Packed lunch holy grails

[LaRevolution]

Have recently started doing these for my kids (7 and 10) more consistently, as school meals are getting pricier and no longer fill them up anyway.

I usually have ham/cheese/roast chicken/tuna so can normally easily make barm cakes/wraps, and always include either chopped fruit in a tub or e.g. satsuma and apple. Sometimes I add a yoghurt or Babybel for more protein, and maybe a choc bar or cereal bar occasionally (nut-free school though), but what's good for bulking it out a bit? I sometimes do hummus and carrot sticks but it's usually extra savoury stuff I struggle with. I've offered cold omelettes but that's not been well received...if we have pasta leftovers such as pesto salad then I send that in but I don't want to be boiling pasta just for that. Sometimes I send a boiled egg but they complain about the smell...am I missing a trick here?! What else works well?

In winter I can do the two of them hot soup or pasta and send it in food flasks but I just feel like they need a bit more bulk at the moment. I sent a mixed salad today (tabbouleh/potato salad/random fridge veggie leftovers plus pot of dressing) today so will see how that went down. Maybe I just start sending two filled barms?!

I’ve managed to avoid packed lunches until now when my dc are y11 and y9. Although they can make them themselves, I need to do the shopping and I’m really struggling to know what to get. So watching along!

I find useful cupboard staples are malt loaves, fruit winders and those pots of rice pudding/custard - always useful to have shelf stable stuff that doesn't go off if they end up not eating it!

I always think of Goldie Hawn in Overboard, just slapping peanut butter and jam onto two slices of bread and sending the kids off with that...😂 that'll be me by Oct half-term!

Banana or fruit loaf
Savoury muffins
Quiche?

All good for using up leftovers

Cheese and tomato or bacon scones?

Cold sausages, or pot of cold cocktail sausages.
Cold sausage rolls, samosas, slice of cold quiche or pizza.
Dairylea dunkers, cheese triangles or cheese strings.

Homemade sausage rolls, or pasties.
Chicken goujons.

Mini pork pies are really filling, cold samosas go down a treat too.

Fridge raiders, pepperami.
Crackers with cheese spread.
Rice cakes, breadsticks.

Do they need extra stuff? What do they have for lunch at home?

I used to make pasties with ready-rolled pastry - chicken curry, cheese and onion, steak bake etc. Homemade sausage rolls. Homemade calzone with pepperoni and olives. Slices of quiche or cheese and onion tart. Makes a change from sarnies/wraps/cold pasta salad.

I usually send in a ham wrap, yoghurt, snack a jacks (or crisps if I'm feeling rebellious) apple juice or smoothie and something else like a fruit winder, pot of strawberries or biscuit.

Mine has one of each option

1. cheese/ham/chicken sandwich
2. mini pepperami/babybel/chicken satay sticks
3. pretzels/mini cheddar/mini ritz
4. mini cucumber/carrot sticks/pepper sticks
5. grapes/strawberries/blueberries/satsuma/apple
6. raisins/yoghurt covered strawberries/fruit flakes/mini biscuits that aren’t chocolate/soreen

Mine like bagels in their lunch boxes, they seem to find them more filling than sandwiches (cream cheese & cucumber usually)

I’ve occasionally baked savoury flapjacks and/ or savoury muffins but to be honest they don’t like them enough for it to be worth the faff!

Thanks all, some good ideas here. Cheese scones might be good, especially if I could freeze them baked, same with sausage rolls.

@ChickpeaPie they eat whatever I put in front of them, generally, and then ask for seconds 😳 one is a bit pickier than the other though, so needs a bit more thought. I

I like to steer away from too much of the really processed stuff like pepperami (I try to limit the Babybels and Soreen) but it's a balance of convenience, cost, taste and health I guess. Also I want the 10-yr old to start taking more responsibility for their own, so ideally stuff that doesn't take too much prep - stuff from the freezer is ideal actually.

If they eat it veg sticks with breadsticks and either high protein or high fat dips are good for bulk. Things like hummus, blended spicy beans, guacamole, cream cheese.
Otherwise mini skewers with veg, cherry tomatoes, cooked chicken or ham.

