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?!

Alongside all the competitive posh obscure crap that a certain few posters pretend to give their kids!  'Tabbouleh' my arse!

Presume this is aimed at me, @ParentingSolo?

I don't really know what to respond...are you saying I'm lying about my kid having some leftover tabbouleh (from a big family party) in his packed lunch, once? It's not a regular occurrence, admittedly, but you'd have to be incredibly narrow-minded to think that just because you don't give a foodstuff to your kids, no bugger else does? Perhaps I've misunderstood - please do clarify!

My DD has just started school dinners. In her preschool packed lunch she used to like "pizza toast". 2 slices of bread spread with tomato puree, grated cheese, sprinkle of dried herbs and some sweetcorn / bits of ham on top and grilled. It was easy to whack together when I was making breakfast. I'd do her a piece of fruit with that and some carrot sticks, and a home made muffin.

My 9yo is a slow eater and prefers to play. He has a chorizo or chicken wrap with basil, 2 types of salad veg and a home made Welsh cake.

Same in Scotland. My dc have school mess, they get starter main and dessert.
The main and dessert have two options.

Usually fruit or soup to start, main then dessert is cheese and biscuits or yogurt or such

Fellow packed lunch producers, I've had some success this week with coronation chickpeas (self-explanatory) in a little tub with a plastic spork. I'd also forgotten that I have these reusable yoghurt pouches and I've done Greek yog with honey in those (older kid seems wary of them but he younger one wasn't bothered 😁).

Also read an article about nitrates in processed pork products that scared the hell out of me so thinking I might try sliced turkey?! Maybe as some sort of fake lunchable, with cheese and crackers.

Peanuts are not nuts either, but schools ban them along with tree nuts.

@LaRevolution you can buy nitrate free pork/ham called Naked

Thanks @Favouritefruits - it mentioned a few brands in the article, will keep an eye out for that one.

I've had success this week with burritos for my older kid - we had them for tea and I froze a couple extra, and they worked well as very filling! I made sweet potato and chicken chilli, then mixed it with rice and layered them in wraps with sour cream, cheese and some sweetcorn and avo. Bundled them up, dry-fried them and then wrapped them in foil when cool, and froze.

Also made apple loaf to try and dent the bag we were given from a neighbour and have frozen that in slices.