Packed lunch for secondary school

[Boeufsurletoit]

Please tell me your go-to lunchbox choices for young teens. We've got into a rut of cheese roll, cheddars and malt loaf bar or banana, which isn't the best. DC won't take a cool block or insulated bag (not cool apparently), and they want things that are easy to eat standing up (lack of seating). They're carting it around for 6 hours before they get to eat it, so it's got to be things that don't need to be kept cold. Thank you!

Our teen generally has a sandwich/wrap/noodles in thermos.

Then has a piece of fruit: apple, banana, grapes, strawberries.

Then has cheese: cheesestring, baby belly, dunkers (just one but I change it up)

A cereal bar: belvita, square, frosties, nutrigrain (again just 1, just change it up)

Pepperami stick or fridge raiders

Protein Yoghurt pouch (he eats this at 11 so it's only in the bag for 2-3 hour)

pasta salad box

Mini pizzas are a huge hit here (delicious eaten cold apparently)

granola bars like nature valley, 100% fruit leather (zombie bars are good) wraps with cheese/ham etc (should be ok in an insulated bag) crackers like cream crackers, Ritz, Matzos etc. Maybe with cheese spread or butter, Cucumber, carrot, pepper sticks, Small bags of popcorn, cheddars, baked walkers crisps. Bread sticks and houmous , babybel or cheese strings, pita bread can be cut into strips and add anything to make open sandwiches at lunch. Are they open to having a small thermos? could then put in soup or pasta and it`ll stay warm until lunch. Soup and a pita bread would be great and filling. Maybe then a small treat like a muffin if your school allows??

Dc has -a sandwich (sundays meat and stuffing) on monday, couscous and chicken Tuesday and Wednesday, pasta salad with cheese Thursday and Friday.
Everyday they choose a mix from carrot sticks, dried fruit, apple, banana, grapes, cereal bars, crisps, popcorn or breadsticks.
They are very set in their ways but it does help me know what to buy every week.

Ask your teen what they want? They will have got some idea of the art of the possible from what they see their friends eat. No point giving them something they won't eat.

Small salad box (tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, peppers etc).
Pitta bread or bread roll
Box of protein (chicken/beef etc)
Fruit
Yoghurt.

All stored in a plain black insulated fridge bag that's carried around in a rucksack all day, no one takes the piss at school of that, and most of his mates have moved to packed lunches in the past year anyway as school lunches are over £6 per day.

My kids are 9 and 12 and have to make their own packed lunches, although I remind them. It's alright in winter, but in summer it's a bit limiting if they won't take an insulated bag or cool block!

Mine like rolls rather than sliced bread or wraps, and have a lot of tuna sweetcorn, sliced egg with mayo, ham and cucumber, and cheese with lettuce or tomato.

They always have a piece of fruit (kiwi, banana, or apple usually) and usually something sweeter. I bake a lot so it's often fruit cake, flapjack or the like, but I also keep malt loads and granola bars for when I haven't had the energy. I also make sausage rolls for the freezer (cut them small so they defrost by lunchtime) and they sometimes take crisps. They don't generally eat more than three things, we've learnt!

Sometimes they take tomato soup, filled pasta, or leftover chilli in a thermos. I haven't quite worked out how to do hot noodles without them cooking too much throughout the morning.

Concerningly, eldest says some of his friends don't seem to eat a lunch, just snacks! Many on school dinners, which are very unhealthy: burgers, wings, baked goods, slushies etc.

Mine doesn't eat sandwiches and like yours wants food she can eat standing up/walking around. She gets a pain au chocolate, a nature valley bar, a banana, some celery and carrot sticks, a babybel, and a bag of popcorn. Its not great but I have tried lots of stuff over the years and this is what she wants. Most days she only eats the pastry, some days she eats everything. They get offered a free breakfast (juice, cereal and toast) and a free break, usually a baguette with chicken or something, but she doesn't want it.

6 years of secondary school and I never once ate a lunch 😂

Wait until they discover the big homemade veggie samosas at the corner shop for a quid - they'll never take a packed lunch again!

(Asian-owned corner shop, makes an absolute truckload of samosas every day and the high school kids buy every last one. Once eldest DC discovered that, my lunch making days were over. Hurray!)

I was the same. It's stressful! I want them to get some healthy food in without worrying about it.

That would be amazing. Sadly no corner shops near their school.

Mine takes a sandwich or wrap, cucumber and some chopped up fruit, a babybel or cheese string and a little sausage roll, bag of crisps and something sweet like a packet of cadburys fingers or similar. She normally leaves a few bits like some of the fruit or half the cheese depending on how hungry she is.