Packed lunches?

[KhakiShaker]

So I’m a stepmum to a year 5 child, I make him packed lunches 3 times a week and am often finding the sandwiches come back uneaten. The filling is at his request, so it’s not that, he’s just not keen on bread. That includes rolls etc.

I’ve offered alternatives like a pasta salad, or sausages and beans in a flask. Both of which he likes but have been rejected out of hand. Any ideas for a good sandwich replacement? I’m thinking I could bulk up with smaller things like Quorn sausages/ sausage rolls/ babybel but I’d like to keep it vaguely healthy!

His school is nut free, and he doesn’t like school dinners 🤷🏻‍♀️

What does he eat for lunch when not at school?

How about mini wraps or pasta salad??

Cold chicken drumsticks or goujons

My DD likes potato wedges in her lunchbox...she eats them cold but likes them like that

Pizza

One of mine ate crackers and cheese or a pasty in lieu of a sandwich until about year 10.

Would he eat a plain pitta? Mine don't like sandwiches but will eat this

What does he have in the sandwich and would he eat it without the bread.
My girl eats ham, cheese, cucumber etc but never as a sandwich.

crackers, ryvita, breadsticks, bagel - something a bit different vs plain bread
serve with cheese, butter, sliced cucumber etc

I sometimes put a hot meal in a small thermos for DS. I still struggle for ideas but it makes it easier to put leftovers in or egg fried rice or something

My dd has never been a big fan of sandwiches. She has pasta (kept warm in a food flask), quiche, pork pies, crackers, sauasage rolls, savoury pastries - I make something we call a pizza roll (puff pastry with tomato pasta sauce spread on it, herbs and mozzarella, roll it up, cut into rounds and then bake).

This is a good idea thanks. I don’t know why I thought it had to be in a sandwich, guess I’m just conditioned to think that way!

I wondered about pasta in a flask. Does it not go a bit mushy?

Thanks everyone, I’ve got some good ideas here. I’m going to try some things without asking him as I think it’s easy for him to reject something without trying! Love the idea of a pizza roll

I don't know if it does, but my child eats it several times a week.

Crackers and cheese are a winner here.

Boiled potatoes (or jacket) with tuna and cheese?
Obviously nicer if warm but fine if cold too I think.

One of mine is seventeen and has had pasta in a flask pretty much every day since she started school.

I think the easiest way to do packed lunches is with a lunch box with sections. Few crackers or strips of bread in one, some meat or some cheese in another. Some fruit or vegetables and some cake of a biscuit.

I would just feed him up once he's home. I never ate much for lunch at school - too busy & stressful in the canteen I hated it!

My DD loves hot soup in a flask for packed lunches.

Mine always had a pick n mix lunch. They had lunch boxes with several sections and I would put cheese chunks, ham chunks, carrots, pepper slices, cucumber chunks, strawberries, whatever was to hand in the sections. Then a little pot of hummus and a separate container of crackers. That kept the crackers fresh and the humus from leaking onto everything. They could then eat in any combination they wanted. A little yogurt thing and a biscuit or slice of cake for dessert, job done

Maybe try different types of bread: pitta, bagels, wraps, fruit loaf

Pancakes
Humous and things to dip
Crackers and cheese
Savoury muffins
Healthy blueberry muffins
Sausages
Sausage rolls