Hats off to all you packed-lunchers – how do you do it?

[Clary]

Have been making 5x packed lunches each day this week (DC in holiday club for four days) and it?s maddening. It?s not just the prep, tho it?s added at least 10 mins to my morning, plus hassle of debates with kids over merits of ham over cheese and apple or banana or both.

It?s the provision ? I shopped on Sunday for it (just back from hols) then had to make emergency raid on Asda on Tues pm as we were totally out of fruit and salad and bread.
I swear I bought two boxes of cherry toms but there were only 4 left this am. I?ve got no apple in my lunchbox as I had to give it to DS1 who doesn?t like bananas; the kids are nicking mini fruity flapjacks (and so am I, frankly) so there are barely any of those left; etc etc.

Is my lunchbox offering excessive? Today they all have 1 ham roll (tho DS1 I?ve just remembered said he needed 2), tomato or cherry toms, cucumber, handful of strawberries, baby orange, banana or apple and three mini flapjacks plus bottle of water.

Thank goodness for school lunches is all I can say.

My dd has 2 variations on her daily lunch.... either 2 slices bread sarnie, cheese & mayo, or cold pasta with a bit of... cheese & mayo stirred in!
Bag of crisps, grapes/banana/apple, drinky yog & something sweet.

Hi desperatehousewife glad you had good jollidays

No I meant school dinners for the week for 1 child are expensive! Unless they fed them Lobster Thermidor or summat And her school didn't let them do odd days of school dinners, they had to have a full week at a time (and they actually preferred you to do a full half term at a time!)

It's £9.50 for the week for hot dinners - I think that's a lot. And as DD2 starts school in September too it would be £19 a week just for the 2 of them to leave their dinner enjoy hot lunches.

Ha ha, sidge. Thought you meant you did the weeks lunches for less than cost of just one school dinner for the day!

Still pretty good going though, economy-wise.

Cooked lunches not an option for us unfortunately. Has to be packed lunch but with ds' allergies, at least I can give him 'safe' food.

A friend of mine has to commit to a terms lunches at a time and give a term's notice to stop them. Apparently, everyone pays the terms lunch fees and gives notice each term so thay have the option of stopping the following term!

wow sidge that's a lot.

Ours are £1.55 a day so that's errm £7.75 pw.

I did cost out a packed lunch for DS1 once (he eats a lot) and based on buying wholemeal rolls and that MN touchstone, "nice ham", it did actually come out at more than school dinners. Not to mention the hassle.

Of course if all yr child want/needs/eats is half a round of sandwiches and an apple (like one I know) then I guess it costs a lot less.

imh school dinners are only worth it if your child eats lots and ds1 doesnt!

EVERY day he has sandwich, frube, veg sticks, apple juice, fruit.....so boring.

I always make a big batch of sandwiches and freeze them for the week ahead. I've even been known to do a fortnight's worth if I have enough room in the freezer

What fillings do you put in your sandwiches Tinkjon?

Tinkjon, do they defrost ok without going soggy?

I do 3 packed lunches a day, would love them to have schhol dinners but at £2.10 a day per child makes it v expensive.

They normally have wholemeal bread with either tuna, ham, cheese or jam, yoghurt,small choc biscuit ie penguin, carton of orange juice and then mixed fruit/veg platter ie cucmber, tomatoes,carrots, peppers, apple, melon, kiwi.

I shop on a sunday and then normally restock fresh veg and fruit on a wednesday.

In the winter normally do pasta or soup for the eldest, but have to agree it is nightmare especially if running late.

They defrost fine but we're not very adventurous with fillings. DD has ham (never sure about freezing that but I always have done and it's always been fine) or cheese or Vegemite. In the past I've also frozen coronation chicken and tuna mayo, though DH thinks that the tuna goes a bit soggy.

want to make it clear btw that tho I have been making 5 lunches this week, I do not have five DC

I have three plus me and DH. I usually (of late) do lunch for me and DH when we are both working (economy drive) but it seems to have been the DC as well that has tipped me over the brink this week