Packed lunches...how do you cope?

[sereka]

Hi guys,

My DD is due to start reception in september. I work full time and her school does not have the facilities to provide lunches, so will have to get a packed lunch everyday. whilst I dont have a problem making lunches..we eat healthy, but its just the time.

Give some suggestion of how you cope if anyone is in a similar situation. I might be worrying about nothing but its so easy now she is in nursery to just pay and know she is getting healthy food as i have seen the menus.

Regards

Plastic clicky boxes here too, I've been using the same ones for a couple of years now for sandwiches and fruit etc. No faffing around with bags and easy to open.

Thanks, we do have some small click/clip boxes just not sure how easy DS finds them, will have to test him (he is 5)!
It has to be easy otherwise he just leaves the fruit/veg inside....

Ooh going to LakeLand next week will look out for them!

DS1 is 4 and he manages the boxes fine. I have had to train him to put the bits of crust/strawberry ends yogurt lids etc. in the bin or back in the clicky boxes though, after receiving a couple of rather revolting lunchboxes back.

Weaning tubs are also a good idea, but will have to buy some as I never used them.
And I agree midnight, DS also has a habit of bunging his lunch remains at the bottom of his lunch box, lovely habit!!

"Surely they must have the facility to warm food? "

You will be whizzing through it all by half term, don't worry. Just plan what she's having when you shop.

I have a set of click lock boxes. DS1 has a sandwich done that morning, a snack box (not crisps but less unhealthy savoury stuff) done the night before, a sweet box (fruit or yoghurt or biscuit or cake or whatever) done the night before, and a bottle of water refilled the night before.

Ok so i will have to invest in a flask then so the food can be kept warm..sorry she is my first so never dealt with all this before now.

the school has banned fizzy drink, crisps, chocolates ... whilst i understand those they have also banned puddings...

saying you can put dairy yogurts etc.. is this the same for you ?

On the subject of warming food - DCs school did have a microwave for the children to use but had to withdraw it after a child heated a jam doughnut in it and burnt themselves and the school were threatened with being sued

Like others I do it production line stylee while the DC eat breakfast - not sure how things will work out when DS starts secondary - guessing it will be handing over cash for him

sandwiches made the night before are yucky.

It doesn't take more than 2 minutes to make up a lunch in the morning, it's just remembering to have the right stuff in the fridge.

Luckily nothing is banned at my DCs school, I think it can get a bit silly when you go down that road. The only thing I would ban is fizzy drinks but everything else is OK in moderation and as part of the whole diet of the child, which of course the school knows nothing about.
I'd think carefully about a flask of hot food for a 4 year old just starting school, what if she can't open it/spills it/the flask breaks. Maybe it would be best to start simply and the work up to hot food.

Suitejudyblue.... I thought about that just now about the flask and it being hot. My DD is a little madam as well, so i would be worrying about that. Dont they have assistants at lunch time.. Its a jungle out there.. she is quite independent so not too worried about that.

I put the coffee machine on & I can make a packed lunch in the time it takes to be ready. I do a cheese sandwich with either tomato or cucumber, a yoghurt & a piece of fruit or cake.

The level of assistance is something you would need to check with the school as all schools will have different lunch arrangements.
Has the school broken up yet ? If not I'd try and have a word with the teacher so you can find out exactly what goes on at lunchtime and talk to your DD about it so she can ask questions about it before she starts.
At my DCs school the reception children only do mornings for a couple of weeks when they first start so there is time to find all of this out before they actually stay for lunch.

I can't believe the school doesn't provide lunches. What happens to children who are entitled to free school meals?

Even when children go on educational visits, the school still provides packed lunches for a lot of these children.

don't put anything in a lunch box that YOUR child can not open by them self.
In our house that means I pre open boys packet of crisps and reseal it with a clip. Only buy foil wrapped biscuits and send him with sports top bottle of drink not a juice cartoon.
Your child may vary in their ability's. BUT being able to do it all for them selves is pretty useful and makes it more likely they will eat it all in time allowed.

Thermos brand wide neck is excellent, although works so well that if food is too hot it will not have cooled down enough for lunchtime.
Buffalo brand japanese style thermos are 3 tiered and still small enough for reception children. Great for rice with steamed veg, or bolgnaise .
Confess to a battle with " it smells when I open it" so have reverted back to soups for winter with added pasta.

Really - not a flask for little ones. Too difficult, too spillable, too time consuming. They need very eaay to eat food so they can get out to play. So, a sandwich, some prepared fruit or vegetables (not whole or it will get binned with two bites taken out of it) a drink and a bit of cake or a biscuit. Nothing complicated, noting that requires cutlery.

Oh, and practise lunchbox opeing and closing skills.

Clicky boxes are great, they are also water tight (so useful for senior school cooking ingredients). Older than reception kids can graduate to flasks, then you can give soup in winter, try the wide mouthed ones.

There are a few cook books of kids packed lunches, which are useful when you are running out of inspiration. Try to fill your freezer with cookies, mini cup cakes and other treats. Do allow enough time for frozen things to defrost.

I do a roll rather than a sandwich. Make that in the morning. And some quick fruit like grapes or stuff that is ok to leave in fridge overnight, like melon or mango chunks, carrot sticks etc.
A juice carton of real juice to cover 1 of his 5 a day, but when he was smaller I used to send in a bottle as he wouldn't always drink the lot and it got put back in lunchbox to bring home (and therefore leaked everywhere).

I always have 'emergency' lunchbox items, such as cream crakers and boxes of raisins, in case I run out of fresh stuff or the bread is off.

Also keep rolls in freezer. If you forget to defrost you can still 'saw' it open, fill and it should be defrosted by lunchtime.

I put an ice pack in to keep things cool. Otherwise it can be pretty yuck having sat in room temp location all day.
The freezing juice carton thing is fine, as long as it's a small enough carton. My mum used to freeze me a bottle of squash on school trips and the darn thing was never defrosted, I would be thirsty and spend most of the day with a big block of ice in my drinks bottle. If I do this for my ds I only freeze it half full and then top up in the morning.

I also get the moans of 'why don't I ever get crisps' and 'everyone else gets fruit shoots'. I simply explain that he gets stuff his friends don't and how boring it must be to have a chocolate spread sandwich every day...

I use a thermos funtainer and I bulk cook pastas, soups and things and freeze them in portions and whip them out in the morning.

I also make biscuit dough and roll it into a cylinder in baking paper and freeze that. Then you can just slice a few off the end and cook them the night before if you have your oven on. My dd loves Nigella's cheesy feet and the cheese star's from 'How to Eat' which are both really easy and you can freeze the dough.

I also have a box of Ritz crackers and some individual portions of vegemite so that if I have no bread or anything I have a 'back up' . Anything with dips is good as you don't haver to do as much in the morning.

be warned about Competitive Lunchboxes in reception.
The little sandwiches cut into shapes, fairy cakes with initials on, salads with exotic ingredients, notes from mummy in the box...
Home-made individual pasties.
Don't get into it, it's the road to madness!