Ideas for v v fussy packed lunch eater

[MadauntofA]

Teenager who is v fussy, but more so when it comes to packed lunches. She eats a reasonable mix at home, so I just want a variety of foods that will give her energy in the day.
Canteen food is v limited at the moment so she wants to take mostly packed lunches and I have run out of ideas
These are her stipulations
Sandwiches- nothing that "smells" - includes anything fishy, hummus, even smelly crisps are a no (just to illustrate - she is quite sensory!)
Fed up of cheese/ cream cheese
No soups/ pastas in a jar
Pescatarian, so no meat and doesn't like substitutes
Doesn't like eggs (including omelette) unless poached or fried - don't really last

We are down to a plain bagel with token mini tomatoes/ cucumber and yogurt
Or mix of yogurt with fruit, chia seeds and granola
She'd quite happily eat cake/ biscuits but trying to avoid too much

Please give me ideas!!

@Porridgeoat

I don’t think you should run around grasping ideas

Give her a weekly food budget for lunches. £15? Take her to Asda and let her buy her own lunch food. Tell her to make healthy but tastes choices.

That is what I'd do.

Give her ideas e.g. sandwiches with fillings etc, get her to make them herself and if she wants wraps etc to vetoe this herself. You could look in cookbooks for ideas too. But whatever you do don't run yourself ragged sourcing her food as she's a teenager and able to think for herself!

@MadauntofA

Lots of ideas, a few I'm sure she could make, and yes she does make her own lunches!! Left to her, she will just take a bagel and is happy with that. Thursday is my shopping day, so I was after some ideas to give her more choice in the fridge. Giving her some money and making her do a shop is a genius idea - I might try that and see what she gets (with stipulations of my own - I.e. not all chocolate!!)

When I was a teenager IIRC we just had canteen (oh the joys!) but as I got older e.g. if I ate at home I was sanctioned by DM buying food, I'd often make for lunches:-

Mighty white bread cheese salad sandwiches
Pate sandwiches on french bread with salad
and have soups etc

When I went to college/work at 17 I bought stuff out, so various types of avocado, hummus salad sandwiches etc from a local buddhist restaurant/cafe place or jacket potatoes with fillings etc, also avocado and bacon sandwiches. I worked out that if I wanted to I could make these myself and did so when I went to college unless we had lunches out.

Your DD could add a lot to a bagel - lots of cream cheese or pate - veggie pate too and you can prop it up with whatever else she likes, a different sections lunchbox is good for this.

If she is happy with what she is currently having then why does it need to change?

DS (14) likes packed lunches, but I hate making them or thinking about them. So if he wants them, he does a shopping list with things from the categories carb, protein, fruit, veg, treat, drink and then puts together a lunch from those.

What she is having seems fine to me for a teenager if she is happy with it.

Could she make herself some samosas or something? I used to do that with leftover Sunday roast stuff for my Monday lunch treat when I was a teenager 🙂

I agree with a pp who suggested making your own houmous without garlic (there is also a brand in the supermarket that has no garlic. Camt remember the name but it's in a green pot).

Savoury muffins also a great idea.

Cheese scones

Crackers with nibbles - cubes of cheese, grapes, etc

Pizza? I make mine with muffins. Cut muffin in half, toast one side, spread on tomato puree and add cheese. Bake for 10 mins

At her age I used to have a can of coke and a donut for lunch sounds like she is doing alright to me. (I do eat healthier now!)

Pasta/rice/couscous/potato salad - cook a little extra the evening before when you cook your main meal.

Then add some protein - beans, lentils or chickpeas maybe, as they are bland, cheese cubes, tuna if that doesn't count as 'smelly'

Two or three varieties of salad, or extra cooked veg from the night before.

A little tub of dressing to pour over when she's ready to eat if she likes dressing (DD generally doesn't) - olive oil and lemon juice is a good basic, or she can do a quick Google and see if anything sounds good. Soy sauce for a rice salad.

DD doesn't eat sandwiches - and yes, she would/has gone hungry rather than eat something she doesn't like - so these sorts of salads were a lifesaver. The other thing I did was cook extra and put aside a lunch-sized portion of whatever we ate the evening before, which she was usually happy to eat cold for lunch.

Oh, and when she needed extra (dance exams coming up so more classes and needing more energy) meal replacement shakes - the sort when children need to be tube-fed, not weight loss - in a milkshake with full fat milk at morning break.

@Alwaysinpain Nobody's "showing off with fancy shite no kid would ever eat" or being competitive. OP asked for suggestions and people are giving them to her. My DS would enjoy all these ideas.

I’ve been trialing the £15 weekly lunchbox budget thing for a year now and each week hand the cash over and let them walk to the supermarket independently, cruise round Asda with no direction from me, buy what ever healthy or semi healthy items take their fancy, buy the items independently at the till and make their lunch boxes up. Some of the lunch boxes have been a bit quirky to say the least but I like a good laugh

Roasted veg and cream cheese sandwich
Cold pizza
Cold Indian or Chinese snacks
All bran cake very yummy and very healthy