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If you pack your kids' lunch and you are a bit of a health nut...

70 replies

AtheneNoctua · 19/06/2008 09:12

Please tell me what you send them with.

I need some new and exciting ideas for DD. She wants school dinners. But, until they tell me what is in them, I'm resisting the temptation to give in.

DD and nanny are both tired of lugging the big thermos around so I'm looking for cold meal ideas.

OP posts:
micci25 · 19/06/2008 09:16

ham or chicken salads and a box of fruit salad
fish finger wraps (made with tortilla wraps lettuce, cherry toms and fishfingers)
veg sticks
cold pasta salads
cheese salad sarnie on wholemeal or 50 50 bread
philadelphia and crab meat with lettuce in tortilla wrap

sorry not many ideas but im sure some one will come along with some better ones

nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:20

bean salad with herbs
pasta salad - can contain just about anything in the fridge
stuffed peppers
potato jackets with filling - easy to hold
nothing wrong with sandwiches! just use nice bread/rolls

usually a flapjack too or some shortbread

water

nothing wrong with school dinners - i tell dd to choose the baked potatoes etc in winter when she would rather have a hot meal

AtheneNoctua · 19/06/2008 09:30

"nothing wrong with school dinners"

Unless they tell me what they make them out of, I can not know that.

OP posts:
AtheneNoctua · 19/06/2008 09:32

Whay kind of pasta salad do you make? That sound like a good idea.

OP posts:
nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:32

i meant stuff that is basic like baked potatoes

you are entitled to go in and ask

micci25 · 19/06/2008 09:33

i make mine with a bit of tuna or prawns if we have them, sliced peppers, lettuce, sweet corn, grated corrots and grated cheese and a touch of salad dressing. and cooked pasta.

nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:35

i buy small size pasta, cook it and cool it down in the fridge. i add all sorts of things, depending what else i have in the fridge. cubed cheese, feta cheese, olives, raw pepper, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, coriander, basil, salmon flakes, etc. and usually a half teaspoon of olive oil to stop it getting sticky and gooey in the lunch box.

using one of those cooler things (you can get small ones) keeps stuff fresh

nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:36

are prawns ok in a school bag nice and warm all morning? ive always been unsurea bout addingthem cos they are not kept in a fridge obv at school

nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:37

oh and pickled beetroot
dd loves how it makes her pasta go pink

OverMyDeadBody · 19/06/2008 09:43

nailpolish I put a small ice pack or a frozen carton of juice in DS's lunchbox if there's something in there I'd rather keep cool, seems to do the trick.

Humous in a little pot with strips of pita bread and carrot sticks are popular with DS.

I also make mini pies occasionally with puff pastry and anything I have in the fridge stuffed inside.

Most often though DS has brown bread sandwiches with philadelphia and sliced fruit or tomatoes, or brown pita bread pockets stuffed with phili and grated carrot or apple.

MarmadukeScarlet · 19/06/2008 09:45

AN I have an ongoing issue with the quality of our school's lunches, I've even been in and seen them prepared and eaten them grey fish fingers with strings (as dd calls them) They assure me it is all quality local produce, my backside it is!

They are not allowed lunches but when she goes on trips I make (although not as hard as everyday inspiration)

Greek salad with feta, cue, toms and peppers

Couscous salad - I don't boil mine just add boiling water and cover jug, takes minutes. I add chopped salad veggies to this with chunks of cold chicken breast

Tortilla wraps spread with philly cheese, slice of ham and filled with chopped salad

guacamole (non spicy homemade, have to lots of lemon juice to stop it browning) with carrots, pitta, peppers and cue to dip in.

Nicoise style salad (no anchovies) with boild egg and tuna

Lots of chopped fruit with a fork - I often use tinned chopped pinapple in juice as low labour!

Currently lots of local strawbs - come complete with 'handle'.

As for treats we make flapjacks as these are filling and travel well or a banana and date loaf ( in the bread machine)

A frozen Yeo yoghurt tube, keeps it all cool and is a bit like ice cream if it hasn't defrosted - yum!

Dreid cranberries or blueberries

Innocent smoothie (although now not allowed to take drinks that can't be sealed up)

water

I also always add a pretty paper napkin and and individually wrapped wipe thingy.

nailpolish · 19/06/2008 09:46

what juice cartons do you buy?
actually taht is a FAB idea - i usually just fill up dds water bottle and put that in but i might put it in the freezer overnight THANKS!

