Right, school paked lunches are new to me and I need inspiration

[ThomCat]

For 3 years I've been packing a lunch and a tea for the munchkin but she's startiong to do 2 full days at school and suddenly I'm faced with having to pack food that doesn't need to be cooked. I can feel a brick wall approaching, so inspiration please.

Just to give you an idea of this weeks typical packed lunches:

For tomorrow I've packed:
2 mini scotch eggs
2 mini cocktail sausages
an organic strawberry & peach yoghurt
some grapes, a plum and banana all cut up, so a mini fruit cocktail
Some of thoise M&S kids cheesy hoops, (not the whole packet)
One of those min M&S gingerbread biscuits

Monday was:
some cream cheese & avocado dip
Carrot batons, cumber cut into sticks and some bread sticks
Bits of cheddar cut up
A mini brown roll with butter & marmite
Watermelon
a slice of home made banana loaf


She also has the odd cream cheese and marmite sarnie
the odd sausage roll
some dried fruit
some carrot cake
a fig roll

Help, what else is there?
I just can't think.

[bonym]

Wow - seems like a pretty good list to me (given me some new ideas anyway ). Couple of other things to add:

small packets of raisins
strawberries
kiwi fruit, cut in half (with a teaspoon to eat like a boiled egg)
Salt & shake crisps ( with instructions to NOT add the salt
a couple of jaffa cakes

tbh, my dd would happily eat the same thing day after day and a lot of her friends seem to be the same so I wouldn't be too worried about giving her different stuff each day (especially if it's only 2 days a week).

[ThomCat]

I'll try and reintroduce raisins actually, thanks for reminder, she's flung them up until a few months ago but worth trying again. Same with stawberries and kiwi b ut worth giving another go. Tahnks. Any more for any more?

[cloudy]

Something my kids like Jacob's cheddars (the savory crackers) put marmite & margine spread on them to make little cracker sandwiches. About 5 "sarnies" instead of a sandwich.

[coldtea]

Sounds to me like you are doing a great job already .

I'm really boring! Lunch for my ds consists of a meat & salad sandwich/roll/pitta bread. Yogurt/Jelly or rice pudding & piece or bowl of fruit-Kiwi , pineapple, strawberries. To make a change from sandwiches i make tuna pasta

[tiddlypom]

You can get yogurt-coated dried fruit of different sorts, called Fruit Flakes. I use flapjacks sometimes, esp with raisins in, and scotch pancakes with raisins. Frubes (basically yogurt) are popular. But if mine would eat what you're packing, I'd be over the moon!

[ThomCat]

But I get bored giving her the above, or a variation of. But what else is there>
I do phillidelphia with bread stick dip thing, those yogurty flakes, yes do them now and then. Flapjacks is a good idea as is crachkers with spead as she prefers carrs water biscuits to sarnies.
I just roam the supermarkets for inspiration. Maybe quiche?????? Could try that.
Ohhh and bought some of thosr Tesco's mini scotch pancakes, do you troast them and then pack them?

[Sorrel]

mini pitta stuffed with chicken and cress
carrot sticks/humus
mini cheese(pick and mix or babybel or dairylea)
pack of mini apricots( tesco)
mini pepperami( if not too worried about contents)
fruit salad (i make it dry to eat with a corn on the cob holder)grape, strawberry, blueberry
mini rice cakes ( sainsbury organic /faddy food section)
banana sandwich) mashed up on a bit of fruit cake or malt loaf
whitworths do a box of 5 small bags of dried fruit( i think its called frootz)
un-iced fairy cakes/mini muffins
chocolate crepes( 6 pack from tesco individually wrapped)
juice box ( Lidl has multi vitamin juice which my one loves)and is super cheap
mini maryland cookies( multibag of 6)
muller mini fruit corner(8 pack but small size)
slice of melon precut into chunks.......

thanks for all your ideas tooo!!!!

[moondog]

How about...
Cold tortilla/Spanish omelette thing cut into wedges served cold?
Rice salad style thing (tomatoes,cucumbers, bit of meat)
Potato salad (as above, bound with some good mayo
Pasta salad (use very small shapes-hjard for a little one to deal with the big ones)
Cold kebabs (eg chicken or stak. Slide them off the skewer if she can't manage this herself)

[Sorrel]

mmmn, yummy can i come round to yours moondog

[ThomCat]

mini pitta stuffed with chicken and cress
carrot sticks/humus
mini cheese(pick and mix or babybel or dairylea)
pack of mini apricots( tesco)
mini pepperami( if not too worried about contents)
fruit salad (i make it dry to eat with a corn on the cob holder)grape, strawberry, blueberry
mini rice cakes ( sainsbury organic /faddy food section)
banana sandwich) mashed up on a bit of fruit cake or malt loaf
whitworths do a box of 5 small bags of dried fruit( i think its called frootz)

THANK YOU WILL TRY

un-iced fairy cakes/mini muffins

GOOD IDEA, MAY EVEN MAKE MY OWN THIS WEEKEND THANKS

chocolate crepes( 6 pack from tesco individually wrapped)

GOT'EM, FORGOT THAT'S ALL IN THE BOX FOR TOMORROW

juice box ( Lidl has multi vitamin juice which my one loves)and is super cheap

SHE WILL ONLY DRINK WATER

mini maryland cookies( multibag of 6)

YES, COULD DO, THANKS

muller mini fruit corner(8 pack but small size)

THANK YOU

slice of melon precut into chunks.......

