packed lunch ideas for DofE

[Se7ven11]

DD needs to rltake 2 days worth of packed lunches with her on her 2 day trek.

cool bags are not allied.

day 1 - I think she can just about get away with sandwiches etc

day 2 - I'm really stumped for ideas. ham sandwiches won't be possible as great risk of food poisoning, as with anything fresh and perishable really.

any experienced d of e'ers out there who can advise.

they've worked out dinners and snacks between them so it's just DDs lunches I need to sort.

Something like this groceries.asda.com/product/lunches-steam-pots-rice/john-west-creations-tuna-with-wild-rice-lentils-indianstyle/910002516080
Or this www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/276616460
Or this www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Tilda-Pulses--Rice-Pinto-Bean-Chilli--Lime/326942011
They’re perfectly fine eaten cold.

Mine took the John west tuna pots linked above.

Camping/outdoor shops sell food you can take for these kind of trips.

I'm in the same position with my son who is the fussiest eater ever!!!
For the first day packed lunch he is taking ham sandwiches but he doesn't like anything like cheese etc!

We have decided that he can take a little pot of peanut butter and a couple of wraps to quickly put together!

For breakfast he is taking porridge pots and for his tea noodles!

I got a dehydrated lentils and ham for for DofE yesterday. It’s a tricky one as if it’s going to be bad weather, they are going to want something hot. If it’s not she will probably have something tuna based.

We aren’t allowed to take peanuts.

Noodles is a good idea.

Mine took a frozen cheese sandwich (which had defrosted by day two) along with pepperami, dried mango, nuts, sweets etc.

To be honest lunch on day two was barely eaten as they were home mid afternoon and I had food waiting!

Bagels and cheese spread in a tube

We did tins of tuna and a packet of wraps. Vacuum packed olives, dehydrated fruit, cereal bars.

DS1 had a fellow participant with a nut allergy, so no nuts allowed for him.

Shouldn't it be your child's job to organise their expedition food? I thought that was part of the planning?

Super noodles etc weren’t allowed here!
Breakfast the instant porridge pots.
Lunch a sub roll wrapped in foil won’t squish like a sandwich. Choc spread or cheese or peanut butter if allowed won’t go off.
Mine had Haribo as a sweet boost!
Dinner was a camping pouch of chicken curry and a naan.

You really shouldn't be doing this bit for them - feeding themselves is actually part of the assessment criteria for passing the expedition. Your dd should be arranging food with her group and organising this herself, not just turning up with whatever packed lunch her mum made her.

(Ex DofE assessor)

I shop. So he and I discussed what he wanted so I could buy it. The camping shop is a drive away so I had to take him. That’s why I was involved.

Couscous is a really good option, in a sealed Tupperware, just pour on some boiled water at breakfast and then tuna pot or similar is perfect...but agree mostly our kids survive second day on cereal bars etc and go home starving!!

Wraps and peanut butter decanted into a small Tupperware.

Your did and her group really should be doing this themselves. It’s a fairly fundamental part of the expedition and an opportunity for your daughter to gain some valuable skills in food planning and packing.

Both my dds are doing DofE. They meet up with their group and plan the food they are going to eat, shop for it themselves and then work out how to share carrying it with the other items. It was interesting hearing how dd1's group changed their food between the practise and test expeditions.

My only job is handing over cash.

Yes I thought the whole point was the kids did it themselves?

OP is asking for some ideas, she's not suggesting her DC isn't going to be involved in preparation their food to take, jeez

She literally says it’s just the lunches she (op) needs to sort 😂

When I did it we planned food etc at the meetings, teamed up and took joint stuff to reduce how much we carried and all that. The point is they plan it themselves with advice/guidance from leaders. We were advices no tins for weight and I'm quite small and more so back then, so did struggle with weight.
I took a pasta sauce sachet thing and we cooked them in the morning at camp and put in a tub to eat at lunch lunch time.
One of the boys in our group huffed and puffed about what he liked and didn't and ended up mostly bringing crap, crisps chocolate etc, it's was really hot and some of his stuff melted, he was hungry and ended up sharing some of the food he definitely didn't like, he ate it though. Cold pasta in cheese says is not my favourite but I was starving and would have eaten just about anything.

Primula cheese in a tube, and digestive style crackers to squeeze it onto. Filling and no risk of anything going off. Dried fruit, cereal bar. Pepperami/salami that doesn't need refrigerating?

My dd cooks a pizza the night before to take cold for day 1 lunch, and a well wrapped sausage roll or two (they keep well) for day 2 lunch. Then when they cook pasta and sauce for day 2 evening meal they put extra in a tupperware to eat cold for day 3 lunch. Flapjack for breakfast.

We did our own shopping, packing and preparing food too. As other posters have said that's the whole point of DofE.

I run DofE expeds at my school. In recent years, cold pizza has become increasingly popular. Cut in quarters, it wraps up quite flat. Other suggestions are packs of snack chorizo/salami and pitta bread, peanut butter if allowed, pots of couscous with veggies. To be honest though, most of my lot tend to constantly graze rather than ‘have lunch’ so as long as there are different snack options they will be fine. I do talk to them about the importance of protein though and not just sugar.

Let your DD sort this out for herself. FFS