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Can you tell me what you pack your (horribly fussy) child for their packed lunch please.

45 replies

justanotherneighinparadise · 18/07/2020 14:51

DC about to go into year 3. Im keeping school dinners for one day, so need packed lunch ideas for four days.

He is really, really fussy. If at home he won’t have butter on his bread so sandwiches are tricky. He generally will only tolerate things like a bacon sandwich or cocktail sausages or sausage roll 😬. He’ll eat junk happily but the school will only let them eat healthy options. He won’t eat a wrap.

He’ll eat things like mini babybel, yogurt, berries, crisps, obviously cake chocolate etc. I just don’t know what to substitute for the sandwich/roll/wrap element you’d normally put in a packed lunch!

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MalificentJones · 18/07/2020 14:58

Will he eat pasta? One of mine is not keen on sandwiches so she has anything but.
Pasta in a flask
Sausage rolls
‘Deconstructed sushi’ so some rice, some cucumber etc
Chicken balls
Hummus and peppers, pita bread etc

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averythinline · 18/07/2020 14:59

Well you have teh summer to find something! and hopefully it'll be summer - could he take a food flask with some pasta in different schools have different rules?
pasta salad ?
you can just put bread in my niece is not a fan of mixed food so has some bread fingers(slices of bread cut up) or half a pitta or a muffin or a bagel or crumpet etc just dry cherry tomatoes/cuc/carrot sticks/grapes/apple/satsuma and then ham or cold chicken or baby bel and a greek yoghurt as they have more protein...

or just make have school dinners most days.....
if you get a decent breakfast down him (protein rich ideally or porridge with yoghurt, honey)

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MalificentJones · 18/07/2020 14:59
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MasterBruceBalloon · 18/07/2020 15:05

I don't like butter on bread - you can make sandwiches without?

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wagtailred · 18/07/2020 15:06

Breadsticks, Rice cakes, Oatcakes,
Ryveta, cous cous? Then the cheese/ham/tuna bit seperate in a pot.
They just need a carb, a protein and something with vitamins like a bit of fruit or a carrot.

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MarcelineMissouri · 18/07/2020 15:08

Cold pizza is always popular with my fussy 8 year old.
Crackers with cheese or hummus in a pot?
He’s also a fan of savoury muffins, I make cheese and spinach, and courgette and carrot.

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wagtailred · 18/07/2020 15:08

I forgot cold pizza. We do quiche as well.

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Calibrachoa · 18/07/2020 15:11

Crackers?

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Chocolateandcarbs · 18/07/2020 15:12

I put in cold sausages/ham/chicken, grapes and strawberries, a fruit smoothie and a carb that is generally ignored (pitta bread with marmite is sometimes eaten, as is a chunk of baguette).

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HeyMicky · 18/07/2020 15:13

Chicken drumsticks
Breadsticks and dip
Pizza English muffins
Pizza or pesto pastry scrolls
DIY nachos (tortilla chips, some mince, cheese)
Quiche or frittata
Meatballs
Sandwich "sushi" (cut off crusts, roll bread thin, roll up with fillings and cut into pieces)
Homemade sausage rolls
Lettuce wraps with assorted fillings
Croissant instead of bread
Veggie muffins
Pasta salad
Cold tortellini or ravioli
Boiled new potatoes mixed with boiled eggs and ham
Veg and cheese skewers

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justanotherneighinparadise · 18/07/2020 15:14

He will eat sausage rolls so if the school allow that then he’ll eat it! He’ll also eat cold sausages! He doesn’t look conventional sandwich fillings annoyingly or else o would just omit the butter. He used to. But now he just won’t eat it. He also wouldn’t eat pasta separately although he will easy spaghetti Bolognese for a dinner 🙈

Wont eat hummus, will eat breadsticks, crackers with cheese I don’t know! I can definitely try that over summer.

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Beechview · 18/07/2020 15:17

I’m wondering for my dd too. All she will eat in a packed lunch is a cucumber sandwich and sliced apple. I pack other stuff but they get left.
She does like a few things In a hot thermos though. Minestrone or lentil soup.

make a sandwich without butter for him.

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wagtailred · 18/07/2020 15:18

Just keep any cheese seperate from crackers and stuff or they go soggy. He can combine them at lunch.

Have you looked at the school menu? Its just they'd find it hard to say no cold chicken dippas if thats what they are serving for instance? You might get some ideas. They probably have fancy descriptions like fresh cornfed chicken strips in a crispy crumb but ive seen ehat they actually mean. Grin our school does a veggie sausage roll ...

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paddingtonbearsmarmalade · 18/07/2020 15:22

I didn’t (and still don’t particularly) like bread as a child so my packed lunches were tortilla wraps! I had chicken and cheese or cucumber & cheese in them. As an adult I’d still choose a cheese and chicken wrap over a sandwich!

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justanotherneighinparadise · 18/07/2020 15:26

I’ve just said would he try a chicken sandwich again as he used to like that and he said yes, so I’ll try that. He also said he has cheese and crackers at school and likes that too. Apparently they’re square crackers, so I’ll try Jacobs and hopefully that might work.

He won’t eat yogurt from a pouch or a tube because it’s babyish, so I’ll have to find some small pots of yogurt he can eat quickly.

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justanotherneighinparadise · 18/07/2020 15:27

The school have said because of covid they’re going to have a short time to eat lunch. 20 mins from memory. So it has to be a collection of things I know he’ll eat and that he can eat quickly.

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TimeWastingButFun · 18/07/2020 15:30

He has half/half bread, 4 slices with cream cheese and ham, all the crusts cut off, a yoghurt, apple, a few grapes and a little piece of cake if we've made some and there's any left. Usually that every time!

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c1JSU · 18/07/2020 15:32

I have a fussy one too. I put a Lunchable in, in place of a roll/sandwich. I think they are usually £1.55 each but very often on sale for £1, so I grab a handful.

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justanotherneighinparadise · 18/07/2020 15:32

I’m not sure the school will allow cake, I’d need to check that. Cream cheese in bread is something over never tried and I can definitely try that.

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PhantomErik · 18/07/2020 15:32

Mine like crackers & cheese. Either a slice of cheese between 2 cream crackers or some cubes of cheese & some ritz crackers.

Other popular bits are breadsticks with cream cheese dip, cold pizza & sausage rolls. DD loves cold toast!

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TimeWastingButFun · 18/07/2020 15:43

The cakes we make are normally slightly more healthy - they love courgette and carrot cakes. But still a lot of sugar...

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TimeWastingButFun · 18/07/2020 15:46

My son loves Lunchables as well but we've stopped buying them as it's so much plastic packaging. He does sometimes have home put-together ones - wraps/pepperoni/cheese/ham slices. He loves 'waps' as well as sandwiches.

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Zippetydoodahzippetyay · 18/07/2020 15:47

Maybe try quiche or frittata? Or carrot and zucchini muffins? My DD who is quite fussy at times loves rice paper rolls. I just fill them up with rice vermicelli and thinly cut or grated veggies. Boring as all hell really, but they fill her up. I used to put chicken in them for a bit of protein but she doesn't like that right now.

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fortheloveofcrisps · 18/07/2020 16:08

Breadsticks, garlic bread.
Chicken drumsticks
Boiled egg

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