Another packed lunch thread!!

[BeansOnToast123]

Hello all!
Toddler is super fussy when it comes to food and I’m struggling with packed lunches. He won’t eat sandwiches in any form. He’s 2, when I go out for the afternoon I take out a Heinz or Hipp tray but I want to encourage him to eat proper food for his lunch.
He loves scrambled egg! I’m wondering if I make him an omelette in the morning, slice it up, will it be ok wrapped in foil and put in his lunch box for the afternoon?
He likes pasta and veg sauce too for his tea so I’m going to try him with cold pasta and see if he likes that.
What do parents of toddlers that won’t eat sandwiches give for packed lunch please? Carrot/cucumber sticks with hummus is out of the question! He’s funny about rice and couscous too. Chunks of cheese get thrown on the floor, grapes too!
Thanks all!

Mine wouldn’t eat a ham sandwich for example but would eat sandwiches with pate in - if they can’t take it off the bread, it’s fine. So worth trying other things. I tempted them initially by using a star shaped cutter and now they just eat them normally.

Mine are increasingly fussy about carbs, plus an egg allergy means no omelettes. Randomly discovered they’ll happily eat whole meal pitta bread so that’s usually what they get.

Have you tried porridge bars / weetabix loaf etc for carbs instead? Crackers, breadsticks etc?

Cheese and crackers?

Mini quiches made in a fairy cake tray? Loads of recipes online for those.

www.tamingtwins.com/mini-crustless-quiches/

Cold chicken nuggets (homemade if you want healthy), chopped up sausage, cold baked wedges? Cold pizza?

I’ve made quiche in cake tins and yes he normally eats them ( it ice I say normally ) would they be ok cooked the night before stored in the fridge then eaten room temperature from lunch box?
@HelenaJustina Unfortunately he won’t eat cheese. I tried crackers a while back and he refused but I will try again

He won’t eat pizza or sausage. He used to eat wrap pizza that id make but he won’t eat that anymore either. He used to eat bread sticks but has gone off those too.
Dreading him going to nursery and having to take packed lunch as I’m really struggling.

He’s also funny about chicken and meat. Sometimes he will eat a tiny bit of chicken but mostly not. I have to hide it in veg sauce or baked beans

Savoury flapjack such as this one www.myfussyeater.com/savoury-carrot-flapjacks/ Grating the carrot for this recipe is quite time consuming, so if I’m in a hurry I do this recipe www.juniormagazine.co.uk/lifestyle/leek-and-cheese-seeded-flapjacks-for-the-whole-family/
Courgette muffins realfood.tesco.com/recipes/cheesy-courgette-muffins.html
Mini pizzas or slices of pizza
Lentil slice www.healthylittlefoodies.com/curried-lentil-bake/
Pizza pinwheel www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pizza-puff-pinwheels
Breadsticks/mini rice cakes and dip
Sausage rolls www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/summer-sausage-rolls

Mine won’t eat meat at all unless it’s processed, they just hate the texture. They are both autistic and struggle but fortunately will eat different fruits and veg.

I tried so many different kind of carbs - something called Dutch crispbreads are a massive hit weirdly. Rice cakes too but they’re basically air.

What about baking savoury muffins, banana bread? The pancakes you can make with egg and banana?

I know lots of my friends said their kids started eating more when they saw other kids eating at nursery but mine are oblivious sadly

If he eats omelette would he eat a cold hard boiled egg. Is all bread out? How about pita? If you cut into fingers and bake them in the oven they crisp up. You can do the same with wraps to make a kind of tortilla chip.
Falafel?

Tortillas? My toddler is obsessed with them and will just eat them plain. She's a sandwich refuser as well, HOWEVER she has now eaten a sandwich for lunch three days in a row! Hurrah! Made using sandwich thins rather than normal bread.

