Packed lunch ideas for my rather fussy 7 year old (lentil-weavers may wish to avert their eyes)

[WigWamBam]

I have lentil-weaverish tendencies but my daughter does not share them!

She starts having packed lunches this week and I am struggling for ideas for things to put in them. She'll have some salad and fruit, it's the sandwiches and stuff I'm struggling with.

She will only eat cheese if it's cooked. The only cold meat she will eat is gammon - and only then if I roast it myself. She'll eat Billy Bear meat (don't tell me it's crap; I know it's crap but it is at least crap that she will eat rather than leave in the box and go hungry), and cold bacon with lettuce. She'll have cold sausages or sausage rolls (yes, I know) and I make little egg and cheese flan things which she would eat cold ... and that's about it.

She won't eat humous or pasta salads, so they are off the list as well. She won't eat eggy sandwiches either. And I don't want to put things in her box knowing that she won't eat them. So what can I give her? There must be something I've missed ... any suggestions would be very gratefully received. Am quite happy to cook stuff myself.

She used to eat anything I put in front of her once upon a time ...

We don't have Quorn in the house because I'm allergic to it, Franny - so I don't know if she'd like it. And I don't really like processed stuff ... we only have the Billy Bear because it's the only cold meat she will eat and I don't always want to be roasting gammon every time we have a picnic.

The potato and bean salads wouldn't go down a storm. She might like hard boiled eggs but oh, the stink ...

How about giving her a piece of paper and a pencil and ask her to note down the items that she would like to have in her lunch box, then you can choose off her list and she can't say she doesn't want it, because its on the list.

My DD 7 also starts pack lunch tomorrow! We went shopping together today, and once i got her past the misconception that everything we bought was for tomorrow's lunch I think we agreed on a fair balance. But then I am not a lentil-weaver.
Got ham and little rolls (no good for you I know), mini scotch-eggs, cheese dipper thingy (for one day a week), yoghurts, grapes, strawberries. Wraps to have with tuna and sweetcorn mayo. If she wants variety I may resort to jam (lordy lord) or marmite pinwheel sandwiches one day. Carrot sticks and cucumber will sometimes go in. On friday's only a packet of crisps and a biscuit (not because I'm righteous but because I can get away with limiting them).
You said your ds likes cold bacon. Have you tried the crispy bacon you can get? (Marks and waitrose def. the best). My ds 12 will eat almost anything he normally wouldn't (chicken, egg mayo) with a bit of this broken up and sprinkled on top. I say 'a bit' because it is very salty and probably not very healthy, but I find i can make one pack go an awfully long way and it serves it purpose.
Little packets of apple crisps go down well with mine. And packs of mini raisins.

Sounds like a good deal to me, MrsBombastic!

Interesting point about crumbling crispy bacon onto the top of other things; I might give that a go and see how she gets on.

Thank you all.

Crackers and soft cheese?

She won't eat cheese, soft or otherwise.

Thanks anyway!

Scotch egg from a reputable ( ) shop? Nice and sausagey but the egg doesn't smell too eggy as it is encased.

I was impressed that you cook gammon and are veggie. Would a large deli type shop sell cooked gammon (rather than ham) ready sliced?

On a day that she doesn't have much protein in her sandwich/wrap or whatever, would she have a yogurt/milk pudding with some fruit perhaps?

Just another thought (as I shamelessly steal ideas for lunches ready for September!), I know you said she can't take peanut products, but I think that you can buy "nut butters" made from other nuts. Would they be permitted in the school?

Dh and dd both eat meat, so I cook meat for them all the time. I don't feel I can dictate to them what they eat just because I choose not to eat it - particularly as I wasn't veggie when I first met dh.

The children aren't allowed to take any kind of nut product into school - it's worth considering for picnics and things though.

Dd isn't keen on yoghurts (she sounds like the pickiest child on earth, doesn't she!) but she will have yoghurt drinks, so I will probably be putting one of those in some days. Plus I have some little pots of custard she can take as well.

Well if it were me I'd stick to what she likes but introduce new bits alongside it each week and put the new things on rotation and don't worry about it too much. So easy to get caught up in teh my child eats badly thing when actually she propbably eats very well, for a kid. They like the same old things. So do most adults tbh. I have pretty much the same 3 things every day of the year for my luncha nd breakfast. Nothing wrong with that really. As long as we all eat enough fresh fruit & veggies.

Anyway - some ideas -

cut sarnies into shapes - make it more fun. Theme them as well if you like, So a cookie cutter in a heart for Valentines week, a Xmas tree cookie cutter at Xmas, star at guyfawkes etc. Try and make sure it's always stoneground wholemeal but if she hates it use 1 slice white and 1 slice wholemeal and make sarnie that way

Sarnie content - a tiny bit of grated cheese (i know she likes it cooked but put it in there now and then and she might just go for it. Add a bit of marmite to it or sometimes try a bit of grated carrot in there with the cheese, a bit of thin ham

cold pizza

I give my DD spag bol for tea and then keep a bit back for her lunch box the next day, she loves it

mini scotch eggs

hovis crackers, maybe try some of that smoked cheese that comes in those little sausage shapes, grapes, breadsticks, , carrot batons, bits of dried fruit, all in the same little pot in her lunch box

a healthy yoghurt - my DD loves the activia ones with prunes in the bottom (only she seems to think the prunes are chocolate, he heeeeeee!!)

