5 a day for lunchboxes.

EllieA_3

My kids are generally pretty good when it comes to fruit and veg, but i find lunchboxes abit of a nightmare.

Give them a sit down evening meal and they will eat pretty much anything i put down in front of them, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, aubergine, beans even cabbage.

They will take a peice of fruit in thier lunchbox but both comment quite loudly if i try and add two because most of thier friends mum's don't make them have any and they do concider it the "bad thing you have to eat before mum lets you have the cake"

In general i suspect they are getting 1 portion in thier lunchbox (piece of fruit) and then maybe 2 portions of veg with thier evening meal. Occasionally they have an extra bit of fruit when they come home from school, but thier dad picks them up and tends to give them junk instead. :mad:

i make cakes or flapjacks for thier lunch box and often sneak rasin's in or make banana bread but i don't think that counts as a whole portion.

They won't eat salad, or salad on a butty, cold pasta or rice salads they won't eat raw carrots even with dips. I don't know why they just don't like any cold vegatables.

They will eat pasta with veg hot, but cold they won't touch it and the school won't allow flask's or other warm food.

So does anyone have any idea's of another fruit or veg item i can stick in thier lunchboxes that won't cost the earth, i'd just feel better if i could get another couple of portions in somewhere though the day and the only meals i have full control over is lunch and dinner they rest of the time thier dad is loose and his idea of nutrition is questionable at best.

sazzy6

fruit juice would an easy one.

parsonswife8

Fruit smoothies?:D

Pink.

Hi Ellie,

I agree with parsonswife, smoothies or milkshakes are a good way to get fruit into them....mine have a banana milkshake (just banana, milk and half a teaspoon of sugar mixed with a stick blender) or fruit smoothie (pure juice mixed with whatever fruit there is each morning with breakfast.

For the lunch box dried fruit (rasins?) or tinned fruit (value pineapple chunks or peaches?) sometimes seems more like a treat than a piece of fruit and still counts as one of their five a day. Or what about chopped veg (carrots, cucumber etc) with a dip?

These threads have more ideas that should help:

Cheapest Way to Five a Day

Five portions a day?

I'll merge your thread with one of those later when you've had more replies.

Pink

zippychick

Hi Ellie

Hopefully the following threads will help you - loads of great ideas!:j

Cheapest way to five a day

five portions a day

any devious ideas for hiding veggies?

4 yr old refuses to eat veg

OH doesnt like veg

roasting veg

Healthy snacks for kids]

back to school packed lunch OS ideas

Cheap snacks to fill up teenagers

Cheap/healthy snacks

Quick and easy alternative snacks

Cheap healthy playground snacks

Hope they help and i will merge this once you get more responses

Zip :A

zippychick

Pink!:p:rotfl:

YORKSHIRELASS

I had a similar problem. What I did was go to the Pound shop and buy some little plastic tupperware boxes to fill with fruit, my boys would never eat a whole apple or banana in their packed lunch but bite size pieces worked. Try tinned fruit as well as fresh, its just as good if its in juice.

Try pineapple chunks, tinned pears, tinned peaches, grapes, raspberries, strawberries or chunks of apple with a bit of lemon juice. If you have got more than one child they can have combinations, ie half a chopped apple and some grapes each. You can even make up some jelly, put the fruit in the tupperware boxes and pour the jelly over then set to make a pudding. Make up a few of these to keep in the fridge.

Another alternative is some dried fruit in their boxes. OK not great for teeth but its fine if they are having it with their lunch. Try combinations of raisins, sultanas and apricots.

I have never managed to get my boys to eat salad. They wont eat cucumber, tomato or lettuce which is frustrating as they are good at eating fruit and veg generally.

Good luck!

mrsmortenharket

What about some fruit with breakfast as an extra portion a day. Juice or banana with breakfast?

Lisa x

EllieA_3

I did look into fruit juices but the carton's seem quite expensive.

I like the idea of chopping up fruit and putting it in containers i might get more into a pot rather than a single piece of fruit. Like the opposite of what i do with sausage cassorolle chop it up so they can't judge how much they are getting haha.

I tried jelly's once.. pots came home they'd eaten the jelly and left the fruit then asked if next time i could leave the lumpy bits out. tbh they seem to have the same aversion to tinned fruit they have to cold veg.

I may attempt some really fruit dence flapjacks as well it's got to be better than nothing.

Dad does breakfast unfortunatly and he's rubbish with fruit, there is a fruit bowl the kids are allowed to help themselves too but tbh it only ever go's down when i put things in the lunch boxes.

zippychick

EllieA wrote: »

I did look into fruit juices but the carton's seem quite expensive.

I like the idea of chopping up fruit and putting it in containers i might get more into a pot rather than a single piece of fruit. Like the opposite of what i do with sausage cassorolle chop it up so they can't judge how much they are getting haha.

I tried jelly's once.. pots came home they'd eaten the jelly and left the fruit then asked if next time i could leave the lumpy bits out. tbh they seem to have the same aversion to tinned fruit they have to cold veg.

I may attempt some really fruit dence flapjacks as well it's got to be better than nothing.

Dad does breakfast unfortunatly and he's rubbish with fruit, there is a fruit bowl the kids are allowed to help themselves too but tbh it only ever go's down when i put things in the lunch boxes.

Did any of those links help?:)

Spendless

what about mixing sweetcorn into tuna mayo sandwiches, so it's not so easy to pick out?

If you did a fruit salad in juice as their pudding instead of cake/flapjack do you think they would eat it?