spacing - but I've moved on from just plain scattering them randomly - and thats how I will be doing it next time.

The plan is to "harvest" the leaves on a cut and come again type basis.

thats a way for you to get more expensive type salad stuff at a cheap cost.

Maybe - instead of giving him a couple of bits of fresh fruit you could chop up two different types of fruit per time and cover them with fruit juice - bingo fruit salad (as opposed to using several types of fruit - which could then look like canned "fruit cocktail"). Two types of fruit and it could look expensive - several types would look like cheapie fruit cocktail or those frozen fruit mixes. Serve this fruit salad with a dollop of something like Greek yogurt (carried in a separate container).

ceridwen

bluestarrz wrote: »

Great idea! Can I ask what fillings you use in them? Will definitely try this recipe out today! Also will look out washing up bowl or similar and try and pick up some seeds for 'fancy' salads! Thanks for the advice!

On the washing-up bowl (or other similar container) to grow salads in - voice of experience time here - I found I needed rather more holes than I thought I did drilled in the bottom of the container to allow for storage. I tended to have 4/5 holes drilled - think it shoulda been more like 12 holes (biro head size). Mrs M will doubtless put us right if I've still not got it worked out yet re the drainage holes...:D

ceridwen

Further thought - theres some ideas on Weezl's thread for making own sandwich filler thingies - like homemade hummus for example...

PS; what's "south west sauce"?

bluestarrz

This may sound stupid but do you keep the container with the seeds outside or in?..

Fruit salad sounds nice and healthy too! I might have to have a look at what's in season just now to try and save a bit!


edit - South west sauce...no idea but popular amongst the classmates..