WILL ONLY DO WATER MELON SO m^s ARE FAB FOR THAT


Cold tortilla/Spanish omelette thing cut into wedges served cold?

HMMMMM, WELL NEVER DONE OMLETTE BEFORE, BUT FAB IDEA AND WILL TRY IT

Rice salad style thing (tomatoes,cucumbers, bit of meat)

NEVER TRIED IT, GREAT, THANKS

Potato salad (as above, bound with some good mayo,

ONLY DOES ALPA BITES OR SMILEY FACES AS FAR AS POTATOS GOES THESE DAYS BNUT AGIN FAB IDEA AND WORTH TRYING, WILL MAKE SOME. THANKS.

Pasta salad (use very small shapes-hjard for a little one to deal with the big ones)

YES, WILL DO THIS ON MONDAY, WONDERFUL, THANKS

Cold kebabs (eg chicken or stak. Slide them off the skewer if she can't manage this herself)

I WISH, NEVER EATEN ANYTHING BUT CHICKEN NUGGETS AS FAR AS CHICKEN GOES, BUT JUST INSPIRED ME TO MAKE MORE OF THOSE CHICKEN And APPLE BALLS AND SHE CAN HAVE THOSE COLD, FAB

Thanks so much

[GeorginaA]

The Food Standards Agency has lots of lunchbox ideas here and here

[tiddlypom]

I don't toast Scotch pancakes, just put them in as is.

I vote for mini Babybel as well - wax coating is good to play with. Baby spinach leaves are good - just a few, maybe three or four. Ds takes soup in a Thermos, plus loads of bread to dunk in it.

M&S do great mini pittas, and they also do cholla bread which is quite a sweet tasting bread - mine have it as it comes, or spread with butter.

[ThomCat]

whoops sorry:

mini pitta stuffed with chicken and cress

PITTA POCKETS ARE GOOD YES THANKS

carrot sticks/humus
DO THE CARROT BUT NOT THE HUMOUS SO WILL TRY
bEEN AMKING MY OWN DIOPS SO SHOP BOUGHT HUMOUS WILL BE GREAT

mini cheese(pick and mix or babybel or dairylea)
YES NOW AND THEN THIS WORKS

pack of mini apricots( tesco)
YES SEMI WORKS ANBD i MIX WITH PRUNES!

mini pepperami( if not too worried about contents)

MIGHT SKIP THIS ONE, DID TRY ONCE BUT IT WAS A MASSIVE NO-NO AND I HATE IT MYSELF

fruit salad (i make it dry to eat with a corn on the cob holder)grape, strawberry, blueberry
mini rice cakes ( sainsbury organic /faddy food section)
GREAT, THANKS

banana sandwich) mashed up on a bit of fruit cake or malt loaf
YES, GREAT IDEA

whitworths do a box of 5 small bags of dried fruit( i think its called frootz)

[ThomCat]

Ohhh, the soup idea is good, thanks for that.

[lavenderrr]

sorry to sidetrack here but Thomcat are you a leo or a virgo, curiosity killed the Lavender!

[ThomCat]

Thank you Georgina, I will scan that with shopping list in hand.
You girls rock!

[moondog]

'will only drink water'!!!
Bless her, what a star!

[ThomCat]

LO Lavender, A leo, why what can you tell about me?!

Oh and D is a virgo as are most of my exes and best mates except my closest, oldest mate who is a scorpio.

[lavenderrr]

no it's just that you mentioned in the past that you were born in August on your member profile, you seem highly creative and giving, I figured you were a leo but wanted to be doubly sure too! (the food thing gave it away).

[ThomCat]

Yes the water thing is kind of great actually.

She saw me drink Tropicana OJ the other day and was asking and asking for some so I put some in her beaker that had a bit of water in it. She was so happy, took the beaker, took a large swig, and of the face of it! She just screwed up her face, and said 'errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, dirty no mummy' and shoved the cup back in my hand.
She drinks prune juice sometimes though!

[ThomCat]

Good memory Lav. I thought you were going to give me a great insight as to why Leo's are so obsessed with menus!

[lavenderrr]

they love luxury, food, being wined and dined by someone else...I just seem to meet a lot of them

[ThomCat]

That is spot on, but who doesn't love that?
It is all about the food with me.
When guests come over for a dinner party they get a choice.
D and I never eat the same thing twice in a month.
I spend ages scouring cookery books.
I am never less than an 1 hour in Sainsburys.

[lavenderrr]

lol

[Juliehafrancis]

General things I give my Dd.

Bagels filled with salmon and cream cheese or honey roasted ham and mayo
Pitta (toasted before hand) filled with ham and cream cheese, tuna and mayo, egg mayo etc
pot of cucumber and carrots
little pot of treats including dried cereal/ couple of yogurt coated fruit flake things etc
Apple juice carton
Yogurt
No salt crisps