Packed lunch ideas with protein for restricted eater

[SprigatitoYouAndIKnow]

Ds2 is very difficult to make packed lunch for. He will eat a limited number of mains, so it is fine at home, but they all require cooking. They wouldn't be things we could keep warm until lunch either eg scrambled egg, super noodles, pizza. He likes a food until he goes off it. We recently lost tuna wraps, so have no idea what to give for lunch at school. Awaiting autism assessment, so this is not just average picky eating.

He currently has a bread roll that comes back vaguely nibbled, fruit and veg, yoghurt fruits type thing and a snack bar suck as a penguin. He is fine with peanut, but school ban that due to kids with severe allergies. It means he comes out of school starving and in a big ball of rage.

I am thinking of swapping the snack bar for a homemade muffin or cookie. Does anyone have recipes for making these high protein and suitable for children? All the recipes I can find seem to be for gym bunnies and are packed with protein powder and artificial sweetener.

Today sent him with a nan bread and a lentil brownie, so see how he comes out later. Luckily he is fine with fruit and veg, so please type of that too. It's just not going to fill him up.

@whatnnoww yes, we have the stuck on something and then suddenly won't eat it. The supermarket delivery looks ridiculous with 4 giant boxes of cornflakes, 8 boxes of mini pizzas, 8 large tuna cans and endless mini cucumbers. At least most of it can go to the food bank if they go off it all suddenly.

@FairFuming pancakes and scones are good things to try, thank you. Both things I can sneak extra fat or protein in too.

nut free schools would also exclude cashew or almond butter.

I have bought a packet of chickpea flour which I’ve yet to try - but it has a flat bread recipe on the side - maybe another option .

I second the idea of pouches for yoghurt. If you open them at home then rescrew the cap on, he'll probably be able to manage - it's breaking the seal that's a bit tricky. Can he manage small screw tupperwares like Sistema - because I used to put yoghurt in those too with a spoon in his box.

You say no cheese but would he eat feta? Mine wouldn't eat regular cheese in his lunch box because of texture issues when it had been sitting for a few hours, but feta was okay - so I used to do a little tub of feta or even a "salad" with mixed lettuce and some olive oil/balsamic (but DS was a bit odd in that he has always liked salads. Normal children probably less so! ) I also provide small tubs of ham/chorizo/salami/cooked chicken according to child and day.

I have a lightly spiced carrot muffin recipe that's really good if you think he'd eat those - they are a bit of a pain to make so I usually double the recipe and then cook them in bulk because they freeze and defrost really well. Not so much high protein, but they're not full of sugar/UPF either so more filling and nutritious. Let me know and I can send you the recipe.

This is a long shot but would he eat cold crumpets/pancakes or waffles? We make waffles or banana pancakes most mornings and I also do extra as DC and DH will happily eat them cold as a snack when they get in from school. The banana pancakes are especially good as you can use extra egg (and if he's twitchy, a few chocolate chips might make him more willing to eat them?). DS also quite liked those pre-made packets of pancakes from the supermarkets but I was always a bit dubious about those. But needs must sometimes.

Another trick we found is that the DC quite liked the freshness of using par-cooked baguettes/ciabattas etc. I can cook them in the air fryer in about 5 minutes and by lunch they're still soft and fluffy.

Final one that was a godsend for DD for a while - mini chicken burgers. It's ridiculous - I think she just liked them because they are "cute". I would lightly fry a mini chicken breast (or cut a bigger one to make a small one) and put that in a mini brioche (or I have been known to use a cookie cutter to make a regular role a mini roll. I was desperate). For DD, I'd add avocado. DS would have his with pickles and mayo. If I stuck a toothpick in she thought she'd died and gone to heaven. Ridiculous, but saved me for a while!

Would he eat cold mini quiches? I make them using wonton wrappers as The base. Done in a muffin tray. Very easy to make and high in protein if you add ham and cheese.

What about swopping breakfast and lunch so a hot, bigger, meal for breakfast and then something else for lunch?

You mentioned supernoodles. If the school will allow hot food, they travel by flask really well as a warm lunch. Was one of my fussy DC's lunch options when they all had to eat outside because of Covid.

If he would eat the noodles at room temperature from his lunchbox that might be a good call and then add small amounts in a seperate container or paper of "new" things to try like the muffins you are thinking of adding. Fruit, veg and yoghurt are good! so you have that sorted. Maybe up the yoghurt portion as it is filling, high satiety and has protein. You can buy protein enhanced yoghurts if you are concerned about that.

You asked about muffins - I find I can get quite a lot of egg into a baby led weaning type recipe muffin, either savoury or sweet, and some recipes have Greek yoghurt in too.
At the moment I’m also making pancakes with ‘Chaffle’ batter, which has nuts in so not for school but could be a good breakfast or after school snack option!

I feel your pain. we had a bad phase where I was trying to hide protein from my autistic protein-rejecting son. Luckily he is older now and will eat a limited range reliably.
I would try different protein yoghurt pouches, you might find one he likes.
bake some treats like flapjacks, brownies, muffins with some protein powder baked in? We found ds didn’t notice it. I read online somewhere to replace 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour with protein powder and just used any recipe. For flapjacks added bit of fluid to prevent dryness.
We find things like different types of cheese, cheesy crackers (ritz, cheddars), pepperami , snack packs of roasted chickpeas/seeds are better than ‘a sandwich’ or a mixed up dish. Some of the graze snacks are good.

