Help with childrens packed lunches please!

[DorsetLass]

DD starts school this week - and has to have packed lunches for first term. I would love some help with healthy filling ideas that extend past sarnies please!! She's not a fussy water - help much appreciated thank you!!!

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Mini pots of hummus with carrots to dip in. cold slice of home made pizza. pasta salad. cheese and crackers. not all at once obviously

Nothing that takes any effort to eat, playing is far more fun.

You may get a bit of a reprieve in reception as, hopefully the staff notice them leaving half their food. Later, I'm afraid anything interesting is a waste of time. The amount of a sandwich which is crust, or apple that is core is amazing.

Cold breaded chicken.

Breadsticks and a dip/cream cheese.

Raw cauliflower and hummus.

Pot of home-made fruit salad.

DD2 loves bagels instead of bread for sandwiches because they don't get squashed.

Mini pitta breads filled with salad.

I make up a batch of breaded chicken goujons and meatballs, and freeze them and then put one in their lunchbox the night before and it has defrosted by the morning.

• Pesto Pasta, pasta salad,
• roll out bread flat and spread it with cream cheese/ham (or choc spread as a treat), roll up like a swiss roll and cut into slices
• steamed broccoli
• cheese chunks
• Japanese style rice balls or Californian roll-style sushi (v v easy and quick to make)
• savoury scones
• homemade jelly
• raw veg
• sandwiches cut into shapes
• dried fruit
• tortilla wraps
• pot of salad
• cheese and crackers
• mini scotch eggs

Lots of good ideas already listed above. I try to give something filling (sandwich/pasta/soup) and either a fruit or veg item, maybe a yoghurt too and a small piece of cheese to finish (as recommended by our dentist as it reduces the acidity in the mouth and therefore reduces the amount of decay.) My DD aged 7 always eats at a decent speed but my DS aged 5 is slower so I learned early on to make lunch as easy for them to eat as possible.

Warm lunches:

Pasta with pesto +/- sweet corn, ham, cubed cheese.
Homemade soup, my kids tell me they sometimes drink it from their wide neck flask which is less messy than using their spoon. (They are 7 and 5).
Couscous +/- sweet corn, peas, roast veg from the previous evening's dinner cut into whatever size they prefer, ham (although couscous can be messy for young kids)

Cold lunches

Cream Crackers with peanut butter and banana (assuming no nut allergies in the class)
Slice of quiche
Little pot of cherry tomatoes, mandarin orange already peeled and separated (for the slow slow eater!), grapes etc.
Carrot sticks with cottage cheese, roast red pepper and cream cheese dip (made when roasting veg for dinner)
Pitta bread or wrap as a change to loaf bread sandwich

Happy lunch making!

Definitely agree withStillSmiling about the small 'cheese course'; my dentist is convinced that my cheese habit is the reason that I still have TWO HEALTHY MILK TEETH in my gob at the age of 35!

Thank you all so much - feeling slightly more inspired! Do you send warm food in in thermos type thing?

I send warm food in a thermos flask. Pasta, soup, stews, curries, chilli - often just leftovers.

Yes I bought Thermos Foogo flasks. I thought they were a bit pricey (£16/17) but i have definitely got good use out of them. I did quite a bit of research before I bought them. I preheat with boiling water for 15 mins before filling with food as recommended and they definitely keep the food hot. In fact my two kids came home with their soup hardly eaten yesterday as they both separately said to me it was too hot. They dont have time to be waiting for it to cool at lunchtime so they just ate it when they got home instead. I'll get it right next time!

Def wraps or pitta bread more popular here than sliced bread
Cheese and crackers? Tortillas and dips?
Little rolls?
Savory scones??

Still in awe of a YR 2 girl last term who had quails eggs with a dip of salt in her lunch book.
In winter it was always asparagus soup
Couldn't help staring as it made such a difference

Also going back to original post what about sausage rolls? or mini pasties?
quiche? i make an egg and bacon one which we all love (am guilty of a soggy bottom at times though ...hangs head in shame!)

I send DD2 with raw cauliflower which her TA seems to think is quite bizarre. Is she right?