Help! DS goes all day with nothing to eat

[LaLaLaLayla]

My DS is 6 years old and started at school this year after being HS'd for a year. They are required to take packed lunches. He is extremely fussy. If you ask him what he likes to eat, he will say:

• Mexican food
• Sushi
• Sausage rolls.

That's it. He won't eat the normal stuff that kids like, doesn't like bread or pasta or pizza and hates cheese. I've tried giving him breadsticks with a pot of labneh but it comes home untouched. I am old school and have always believed that children will eat if they are hungry. Not so with him. He would rather starve.

What on earth can I give him? I have thought of making some healthy sausage rolls. Is there such a thing?

I am at my wits end

You could make Mexican tortilla wraps, or you could actually make sushi for him too, with cucumber or omelette or smoked salmon in the middle - you can buy sushi nori and sushi rice in our local supermarket, as well as at Waitrose.

if he likes the idea of sushi/Japanese, why not try making a bento-style boxed lunch, like they do here in Japan

justbento.com/

I know sushi is expensive (my boys adore it), but I would alternate days with a sushi / Mexican lunchbox.

if he likes sausage rolls, then put those in every third day...nowt wrong with sausage rolls

Thanks, some good suggestions. I am a working mum though, and leave the house at 7am and do not return until 7pm. I am a bit short on time. Some questions...

What should I put in the tortilla wraps and how can I make them not messy?

Does sushi freeze? I made it once and it was a bit of a faff.

Can I make non-pork sausages rolls? We live in the ME, so he shouldn't really be taking pork to school.

Thanks for your help

When he says Mexican food what does he mean?

If all else fails, could he have a huge breakfast, tea as soon as he gets home from school and supper later on and skip lunch altogether?

lamb sausage rolls they look lush!

I think seeker has a good suggestion. I also think that if you send him in with a snack for lunch time (fruit and a cereal bar/piece of 'homemade' flapjack/halva etc) he will eventually start eating it. He does seem to have chosen rather difficult types of food, perhaps he really is just testing you?

(PS what was he like at lunch when HS?)

By Mexican, he means chilli and tortilla chips. He'll also eat rice.

He eats yoghurts at home, but because of the heat, I worry about them being a bredding ground for bacteria. I am also funny about fruit. Although he likes it and eats it at home, I will not send him to school with apples, etc. because of the choking risk (we nearly lost our eldest DC this way, so I am a bit anxious about it - DS doesn't know).

Cereal bar is a good suggestion. Also the sausage rolls look nice, but no ground lamb here.

My ds was like this and I was worried all the time.I tried everything but still the lunch box came home full! He is now 17 taller than his dad and never stops eating!

You're in the middle east aren't you Layla?

I can see that you'd worry about the heat then. But most protein based foods would then be a problem, including sushi. What about one of those cooler box lunch boxes?

Yeah, we're in the ME. He just has a small, fabric lunchbox. I guess I could consider a cooler-type lunchbox.

I worry so much about him, poor skinny little thing

Maybe roast a load of veg with mexican spices (enough for a week/few days) and put them in tortillas for him with some salad and guacamole/sour cream/mayo. When I put wraps in lunch boxes I fold one end of the wrap under to seal it and leave the top open. I roll the whole thing tightly in foil, seal the foil tightly at the bottom and just twist it at the top so they know which end to open from. He can just tear the foil down little by little and there's not that much mess.

You could probably make beef or quorn sausage rolls easily enough with some puff pastry. They're probably not healthy per se, but if he's skinny he'll need the calories.

I think you could benefit from discussing your fears of choking with someone and come up with some strategies to deal with it. I have no idea if that is easy or practical in the middle east.

I would suggest you buy a cool box/bag and ice blocks, these can be flexible and light, to keep his lunch cool. Then perhaps an insulated container for sushi, thermos do small pots.

I send DD with hot foods in a flask. Is this something you have considered, not typical packed lunch but it works. Pasta/jacket potatoes/soup would he eat Anything like that? Or perhaps chilli in a flask and tortilla chips in a zip lock bag?

Homemade 'sausage rolls' with perhaps chicken/turkey mince spiced the same ad pork would be could be healthy.

littleducks, you would be horrified by the number of children who choke on their school lunches every year. I am liking the chicken/turkey mince idea. Do you really think this would work? What spices could I use?

MackerelOfFact, sadly there is no Quorn here. I like your tin foil strategy though

I don't eat pork so don't know but isn't it sage that is nomally used to flavour it? If it is poultry mince then it should look similar and he might not even notice

I don't want to offend you, I do understand that choking is a possibility. I would suggest that it might help you to talk about this to try and move on. I don't know you, so it might not work, so feel free to ignore the advice if you want. But if you could come up with strategies, like cutting fruit to the optimal size to reduce the risk (dunno what this is btw, bur when I did blw-ing with my kbabies it was too big to put in whole, so fingers of fruit) it might help both you and your son. It can't be nice worrying about him choking every day and now worrying that he won't eat and will be hungry.

Layla, you need to get a cool bag/box. You could freeze the bottle of water/juice, pop it in on a morning, it will keep everything cool and be defrosted by lunch time. Or you could get some of those ice/gel packs.

Tortilla wraps: Chicken with salsa with lettuce and strips of pepper(bell pepper/capsicum). To save time, you could do a few days worth of lettuce and pepper, put in tupperware in the fridge. Then you just have to put the wraps together on a morning. If you can, get pre cooked chicken, or cook a few breasts, chop into strips and freeze in portions.

Will he eat chilli & rice cold? If so, batch cook and portion up to freeze.

Thanks TotemPole, good advice! Can you eat chilli & rice cold? I am assuming you can?

Get a rice cooker with a timer, and make quick sushi in the morning - I used to do this all the time until both DCs moved on to school meals. They were born in Japan and DD still hasn't taken to sandwiches or standard UK lunchbox things.

You set the rice cooker on timer to be ready first thing in the morning, have all the filling ingredients ready the night before, and use the powdered sushi vinegar (this stuff) rather than faffing around with all the different ingredients. Used to take me five minutes to do DD's lunchbox.

You can eat it cold. I think it's personal taste whether you'd like it or not.

I've never tried things like gazpacho because, to me, soup should be hot.

Those bento lunch boxes TanteRose posted look tastey.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I spoke to DS this morning and we agreed that he would have the following in rotation:

Sushi
Chilli
Sausages rolls.

I will make them up every couple of weeks and freeze them. He will also take drinks, a biscuit and a small packet of raisins. He actually said "oh yum! I am so looking forward to my lunch now!".

Thanks again for all your help

if you are worried about the heat, get a cooler lunchbag/box. also you can put the yoghurt in the freezer the night before, so it stays cooler for longer (I use that instead of a freezer block in my ds lunchbag)