Packed lunch ideas

Smiley_Mum

Might make a bit of a mess in the schoolbag though. :rolleyes:

gravitytolls

dont put too much in, if you fill his box with yummies as well as his staple, he'll bring the staple home every time.
its fashionable to buy prepacked stuff, including juice, but its daft and expensive.

a sandwich thats easy to eat - tuna, cream cheese, ham etc., fruit and some nuts or seeds, with a bottle of water will probably be fine

Savvy_Sue

You can also spend a fortune trying to find a drinking flask / fancy container that doesn't leak. I know me and my friend did. We concluded that the most leak-proof container is any old plastic drink bottle. For a lunch box you probably need small ones, so buy a pack of small drinks with 'sports tops' - I know Robinsons do one - and just keep refilling them with water or squash. Sports tops are slightly easier for young kids to manage than a screw top, and if they can't at least it shouldn't leak quite as much as a screw top ...

And I think it's Vittel who sell water with pale blue lids. Their small bottles don't have sports tops, but the tops from the big bottles fit the small bottles.

nicki_2

I'm planning ahead so I can implement any changes NOW so it can be gradual and not such a shock

My daughter will be starting "proper" school in September and I had planned on giving her a packed lunch as often as possible (school dinners in the winter though). My preference for her sandwiches is wholemeal bread BUT she's just brought a letter home from nursery (it's attached to the school) saying that NOTHING with nuts or seeds can be taken into the school as there is at least one pupil with an allergy to them so they will have to confiscate any of these foods. There I was about to splash out and start buying good quality wholemeal bread for sandwiches and completely scrap the white bread :rolleyes:

Right, to make it easier I also want to be able to give the same (or something similar) to OH, kind of like a childs meal that can be "dressed" up for an adult. I'm going to get him out of his "Sandwich, chocolate biscuit, packet of crisps and as much coffee as possible" lunch if it kills me! LOL Traditional ideas go down well here it would seem, but I'm at a blank as to what to include. My pack lunch days were cheese spread sandwich (sometimes with sliced tomato), chocolate bar, apple, crisps, fizzy drink and whatever I could get from the tuck shop. I've read about sending carrot sticks with dips and little yoghurts, but I'm think 4-year-old with dips/yoghurt and a school uniform? NOT a good combination, especially considering the state of her everyday clothes now, I know I won't have time to wash & dry the uniform everynight that she gets it dirty. I have enough trouble now when she finishes at 11.30am, never mind 3.15pm!

So what would you send you little, and big, darlings in with? Oh, did I mention, nothing spicy, containing mushrooms, leeks or too much sugar (daughters behaviour is a nightmare after she's had chocolate or sweets).

nicki_2

Oh, and do you think it would be safe for me to send in stuff (thinking biscuits as an occasional treat) that say "May contain nut and seed traces"?

(just came to mind as I helped myself to some biscuits and spotted it on the packet)

Spendless

nicki wrote:

My preference for her sandwiches is wholemeal bread BUT she's just brought a letter home from nursery (it's attached to the school) saying that NOTHING with nuts or seeds can be taken into the school as there is at least one pupil with an allergy to them so they will have to confiscate any of these foods. There I was about to splash out and start buying good quality wholemeal bread for sandwiches and completely scrap the white bread :rolleyes:

Are you sure you aren't confusing wholemeal with sonething like granary bread. We have ate wholemeal bread at home for years and it doesn't have seeds on top. Is this what you're thinking of. I've got a loaf of Warbutons wholemeal in front of me and I've checked the ingrediant list. I can't see anything in this which would make it forbidden. If I'm wrong I'm sure another member will correct me.

Sarahsaver

my kids have come home worried lately because the dinnerladies have said to them 'you can't have that you are supposed to have a sandwich'
the offending items?
a homemade bread roll with 2 mini salamis (elk meat if u must know)
2 crisprolls and 2 crackers with 2 pieces of cheese
a decent sized sausage rollalongside these TERRIBLE food items they have a piece of fruit, a cereal bar (homemade half the time) yoghurt, dried fruit, squash or water. They even reprimanded my daughter for having cutlery which she needed to eat a kiwi fruit!not wanting to paint too negative a picture of school packed lunch just be prepared for unusual problems. I had to repackage some small crackers for my son once because one of his friends had pinched them because of the brightly coloured packaging. Also the shelving unit housing the kids lunchboxes was next to a radiator :rolleyes: and they were most put out when i said it should be moved!

MATH

OH this sort of thing lights my touchpaper. Nothing gets me marching into the head teacher quicker than this kind of despotic rule laying. I would challange the no nuts 'n' seeds ruling deffo. While there may be a child with an allergy this cannot be allowed to control what you child does or does not eat. The school should take steps to keep this ONE child away from what they are alleregic to rather that restrict the diets of the whole school IMO. Vegetarian children for egample, will rely on both banned food stuffs to provide protein in their diet. I doubt whether the no nut 'n' seeds is enforcable and being a tad bl**dy minded I would threaten to send a snickers bar in every day until they stopped bossing me about:o You on the other hand may not be the awkward old begger I am:rolleyes:

crazyhazy

what about wraps or pitta breads instead of sandwiches? You could have lots of different fillings, chicken, tuna, prawns, cheese salad. When I was stuck for sandwich ideas a while back someone on here told me to look at ready made sandwiches then make them at home, you can get lots of ideas from doing this. With the carrot sticks etc, you could always give these without a dip, I personally don't like raw carrot but everyone else I know likes to nibble on them. Bread sticks with a tub of cream cheese are also nice.

nicki_2

MATH, I would love to do that, but I've recently applied to be on a governor so I'm not causing any problems ... yet

To quote the letter that she brought home today :

"Just to remind you that our school is a NUT AND SEED FREE SCHOOL.

Any foods containing nuts or seeds should not be brought into school under any circumstances, whether they are for snacks, treats, packed lunch or to eat on the way home.

Please be vigilant as many everyday foods such as cereal bars, chocolate spread, some breads, sweets and chocolates may contain nurts or seeds without it being obvious.

We ask you to support us in this as we do have a child with a nut and seed allerdy in school so it is of the utmost importance that we keep the school nut and seed free.

For the safety of this child and any opther child which may not have been diagnosed as yet, we will confiscate any of these foods and only return them at home time.

Thank you for your support"

This is coming from a school who sends letters out about events which don't seem to make it to the nursery class, they don't send out a "calendar" at the start of the school year with all the holiday dates on (I had to go in and ask for them), they don't have a PTA and the booklet I received telling me all about the nursery is so out of date and full of mistakes it's stupid. The uniform is £8.50 per item (Daughter only has the sweatshirt, not the matching pants & poloshirts, I bought hers from George at Asda for half the price) and the nursery kids pay 75p a week "Snack Money" while the reception kids pay £1.25 a week.

I looked at their ofsted inspection and I am not impressed at all by it, BUT it's the nearest non-catholic school (not that I have anything against Catholics, my partner and his entire family are catholics) and since I attended there I thought it would be good for her. I'm starting to have my doubts so I can't wait to get outselves sorted out financially and start looking for a house nearer to OH's work.