Healthy, convenient, yet tasty lunchbox snacks for my kids?

[bababo]

Hi, I'm looking for genuinely healthy and convenient snacks and lunchbox foods for my kids. My aunty is a nutritionist and keeps telling me off for feeding my kids stuff I thought was ok, but she reads the back of the packets and tut tuts about the added salt and sugar and says they don't have good nutrients. I've tried some of the things she suggests but they taste dreadful and my kids won't eat them! Please help?

My dd's have:

A sandwich or wrap (cheese or ham)
A yoghurt
fruit (dd1 has berries and dd2 a banana)
dd2 has a mini savory egg or something similar
dd1 has a babybel
chocolate cake (mini roll or homemade cake)

Its up to you what you feed your dc's (not your aunt).

Maybe try using a different type of the same food? For example, you can buy a joint of ham and roast it in with your sunday roast, then slice it up for sandwiches during the week, rather than using that processed stuff, which is full of salt etc? Its better for you, tastes nicer and can work out pretty cheaply.

I know what you mean - I don't want to give my children salty crisps or sugary snacks in their lunchbox but its hard to find convenient alternatives that are really good for them (and tasty too!)

So long as you include carbohydrate like bread, pittas, rice or pasta; protein such as meats, poultry, eggs, cheese or nuts; fruit and/or vegetables and a drink, you won't go far wrong. I found the page below which gives some great ideas - things I hadn't really thought about. Worth a quick look.

www.recipes4us.co.uk/Lunch%20Box%20Ideas.htm

Today dd has a mackrel sandwich on wholemeal roll, a babybel, a handful of baked crisps, a jammy dodger and 5 strawberries. This I think is a nice balanced lunch.

today dd has a 2 slice ham sandwich on wholemeal bread, some grapes, a yoghurt, a carton of juicy water (75% fruit juice and 25% water) and a homemade banana muffin with sultanas and chocolate chips. She doesnt often have homemade cakes and would normally have a mini bag of biscuits e.g. malted milk, choc digestives, animal biscuits, etc

Just checked out the website Jenny suggested, like the idea of Mon egg, Tues sliced meat, Wed cheese, Thurs chicken, fri tuna, gives you a start at least. I'm bored to death with doing lunch boxes...today my DS had: Ham in wholemeal sandwiches (butchers not prefabricated, sooo boring but would eat everyday if offered), apple (cherries yesterday), carrot and cucumber sticks and a mini pack of choc, chip biscuits and a drink (elderflower cordial). Wish my DS would eat mackrel sandwiches :)

today mine have marmite sandwhich
kiwi fruit
yoghurt
babybelle
satsuma
bread sticks and celery with little pot of houmous
raisons
orange juice(and water in classroom cup)

Thanks everyone for your advice, it really is a challenge to find different, yet tasty new foods for my kids lunchboxes. Jenny, thanks for the link, it has given me a couple of new ideas! My eldest is in reception year at school and wants crisps, because all her friends have crisps, the peer pressure is huge. I do sometimes give her cheddars or breadsticks, but they are still high in salt. My youngest is at pre-school, she isnt a fan of fresh fruit, so we go down the raisins route with her, I am scared that one day she will look like a raisin she has so many! :)

Why can't you give her a few crisps? I don't give dd a whole packet, I take 4 or 5 out and put them in her lunch box.

Why would you give 4 or 5 crisps?

And what do you do with the rest of the packet?

The rest of the packet lasts the next few days. And why? Because dd likes crisps with a sandwich, her friends have crisps, so our compromise is a few crisps. They're the walkers baked ones so quite big.5 is plenty.

You can get recipes for breadsticks and just leave the salt out or use low sodium salt, there easy to do.

Or do a cake, portion and freeze for a friday treat, it would last ages.

Or tinned fruit in juice just put it into those tiny tupperware boxes.

Oh yes I can't think what I would do with the rest of the packet? stuff them in my mouth

Or of course, you could put them in a lock and lock box (other brands are available)

what does DD and DS mean

I struggle with this too. DS likes the mini pots of houmous with some breadsticks. And he sometimes gets a frozen homemade cupcake. It seems crazy, but the lunch boxes seem to have to be very healthy compared to the school lunches - cakes and biscuits are discouraged, and crisps aren't allowed at all.

DD dear daughter
DS dear son

Mine like celery sticks,olives,hummus,guacamole,breadsticks,oatcakes,ricecakes,grapes,cherry tomatoes,chopped up mango,sugar snap peas,little chunks of cheshire,little pots of fruit in juice,cress sandwiches,cucumber sandwiches,mini pittas,carrot sticks,melon chunks and strawberries.

You can make banana cupcakes w/o much added refined sugar. I'm not really a fan of raisins because they're not great for teeth.

I also buy some 'baby' things still for DS - so fruit pots, vegetable flavoured rice cakes etc.