I get these dried apricots covered in yoghurt from our health food shop, they go down very well and the girls think they are getting sweets!

Fruit and cereal bars. You can make your own easily. Nigella has a great receipe for breakfast bars, just omit the peanuts for school (ask if you want recipe)

some boiled new potatoes with bits of sausage cut up and mixed with mayo or sour cream or natural yoghurt

Ellas kitchen do these little foli pouches full of fruit smoothies. Perfect for lunch box.And you can freeze them and pop them in box in the mornign and they are lovely and cold still at lunch and keep everything else in box chilled.

I have one here that is called the Green One and is all organic - 55% apples, 25% banana, 15% pears 5%kiwis and that's it. They do others too.

Some lovely ideas there, TC - thank you. I'm impressed that your dd thinks the prunes are chocolate!

Apricots covered in yogurt would go down well, I think - and she likes the raisins as well. Hadn't even thought about those.

If you have the recipe for the breakfast bars I'd love to see it.

Thank you!

what about those Swedish meatballs?
would she eat a cold Spanish omelette/tortilla?
I was also thinking about those veggie fingers, I had one of those cold the other day and actually it was delish

chicken drumsticks (indispensable imo)

cold roast meat from a previous dinner

you can buy crispy cooked bacon

I make crispy bacon salads and those go down well

errmmm

I find children REALLY do not mind if their packed lunches are predictable. It's us that worries more about this. As long as she's eating something (and she'll do the fruit and salad and a little bit I think you said), she'll be fine.

She probably wouldn't go a bundle on tortilla or omelete (won't eat them hot ... ) but the Swedish meatballs might be an idea - she likes meatballs hot, have never tried them cold.

I like veggie fingers, dd won't touch them

mine also like cold pizza

and strangly, my fuss pot 7 year old LOVES mackerel pate so it's worth trying a few odd but convenient things to see if they go down ok

oh lord those Swedish meatballs are lovely cold

Will she eat carrot or cucumber sticks?

DS was once so picky I had to put in a box of dried cereal just so I'd know he would eat it

If she likes raisins then they also do raisins covered in yoghurt and how about those fruit flakes?

Lottie naggedme endlessly for chocolate once after a party she had been to so I cut a dried prune in half and gave it to her. She was over the moon and ate it declaring 'ohhh delicious, thank you mummy'!!!I was chuffed. Since then she thinks prunes are a form of chocolate and who am I to argue.

Off to get you receipe now but meanwhile:

a comapny called Fruit bowl sell a product called Fruit Flakes and I have some here that are raspberry with a yoghurt coating, actual flakes made of apple & strawberry, blackcurrants with a yoghurt coating .

There are also a fruit bar that is made by Naturo that counts as i portion of fruit a day

Sainsbury's do little packs of Fruit flakes, dried fruit covered in yogurt. Both DDs love them, they also do apple 'crisps', v.popular here.

Just as an idea, DD1 tomorrow is having chicken and stuffing sarnies, a pot of cucumber, packet of mini cheddars and some banana cake. Would she eat any of that?

Just out of interest, can I ask why you don't use school dinners? DDs have a mix of these and packed lunches and it saves me a headache 3 times a week!

Sorry haven't read the whole thread but my DS is also fussy and after a long and drawn out battle we have come to an agreement which sort of suits us both-
marmite sandwiches
pepperami ( Iknow but its the only protein i can get him to eat)
raisins or other dried fruit from a very very limited repertiore
and a muesli bar put in regularly if he eats all his lunch
not a lot and not perfect but he eats lunch and as a result is not always a total nightmare of low blood sugar levels at home time
We rarely eat processed foods for tea and I never add salt so he doesn't OD on salt the rest of the time and I bribe him with pudding to eat his proper decent meal at tea time.
At the end of the day he needs to have something that he'll eat during the day and you can ensure that he eats a proper balanced tea at home where you can see he's eating it and not throwing it or swapping with friends

Sorry your DD - I didn't read properly -SHE

Message withdrawn

Yum to cold meatballs.
My dd loves her cold spag bol in her lunch box

Right

BREAKFAST BARS:

1 x 397g can condensed milk
250g rolled oats
75 g shredded coconut (descitaed coconut basically!)
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower & sesame)
and she says to use 125g unsalted peanuts, but easily omited or replaced with another type of dried fruit like chopped up apricots or raisins etc)

Preheat oven to 130 and oil a baking tin

Warm condensed milk in pan

mix all ingrediants together and add condensed milk

spread mixture into tin and press down

bake for 1 hour them remove, after 15 mins cut into 4 across 4 dwn then leave to cool completley

They are yum and keep for ages

Thanks for the recipe, TC, they sound lovely. And I have to say that I really do love the idea of prunes as a form of chocolate ...

Huw, she has had school dinners since she started school, but recently the menus have changed, and as of this week there are two complete days every week where she doesn't like anything on offer. The odd day where she doesn't like much is OK, but two days a week is too much. She starts Junior school in September and the menus will be different again, so for the last half term we're going for sandwiches. It also stops the cook yelling at her for not eating her dinner, but that's another story.

Thanks everyone.