To ask what I can do for packed lunches for kid who 'doesn't like sandwiches'

[YesSheCan]

Self-employed and haven't had work for almost four months due to family upheaval/several home moves so absolutely skint, surviving on loans from my dad when he can afford.

Have decided need to do packed lunches for DD12 as constantly having to top up ParentPay and can't afford. Object to paying over the odds for crap, low nutrition school food (DD usually gets muffin, cookie, cheesy panini or pizza, bottled drink even though should take her water bottle and refill at school).

I could do healthier packed lunch for cheaper. But she 'won't eat sandwiches', hates veggie food, in past has left most of lunch that requires any effort to eat, ie cutlery, as she's more bothered about hanging out with friends at break than eating lunch.

I'd do chicken wrap or something similarly quick and easy to eat but it would be hanging around in her school bag until lunchtime which isn't really safe for meat.

Could say 'tough shit, it's sandwiches or nothing' but I'd be chucking them away at the end of the day. Aside from hating food waste, I can't afford to be throwing food away.

Wish schools still did sit-down, cooked meals. Ours were a bit gross but we'd be so hungry by lunchtime, we'd eat it. I hate the ParentPay system as you have no control over what your kid is buying, they don't know the price of what they're buying and it's a minimum top-up of £10 each time. And the food available is crap despite Jamie Oliver's big school food crusade several years ago.

Anyone had similar problem? How do you get around issue of not being able to refrigerate food until lunchtime? Is it ok to give DD food she probably won't eat and make her go hungry until evening meal?
(I know it's ok to provide her with nutritious food and her lookout if she's too picky to eat it but I just need some reassurance that I'm not a shit, neglectful parent)

I would suggest pasta or cous cous salad, but that probably falls into the 'too much hassle to eat' category.

Slice of quiche or Spanish omelette - you can get great ready made ones, but probably cheaper to make your own.

But at 12, she's old enough to understand the situation and how school lunches are unaffordable at the minute and you really need her to co-operate and take a packed lunch that she will eat and actually eat it.

Savoury flap jacks, Cornish pasties - mine like making these, quiches, crackers, salads - pasta salad, couscous salads, wraps, mini pizza again mine like making these, cheese straws and something like a boiled egg

I supposed Savoury scones, muffins could be an option - though not done those.

I hate sandwiches, and second what others have said - pasta salad (cheap and filling), leftovers that don't need to be reheated, or batch cooking/freezing stuff that will defrost by lunchtime. A chicken wrap will still be safe after a few hours if it's been properly cooked in the first place - the bacteria needs to come from somewhere to start with!

Alternatively a thermos with soup - very easy to carry round and no need for cutlery!

Fritatta is a good option tok

Just send her in with cold pizza or a sausage roll, a bottle of pop from a multi pack and a super market muffin. Exactly same as what she's been buying but will cost a fraction.

We often make the pizza or Cornish pasties then have some for tea and rest for the pack lunches for a few days - a day with time to make them.

Same with couscous and pasta salads often had some for tea and rest put away for packed lunches.

You can freeze yoghurt pouches and use those as coolers.

Ds has wraps or sandwichs - we pop freezer blocks in which are still cold when he gets home so safe for meat imo

I would send her with cold pizza (could make using wraps as a base), savoury muffins (can make ahead and freeze), chicken wraps, or get a flask and send her with some soup and bread.

I get those choc chip brioche rolls, crackers and butter, croissants.

And people wonder why school have to police lunch boxes! That is just sugar and sugar! Terrible lunch.

I make a few simple salads for work. A super yummy one is:
Cucumber - i use seedless, cut a chunk about 10cm - cut length ways in half, do the same again to give quarters and slice into not too thick or too slices (texture is super important to me LOL)

Red capsicum - cut into nice pieces, similar in size to the cucumber

Orange - it's important how this is cut! Remove rind. You need to cut vertically into quarters. Then slice the same as you have for the cucumber ACROSS the segments. If you go with the segments it ends up icky soggy. Going across the segments gives a bit of firmness that is perfect with the veges.

I also cook chicken breast in an alfoil pocket with a small amount of water and a herb mix I like - mainly Moroccan or tuscan. Fold alfoil shut and cook in oven for 50-60 mins - until cooked. Chicken like this is nice and moist and yummy hot or cold. Just slice and and to test of ingredients. You can do multiple pockets to give a weeks worth and put them in the freezer and take out each night for the next day.

12 is old enough to figure out how much she's spending, you need to explain to her the financial realities.

