lunchbox - ham sandwiches or??

[nevercertain]

sorry for dullest question ever, but other than ham, does anyone have any suggestions for sandwich fillings for fussy 6 year old?

Must be:
Easy to make
Likely to be eaten
Not too expensive

I'm not sure she even eats the ham. She seems to faff about at lunchtime and is hungry when she comes home (I'm not sure how long they actually get to eat), so I'm looking for inspiration please.

thanks.

I get wafer thin turkey or chicken as an alternative to ham. Cream cheese or dairylea spreadable also goes down well. Occasionally I just give him jam sangers Ach well. He has yogurt, fruit and a cereal bar, too, so its not all shite.

Ham sandwiches!

DD2 will eat ham or polony sandwiches that's it. No cheese, egg, tuna, peanut butter, marmite or salami and defiantly no salad.

Nor will she eat, Bovril or sandwich spread that DH and I put on toast.

She might eat real cold chicken, but I've tried turkey or chicken slices, nope.

She'll eat chocolate spread or jam of course.

My fussy eater eats pasta with pesto happily

Fish pate she loves (smoked mackrel or smoked salmon the best)
the occasional ham sandwich is allowed. (but heavens if I try it twice in a week)
She likes bread and butter sandwiches so I often give her that and add small chicken satays a pepperami stick or cheese chunks.
oh She also likes Milano Salami (but not any other salami -figures)

Am interested in the fact that people send in peanut butter. We are always told never to send in anything containing nuts. Is this not the case in all schools. Do you think I would get away with it as DS is a fussy eater and peanut and nanna sandwiches are one of the things he would go for.

DD's school have not informed me of any peanut issues at the school - there is nothing on their website either. I'd ask first though, just in case. I dread there being a child with an allergy though as it is by far DD's favourite sandwich filling.

Peanut butter is banned at our school, as several children have peanut allergies.

we can't do anything with nuts (not just peanuts) and no fish or seafood either.

really i should just lob a fiver straight into the trash every day, as nothing ever gets eaten. i will drag my ass off to the link though, just in case.

My DD loves cold cooked pasta with something to dip it in such as mayo or tommy ketchup! Doesn't do bread at all. Also put things in like strips of ham or pepper for her to dip in, she seems to really enjoy it

im ashamed to sa but mine love sandwich fillers from asda!

dd aged 4 loves egg mayo everyday and dd 6 loves the tuna sweetcorn - doesn't matter how i make it - they will only eat the sandwich fillers!

I use milk roll bread as they don't like 'bready bread'!

They also like chicken/pork slices and ham

DD6 asks for chocolate spread everyday but has never had it!

in terms of price 45p per tub and each tub does one child 2 days

Have a 'picnic' lunch at home on Saturdays. If you can't get outside because of the weather, have it on the living room floor. Or kitchen floor even! Make it fun and interesting, invite some teddies. Put out little bits of different things and find out what she likes.

A little bit of bread and butter. Tiny strips of grated cheese, little teaspoons of peanut butter, crackers, rice cakes, mini rolls, wraps, pasta, rice, sticks of carrot, cucumber, celery, peppers, grapes, raisins, dried fruit, little yoghurt pots, etc. Not all at once of course, try a few at first and see how you go.

Once she enjoys the social aspect of the picnic and you discover what she likes and will eat, she may enjoy trying new things which you can add to the list of lovely foods. If she doesn't like or want some of the choices, cross them off the list for now, but reintroduce after a while because tastes do change.

Don't overfill the lunch box, it's best that she has a manageable amount to start with. They usually get about 20 minutes to eat I think.

I agree with Blu.give her what you know she will eat,along with a few new things in case she feels adventurous.my son goes through phases where he will only eat ham sandwiches(i do buy good ham and we only have brown or granary)pieces of cheese, yoghurt and fruit.i find when he gets like this hes just bored and giving him a few new things along with the favourites seems to work well.

thanks everyone. If asked, she really only wants to eat unbuttered bread or bagel. Obviously, cake and chips given half a chance. Don't think anything with nuts will be allowed by school.

The thing is, the lunchbox is always empty when she comes home, but that's not necessarily the same as having eaten anything. She will usually say, 'I didn't like what you gave me today'.

I will try a few different bits and pieces tomorrow rather than just sandwich and yoghurt which is what she usually gets.

I really don't think she will come to any harm not eating a lot at lunch time but it seems like such a waste.

hope this thread is helpful to a few others too!

maybe try a more items but smaller?:

DD aged 6 gets:

2 slices of milk roll with tuna mayo - so relatively small sandwich
1 frube yoghurt
7-8 grapes
1 small sausage roll (the tiny mini ones) - I alternate this sort of thing with treats - sometimes small cake/ treat bar e.g. penguin/ kitkat

So 4 small items -thats about it - i know she has a good breakfast at 7.45am, fruit and milk in school mid morning and i collect her at 3.30pm with a snack so its not like she'll go hungry - more often than not she cant wait to go play with her mates so only nibbles at stuff.

There is a lot to be said for the cookie cutter, for some reason sandwiches cut into stars, animals etc and even a circle seem to go better than a standard rectangle. Also bite size are much more acceptable in our house than a bigger 1/4. Cheese straws also go down well, as do breadsticks and dip, wraps, pitta bread, pasta or mini new potatos. Home made cold chicken/fish fingers which are coated in the breadcrumbs.

I think time seems to be really limited for my DDs and so I have to be creative about the quantity and how to include bread (or similar), protein, veg and fruit.
e.g.cold pizza fulfills the starch, veg and protein, a piece of flapjack or a cup cake might be the starch and fruit element. A frube/yoghurt is protein and possibly fruit.

Equally if they are having a healthy, balanced diet; breakfast, tea and weekends at home, then lunch at worst needs to be about calories consumed to sustain throughout the afternoon.

Nevercertain - DS1 is a big fan of plain bread or bagel too: heaven help you if you put butter in his sandwich! Try chicken drumsticks, pitta bread and fruit/flapjacks/muffins (made with fruit/veg) - those have all been huge hits with ds1.