to ask you your "perfect" kids lunchbox food?

[WittiestUsernameEver]

Lots of conversations and discussions about lunchboxes etc, comments about UPF, too much sugar, too many carbs etc.

If you packed a "perfect" lunchbox for a 4 year old - what would you pack? (cold/ambient food)

DD4.5 lunchbox today was:

• Wholemeal roll - unsalted butter, leftover roast chicken, 2-3 spinach leaves
• 1 x slice of mature cheddar cheese - probably about 20g
• 1 x satsuma
• 1" cucumber
• 4 halved cherry plum tomatoes
• 4 sugar snap peas
• Bottle of water

I think that's a good balanced box?

What would you pack?

What's balanced about it?

It's a very healthy lunch! That's very true. And nothing wrong at all with it and nobody has to have something sugary

But I don't know why you've described it as balanced and not really healthy?

That sounds great, really healthy. I'd probably add some raisins or a little bit of cereal (maybe Cheerios, mini shredded wheat, just a few) and a yoghurt/fromage frais.

I think you’re obsessing needlessly. The question in my experience is whether they will actually eat what they’re given.

I just give my kids what I know they will eat.

Usually a sandwich or pitta, a yogurt, bit of fruit, some cheese and a treat.

My child’s lunchbox today has:

3 digestives with butter & cheese
2 mini cucumbers
carrot sticks
Chocolate brownie
yoghurt pouch

I always do two portions of fruit/veg, a ‘main’ such as crackers & cheese, wrap, pasta etc, a ‘treat’ like a brownie, cake, biscuit etc, and then a yoghurt product.

the only part I always make sure they have is the fruit/veg. It’s good to not demonstrate an obsessive relationship with food with children - some days we eat more of one food, some days we eat more of other foods 🤷‍♀️

I wake up at the crack of dawn, make my own bread, churn my own butter, pick all the fresh veg from my patch, go to the local spring for fresh water and if they're lucky, I'll make some lovely yoghurt from daisy the cows produce that morning......

Mine usually have a roll with leftover toast chicken/ham/smoked salmon/cheese & cucumber, plus a tub of whatever fruit I have and one more thing - I vary it throughout the week but it's usually either a homemade muffin (I keep them in the freezer), a pesto pinwheel (same) or a pouch of Greek yog and honey. My older kid sometimes has a hot food flask with leftover curry/stew etc.

I only really give three things as although they both have big appetites, I know from experience that they don't have the patience/time to each a lot of school lunch, so I feed them up the rest of the time!

These pouches are great - bigger than usual.

Little Lou Cooks on Insta is a good homemade lunch recipe resource.

Mine today have taken

• homemade pasta salad (tomato and sweetcorn by the looks of it, they made it themselves)
• salad (one has tomato and cucumber, the other pepper)
• fruit (one has an orange, the other grapes and berries plus a plum)
• something from the treat cupboard

Dd1 probably has a cheese portion as well.

@TiredHippo. Very committed 🤣

Wise words @NauseousNancy. I don't overthink it but as long as there's some fruit or veg in there most days I'm not too worried, having said that I rarely give crisps or shop-bought choc bars as I like to sort of save up my UPF points, as it were, for when I'm fecking exhausted and dinner is just cereal/rice pudding 😁

I'm not obsessing needlessly. I'm just curious as to what people put in lunch boxes etc. after so many people seemingly comment about other people's choices 🤷‍♀️
I put stuff in my DD will eat.

Umm I mean like it has carbs, proteins, fats, veggies etc. a good mix?

🤣

How about harvesting honey from beehives? Do you pick fresh eggs out of coops at crack of dawn and hard boil them? 🤣

My dc at 4 would probably have still been hungry after that tbh. However, our packed lunches are very similar.

I'd have given everything in your op but probably also a yoghurt and maybe a small bag of crisps, like mini cheddars or skips. Plus usually squash for lunchtime...life's too short to always be drinking water 😂 They get plenty of water in-between meals.

You could easily pack some crisps or cake there too.

Depending on what goes in the roll sometimes you don’t need butter. I don’t add butter/marge to my homemade egg mayo filling.

Mine has similar but needs a decent carb in there. Agree with PP that little Lou cooks on IG has some great recipes for lunches. I’ve just made a batch of her healthier chocolate muffins which I’ll freeze and then put in the kids lunch boxes. Quick to make and reduces the UPF count.

I do try and make their lunches healthy, however I think I’m an outlier and they complain that their peers have more snacks. Their peers are noticeably overweight though. I think it’s a hard balance, they need to be nourished but it takes time, energy, and some knowledge, which can be a challenge

Where's the baking? If you've not churned put some chia seed muffins are you really parenting? Pfft half a job....

I think I underfeed my 3 year old compared to what others in his class have in their lunch boxes 🤣

He gets a wrap or sandwich, a 3 year old palm size of crisps and another palm size of chopped up fruit. I don't give yoghurt because I find individual ones wasteful and if I decant some in a pot he throws away the spoon anyway 🙄. He drinks milk at snack time along with some picky bits they give him so I'm not worried about the protein/calcium aspect.

When I pick him up at 3 he usually gets a banana and a homemade muffin of some description that I've raided from the freezer.

DGCs today got a babybel, a small wholemeal roll with butter and tuna mayonnaise, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, some grapes and a packet of mini cheddars. They are 3 and 5, they might eat a bit of each, every crumb, or all of 2 or 3 things and leave the rest, there is no telling. And it makes no difference if they choose what goes in or not.

They get a variety in the hope that she will eat some carbs, some protein and some fruit and/or veg. If they don't its not the end of the world, they get healthy snacks and meals at home, plus milk to drink.

Doubt they will be eating like this at 13. What's the point?

Give them a little treat at least!

I'd day your kids is gonna be hungry off just that

Mine today have:

Ham and mayo croissant
Cubed watermelon
3 biscuits each
An apple
Yogurt
Crackers
Apple sauce pot
Juice box because it's really hot here

DD also has cheese cubes, ds has dried cranberries.

Kids are 7 and 10

Today by child (older) had sandwhich (home made bread, tuna and standard salad cream), mini cucumbers, tinned pears in a pot a mini muffin (shop bought).

It’s 1 meal out of 21 a week. Balance is about what they have over a week.

I miss the lunchboxes of the 80s. Half a jam sandwich and a wagon wheel.

If you were lucky, a bag of 'happy shopper' Crisps