Children’s weekend lunches

[parrotonmyshoulder]

Hi,
For reasons I can’t go into, I haven’t been feeding my children very well at the weekends. Don’t worry, they are adequately fed, but it is always the same (like school packed lunches) and very monotonous. As I said, there are reasons for this but it is something I really want to change.
So please give me some ideas for what you give your children to eat.
Fussy, but I’ll work around it.
7 & 10. Please don’t suggest I ask them or give them the same as me (difficult situation in the home - feeding is one thing I can improve for now)

Soup and sandwich
Beans on toast
Dippy or scrambled egg and toast
Omlette
Cheese on toast
Bacon butty
Sandwich
Cheese n crackers

One of dd's favourites are toasted bagels we fill with the same filling as sandwiches on the whole but they just feel more for some reason particularly when it's cold.

Soups
Things on toast
Leftovers such as quiche with salads or Dahl.
Crackers, with cheese or pate, grapes, tomatoes, mini sausages or sausage rolls.
Occasionally pasties, frozen ones are fairly cheap in most supermarkets. Dd would have them every week if she could choose but I know they're not the healthiest.

Oh pitta breads - we toast them so they puff up and they feel completely different to a sandwich.

Soup, sandwiches and quiche works well here. We take turns to choose the soup flavour - DD likes tomato, DS1 likes chicken etc.

Main meal for lunch here as DC eat better then.

For supper:

• filled pasta
• pasta, beans and cheese
• ham or cheeses wraps and fruit/veg
• leftovers (risotto, stew etc)

mainly soup, mainly homemade - it is cheap.

Today we are towards the end of the shopping and need to go get food for tomorrow, but for today's lunch - we have
a pack of ramen noodles in the cupboard,
a left over chunk of roast chicken and some carrots in the fridge
and frozen peas,
always have some low salt chicken oxo cubes in.

Screams chicken and veg noodle soup.

Bread is past its best, so will bake it into "croutons" - got some grated cheese left in the freezer (always grate and freeze cheese once the block is opened) - that can go on top.

Looking forward to it now it is written down! (was thinking - leftovers again...)

The thing that helps most with this is advance planning because once you are in the throes of a busy weekend then it's a hassle to think of a dish and rustle it up quickly.

We eat veggie meals on Thurs (and mostly on Tues as well now) so while chopping up veg for that, I make a soup for weekend lunches at the same time.

Tray bakes are good too - bung chicken thighs or legs, veg chopped roughly to same size in largish chunks (eg a selection of onion, carrots, squash, peppers, parsnip or turnip and pots) in to oven tray with slug of olive oil, white wine, a bunch of herbs and an hour or so later everyone is fed from one dish!

Other quick lunch dishes : shop bought samosas, heated up and served with salad, ditto Cornish pasties, frittatas made with any leftover veg you have in fridge, baked spuds with various fillings, or some sort of home made burger, or fishcake. Even sardines on toast is good nutritionally speaking!

We have very quick meals at lunch, things like hotdogs, sandwiches, toasties, soup, beans on toast, sausage sandwiches. Things like that.

Sorry just read my previous post and it sounds really patronising which was not my intention.

Sorry things are difficult atm op.

Try and think of ways to give them carbs, protein and a couple of their five a day at each lunch. When my DC were small it would be stuff like:

Cheese toastie on wholemeal (or 50/50) bread with tomato soup, carrot sticks and sliced apple

Or beans on wholemeal toast with a home made banana milkshake (just banana, milk and a drop of vanilla essence, belnded until smoothy and frothy)

Bacon buttie with ketchup, iceberg and sliced cucumber on the side with a glass of diluted fruit juice or a smoothie

Humous blended with greek yoghurt with pita sticks, sliced red peppers, carrots and cucumber sticks and a blueberry muffin

Tinned spaghetti with grated cheese on top, sliced pear and a glass of milk

At that age and if you've got stressful stuff going on, would it be fun to work through a first cookbook so they help make things too?

Just an idea, mine are tiny so I don't know what age they can get chopping! I find cooking therapeutic and you can have good conversations when standing side by side with busy hands.

What did you go for OP?

The cookbook idea is a really good one horse. I am going to do that. :)

I am proud to say I managed bacon sandwiches and everyone ate them. Fruit and yoghurt offered.
I’m making chicken curry now. If they eat it, they might get it again for lunch tomorrow.
Thanks for all ideas. I feel very supported.

Soup and bread and veg

Quiche and veg

Ham/cheese/prawns/pate (one or two of these not all!) plus salady veg and bread.

Eggs and toast, or eggs and broccoli, or fry up

Smoked mackerel and broccoli

Smoked salmon cream cheese bagels (esp if we have guests)

Roast lunch (occasionally)

Pasta bake

Risotto

The last 3 are only worth doing for 4 plus people really.

Good on you parrot.

bacon sandwiches- bliss!

It depends of we are in or out but things like beans on toast, eggs ( omelette, scrambled, eggy bread), soup, picky bits like breasticks/ crackers and cheese with fruit and veg, wraps, sandwiches , sometimes leftovers like pizza warmed up.