Quick ideas for sandwich teas please, no faffy nonsense

[oliveoil]

dd seems to be prefering a finger food tea lately, has had a few strops when she gets tired at night and it is easier to put things in front of her and leave her to it. So, I have got in the usual fish fingers (how nice are they?), nuggets etc but want to know ideas for sandwiches APART FROM CHEESE!!!!! What about those Shipham spread things I remember from childhood, are they full of cr*p or ok? Sliced ham/turkey are they ok or in the bad mother camp?

She has a good breakfast and homemade lunch so I am not tooooo fussy as I know she already had decent food in her but I want something quick and easy and can't think of any fillings.

Thanking you in advance oh wise ones.

xxxx

Hi you celeb dater! How are you doing?

You're so right about fish fingers I'd forgotten just how yummy they are. Ok - sandwich sugesstions:

peanut butter
chicken
tuna
banana
These are ds's favourires. Use different breads aswell - flavoured, pitta atc.

Not sure about the spread things though, or the sliced turkey/ham but ds loves it. Sure someone will tell us if it's bad for our little cherubs.

asda do nic e'fresh' sandwich fillers in the cool cabinet. there's all sorts of stuff.

When you say chicken and tuna, do you mix it with mayo or is it sliced packet chicken? and tinned tuna? She has has tuna in pasta but not in a sandwich, will try that

DD loves paste - that stuff you used to get as a child - I even fob her off that it is Tuna and Mayo if I don't have time to make it!! - chuck in a bit of cucumber or tomato - sure that would make up for the other stuff in it!!

Fishfinger Sandwiches - bit of lettuce and salad cream - mmmmmm my fave!!

Marmite on toast fingers??

Selection of little sausages, tomatoes, olives, sweetcorn, cucumber bits of cheese, bits of ham, crab sticks, pasta salad - not a sandwich of course but this is the sort of thing I used to give DD - a huge selection of stuff and now she eats anything!! (Well except olives and mushrooms!!)

Blimy, what did I miss? Who is OO dating?!?!

.....Surely not Beckham as well?

peanut butter & sliced banana is a hot favourite with dd1
or do tuna & canned sweetcorn (tastes better than frozen)
also celery sticks 'filled' with peanut butter

I mix tinned tuna with a dollop of hellmans and a smidge of ketchup. Ds1 eats it in sandwiches or pitta pockets and ds2 eats it straight from bowl.

Egg with a bit of mayonnaise? Have to say my children prefer Marmite to anything else in the world which is good news for me as it's the least faffy thing in the world. Will be a sad day in the tamum household when it turns out that eating Marmite is associated with horrible diseases in later life

she used to live with N... G........

These are really good, like the celery/peanut butter combo and the ketchup/tuna mayo idea may ease her into the fishy taste a bit more.

Keep em coming

Eggs! Dur, how could I forget eggs. Scrambled in a pitta maybe?

Peanut butter with a bit of nutty chocolate spread also v popular. Get Green & Black's spread if ordinary stuff makes you feel guilty (then stop yourself spooning out of the jar).

Hummus good too and very easy.

Sounds yummy, can I have some?

as well as celery/peanut butter you can do celery/philadelphia

ds1 also loves Tzaziki (sp?). Eats it with pitta or on plate as a dip for mini sausages, carrot sticks etc.

...and in our house we always call these sorts of suppers/lunches "bits". As in do you want "bits" for lunch". Kids then know they will get a selection of stuff out of the fridge. Usefull for using up all the leftovers when you are just about to do your weekly shop.

finger food:
avacado
edam / cheddar / babybells
sauages, skinless, preferably organic little skinny ones
lemon sole goujons
(I made some really great chicken nugget things that I froze, made with chicken and apple if you
want the receipe)
bits of cucumber, tomato, etc
pumpikn seeds, raisins
dried fruit like apricots, apple rings etc
potato waffles
gently steamed vegetables - sticks of carrot, broccoli etc
corn on the cob
home made pizza, just spead a bit of tomato puree on a bagette and chop of some fresh toms and grate cheese and stick under grill

sarnies
pitta bread with humous and dips etc

pitta bread, flatbread, or wholemeal sliced bread with:
egg mago & cress
egg mago and tomato
tuna & pulses
tuna mayo and cucumber
cream cheese & grated carrot
cream cheese & strawberry jam
cream cheese & tiny bit of marmite
cheddar cheese & grated apple
pate and cucumber
ham & grated cheese
chicken mayo with grated apple
chicken mayo with cucumber / tomato / cheese

Do you have time to make batches of stuff and freeze them?

If so meatballs would be good and you can hide veggies in the meat mixture

I also make things like honey and banana bread
and carrot cake etc.

Let me know and I'll fish out the receipes for you. All very easy honest, I work so I don't have loads of time on my hands either.

Love TC xx

How about a mini pizza on half an english muffin? Spread with tomato paste/coulis, add ham, cheese, half cherry tomatoes to make a face, etc... put under grill and serve... Yummy

We call it 'eating cold'.

Have lots of carrot sticks etc in the fridge, and bits of friut to ease you concience over usinf cheese spread....which my two love with bread sticks.

These are all really good ideas, thank you all

I do a cooking session once a week for dd and store meals in the freezer but to be honest she is getting to be a pain at tea so finger food seems the easiest way to go, she just hits food with a spoon at the moment so I have to spoon feed her and it is a constant battle of wills grrrrrrrrrr. Where has my angelic smiling cherub gone?

Hummus, definitely. Ds eats it in sandwiches or on its own, with carrot sticks. He often asks for "a plate of things".

My ds, 2, loves taramosalata on bread and chopped tinned pineapple. This is a really helpful thread for me to.

Olive oil, lottie is becoming stong willed in the wanting to do it hereslef area.

if you want the easy receipes for little meatballs, and these chicken balls then let me know. They seem to work v well her at the mo. I serve them to her with steamed veg and maybe a potato waffle cut up in smaller squares and leave her to it.

She prefers things like that to sarnies.

These sound yummy. TC - can I have your chicken and apple nugget recipe. Feel a Good Mummy cooking session coming on.

Make some cheese straws and let her have dips to dip them in.

Just ready made pastry (puff) with cheese rolled into it - easy peasy and if you have another child they can help make then - you can even use biscuit cutter to cut out little shapes and bake stars and moons and all stuff like that!!

DD also loves little quiches - M&S and other places do them - you can buy party food things and then defrost as needed - DD thinks xmas has come when she gets a plate full of party food!!

My daughters lived on finger food when they were little. I found they would eat far more healthy food if it all looked nice and colourful, so I used to arrange on a huge plate an assortment of the following and let them pick:

fruit cut into bite sizes: apple, banana, strawberries, grapes, oranges, melon, pear, plums, apricots, satsuma, etc...

raw vegetables also cut into sticks or little pieces: carrots, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, etc...

dried fruit and nuts: apricots, sultanas, raw unsalted cashews or almonds

slices of cheese, ham, quorn, wedges of egg

fingers of toast or bread with marmite, peanut butter, cheese spread, tartex, jam, lemon curd, honey, malted fruit loaf, pieces of currant bun or scone...

tortilla chips, frankfurters or other cooked sausage, pieces of quiche, sausage rolls

bowls of dip, humous, tzadziki, cheese and onion dip, guacamole, etc...

Occasional sweet treat of choc finger biscuits, pieces of cake etc...

My trick was to make it all look so appetising that they eat stuff they don't want when you say, 'how about an apple, or a peach?'

And it only takes five minutes to prepare.