packed lunch

[jinna]

my son has just started school - he doesn't want to be school dinners but will not have a packed lunch as he doesn't like bread and so won't eat sandwhichs - what can i give as an alternative but still healthy
at the moment he is coming home from lunch and it feels as if i'm constantly going to and fro his school either picking him up or dropping him off- help!!!!

You could try giving him some crackers, with some cheese chunks, some bread sticks, sticks of carrot with dairylea to dip into. My mum used to make tiny little sausage meat 'patties' - tiny little pies which I loved! Otherwise, obvious things like fruit. Could you put in interesting fruits like kiwi or pieces of pineapple?

Pasta salad? yoghurts? small packets of raisins? satsuma? apple? What does he ear when he comes home? Could you send that? Or soup in a thermos?

You really need to get some protein into him at lunchtime, so try giving sandwiches without the bread - ie sliced ham/turkey, chunks of cheese, mini chicken fillets, boiled eggs. All can be eaten with fingers with a modicum of mess.

Would he eat pitta bread which is less "bready" or maybe English muffins? Or could you make savoury American muffins?

I'll second all those - I used to put similar in my DD's lunch as she wasn't a sarnie fan either. And her school used to insist that if they had sandwishes they were eaten before anything else, which I didn't agree with as the entire contents of the lunchbox were healthy - loads ofruit and veg - at school's request. No biscuits, choc, or crisps allowed.

What about pastry things, sausage rolls, mini pasties, quiches??

The Lunchbox Book by Penny Stanway and Sara Lewis has some excellent ideas for packed lunches, such as tortilla wraps, salads, drumsticks, pasties, pizzas etc. If you don't mind doing a bit of cooking, I think it would be worth while buying this book. The lunches are not just suitable for children, either.

good ideas here! I agree with the sliced ham/turkey - you could make little roll ups with sliced cheese. Last night I made a bunch of chicken cutlets to heat up for DD's dinner - quick protein, and she loves it. They can be made in strips, and send in some sauce to dunk. I love them cold dunked in barbecue sauce or honey mustard!

Have u seen the Dairylea boxes that you can buy at the shop, they have crackers, cheese and ham/chicken in and are brilliant if you are in a rush but want something fairly healthy for your child. I always put in a squeezy yoghurt and piece of fruit to go with it.

Temptress - I read an article about the Childrens food which seems healthy but is really packed with chemicals - the Dairy Lea lunch boxes came very high up the 'bad' list...

Oh sorry I never saw that. Im lucky, my daughter has sandwiches, because she just loves brown bread! You wouldnt have thought that something like that would have chemicals in would you, as its seems to be the normal cheese and ham you can buy that doesnt contain it!

Jinna, I may be wrong here but are you Indian? ( I seem to have a vague recollection from a post a few montha ago but I could just have confused you with someone else) - if so, and if you have a mainly have an Indian diet at home, send some rotis (filled with soft cheese, jam or a dry curry) or any other Indian bread if he prefers it or curried lentils with rice etc.

Also, agree with other suggestions of pasta etc.

yes sis i am indian- i suggested to my son to take some roti but he seemed embarrased - all the other kids in his class are white and he is finding it hard to make friends so i don't want to make him feel any different to the others
thanks for all the advise so far- i am thinking of sending in - ham, cheese, fruit, yogurt, bread sticks and cake, raisins- does that sound healthy enough?

Jinna, sounds very healthy to me, I wish ds would eat such variety!

Hi

You could also try mini sausages/frankfurters.
You don't have to buy expensive prepacked small ones - just buy the big ones and chop them up.
Quiche also fills them up.
The other ideas are good too - ham/cheese/turkey/hard boiled eggs etc.

bron - what is ebly-
ds has started packed lunch but doesn't seem to eat a lot
i was thinking of sending pizza but i didn't know if its o.k. to eat cold
for pasta salad do you cook it first and then mix with salad and put in fridge- again i thought pasta needed to be warm
sorry if questions sound basic - i am a hopeless cook

Jinna, I think it is whole barley grains.