I wondered this too. 14yo DS has just started taking packed lunches. He makes them himself.

Last week he took pasta with pesto, tuna and sweetcorn and a banana, with a nut free cereal bar for morning break.

This week has been ham or leftover sausage sandwich, plus a leftover M&S chicken tender, and cereal bar for morning break.

It seems to be enough for him. He has a big bowl of muesli for breakfast about 7am and a banana when he gets home at 3.15pm, then dinner about 6.30pm.

Quiche, what I call a ‘big salad’ (aka some carb - rice/pasta - some protein - egg, chicken, cheese …- some vegs - tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, pepper etc….), curry, pasta, sandwiches, sausage rolls (we made those - added vegs in them)

Thats already one week of different lunches covered.

I usually go for:
A 'main' (sandwich, sausage roll, pasta etc)
Savory (crisps, bread sticks, dunkers etc)
Sweet (chocolate bar)
Wet (yogurt/jelly)
Fruit (apple, banana etc)
Veg (carrot sticks, cucumber)

I usually have 5 of the categories or all 6 if they're smaller portions.

I love the stuffed pasta with pesto. I'll boil a whole pack and that does 2 portions. So some for him and some for me for lunch or him across both days.

10 year old has:

1. Sandwich/roll/wrap or crackers with a separate pot of ham/chicken/salami
2. Veg thing - cucumber or peppers
3. Dairy thing - cheestring/yoghurt pot
4. Crispy thing - crisps/mini cheds/ breadsticks
5. Fruit thing - apple/grapes/satsuma
6. Sweet thing - couple of percy pigs/jaffa cake bar type thing/homemade flapjack. Just a little something sweet.

The flapjacks are good as I can make a massive tray, portion up and freeze. Then i just pull one out in the morning and it is defrosted by lunchtime.

She is also a bit iffy on anything too bready, so crackers with a pot of ham is usually the main winner. Easy as she doesn't like butter or things like mayo (dry crackers, eurgh)

I’d say it will depend a lot on the child. Neither if mine would have been happy with a small sandwich and a packet of crisps at lunch time.
They’ve always eaten much more than that at home. Same at school. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I work on a five item lunchbox:

1. Sandwich, roll, bagel or wrap with cheese, ham, chicken or tuna

1. A pot of vegetable sticks. Cucumber, carrot, peppers or a mix of those.

1. Something dairy based. Usually a yoghurt or a babybel.

4 and 5. Two pieces of whole fruit out of banana, apple, pear, orange or nectarine. One of these they eat as a snack earlier in the day.

So an average day for DDs would be:

Breakfast of porridge, toast or Weetabix.

Banana as mid morning snack at school.

Lunch of tuna sandwich, cucumber sticks, an apple and a yoghurt. This is essentially the same as DH and I have for our packed lunches so seems fine for a child.

Sweet thing is their snack when they come home. Jam on toast, hot cross bun, slice of cake etc.

Family dinner.

That seems to work well and the packed lunch is enough I find. If they were extra hungry I'd just make them a bigger sandwich to be honest.

Mine have:

Sandwich or leftovers from the night before in a flask

Yog
Biscuits
Crackers
Dried fruit
Cheese
Apple compote
Grapes/ chopped strawberries

hot flask with leftovers - Ikea do a great one for £10. I find it easier to cook a bigger dinner than to faff with sandwiches.

Quesadillas - made with a tortilla/wrap and bits and bobs. quick to make. Nice cold.

I give my children no more than two things or it comes home uneaten, they want to play not eat, I usually give things such as:

pasta salad and a pouch yoghurt

cous cous salad and a packet of dried apricots

chicken salad wrap and grapes

if I did multiple things the kids wouldn’t eat them, I usually give a snack after school too so it’s like two half lunches.

I know you said you don’t want to boil pasta but I think it is a really good lunchbox option. It keeps for a few days.

My DD loves cold pasta. Her favourites are tuna, sweetcorn and mayo or chicken, bacon and mayo.

Mine is the opposite! She likes loads of choice and eats tons.

Today she has:
Ham sandwich
Pepper, cucumber and carrot
Grapes and Strawberries
2 mini pears
hummus and breadsticks
squeezy yoghurt