Veggie sandwich fillings or alternative for lunch box?

[Grockle]

DS (5) eats really well at home but will only have cheese in his sandwiches. To be fair, there are variations on this (cheese & pesto, cheese and chutney or just cheese in a roll, on bread) but I'd really like him to try other things too.

He won't eat hommous any more but will sometimes have cold pizza or fake meat chicken nuggets.

What can I put in to make his lunch more interesting? Or shall I just let him eat cheese sarnies every day?

Or those veggie hotdog things - all the supermarkets do 'em - I occasionally cook my older two a couple each to have in lunchbox.

It probably wouldn't replace the sandwich (although mine do love hotdog & ketchup sarnies, come to that!) but is an additional something savoury.

& probably quite peer pressure friendly ie. not obviously 'weird' vegetarian stuff...

See if any local supermarkets/farmfoods have Quorn Roasts - they are handy for using in sandwiches after you've used them as a roast, works out cheaper than the sliced quorn (though you can't slice them as thinly). Might be a bit dry though, without mayo...

Oh yes - dd2 likes those veggie hotdog sausages but she likes them sliced up with cream cheese in a sarnie!

How about cucumber sarnies or watercress sarnies, then little cubes of cheese or slices of veggie sausage in a pot?

dd1 loves linda mccartney sausage rolls cold (easy too, as cook whole packet in advance and keep in the fridge for a few days)
dd2 likes cheese everyday, so i try to put it 'with' something else and change the bread types, wraps, wholemeal rolls, pitta, croissant, etc, etc
also second pastie type things- mine love feta, mint and pea or mozzerella, tomatoes, basil and pine nuts wrapped in filo pastry (triangle shaped). again good as can do loads in advance and freeze them.

Pickled beetroot makes a very good sandwich.

Its especially nice with a little cheese added

What about those jars of sandwich spread, I used to love them in my school sarnies (I think they're kind of pickled veggies in salad cream?) Tempted to buy a jar now!

Also, does your ds like the vegan pates that come in tubes (tomato/garlic, mushroom etc) ? Though they are a bit pricey.

My veggie colleague loves a pickled beetroot sarnie!

My 9 year old dd2 is a veggie and takes packed lunches. She'll have egg, marmite, peanut butter (have checked with school),cucumber and occasionally Nutella in her sandwiches. She's recently decided to eat fish but doesn't like tuna so I cook and flake some salmon which goes in sandwiches or mixed into pasta.

zeus123 - I do this with leftover mash, so don't really know about quantities!

But if I were starting from scratch, I'd make a mash from 1-2 potatoes. Keep it fairly dry (i.e. don't add much milk).

When it's cool, add 1-2 handfuls of a decent cheese, coarsely grated. Then stir in either around 1/4 onion (finely chopped) or a couple of spring onions, chopped. Season with black pepper

Then take your pastry, roll it out so it's about 2-3mm thick, cut out round shapes using cutters, and put a dollop of the mash onto each, fold over, seal round the edges, and then brush with either milk or beaten egg, and bake in a fairly hot oven for around 20 minutes, till nicely brown.

Beetroot & cheese

Yum, I love it! Will try with ds. He won't eat Tartex etc.

Will definitely make some pasty type things. Thank you so much for all suggestions. Am very grateful. And now quite hungry!

Can you still buy sandwich spread? I used to love that!

BecauseImworthit- thank you for your recipe. This will be great for dp and my lunches. Is it shortcrust pastry?
Great thread for ideas OP, DP and I although not veggie need some ideas for lunches and these are great :)

Yay, we made pasties today (cheese, onion & potato) and they are delicious. DS is very excited! Thank you!

pipplin - it works with both, but I prefer puff pastry.

Thank you, I also prefer puff in general but DP is wheatfree so shortcrust it is.

My 9yo veggie has cheese sandwiches every day. Occasionally she has quorn ham in too. She has fruit and veg and other things with it, sometimes cashew nuts in a pot too, but she's pretty keen on cheese.

10 yo veggie has marmite and cream cheese most days, just occasionally peanut butter instead.

6yo has plain marge or marmite sandwiches.

They eat lots of different things at home so it doesn't seem a problem. I have the same thing on toast most days, (marmite) and the same 2 or 3 sandwich fillings. it makes for a quick production line in the mornings if you just go into rote sandwich making mode.

I had strawberry jam sandwiches all my school life (apart from when we ran out of strawberry and I had to have raspberry [yuck] or just marg!)

Have you given him jam? will he eat that?

I sometimes have squished falafels with cheese in sandwiches. yummy.

also what about wraps? a wrap with humous, salsa and guacamole and a bit of lettuce.
(or if he won't eat humous, then just the guacamole and slasa and some slices of cheese)

pipplin - puff pastry has wheat in it too!

Fennel - I came across Marmite cheese when I was doing my shopping! A bock of Marmite-flavoured cheddar.

shortcrust - you can get wheat-fre shortcrust pastry, but i haven't seen whest-free puff pastry.

(i assume that's what she meant)