Packed Lunch Ideas

[fickle]

Hi - what do you put in your childs packed lunch? DDs school is very insistent that no crisps biscuits or choc etc can be included - I need ideas to make her lunch appealing but healthy, and varied from day to day.

Any ideas?

small boxes of raisins
packet of mini cheddars - they are baked not fried so a bit less bad !
celery/carrot / cucumber sticks
sandwich
apple juice carton
pot of youghurt

also the fair trade ceral bars are nice

Good for the school! (Sorry - i know it must be a pain but its good they are trying to make sure all children are eating well!)

What about flapjacks packed with fruit - apricots/blueberries or similar? Yoghurts or bread sticks they can dunk into cream cheese? Raw veg cut into sticks/coin carrot peices? How old a child are we talking here?

Ooh raisins is a good one donnie - my DD loves those (go straight through her though!). There is a recipe for home made dried fruit wine gums the jamie oliver does in one of his naked chef books. Can look it up for you if you want it?

She hates raisins. She is four. I think its great thtat the school has this attitude but DD would probably disagree!!

Do you think that mini pizza is breaking the rules? Eg a sandwich, mini pizza, yoghurt nad a piece of fruit?

That recipe would be excellent, ta.

dd1s school is the same (no choc, crips).

she has (almost every single day)

a wholemeal roll with peanut butter (the nice wholefoody sort)
carrot and cucumber
strawberries
a peperami and a frube
water

Malt loaf
various fruit (grapes in pot, strawberries in pot)
other sorts of dried fruit (apricots, apple rings, banana chips)
pasta "salad" - mine like just plain cold pasta but if you put bits of cucumber, cheese, pepper in it looks a bit more like salad.
rice salad
tortilla wraps instead of sandwiches
those "school bars" or humzigers - pure dried fruit bars - are desperately sweet and sticky on the teeth but they pretend to be healthy.
scones (not that I'd bother making them myself)
tea cake (healthier than most cakes and biscuits)

Thanks for the ideas!!! Enid - what is a frube???

Grapes
Mini cheese portions (babybel etc)
Carrot sticks
DS has also taken Olives as he loves them !
Cheese Dipper type snacks ?

we do mini pizza - don't see what's wrong with that (it's quite healthy!)

sometimes I give her a little sandwich bag of dry cereal (I know it sounds awful but she won't have milk on it!)

Mini pizza would be ok you could stick a bit of healthy veg bits on too it like peppers etc.

Recipe is 500g dried fruit - one type or a combo (eg apricot and peach or mango and pineapple or any dried fruit) "whizz" the fruit down to a very fine puree in a mixer/blender and then scoop out onto some greaseproof paper.

Use a palette knife to spread into a square bout 0.5cm/1/4 inch thick then slide onto a baking tray.

Heat in oven at 70c or 150f overnight or 160c/300f/gas 2 for a couple of hours (cooking time depends on moisture of the fruit).

When done should be soft but firm (like winegums!)

Slide off greaseptroof to a chopping board and cut into a variety of shapes.

Hey presto - they keep for quite a while in an air tight conyainer so you could do a big batch in one go every couple of weeks.

Hey - i dont have milk on my cereal either foxinsocks

arrghh, I don't do cereal but doesn't it stick to the roof of your mouth without milk? I watch dd eat a huge bowl of Weetos in the morning and it makes me want to cringe!

Thanks VTM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oooh no! its lovely - and defo not soggy. soggy cereal - bleugh!

have leftover couscous with tomatoes, cucumber and avocado in my lunch box today..