School dinners / packed lunch

[beechblob]

Dd just gone into year 3 and is no longer eligible for free school meals.

Dh thinks packed lunches are better value and you know what they are eating.

But, I'm getting fed up of making them already! I find it stressful thinking of what to put in them everyday that is healthy and filling.

I work pt and dh ft with very long hours and he doesn't want to make them anyway so AIBU to just pay for school meals out of our shared account (even though dh says it's wasteful). Dd is not fussy and likes both.

school dinners are £2.50 per day

There's stuff you can prepare ahead in batches....

Hummus and veg sticks - split pot of hummus across 5 smaller pots on Sunday evening. Make 3 x veg pots on Sunday and 2 on Weds evening - peppers, carrots, celery, plus cucumber in the Monday and Thursday pot. Add small boxes of cream or ritz crackers for dipping.

Wraps - make 2 or 3 days worth at once, fold both open ends in as you roll (to make a burrito shape) and wrap well.

Fruit loaf or hot cross buns - do 3 days at once, butter the facing sides and wrap well.

Thermos - I split a flavoured cous cous sachet between two and add a couple of tablespoons of sweetcorn. Put in fridge. Add boiling water in the morning (use scales to add 80g of water for 80ml), swirl, bung lid on. Still warm at lunchtime.

dh makes his own sandwiches

Then he could easily do your daughters. He's an arse if he refuses, it takes seconds to do an extra one if your already doing them.

The reason he says he can't (won't) make DD's lunches is he leaves at 6am and back at 7.30pm 5 days a week, I work 10-5 3 days, so as I'm pt I should make them as I start later.

I've asked dd and she said she'll be happy to go back to school dinners with a packed lunch once a week, I'm telling dh tonight that's that happening! Now busy chopping sodding carrot sticks 😖

His reason stinks, if he's got time to make one sandwich then he has time to make two. Even if it's just the sandwich to put in the fridge and you sort the rest.

I'd suddenly not be able to find the time to do things for him tbh.

My son has also just started year 3. He makes his own and loves doing it! When it's done he gives us a quick look just to check but so far apart from sandwiches looking a bit squashed hes fine. He normally does it as I'm making dinner so I'm around if needed but at 7 hes more than old enough to do it.!

@notso I know, it's ridiculous, I told him tonight unless he makes them for dd then she's having school dinners from next week, he is now waffling on about costs and lack of nutrition 🙄

My DC's schools don't do school meals. They have had ham wraps, crisps/mini cheddars, cereal bar and yoghurt for nearly 9 years.....just saying .......you don't need to make it complicated.

Christ how hard is it to make a sandwich and place it in a lunch box with a piece of fruit, a biscuit and a yogourt. I'm sure two grown adults can manage that between them without world war 3 breaking out

My DC's schools don't do school meals. They have had ham wraps, crisps/mini cheddars, cereal bar and yoghurt for nearly 9 years.
There are many schools where half of that lunch wouldn't be deemed acceptable.

@beechblob, stand your ground. Dinners or he makes the sandwiches!

bold fail ^^

Mine took packed lunches (no free meals for infants then either) because school lunches are so expensive especially considering how bad they are. It's very simple to make them - sandwiches can be made the day before whilst making dinner, but I also did pasta salads etc when I was cooking pasta anyway. Cost was around 50p a day

Just make the lunch the night before and pop it in the fridge! Good god it’s not rocket science. And take turns!!

Seriously how long does it take to make a sandwich, and chuck a piece of fruit and a snack into a lunch box. You are both being ridiculous.

You'd be hard pressed to make a decent lunch for £2.50, in the priced example ham/cheese was allocated a measly 30p which seems a bit light.

It's not the making of the lunch that is the drag, it's the remembering to have the stuff in all the time, making sure the lunch box is emptied and washed every day, it's just another endless task.

In your circumstances I might suggest to your DH that you prep the lunchbox the night before and he makes an extra sandwich when he makes his.
I usually put all the lunch things together in the fridge (yoghurt, drink, chopped carrot, etc) so it’s easy to grab and chuck in the lunch box, and make a sandwich in the morning.

It's not the making of the lunch that is the drag, it's the remembering to have the stuff in all the time, making sure the lunch box is emptied and washed every day, it's just another endless task.

I don't understand this. It's just food that you would pick up with your normal weekly shop isn't it? And the lunch box you just wash along with your dishes don't you? It's really not that hard.

I think you are over complicating it. I just sent either a wrap or sandwich. Apple or banana and yoghurt. Water.

Or crackers and cheese. Grapes and berries.

Really cheap and quick. I sort the lunches in the evening and place lunch boxes in the fridge. No hassle at all.

YANBU, I only need to do packed lunch this week and have so far done 2 days, but already don’t know what to give DD tomorrow.

I didn't have time to make packed lunches, even though it was cheaper to. There's always a toss up between time vs money in my life, and I use the time to work and earn more money! Now ds is at secondary it's all change again as he is spending considerably less and getting a lot more food with school dinners!

Tbh I do see his point of you do 10-5, 3 days a week. You only work 18 hours and he works 65 then he is working a significant amount more than you are.

But either way if you're doing the work and you want to put her on school dinners then do.

I totally agree that you have more time...but oh my god, the pettiness of not making his child a sandwich when he's already making one for himself!

Ahh I'm going to contact the school and ask if she can have school dinners 2x a week,

Do you really have to ask the school?

Well @joblotbubble - many schools want you to choose cooked or packed dinners for a set period - 1/2 a term or whatever, and don't allow pupils to swap in and out on different days, so yes, OP does have to check if that is allowed at their school

Not sure why he is wittering on about lack of nutrition - school meals have to be balanced nutritionally.

IMO though, that is fair enough if he is out6am - 7.30pm x 5 days, versus your 10 - 5 x 3 days, it is not unreasonable to expect that you be responsible for the lunches. MN is somewhat unreasonable sometimes in that some posters just love to have a dig just because someone is a man.

Mine had school dinners all (yes, I know not everyone can afford them, but we saved elsewhere). Their Primary school cook was superb - they had pulled out of the City system years ago and this lady was amazing. All my 3 loved school dinners.
In secondary, they had their money for the week and I said I was happy if they wanted to take packed lunch instead but they had to make it. All 3 did for a couple of days, then got fed up of having to make it, so chose the cooked meals again.

Never heard of that before in any of the schools here. Lots of kids jump from packs to dinners and back again, throw in homes occasionally too.

I suppose if you think the school has no flexibility it's best to ask.