Typical lunch box

tigerfeet2006

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Even with the fruit juice, use a reuseable bottle, still cheaper (and better for the environment) than the individual cartons, and you can watch the protions too.

And if you decant it into a reusable bottle you can dilute it a bit with water so it will go further and she is also not having so much fruit acid which can be bad for the teeth.


I buy the basic pots of yoghurt which are about 6 for 45p.

Mrstim

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

I have got a couple of these
http://www.matalan.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion-to-buy-online/Accessories/Ez-Freeze-Cereal-To-Go/29860&resultsPerPage=100&attrList=Dept,brand?cmpid=10&of_tid=01MkKXBc5UA49lGsnDORQRVNtc54fJXevzAOS9yIyb-oV_1kNfyu-0Pqi-I-mulK

and my DH takes it into work as he can't eat breakfast before 7am when he goes to work so eats it when he is ready. It has saved us a fortune as he was stopping at the garage and buying all sorts of rubbish.

I am going to look at making these for him as well
http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/honey-peanut-butter-booster-bars/

Oh that cereal thing looks brill!


I made hubby some similar cereal bars, used alpen, honey and peanut butter. They were good but really sticky! He said a good energy boost for the afternoon.

valk_scot

Mrstim wrote: »

Thanks, I know I am probably worrying about nothing. She just looks ill. My other 2 children are wee chunky monkeys! She is only 118 cm tall and 3 stone so I do worry about it alot, but am sure she is just petite.

I presume you've had her checked over by your GP? If she's still sticking to her growth chart curve and is otherwise active and healthy then I'm pretty sure there's nothing to worry about but it's always good to have this confirmed by a professional.

Rebob

Mrstim wrote: »

im not the best mum really, I suffer with chronic insomnia so mornings are a huge struggle for me, I should maybe get up earlier and feed him! My dd has a small bowl of cereal for breaky and sometimes a bit of toast but that is very rare as she takes about 15 mins to eat her cereal :eek: . She is a pain in the bum!

If you struggle on a morning try getting breakfast ready the night before to save time. Put out the dishes and cuttlery ready. Try giving your daughter something she can eat on the way to school if she is finding it hard to eat in the time you have. Ideas can be things such as a banana sandwich on wholemeal bread, toast a pre-prepared BLT/Cheese, ham and tomatoe sandwich. Both are filling and will help your daughter have lots of energy for a busy school day.

butterfly72

Mrstim wrote: »

Think am going to buy dh a flask at weekend and do him some soup some days, they dont have a microwave in his work but I remember taking soup when I worked and a flask always kept it toasty!

I've got this flask and its brilliant. Keeps food warm for hours, has its own spoon and best of all you can put it in the dishwasher! It was expensive but I've used it so many times for soups and stews so feel I've had my moneysworth.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/13591/Thermosandreg-King-Flask-Food

sammey90

FatVonD wrote: »

I don't have as many lunches to make as you but I buy a loaf and divide it into sandwich bags and freeze so it doesn't go stale then take out what I need the night before and reuse the sandwich bag once it's made.

I used to go one further - I get paid monthly, so the weekend after payday, I would buy two loaves, ham/chicken/turkey slices, asda value choc digestive bars (20 for £1ish) and a big bag of raisins. I'd make up the sandwiches, and freeze them all in sandwich bags (poundland 1000 for £1 !!!) - a months lunches for way less than a tenner. The only 'making' each day was the squash in a bottle - the rest was grab and go.

I now buy the £1 bags of apples and satsumas and fill out DDs lunch with fruit, and sometimes she has the herby tortillas instead (when they're on offer!). Frubes are often £1 for a box of 9 - I freeze them and they keep the lunch bag cool.

She sometimes takes rice with peas and chicken - uses up the last few bits of chicken, or stew soup in a flask (the last of the stew whizzed up).

I only let her take crisps on the last day of term, but it's instead of the choc biscuit (aren't I nasty!!).

Do you have a market near you? there's a stall on ours that does a big bowl of fruit / veg for £1 a bowl - we got some grapes the other day, far more and far nicer than at morrisons, where they'd have been at least £2.50.

Sorry, long and rambly post....

clairehi

Mrstim wrote: »

The next thing I a going to look at after lunch boxes is baby food. I must admit I buy the ellas kitchen and plum pouches for ease, but they soooo expensive so am going to use my slow cooker to make some meals for the baby.

Huge savings to be made here - how old is the baby and how much are you spending on pre-prepared baby food. you could save a fortune if you can mash/blend family meals or make your own purees.

Triggles

Lots of good suggestions. I know the baby food is much less hassle, and to be fair, when DS3 was young (and DS2 as well), I used some of them simply to make sure he had a good variety of foods that he was exposed to. I gave them what we were eating part of the time and then used jars for part of the time. But I only purchased the foods that we didn't cook on a regular basis so they had the opportunity to try different foods. So even if you just cut down to half jarred, half what you're eating, it'll save you some money!

