Would love to hear your lunch box ideas for fussy children please?

[plipplops]

DDs have hot dinners about once a week, and packed lunch the rest of the time. They don't seem to mind the routine but I'd like to give them some different things, at the moment they have;

DD1
Bread and butter (or crackers of I'm out of bread)
small box of grapes/strawberries
Yogurt
Cereal bar (one of the Organix ones)
Half a pack of crisps

DD2
Bread and butter (sometimes with lettuce, or crackers)
An apple
Cheesestring
Houmus (to dip stuff in)
Yogurt
Half a pack of crisps

They have some different bits as one doesn't like cereal bars and the other doesn't like houmus etc. They both like tuna sandwiches which I give them sometimes.

I think it's a pretty balanced lunch but it seems to boring! I asked them this morning if they can think of anything else they'd like to have and all they could come up with was cakes/chocolate etc which isn't going to happen. They're going to have a nose in their friend's lunches today and see if there's anything exciting there I can copy.

Any thoughts? Also as I inevitably forget to make stuff the night before it needs to be fairly easy to organise in the morning...

Thanks.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Tuna pasta salad. Can't believe your school allow crisps. An going to hide this thread so my DC don't see it!

[plipplops]

What do you put in tuna salad? DD1 will eat spag bol, they'll both eat homemade macaroni cheese, and DD2 will eat homemade carbonara the two times I got round to making it, have never tried giving them cold pasta but they've seen other children eating it plain and not fancied it. Do you give them that instead of a sandwich?

And I think they'd let them have anything except fizzy drinks! It's a small quite middle class village school so I guess the kids generally have decent lunches or they'd be tougher on it?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

There's a recipe for tuna pasta salad here and yes! it's instead of a sandwich

[Lookslikerain]

Cheese scones? My DS isn't at school yet but can be a fussy thing sometimes. He won't eat sandwiches but loves a cheesy scone or a cheese and sweetcorn scone (bbcgoodfood recipe). I make a batch, freeze them then defrost for lunch. I've taken them on picnics so it should work in a pack lunch.

[Lookslikerain]

I've also done cheese/ham pancakes and savoury muffins. Both transport well. I've successfully frozen the muffins but not sure about the pancakes.

[mamij]

Try using wraps instead of bread too. Or cheese and spinach muffins.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

How about a slice of homemade pizza? If I'm sending them in with something that sort of contravenes the healthy eating policy, i find "but I made it myself" helps