My 6 yo won't eat veg or fruit - what do I put in his packed lunch?

[clutteredup]

I've had an ongoing 'game' whereby I send DS to school with carrot sticks ( the one veg he will eat occasionally at home) and he brings them back. I eat them, I send him to school with more carrot sticks , he brings them home. I send .. you get the picture. I want to be a mum who gives him a balanced packed lunch, no c**p or crisps even, but sandwiches and water which is all he'll eat somehow seems so ..I don't know... boring not to mention spartan, mean , cruel. Should I give in to his demands and give him junk food like his friends so at least he has something he'll eat???

Floatingonthemed - I wouldn't mind if they ate them later, but unfortunately they don't. Today I bought a pack of 10 ice-lollys and put them in the freezer. When we got home from school I had various distractions, phonecalls, friends came round, 14 yr old DD taking up some of my time.

Unbeknown to me twin DD's at 9 ice-lollys!!!

Furious.

Ah, the crunchy chickpeas. Take tin of chickpeas (or soak and cook yourself); drain and marinate for 20 minutes in a bit of salt and a clove or two of crushed garlic. Put on lightly oiled baking tray in single layer and bake for 15 minutes at about 180, turn, 15 minutes at about 160, turn again, and 30 minutes at about 140. Sometimes they are done before this, so you need to check they aren't burning. They are lovely and garlicky.

I got my thermos-y things from Great Little Trading Company; they are stainless steel with a wide-mouth so you can get spoons/forks inside. They are great for all sorts of hot stuff that can include veggies. I've also put in hot fruit crumble for DS1 (who will eat it).

Cook chickpeas yourself, obviously, rather than actually cook YOUR self. Too late, must sleep now.

Great thread - I have the exact same problem with my ds, he will only have a ham sandwich, a babybel and a fromage frais. The carrots/apple/grapes/orange which, like cluttededup's ds, he will occasionally have at home, remain untouched.
My MIL says I should send him with cake
He is a fussy bugger though, my dd's on the other hand (ages 8 and 18months) will eat anything (they're both olive lovers too! )
LullabyLoo, your ideas sound yummy, but ds won't touch anything like that with a barge pole, hate's anything with sauce or dressing, might give raisins and cereal bars a go, though I imagine them to be full of sugar - which are the best ones for kids?

Ooh smoothies are a good idea Fancypants...

Singers, just looked on GLTC site and my ds1's hot food thingy is the same as yours, just ordered from a different place. i think there's 1p price difference. They're really handy aren't they?

we were banned from nuts in our school cos one of the boys (who is now ds' dad) was severely allergic to nuts.

Thanks Singersgirl - those chickpeas sound great - am going going to give them a try over the weekend. We all LOVE chickpeas!

ds2 eats almost anything at home, but has always ignored the 'healthy' things in his lunch box. He's 11 and still does it - little monster!

Anyway... I started butying him Jordan's 'All fruit' bars - they are very sweet, but are 100% fruit (unlike 'School Bars' etc) so they count as a portion of fruit. He will also eat houmos in a roll, even though he wouldn't eat it on its own or in a sandwich.

It's not ideal - I'd prefer him to eat an item of real fruit instead, but I make sure that the other 2 meals of the day include plenty of fruit & veg.

How about frutina bars? They are just pure dried fruit bars and are pretty easy to get hold of in most health food shops, and are only ever 29 or 30 pence each. My DS loves them.

How about this: buy a pot of greek yoghurt and a bag of frozen mango chunks from tesco, or a few mangoes. Puree the lot together, freeze in washed out little yoghurt/petit filou pots, then each morning empty one pot into a little tupperware container and pack it in his lunchbox. It will defrost at school but still be nice and cold and a bit like a smoothie/ice cream. You could add honey to sweeten more or other soft fruit too. Yum

Rodeo the goodies bars (by organix) and grizzly bars (both children's bars) have less sugar than other breakfast or cereal bars, and are sweetened with fruit and fruit sugar instead, if that helps?

My DS is an olive lover too! So are all his friends! that people take a week to get through a jar! my DS can munch his way through a whole jar in one day!

Thanks for all the fruit bar info, will give them a go! So Jordans All Fruit, Frutina, Organix and Grizzly... will keep an eye out for them
Climbingwalls - your yogurt idea is great too - much heathier than a Petit Filous I'm sure!
What about those little pots of fruit you sometimes find near the custard and rice pudding in supermarkets - Fruitini or something? Might try him with something like that....might be more appealing to him if it looks more like a dessert IYKWIM

Yes healthier and cheaper!!!

The pots of fruit could be agood idea as packaged foods always seem to appeal more to LOs! Just check the ingreidnets lists before buying them!