Packed lunch ideas

jellyhead

yes i'd rather spud had a jam sandwich than chips! i thought jam sandwich was a bit better than dry crackers but maybe i should try to get him to eat more fruit instead, the problem is that he just wants to get out and run around, he's a very very slow eater, a small banana takes him half an hour. i don't mind him only having a tiny lunch, he has fruit on the way home from school (i put it in his lunchbox for him to have on the way home) then he has a meal at 6. even with a small banana or sandwich from small bread with crusts removed (to make it easier to eat quickly) he's often the last kid in his year to leave the canteen, as long as he's eaten a bit i think the exercise is important for him, he's an only child, we live near a crossroads and i'm protective so he doesn't roam the streets all day like most kids and when i take him to the park i'm not quite as good at playing sonic the hedgehog games as his schoolfriends are so i give lunchtime play priority over food i must admit, as long as he eats a bit. i wish kids his age could have a ten minute break in the afternoon, with a fruit snack (they let them have anything for snack, spud says he's the only one that doesn't have haribo or fruit pastilles, there's no way he's having artificial colourings on school days though), that way it wouldn't matter if they were skimping on lunch to run out and play. afternoon break finishes at year 2, i'm sure the kids would concentrate better late afternoon after a runaround though. sorry i've gone off topic lol! i do wish my school would do as some of yours do and ban sweets though.

as for the peanut allergy, our school doesn't ban nuts. there are children with nut allergies, at least one child (i took chocs in for easter once but a girl in my class wasn't allowed them because they had been made in a factory where nuts were handled). the lunch menu highlights foods containing nuts so parents can ask their children not to eat them.

pavlovs_dog

dont forget that for the older kids, the follow type of things also go down well

-pizza (left over slices or HM
-jacket potato and filling (tuna mayo/coleslaw etc etc - use your imagination)
-left overs - lasagne/spag bog/cottage pie
-potato/pasta salad
-quiche
-pie/pasty/sausage roll
-cooked sausages/chicken nuggets etc
(before people start ranting, it is possible to make your own/buy organic ranges that are less processed and full of crap)

(there was a similar thread to this on the moneysaving board if anyone is interested)

good tuppaware equipment can be picked up dirt cheap in most supermarkets these days - think tescos value stuff starts from about 20-30p. think of it as an investment.

also, when you eat out, stock up on sauce sachets/ wet wipe things...if kids add the sauce when they are ready to eat instead of beforehand, their lunch is less likely to leak during the day

Glad

My son (11yrs) is in High School and takes a packed lunch, most days he has
ham/chicken sandwiches, or occasionally a sausage roll
packet of crisps
fruit juice or squash
kitkat type biscuit
orange or banana

he likes to eat lunch as quickly as possible so he can play football and usually eats one of the items at morning break, the crisps are usually the lower fat varieties,

at home he eats well, porridge for breakfast, fruit when he gets home and a healthy homemade meal later,

he plays football, cricket and hockey for school and local teams and also takes part in rugby and skating, he is healthy, lean but not thin and one of the top 3 academic pupils in his year,
but reading some of the above posts he is having all the wrong things in his lunch, so am I setting him up for a problem or should I rely on the way he is to tell me I'm doing him no harm.

Anya

Sounds like a usual packed lunch to me. As long as he is getting good food at home I can't see any problem. Kids are kids and they will find a way of eating what they want at school whether you like it or not (my little boy is regularly doing swapsies!!). When you are there and can watch what they are eating then fine, but in the meantime I wouldn't worry.

Jay-Jay_4

Glad,

As each year passes it's harder to get them to eat the 'ideal' lunch and your packed lunches sound like a happy medium to me.

If it were a choice between the a bag of chips from the chip shop (which lots of the secondary school kids have for their lunch), a school dinner consisting of a breadcrumbed processed thing with chips, or a decent sandwich, fruit, small choc bar and pack of crisps.....I'd go for the latter any day.


My daughter wouldn't be thrilled with humous in pitta but she wouldn't be chuffed if I didn't put a little 'treat' in for her so I just try to balance out the not so good with the not so bad. It's the parents that send in a jam butty, two choc bars and a bag of crisps that aren't getting it right.

frizz_head

Are your kids all back at school today Sarahsaver? Mine don't go back until next Monday!!!!

Chips are on the school menu on Tuesdays and Fridays (Initial catering) and this term they are going up from £1.32 to £1.40.

Glad

mine are not back until next week either,
daughter has money to buy dinners, they have 2 canteens, one for cookes meals and the other for 'snacks' burgers, chips, pizza sandwiches etc, she says chips are available everyday and some of her friends eat them every day too, but mainly because they are only given a small amount of money for dinners, daughter gets £2 a day, most fridays she has enough in change not to need any or on a Sat I will empty £2 worth of coppers from her purse into my coppers jar. She enjoys food and always chooses veg or salad and some fruit,
usually eats a meal with us at dinner time too

Sarahsaver

frizz_head wrote:

Are your kids all back at school today Sarahsaver? Mine don't go back until next Monday!!!!

Chips are on the school menu on Tuesdays and Fridays (Initial catering) and this term they are going up from £1.32 to £1.40.

They are back today, yes. We broke up the week before easter, just as we break up 2 weeks before most of the country for summer holidays:)

Smiley_Mum

Tortilla rollups are good, a little mayonnaise, some sliced chicken, some lettuce shredded, and some grated cheese.

Check out the following book in a bookstore next time in town - Annabel Karmel's "Lunchboxes". She has a lot of good ideas for fillings etc.

Check this link

http://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk/lunchboxrecipes.htm

I have the book and my kids love the wraps with chicken and peppers and also the pittas with tuna, sweetcorn, egg and spring onion which is on the site.

pavlovs_dog

!!!!!! the lunch boxes, this sounds divine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk/sheppierecipe.htm