I wouldn't worry about nursery. My daughter basically survives on apples, cheese and tortillas at home and throws quite impressive tantrums if we so much as suggest she tries a nibble of something else. Eats everything she's given in nursery though 😑

I’ve tried sandwich thins and he just won’t try them at all. I’ll give pitta a try. With tortilla, do you just wrap whatever filling it is? I imagine he will just pull it apart though.
Egg wise, he only just discovered he loves poached eggs, this took forever for him to try. I knew he’d like them as he loves scrambled egg. Also omelette took ages for him to try too. Boiled egg I’m working on still, he’s refused it whenever I have tried him wit some.
@SinkGirl he’s got suspected autism (On waiting list) which could explain the fussiness with food or he could just be being a typical toddler and going through a fussy stage.

Pita strips with hummus to dip into.
Flat breads with pesto
Crackers with cheese, babybels, cheese spread, philli
Cold pizza

@saywhatwhatnow he won’t eat cheese or hummus or pizza as I’ve stated further up. Thanks anyway though

Will he eat the elements of a sandwich?

Or plain or buttered bread
Cheese or ham on its own?

If so, just put them in separatly....?

DS won't eat any sandwich except peanut butter and we're not allowed peanut butter sandwiches in packed lunch.

we quite often do par-baked baguettes that I cook in the morning and just put in his lunch box plain. Sometimes I make him a flat bread from a Jamie Oliver recipe with some olive oil which he quite likes. I also do homemade muffins - his favourite are carrot which are great because they freeze well so I just take one out the freezer and put in his lunch box. They are "sweet" but not as sweet as store bought ones, and the actual added sugar is low. (I can send you the recipe if you think he'd like them but he might be a bit young as DD, who is 4, finds them too "spicy").

I've been planning to try some savoury muffins too but just haven't got around to testing a few recipes on him yet. A friend does cheese scones for her kids which, I think, she pre-prepares and freezes like I do with the muffins.

He also likes those Organix snack bars - again his preference is the carrot one but he used to like the apple one and DD likes the berry ones.

The hardest thing about the baguette thing is that I then have to try get protein etc into him another way. He eats cheese so I usually put a chunk in, or sometimes a babybel. Sometimes I give him a meatstick or chorizo (he won't eat ham/salami/egg except at home as the smell when he opens his lunch box overwhelms him - he has sensory issues). And a yoghurt tube/pouch/pot for dessert. And then some fruit (no bananas - see smell issues above). He's good at vegetables/salad so I do add those quite often too, but when I'm in a rush they are usually the first thing to go.

Mine were better at eating things separately rather than as a whole so:

A slice of buttered crusty baguette with separate slice of ham/cubes of cheese/cold sausage/chicken nugget etc

Variety of crackers/crisp breads with similar

Cold pasta with the above

chopped up veg sticks

I think they liked the choice. Also textures can be kept apart which some little ones struggle with.

I’ve tried a deconstructed sandwich but he pulls a face and throws it. I take it away then try him with it again later on and get the same reaction. He loves toast but won’t have bread and butter.
I’ll keep trying and hopefully one day (soon) he will have a try. I’ve tried making a fuss when he touches it, well done you good boy etc etc but this doesn’t work. I’ve tried leaving it on the table so he can help himself but this doesn’t work either.

try the spanish omlette like this with egg and potatoe
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/real-spanish-omelette

Regarding the Spanish omelette, will that be ok cold cooked from the night before if stored in fridge? I think he’d have a go at eating that

Absolutely re spanish omelette being cooked and served in lunch box cold the next day. No problem at all. Especially if lunch box is insulated.

I wish I could get kids to eat eggs in lunch boxes, but while they both love eggs, they point blank refuse to have them in their lunch boxes. For DS it's a smell thing but no idea what DD's issue is.

Also, if he likes pasta and sauces, there are insulated lunch boxes or containers that will keep them warm for him.

I hadn’t thought of an insulted lunch box for pasta, thank you @BlingLoving I’m going to keep trying with boiled eggs too as they’ll be a nice healthy afternoon snack for him as well.

Didn't read the whole thread sorry @BeansOnToast123. Sleep deprivation/4 week old has turned me to mush.

But re hummus there are other dips you could try with pitta. Tesco do a nice carrot one, or tzatziki, or taramasalata.

And with the cheese my ds doesn't like some but does like others, and have you tried melted cheese? My DS will eat normal cheese but not keen on melted. Your DS might be opposite. If he likes toast would he go for it on toast. Or nut butter of some variety on toast.