Thanks all. Today I have bought chia seeds, oat bran and no-peanuts butter to add to snack baking. The brownies I did yesterday were a vegan recipe, but I added a couple of eggs to up the protein count. He did actually eat the nan bread. The past couple of weeks rolls and baguettes have mostly been treated as garnished and binned when he got home. He didn't touch the separate pot of ham, but still have bacon and sausage to try. I don't think he would eat chicken, but will try on the weekend, so it is an optional component of a meal.

I feel ridiculous asking for help and then saying no to most things, it is just so difficult to find things he will eat outside of the house. He would absolutely live off cornflakes and pizza (and anything containing sugar) if i let him, but they aren't easy yo packed lunch. There have been some great examples here though, so lots to try. I really do appreciate it.

Fage 5% fat Greek yoghurt is high in protein (and delicious). I put it in dc’s lunchboxes with some frozen cherries in - the cherries keep it cool and have defrosted by lunchtime.

A smoothie with protein powder?
Meal replacement protein bar if the school will allow them.
Corn muffins made with egg.

There are lots of recipes for black bean brownies/ chickpea brownies etc and honestly you can’t taste the pulses. Also some with beetroot / pumpkin / courgette if you want to get veg in. I really hear you re the food - as I read in your post the words “he will eat it until he doesn’t” my mind went immediately to ND - my ND child is exactly like this and packed lunches were an absolute nightmare…

DD is similarly fussy, and at home always has a hot meal (three times a day). She doesn't like school dinners

Mini sausage rolls and Tesco chicken poppers (which are minced chicken in breadcrumbs) work for her - she wouldn't eat cold, nutella free (!) bread based food unless desperate. But she eats meat more reliably than anything else anyway.

Cold chicken nuggets?

We chose her school partly because they don't mind what goes in a packed lunch....

@ParentsTrapped I love the frozen cherries idea!

@ZazieBeth he won't drink smoothies or eat savoury muffins. I love corn muffins and regularly make trhm for me.

@Lostmyunicorn thankfully fruit and veg are no issue. The one fussy either they wouldn't go near a chicken nugget, but gets very exciting about broccoli. It's things to actually fill him up I struggle with.

My son is autistic and had a lot of issues with texture, so wouldn't eat anything with seeds for example. He will eat pancakes though, so I do banana pancakes with milled chia and linseed. Sometimes I add raspberries, but only if he is with me when I am cooking them to ok it! Very little puts him off. I feel your pain!

"We recently lost tuna wraps..."

If that was a possibility before then maybe tinned salmon or salmon paste, perhaps in pinwheel sandwiches might be an option?

Pinwheel sandwiches are sandwiches with thin layers of bread that have been rolled up like a pinwheel firework. You can also use tortillas as well if that is preferred.

Traditionally, you would slice a loaf of bread horizontally to get long slices of bread to flatten and roll up, but this video has a good method of using just ordinary sliced bread:

You can also use tortillas to do this as well.

The video shows how to roll up the bread to make pinwheels. You can also spread it with butter,

As to the filling, I guess that it is better for your DS that it is kept simple?

Tinned pink salmon is a great choice (about £1.40 for 210g from Sainsburys or Aldi - or £2.40 for skinless and boneless)

Remove from the tin, drain well, and then remove any bones and skin. Mash with a fork and add a teaspoon of malt (or any other) vinegar, or lemon juice if you prefer but for doing school sandwiches vinegar is just so much easier, and white pepper to taste.

Spread the bread with anything that your DS will eat - butter, cream cheese, mayo - or leave plain if he won't eat it. Then spread the salmon on the bread and roll up into pinwheels. Slice the pinwheels into individual slices 2 - 3 cm thick.

As an alternative to tinned salmon then salmon paste is also a very good choice. Salmon paste is basically the same thing as above (with vinegar and pepper) but chopped up a lot more finely into a paste.

We make savoury muffins with cheese and spinach, can really shove anything in them he might like. Cubes of cheese, salami, boiled eggs, crunchy chickpeas, lentil salad

Just to add to my post above. Talking about salmon sandwiches just brought back memories from my time at school.

My third year (nowadays Year 9) English teacher made me write out 100 times the following phrase because I misspelled the word "necessary".

"Never Eat Cake, Eat Salmon Sandwiches And Remain Young"

To be frank, even to this day, I still recite that phrase in my head when I'm trying to remember how to spell the word "necessary" correctly!

Would he eat cold pasta? DD takes cold pasta mixed with tuna and a drop
of mayo often. She’d eat that every day if she could.

OP, honestly, I would just provide a lunch that is filling and he will eat, to ensure that he is not hungry at school, and make the hot protein rich meals he likes at teatime / evening, and at weekend lunches.

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow

Tofoo extra firm tofu cut into 1cm cubes, tossed in cornflour and shallow fried until crisp. Could be eaten with a dip 9r added to noodles kept at room temperature.
I would also have suggested savoury muffins.
Home made cheesy straws using ready made puff pastry. You could sprinkle with sesame seeds, or spread a little marmite before baking.

greek yoghurt (full fat not reduced) is good because it has a lot more protein and is more filling. You can add jam or something if he wants it sweetened.

You could make black bean brownies, or similar bean type brownie or cake (chickpeas etc). Lots of protein and you can't taste the black beans! Delicious. Can be frozen in squares and defrosted for the packed lunch box.