Nutritious packed lunch

[Chefskiss5]

This has probably been done to death but still can't find anything suitable.

DS needs a packed lunch every day for the next 4 weeks.

Today he asked me why others get so much more food than him in their packed lunch and I feel bad! But the examples he gave me are just processed packaged snacks, not actual food.

I do want to add more items though so need some ideas.

He is a good eater but doesn't like sandwiches so it doesn't help. He also says there is very little time to eat and definitely wouldn't eat anything that involves faffing with cutlery (sadly, as it rules out quite a lot).

Ideas and recipes welcome. Examples of what he has had so far:

Cheese scones
Cheese twists
WrapS
Carrot sticks, cucumber, tomatoes (have sent dip with it before which he usually loves but it came home as too faffy)
Satsumas, apple, cut up grapes, blueberries, watermelon,... whatever we have in
Babybel, frubes
Crisps

That's about it. I will try savoury waffles tomorrow (have some in the freezer).

A lot of my usual go-tos contain nuts so don't work.

Maybe savoury muffins? Homemade nut-free flapjacks?

Just trying to remember what went in DDs lunch box this morning, think it was:

• grapes
• chopped up kiwi fruit
• mini cucumbers x 2
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• plain croissant (she won’t eat sandwiches or any bread product with stuff on it for some unknown reason, it has to be plain. This rule only applies to lunchboxes, stuff on it its fine if at home or in a cafe, but something about a lunchbox changes things)
• some cooked chicken leftover from dinner the night before
• A homemade blackberry muffin
• a yoghurt

She does a full day of outdoor pursuits so spreads that across a 30 min lunch break and a morning and afternoon snack. They often supplement with snacks cooked over the camp fire too like s’mores or fruit they’ve picked out in the woods.

Mine like chicken, cheese strings, bread sticks, dark chocolate rice cakes, popcorn.

Cold chicken drumsticks? Baby bell?

Sausage rolls or chopped up cold sausages, samosas and cold pizza are a favourite in this house! And any form of cheesy tart or quiche which is easy to eat

• plain croissant (she won’t eat sandwiches or any bread product with stuff on it for some unknown reason, it has to be plain. This rule only applies to lunchboxes, stuff on it its fine if at home or in a cafe, but something about a lunchbox changes things)

Yes! That is DS! How funny they are the same. He is not fussy at all otherwise but in a lunch box any sandwich needs to be 'deconstructed'. So when he has wrap it is just a plain wrap and I put chicken pieces on the side, same with pitta, bagel etc.

You have reminded me about chicken though, I haven't thought to add that in for a while.

The homemade muffin sounds delicious!

All pastry based, Pasty, sausage roll mini quiches, mozzarella & pesto pinwheels- I bulk make these & freeze.

What about slices of pizza?

I forgot about sausage rolls, I used to alternate with this, I will reintroduce it again.

Chopped up sausages is such a good shout! Not sure why I never thought of that!

He is not so keen on pizza and quiche sadly (slowly realising he is more fussy than I think!)

A good bar of dark chocolate, maybe with nuts

Cheddar or other hard cheese cut into sticks

Dried fruit and nuts

Bananas, dates

Cooked sausages or chicken legs gone cold

Cereal bars, flap jacks

We’ve had a load of blackberries grow behind the shed at the bottom of the garden, the freezer is full and blackberries are now going in any recipe where they are a viable addition 😀 hence the blackberry muffins, we also discovered that if you make flapjacks, put half the mixture in the pan, then scoop on some blackberries that have been cooked down enough to evaporate off some of the juice, then put the other half of the flapjack mix on top, it ends up with a kind of thick chewy jammy layer in the middle that tastes really nice.

Would he go for bread sticks and hummus or something like that?

I bought a wide necked flask when DS had packed lunch often, and gave him pasta with veggie sauce and grated cheese or added some spiced mixed beans to a veggie rice pouch. Just needs a fork or spork.

Does he like bagels if he doesn't like sandwiches? You could do ham and cheese or smoked salmon and cream cheese or PBJ. Or filled pita bread - chicken salad or humous falafel. Or bread sticks with mini humous pot. Cubes of cheddar and crackers.

Maybe a slice of home made banana bread or a home made fruit muffin.

Yes we did this with rhubarb the neighbour gave us the other day, it was delicious! And tricked the children into eating rhubarb. I must check if the flapjack recipe contained nuts

Add more protein? Cheese cubes, ham, chicken bites, yoghurt, hummus to dip veg sticks or chopped up pitta bread into. Tuna mayo on crackers (or bread sticks to dip into it).

Dried banana chips, raisins/sultanas, pumpkin or sunflower seeds etc (I like a mix in a mini pot!)

Jelly pots, fruit pots, rice pudding pots, fruit winders

in the bread aisle… kids brioche, kids choc wrapped pancakes, waffles, wraps

honemade pinwheels? (Puff pastry, spread with tomato purée and grated cheese, roll into a sausage, chip into slices and bake - really easy). Put some veg like chopped peppers/spring onion in them if he won’t mind!

Does he have somewhere cold to put it ? I’m a bit funny about sausage rolls or cooked chicken or ham or quiche etc being left for hours in warm backpacks

One of mine wasn't a sandwich fan but she likes them now.

We used to have

cold pizza.
Plain tortilla chips with little pots of guacamole, salsa and cheese.
Sausage rolls ( although school were funny about them)
Chicken tikka salad served with a mini naan
Falafel and cous cous
And bagels every now and then were accepted.

Would he eat a wrap? Is it just all bread he hates?

How about a tortilla style omelette, cut onto wedges? You can just put potatoes and onions or add veggies, ham etc as well.

Couscous or pasta type salad ? With tuna, veggies, sweetcorn?

I make feta and spinach pancakes. They are quite nice cold. Just use a normal Delia style pancake batter, add crumbled feta and defrosted chopped and squeezed frozen spinach and spring onions or whatever other veg. They're lovely with sriracha.

Salad wraps, like a romain leaf with chicken and grated cheese inside? Maybe a pot of dressing or mayo to add? He could make them up himself if you put the stuff separately.

Loose cereal like Cheerios or mini filled shredded wheat? Like a few just as a snack in a bag? Then maybe a few dried fruit? Banana chips? Pretzels?

Cheese and crackers?
hard boiled egg
chicken skewers
roasted chickpeas
popcorn
oat cakes
corn cakes spread with cream cheese

And fritata!

Southern chicken wraps with lettuce.
Grapes
Bread sticks to add to dips.
Peperami stick.
Slice a chicken breast wrap each strip with bacon and airfry. Makes great chicken dips and not processed.
A scotch egg is filling and nutritious.

Also a banana.