Budget friendly lunchbox ideas

[FourStringsNoWaiting]

DD is 4 and currently takes a sandwich - either cheese or ham - crudités, fruit and baked lentil puffs to nursery. I'd like to start introducing more interesting different foods to her lunchboxes but I'm stuck for inspiration and have neither the time nor the budget for those amazing arty bento style lunches you see on Pinterest

Anyone have any suggestions please?

Vary the sandwich filling? Tuna, chicken, hummus?

Savoury muffins or little mini quiches made in a muffin tin. You can batch cook and freeze.

Pasta salad, couscous or rice salad.

Peanut butter though not cheap.

Egg?

I detest egg in sandwich myself. But plenty like it.

Sandwich spread or fish paste.

a boiled egg
chopped salad - cucumber, lettuce
mini tomato
try a different fruit each week.
vary the sandwich - banana, peanut butter, carrot and hummus, left over meat or stew
left over pizza
zucchini slice

NOT peanut butter if the nursery has a nut free policy.

Rice cakes groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-savour-bakes-lightly-salted-rice-cakes-130g/4088600526089

A little pot of sultanas or raisins - 95p for 500g in Aldi and that does at least 10 lunchboxes.

Yogurt groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-brooklea-tube-it-strawberry-peach-red-berry-flavour-yoghurts-9x37g/4088600033860

Pitta breads are really cheap. Ditto bread sticks.

The bento boxes with the sections to fill are my saviour. Forget the fancy cut out shapes and Instagram notes and what have you.

I use up whatever is lurking in the fridge in ours. General rule at least one section of veg and one of fruit. Then just fill as you go. It doesn’t have to match particularly as kids don’t seem to care. It’s the perfect use for things like one slice of garlic baguette and a dozen pieces of leftover pasta. I do lots of crackers/breadsticks/oatcakes with cheese/chorizo/deli meat. My friend often puts dips in for her kids - hummus with breadsticks and crudités for example - but mine are weird about textures and won’t eat it.