and talking off puff pastry - i sometimes make these little savoury puff things with cheese and tomato (or whatever) and bake in oven in a pff pastry envelope DEAD EASY

pofaced · 19/06/2008 09:55

We have healthy eating policy in school anyway so lunches have to be fairly decent. Mine take variations on the following:
pasta salad (pasta, peppers/ toms/ cucumber/ olives/ broccoli/ carrot)
greek slad
couscous salad (as pasta but with couscous)
humous and carrot sticks and crackers
cheese and crackers
sandwiches made with either wholemeal or soda bread: decent ham/ cheddar/ salami
bagel and cream cheese
piece of fruit: pear/ apple/ banana/ satsuma
Sometimes I might throw in a small tub with olives or raw carrot/ cumcumber
something sweet which is normally flapjack or wholemeal shortbread or half a slice of Nigella's madeira cake (make on Sunday & lasts all week between 3 kids).
water to drink

We are a green school so not allowed plastic wrappings so everything has to be "dry" enough to be wrapped in paper

Fennel · 19/06/2008 10:17

Our school dinners are actually quite healthy, cooked on site by a local restaurant chef. But my dds have packed lunches about half the time. They are happy with the same things over and over:

1 round of wholemeal sandwiches with one of the following fillings:

Cheese (maybe with lettuce)
Tuna and sweetcorn or cucumber
Peanut butter
cream cheese and marmite
plain marmite
quorn ham (the dds are veggies)

Little pot of cherry tomatoes/cucumber/raw mushroom/olives.

1bottle of water
2 pieces of fruit.
1 "treat" - frozen yoghurt stick, or flapjack, or fromage frais, or some other cake or biscuit. Or humzinger.

Little pot raisins/apricots/cashew nuts.

not exciting but they like it. and it's healthy and easy.

AtheneNoctua · 19/06/2008 10:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

motherinferior · 19/06/2008 10:50

Can I just point out, as someone who yielded to her daughters' Guantanamo-standard nagging for packed lunches, that school dinners do reduce the hassle/shoutiness level in the mornings. Oh yes they do.

AtheneNoctua · 19/06/2008 11:35

I will happily sign up for school lunches when I am convinced that they are healthful. And the first step to convincing me of this is publicising the list of ingredients. I have asked. Sodexho refused. I went with packed lunches.

Also, most kids at DD's school take a packed lunch. I think the school dinner uptake is around 30%. So she is still in the majority. It's not like everyone gets school lunches and I am making her be the odd one out.

OP posts:
Fennel · 19/06/2008 11:41

MI, you just need a System. (I expect Flylady can advise).

Our packed lunches aren't too much extra work, the dds are quite into making their own (which sort of helps, though it creates mess and takes ages).

seeker · 19/06/2008 11:43

My ds has a marmite, cheese or ham sandwich. A box of carrot sticks. A box of raisins. A carton of juice (from the freezer so that it works as a cooler)And a chocolate mini-roll on Fridays. He is in year 2 and he has had this every day since reception, despite my attempts to get him to have something different. He doesn't like variety - he likes his lunch! Makes it easy to put together on automatic pilot, though!

motherinferior · 19/06/2008 11:44

I have a System. Sort of. (I even make masses of sandwiches in advance and freeze the buggers, dammit.) And it does involve child labour involvement. Still more work than handing over a nice cheque for Scholarest's floorsweepings finest every half term, believe me.

motherinferior · 19/06/2008 11:46

Mine currently get:
two sandwiches (equalling one round) of ham/peanut butter/cheese, dug out of the freezer and foil-wrapped.

a home made flapjack/cookie of some sort

a yogurt drink

two (bought) cheese straws (concession to Crisps Pressure)

Fruit (either fresh or if we've eaten it all, tinned peach slices in a little box)

Cucumber slices and/or cherry tomatoes in another little box.

Fennel · 19/06/2008 11:48

Yes, school dinner is easier. but packed lunch (healthy version) is about half the price. I see it as 5 minutes morning labour (on autopilot for 3 lunch boxes) = about £2-3 saved a day. Which makes it seem reasonable value for effort.

motherinferior · 19/06/2008 11:50
Oliveoil · 19/06/2008 11:52

I make mine the night before for dd1, same thing every flipping day:

cheese sandwich on brown
apple
carrot
treat - usually biscuit
drink

dd2 starts in September but will not eat sandiwches so I will have to think of something different then

our school dinners are fab but dd1 doesn't want to have them, they are £1.60 a day iirc

Pidge · 19/06/2008 11:52

Wow you guys are impressive. I have to pack myself a breakfast sandwich (honey or cashew nut butter) for work (cos I leave so early and get starving ) and even that seems like a major hassle some nights.

MI - this is why I've just refused again to switch dd to packed lunches. Not to mention that we currently have builders destroying rebuilding our kitchen!! I think the school dinners dd gets are quite good and I'm happy to pay to save me the hassle. I was a bit shocked last week to get a note from her teacher saying dd didn't manage to finish her lunch and one of the lunchtime supervisors actually suggested to her she might prefer a packed lunch. Grrr. Which of course she would love. Didn't help our campaign from home to keep her on school dinners!!