Some kids do take large lunches. Our DS2 is 4yo and in reception, and recently his TA (1:1) asked if we could add something to his lunch as he was still hungry after eating his lunch. :eek: He has a sandwich (egg mayo or tuna mayo - it's the only kind he'll eat), raisins, pretzels, orange or grapes (cut up), and 2 small gingerbread biscuits. He has ASD though, and wants this same exact lunch every day, so it's not like we have to come up with much variety. But we buy a big bag of raisins and a big bag of pretzels (store brand/basics) and use snaplid containers for it all so we're not buying little bags all the time. He always takes a small bottle of water as well. DS is very skinny - he's all over the place and I think he burns it off as fast as he takes the calories in. :rotfl: And he eats it all, plus has his milk and piece of fruit midmorning as well. And eats a good sized breakfast, although he doesn't usually eat much at tea time, much of that has to do with his dislike of warm or hot foods.

We always try to put aside things for DH to take in his lunches for work - some chicken off the roasted chicken, slice of beef or ham from roast dinner for a sandwich. Leftover lasagna that was frozen in a single serving last time we had lasagna. Boiled ham from deli counter at supermarket, as it's quite cheap and tastes good. I make scones frequently for him to take with him, as well as biscuits. This week he has been taking portions of breadpudding in his lunches as I had a bunch of bread going stale and used it to make breadpudding the other day. I also make a fair bit of banana bread (loaf) as this uses any extra bananas that are a bit overripe.

We always have a big intake of fruit here - we all love it and I'd rather the boys snack on that, as god knows getting vegetables into them is a struggle. So we're always searching out the best places to buy it - either supermarket or local market.

As always, shopping down a level and buying store brand or basics is a good way to cut money off the grocery bill. If you're using name brand nappies, consider store brand. We use the Sainsburys brand nappies, and they work great. Also watch the stores for sales and on things that are nonperishable, stock up when on sale. We try to stock up when nappies and such are on sale as the stores frequently do 1/3 off baby products.

If you're concerned about your child's (or DH's) reaction to some of the food you're thinking of trying in their lunchbox, perhaps have them at home once or twice and see how it goes. At least then it's familiar and you'll have a better idea whether or not they'll eat it.

Mrstim

clairehi wrote: »

Huge savings to be made here - how old is the baby and how much are you spending on pre-prepared baby food. you could save a fortune if you can mash/blend family meals or make your own purees.

Hi
she is just over 7 months. I probably spend 10-15 on baby food as I wont use the jars, just the pure ones.
I have tried giving her what we have but we do have alot of spicey things so I worry about giving her that. I have chopped/mashed up most of this weeks meals for her and she hasnt eaten any of them. She is not having milk just now either because of her teeth, so maybe once her teeth stop bothering her she will eat a bit better.
I am not very domesticated it as to be said

I must admit our meals are not very varied as we are all a bit fussy in our own way. I dont eat mince, sausages , none of us like pork or lamb so its basically chicken! I havent tried turkey mince yet, I may give it a go in the slow cooker and see how I get on with it.
I have quorn mince though but my DH is a meat freak!! he said he is willing to try quorn bolognese so we going to have that on saturday and see what he thinks to that.

Mrstim

sammey90 wrote: »

I used to go one further - I get paid monthly, so the weekend after payday, I would buy two loaves, ham/chicken/turkey slices, asda value choc digestive bars (20 for £1ish) and a big bag of raisins. I'd make up the sandwiches, and freeze them all in sandwich bags (poundland 1000 for £1 !!!) - a months lunches for way less than a tenner. The only 'making' each day was the squash in a bottle - the rest was grab and go.

I now buy the £1 bags of apples and satsumas and fill out DDs lunch with fruit, and sometimes she has the herby tortillas instead (when they're on offer!). Frubes are often £1 for a box of 9 - I freeze them and they keep the lunch bag cool.

She sometimes takes rice with peas and chicken - uses up the last few bits of chicken, or stew soup in a flask (the last of the stew whizzed up).

I only let her take crisps on the last day of term, but it's instead of the choc biscuit (aren't I nasty!!).

Do you have a market near you? there's a stall on ours that does a big bowl of fruit / veg for £1 a bowl - we got some grapes the other day, far more and far nicer than at morrisons, where they'd have been at least £2.50.

Sorry, long and rambly post....

Ahh I wondered if you can make up sandwhiches and freeze them! I wasnt sure if cold meat could be frozen. I am going to do that I think. What about if there is cheese on it, will that freeze/defrost ok?

That is one thing I miss from moving back to Dundee, the market. I used to live in Nottingham and we would go to donnington market and buy say 25 chicken breast for £30 and huge packs of bacon for a tenner and freeze them and it did us for the month as they were proper butchers meat so no water in them and the fruit and veg stall so much cheaper. I am yet to find a market that is near to do that, which is disappointing. Its quite rural where I live and I thought there would be loads of farms shops but nothing less than an hours drive. There isnt even a fruit and veg shop near.