Lunchbox deconstructed ideas?

[LunchBoxDeconstructed]

DC is 8 Year 4 and has some SN, they’re going through a phase of wanting deconstructed meals which is fine at home but not so easy for packed lunches.
They like to put everything together themselves. But I need them to eat so school, dietitician and I have agreed to go with it - so for example I might do fajitas for dinner and put the sauce and meat in one bowl, the veg in another, and the wraps on a seperate plate and DC makes up their own. They eat much better this way though so it's worth it.

School are happy for DC to have whatever they want in their lunchbox as long as they follow the following rules:

• No nuts
• Must be eaten in 20 minutes
• Has to contain at least 1 fruit or vegetable portion

DC isn’t hugely fussy but doesn’t like pasta. They’re also allergic to kiwi but only if they eat them or touch them, they’re ok to be around them as long as they don’t eat or touch them so school haven’t put a full ban on those items. They absolutely love most fruit and vegetables though other than the 1 they can’t have.

So ideas please? I do a lot of crackers with cheese and ham but want to mix it up a bit.

Would they eat wraps?

@TiffyTaffy yes

Have you looked up kids bento boxes on Pinterest? I think it's sort of watch you mean, as in everything is separated and the child picks the items themselves? Could deconstruct many sandwiches and wraps but quite a lot of other foods need cooking don't they?

Dd has never liked sandwiches or wraps, although she likes all the individual parts.

A thermos flask works well, cook up some fish fingers, sausages or nuggets while having breakfast and then put them in the thermos. Add in a hot dog bun, a wrap or some bread and butter. Cherry tomatoes sliced in half and cucumber or carrot sticks. The little sauce pots you can buy in with the Tupperware or picnic stuff, fill with tomato sauce or Mayo.

Then a yoghurt and a bit of fruit on the side.

Look up #yumbox on insta, lots of ideas

Thank you, we have a bento box with compartments I just don't know what to put in them, so I will look up Insta and Pintrest for ideas!

I have a fussy, non bread (or other savoury carbs) eater (11 yo) who has some ND diagnosis/traits going on. We call her packed lunch a 'mini picnic'. no crackers, wraps, bread or anything of that ilk.

She loves raw veg, so sticks of red pepper (only red here), celery, cucumber, sweet potato (her fav), carrots etc. Usually 3 of these. No dips though. I'd love to add that.

2 pieces of fruit (often a sliced Lemon).

1-2 Protein - mini savoury eggs, mini pepparami, blocks of cheddar - but have to have a small pot of silverskin pickled onions with this or a boiled egg.

1 of a little fromage fraise, or a dessert pot from Aldi - Lemon by preference.

1 sweet carb - cake or biscuit. A mini muffin, penguin type bar type of thing.

She doesn't like crisps, so a packet of popcorn (sweet and salt), or if I have time I pop my own and sugar/sat them.

She eats like a horse, is always hungry, and is whippet thin.

@IronicElf Thank you so brilliant ideas here, DC won't eat all of them but I can adapt for what they will eat so still helpful

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I have these and put them in a lunch bag. My LO is obsessed with pasta so normally do pasta in one, chopped up cucumber and carrot sticks in another, fruit in another and chicken, ham or cheese in the small one.

You could cut some wraps in to strips then do cheese, chicken, veg? Or we like little baked egg cups with cheese in, or would this not be deconstructed enough? Or something like melba toast, or mini breadsticks and some houmous? Perhaps strips of Spanish tortilla?

Houmous/ guacamole/ Philadelphia with carrot sticks/ peppers/ breadsticks/ Doritos

BBQ chicken/ chicken satay skewers. Side of veg sticks, separate carb in the form of a flapjack or similar.

olives, cheese, chorizo, bruschetta, tapenade

mini wrap to make with veg sticks and chicken

ploughman’s lunch- crusty bread, cheese, tomato, cucumber, pickles

Boiled eggs, cheese and broccoli muffin, fruit and yoghurt

I wish we had a like button!

Some of these suggestions are amazing!

Bento box with pieces of wrap (or crackers or rice cakes) in one section. Little slices of cheese in another, chopped ham in another, cucumber in another? Celery or carrot sticks in another, grapes etc.
If your box doesn't have enough compartments you can get silicon cups which you can use to keep things more separate.
Does he like hard boiled egg? I used to use a press to make them bear or bunny shaped. Does he like sushi rice? You can make pressed shapes which are easy to eat and a little squeezy fish of soy sauce can make it fun.
My youngest liked cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls but they couldn't touch in advance ( of course) so she had them in separate compartments with a little fish of balsamic vinegar to dab on the tomatoes.

Any chopped veg, fruit, chopped meat and cheese. Cold hot dogs or sausages.
Mine didn't like yogurt or cheese spread so we never used those, but if your DS does then you can put a little sealed pot into one of the sections.

One of mine loved to have everything cubed rather than cut into sticks or slices and would eat it with a little fork.

It's a matter of trial and error but hopefully he'll let you know what is working. Make sure that the leftovers come home and you'll know what is successful and what you can leave out next time.
Good luck!

Don't be afraid of just deconstructing whatever sandwich they'd normally eat. I often send triangles of bread and butter with a separate protein. Also thermos of soup etc with piece of fruit, slice of bread and a little pot of cheese to sprinkle in.

@ODFOx I have some silicone cupcake cases so I can use those to seperate and make some smaller compartments thank you!

The Bento subreddit is also good for ideas. Especially at this time year, there's been a lot of children;s lunchboxes posted.

Sweetcorn in one section and decant some tuna from a tin into another. She can scoop a bit from each into a pitta pocket?

My son has SN and issues with eating. He has a small appetite and a limited things he will eat. He likes things deconstructed!

I do bento boxes

Always the big compartment full of salad and raw veg (which he loves). He's OK with having those things mixed up together.

Most days he will have a couple of mini wraps or a pitta bread which he eats dry.

The main bit will normally be chopped up cooked meat, occasionally some sushi (veg or). Sometimes I do him a piece of cold pizza in which case there's no separate meat, and I don't send any separate bread.

A tiny dressing pot which fits in the main box with a condiment - he won't have salad dressing, but he likes a few slices of sushi ginger with everything (I buy it by the jar) or maybe a smear of mustard.

Pudding is usually fruit or an individual pot of rice pudding but if I'm short of other items he might get both!!

Mostly I make sure it's food he can eat easily in bite sized pieces due to poor motor skills - so finger foods or needing just a fork or spoon.

I will admit to having a couple of different styles of bento boxes!

Just don’t put sand in