Packed Lunch Ideas For Fruit & Veg Hater!

squelchy69

Hello all
My 8 year old son takes a packed lunch to school. Unfortunately he doesn't like many fruits or vegetables.
Not too much of a problem at home as I am quite cunning and blend and disguise them in a variety of hot meals, but not so easy to do in a cold packed lunch box!
The only fruits and vegetables he will eat undisguised are apples, sweetcorn, broccoli, strawberries and cucumber. And if I add them to the lunch box they do still tend to come home uneaten.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to make these few veggies and fruits more appealing to a hater?
(He does have a daily vitamin too)
Thanks in advance.
Jo x

squelchy69

Should have added, we are on a budget, so fancy expensive foods are out of the question............thanks.
Jo x

Sunnyday

Hmmm how about sausage rolls with grated carrots mixed in? if you put the meat in a food processor with grated veg it would blend in nicely and you could make a lot of rolls from the padded out mixture, pop them in the freezer and take one out to thaw in the fridge the night before its needed.

Does he like pasta salads? Many veg can be blended with a tin of tomatoes into a sauce to coat pasta with and is really nice as well as being healthy.

HTH

SD

squelchy69

Yum, I like the sound of the sausage rolls, and he'd never guess - lol!
He does eat pasta. I really hadn't thought of that as I usually only make pasta salads that contain mayo and he isn't a fan. I suppose I could concoct a sweetcorn one, or as you say a tomato and hidden veg one.
Great ideas - off to the kitchen now....
Thanks.
Jo x

maltesers_2

This looks like a sneaky way of getting fruit and veg into F & V haters. Muffins loaded with goodies which can be swapped about, frozen and recipe makes 48 small ones.

http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/Breakfast_Muffins.aspx

squelchy69

They look lovely Maltesers, and much better for him than a choccy bar. He actually enjoys cooking so I might get him to assist me in making some of these. And it makes loads so I could freeze them.
Thanks for that.
I'm so glad I came on here this afternoon. I was getting at my wits end with him not eating well at lunchtime!
Jo x

babyshoes

Will he eat a fruit-flavoured yoghurt? If so, why not make your own fruit mash with a little sugar/sweetener and add it to plain yoghurt, then package in little tubs.

Will he eat dried fruit? What about fruitcake or fruity malt loaf?

Maybe cut up an apple for his lunchbox, so it is easier to eat than a whole one, or provide sticks of cucumber with a simple dip.

Cucumber goes well in many sandwiches such as cheese, ham, cream cheese, leftover roast etc.

Will he eat h/m soup? You could get him a little flask to take in a serving of soup with loads of veggies blended up in it and a buttered roll on the side. (Make sure it isn't too hot though, you want it to be nicely warm but not hot enough to burn when he opens it in case of spillages.)

Sweetcorn out of a tin is nice as it is - just decant a little into a small plastic tub to be eaten with a spoon.

A friend of mine used to have a rice and sweetcorn salad, I think there was some fried onion in there too and a mild vinaigrette dressing - I was always jealous that I only had sandwiches!

To be honest, if he is getting enough of his 5-a-day at home, I wouldn't be overly concerned about his lunch box - include some of what he will eat, and if he is hungry he will eat it!

phizzimum

if he's getting his 5 a day at home, then i wouldn't overly worry about his lunch. They don't always have that long to eat at school, and one of my DD's would always be chatting rather than eating. this meant they would eat the bare minimum and rush out to play.

I find it easier to get my kids to have a portion of fruit or veg with breakfast sometimes - eg dried fruit with cereal or yoghurt, mushrooms or toms on toast - things like that. as long as the diet is balanced over the day he'll be ok.

hope the food police don't jump on me!

squelchy69

Some great ideas there Babyshoes! Never thought of soup as I always think of packed lunches being cold.
He does like soup so that could be an option as the school doesn't refridgerate the lunchboxes. And rice salad sounds good too.
He does eat yoghurt too so adding fruit could be good. I could get him to help and he'd be more likely to eat it.
He is going to have the healthiest, most varied lunchbox in school at this rate.
So many fab ideas
Thanks everyone...............x

squelchy69

Hi Phizzimum
I think you are right about not having much time to eat. He often says Mrs **** started a countdown! He isn't the quickest of eaters either!
I try really hard to make sure that he has enough F & V but its quite difficult when you have to disguise things (thank God for bolognaise - lol!). Thats why I also give him a vitamin.
Hopefully some of these ideas on here will encourage him to eat the right things, even if its only a little in the short space of time that he has.....x

phizzimum

is he very hungry when he comes out of school? maybe if you offer him an apple to eat on the way home he would be more likely to eat it than at lunch time.