Great 'cheap but nutritious packed lunches' hunt

cjmumto2

To save money,I make a big batch of pesto pasta for the kids for dinner then give cold for lunch the next day, with either a cold cooked sausage from previous day too or a piece of chicken, then some raw veg ie carrots cucumber etc. I always stock up on mini rice puds, etc when on special and pop a different thing in every day.

mcallister1

I know that I am over excited about the food flasks, but I wanted to share the unexpected consequence I have noticed. I should have realisd really- but the number of items per lunch has gone down. Because a packed lunch needed lots of bits to make it filling whereas the flask contains a proper meal, the snack bars/crisps etc are not really needed.
This week so far they have had
Monday - chunky chicken soup with pasta
Tuesday- leftover chinese meal from my daughter's 18th- this added to the treet credibility of the flasks
Wednesday- reduced healthy eating chilli con carne ready meal
Tomorrow- spagetti bolognese from freezer.
I am amazed at how hot the food stays- my son says he has to wait for it to cool down. All they are having with it is a little dessert and a snack for break.

KazLA

I found some mini quiches in the freezer, which went down well for my daughter's first week at school - made them by putting rounds of pasty in a bun/yorkshire pud tin, adding chopped up ham and tomato (obviously any number of things could go in at this point) and topping with cheese before pouring over egg and milk mixture and cooking.

Need_a_break

Hi all

harrysmith123 wrote: »

Muffins can be made in bulk in a few mins and frozen. You can take one out at a time and they will thaw in the lunch box.

You can put chocolate bits in them, but also you can hide things like grated carrots, berries and oats. Even if you make them with organic flour and sugar, making them in bulk they work out quite reasonable for each muffin. And of course, there won't be any additives.

.

I do this too, my youngest 2 love Banana oat muffins the best, great for using up slightly over ripe bananas and i often add some plain chocolate bits but raisins work well too.

nits67 wrote: »

When my eldest started primary, I put 1 small chocolate in her lunchbox on the friday of her first week at school - as a special treat for doing so well. She came home absolutely mortified because the dinner lady had spotted it (they police them!!!) and told her off! I was furious!!!:mad:

Have not made the same mistake again!

Ahh poor thing, the nursery my youngest 2 go to doesnt allow crisps, fizzy drinks, cakes, chocolate or sweets, which personally i think is great cause the kids have to bring in healthier options :T

Mortgagefreeforme wrote: »

I'm very lucky in that my kids are not fussy eaters, but they do ask occasionally for "normal" food to look like thier friends so I do give in to the odd jam sandwich.

Today they both have salads made with cold pasta and pesto, couscous, cucumber and tomato from the garden, savers peppers and a tiny bit of poached salmon (bought a whole side reduced, cut it up and froze in portions) they both have a cheap yogurt a bottle of water (I refill fruit shoot bottles so they look "normal") and a wee pot of dried apricots and raisins. The oldest also has a wee tub of low fat crisps as she is very tall and needs more calories than the youngest.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I make the main salads on a night I'm not busy and they keep for a few days. I also make a huge batch of Twinks hobnobs for snack as they keep for ages and rock cakes with various dried fruit, the kids tell me both of these make thier friends jealous.

I admit to saving the jam sandwich for really busy days, but with homemade jam, a yougart and fruit it's not as bad as what some of them get.:eek:

MFFM

Wow thats great my eldest eats just about everthing at home but peer pressure has meant that he only wanted sandwiches for lunch (primary school)But he is having school dinners now which is fab as its a very health concious school and the dinner menus always look great.

Thanks for the tips everyone

natterer_2

reluctantworkingmum wrote: »

crunchy peanut butter (homemade - sooo easy) on oat & sunflower bread....

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We're not allowed to send any nut products into school due to potential allergic reactions from other children. I thought this was pretty standard in most schools? Children who are severly allergic only need to be in the same room as a nut product to feel the effects.

HoplessCase

Sorry if this is a really stupid question... but I have never heard of food flasks before.

Surely you have to cook something to put in them the night before/morning everyday? I currently have Ryvita, little tub of Phili, cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks, sometimes a bit of cold chicken... this takes me less than 5 minutes to throw in a lunch box. I like the idea of a hot lunch but doesn't take up loads of time to prepare?

If it keeps it warm overnight I can see some people could use leftovers but as a single person I tend to end up eating leftovers for dinner every night!!

susan6780

i make my own pizza with wholemeal bread flour and sneak that into their lunch boxes,or they tend to take wraps,which work out cheaper than bread,my daughter likes pasta salad but my son doesn't try anything like that,i always wash a few grapes for them to pick at and i also make my own brownies,but they are not healthy,oops!

i find it easier to get them to eat healthier when they are at school than when they are at home with a chip shop around the corner...

they are very active though so a few chips here and there is ok i think,everything in moderation!

but how nice is plum jam on wholemeal bread????????

yummy......

mcallister1

HoplessCase wrote: »

Sorry if this is a really stupid question... but I have never heard of food flasks before.

Surely you have to cook something to put in them the night before/morning everyday? I currently have Ryvita, little tub of Phili, cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks, sometimes a bit of cold chicken... this takes me less than 5 minutes to throw in a lunch box. I like the idea of a hot lunch but doesn't take up loads of time to prepare?

If it keeps it warm overnight I can see some people could use leftovers but as a single person I tend to end up eating leftovers for dinner every night!!

It doesn't keep warm overnight- at least not till lunch- it goes in hot in the morning- I just micro it up. I think there is a difference making lunches for kids as they tend to swap/bin things they don't like, and its hard to find healthy stuff that is varied and cold imo.And since they have been saying that ham isn't that healthy, I've been feeling a bit stuck, whereas my main meals are pretty nutritious and so are ideal to go in a flask. For familes- and everyone really- it is fairly easy to batch cook or cook a bit extra the night before. I freeze my leftovers usually so I'm defrosting the night before and microing it in the morning.

mcallister1

advwww wrote: »

where to buy?

I took the advice of someone down the thread and got them in lakeland- I see on their site they have some own brand flasks that are cheaper and seem to work just as well, but I like the steel ones.

Vaila

i never had school dinners, lunch was packed and usually a cold pasta or potato salad with butter beans,chickpeas, kidney beans etc a little tub of hummus and some vegetable crudites, the big treat was getting a slice of mums hm courgette loaf
weekends were for hot lunches either hm barley or lentil soup, or a jacket potato