If she likes a cookie, then pack a few biscuits in her lunchbox. Or make oaty bars - porridge oats, butter, splash of milk, egg, lots of chopped fruit (whatever you have; I like to stew chopped apple in cinnamon in the microwave for 2 mins first to flavour it then throw in berries); 15 min in the oven at 200 then separate into slices. If you make thick fruit pancake (no sugar) for breakfast then leftover slices can be taken in.

Can she get hot water to add to noodles? We used to do that sometimes at school and then mix in whatever cold veg and meat mum had put in a little pot so it was all warm to eat. Pasta salad is generally good cold if she'll eat that. Stuff to put on crackers is good too, I don't like sandwiches unless they're very fresh or ideally warm, so I can sympathise with her a bit. Pastries (fill pre-made pastry with anything, cook and slice), quiches or similar to a quiche without a base make vegetable cake to be sliced up. Lots of things you can make and then freeze, so she gets a choice the night before of what to defrost to take.

Pasta bake? Just pasta and the sauce and cheese on top? My kids love that in lunch boxes x

Whoops - forgot to say add a little bit of flour to the oaty bar, with the egg it helps set everything around the oats so the bars are easy to lift and eat.

Dd doesn’t eat sandwiches. I send her with wraps, sausage rolls or she has a packet of mini cheddars with cooked chicken pieces or similar. If you’re concerned about things going off and don’t have ice packs, you can also freeze any parts of the meal, which will defrost ok the night before (if you have space in your freezer) and it will be defrosted by lunchtime.

She may be like me and not eat food that's supposed to be hot eg pasta, rice, pizza etc cold. It's a thing people! LOL I have to heat potato salad, which makes all my friends laugh

Flasks are good. We do curry or pasta or soup

My son is 12 and a bit of a picky eater. A lot of what was shown as typical menus at open evening have not really transpired so he doesn't like a lot of what's on offer or doesn't have time to queue. It doesn't help that he eats like a sparrow most of the time but some days he comes home, says he wasn't really hungry so has had a cookie and that's it! He had school dinners at primary school and enjoyed them until he got to year 5 then begged me for packed lunches. I succumbed as I remember begging my mum at that age. Problem is he doesn't like many sandwiches or likes certain combos for a while then goes off them so struggled with variation. Now he has a lunchbox once a week or thereabouts with either a chicken sandwich, small sushi when i can get it or sone of Tescos Southern Fried chicken pasta. It's a really struggle.

She's a bit old to be getting away with just saying 'I don't know'. You need a proper discussion with her, about the family's financial circumstances and about what she'd like to have for lunches.

It's the hastle of carrying a packed lunch around all day.

You need to find food that will fit into a school bag or blazer pockets.

Mini cheddars, breakfast bars, mini cheese portion etc

12? At 12 she needs pointing in the direction of the fridge and told to get on with it.

Tesco do really nice cheese or pepperoni frozen pizzas for 69p. Cook one and cut it into 5, and then get a pack of value sausage rolls. Lunch for the week for approximately 35p a day. Tesco also do value cheese and onion pasties for about 35p, my sandwich hating daughter used to take one of these and some cooked mini sausages.

I used to keep the packed lunch stuff in the freezer. They took it out before they left for school and it was defrosted by lunch time.

I would try finger foods, put some hummus in Tupperware and maybe give her crackers to dip in. You could also try egg rolls/sausage rolls/pork pies? I would put an ice block in the bag just to keep it fresh. Maybe add a bit of cheese and some fruit like an apple, grapes or raisins? If she's allowed nuts, I might try a little bag of those too and then maybe a biscuit or little bit of sweets as a treat.

Keeping a chicken wrap in your bag until lunch is not dangerous 😂😂😂 I never refrigerate my lunch at work (thieves) and am always fine.

Insulated lunch box or bag is helpful. My DD is autistic and has sensory issues around food, much of what you say is familiar. We did deconstructed sandwiches, even at almost 18 she eats using a bento tray so everything is separate. I also did things like hummus and things to dip into it. Basically as long as things aren’t mushy and eaten altogether, she’s happy. Maybe it’s a texture, food-touching issue? If you’re worried about good nutrition, I found the things she would eat and she was happy having similar things most days- nori snack packs for instance, a little container of edamame ( cheapest way is to buy frozen, cook and refrigerate ).

For those saying she’s too old to be this fussy, remember that some sensory issues go unnoticed especially in girls, so the dislike of sandwiches in particular is not that unusual.