# lunch box ideas??? help please



## angelmummy

my ds has been having school dinners but now wants packed lunches. i will put sandwich in and juice drink and a yoghurt/custard pot and a fruit type ceral bar thingy. Just wondered whether crisps are a good idea or not???
He loves crisps but not sure every day is a good idea.

can anyone else tell me what they put in their lo's lunch boxes just to help give me some extra ideas please 

thank you xx


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## Weeplin

My daughter has packed lunches. She has crisps but not in her pack up, she has them during her breaktime. In her pack up she normally has a sandwich, juice, fruit (either a banana or those little apple fruit bags you can get) a frube or pot of yoghurt and a chocolate bar or rise crispie square. I do occasionally pop cheese strings or little box's of raisins in too.


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## smelly07

My daughters lunchbox generally consists of a sandwhich (ham, chicken or turkey) a pot of strawberries or grapes.
popcorn as she doesnt like crisps, a biscuit based treat i.e kit kat and juice.

i will also be watching this thread to get some more ideas x


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## smelly07

ooohhh occasionally instead of the popcorn i put in mini breadsticks and raisins x


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## Midnight_Fairy

Mine have crisps about 2 times a week.

They usually have:

Sandwich, brown bread with either ham, turkey, cheese or darilea
small pot with a mix of either: raspberrys, blueberrys, blackberrys, grapes or orange
darilea dunker or yoghurt
mini party rings, animal biscuits or crisps
sometimes I add a home made fairy cake in
cheese
carrot sticks

they will have a mix of the above depending on day and capri sun and water x


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## babyno9

My girl's are quire fussy and i'm having trouble giving them a variety of things. They don't like cheesestrings or babybels anymore and don't like carrot sticks and dips. I usually give them..

Sandwich
Crisps, pombears usually.
Biscuit bar
Juice drink
Fruit or raisins
Frube or some other kind of yogurt.


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## lemily

I started making my own lunches from age of 7 so I hope I've got some good ideas:

- switch up the bread as often as possible from sliced, to rolls, to baguettes to wraps to pittas. Even if the filling is the same it makes it a bit more exciting. 
- pitta bread pizza/bagel pizza. Smear some tomato puree/pasta sauce on the bread with a sprinkle of dried herbs/oregano, cover with cheese and grill. Can add other toppings like mushrooms, ham etc. Can make a few at a time and keep in the fridge. 
- send water/dilute squash as a drink. I never found the juice cartons enough to drink, they add up to a lot of sugar over the week and are expensive. Pick out a fun water bottle together and it can be reused over and over again. 
- do not negate the use of advertising on children. If you know he loves certain cartoon/programme, buy some stickers and put them on new foods you want him to try. It works wonders e.g. this is the same cheese that Ben10 eats. 
- cherry tomatoes, carrot batons, cucumber sticks, all with a little pot of dressing/soft cheese to dip into them
- send cheese slices, ham slices and crackers as a homemade dairylea lunchable and a change from sandwiches. 
- pasta salad - cook up a massive pan of pasta, and keep it in the fridge plain. In the morning, chuck on a different type of sauce on a little and bung it in a tupperware. Tomato sauce, pesto sauce, cheese and ham and mayo, tuna and sweetcorn. Possibilities are endless. 
- plain or slightly salted popcorn (make it at home in a pan, really cheap and quick and lasts a few days), or nuts make a change from crisps. Same with cheesey crackers and breadsticks. 
- soup, chilli, spag bol in a thermos flask when it gets a bit colder all make a change. Send some bread to dunk in it. 
- quesadillas are mexican cheese toasties - get a wrap, cover half with cheese and any other fillings, fold in half and put in a dry frying pan and toast on both sides then cut into 3 triangles. Also, normal toasties, cooked and cooled make a change. 
- try sweet sandwiches sometimes like banana and peanut butter, or jam and cream cheese. Or buttered malt loaf. Keep the rest of the lunchbox savoury so not too sugary. 
- hard boiled eggs are a nice change. Send them peeled. 
- rice salads and potato salads are a good way to use up leftovers. Boil rice potatoes with some frozen veg and chuck over some salad dressing. Add in some protein like cold sausage or chicken if you wish. 
- chicken wings/drumsticks are cheap, easy to cook in bulk and then fridge/freeze cooked and defrost overnight to put in lunchboxes. Kids tend to like meat on the bone as they get to use their fingers. Marinate in all sorts of yummy things like garlic and herbs, or spicy sauce if they like that. 
- pancakes/fritters. Make a pancake batter and grate veg into it like courgette or carrot and add other veg like sweetcorn. Make little pancakes, cool and they will store in tupperware for a few days, or freeze really well. Can smear with cheese spread and splodge them together. 
- make a large tray of homemade flapjack at the weekend and send little squares of it as a treat. Should last the whole week. 
- Limit crisps to a few times a week and to add in that crunch, use some of the replacements above. Banana chips are a good alternative, and cheap plain salted tortilla chips make a nice change. Think about buying big bags of crisps and just putting in a few, rather than giving a whole small bag. They still get a few crisps but not as many. 
- send cooked meatballs, and a little portion of ketchup. Other suggestions include homemade chips with potato, or sweet potato. Cut potatoes into chip shape, spray with a little veg oil and salt and pepper, cook in oven at 200 degrees c and turn once in 35 minutes. Serve cold. 
- send a little fruit salad/veg salad. Choose from all sorts of fruit and veg so not the same every week. 
- its cheaper to get lots of tupperware from the pound shop that is airtight (3 little containers for a pound) and fill them with plain yoghurt and a little jam than it is to send small cartons of yoghurt every day. Also allows you to send small amounts of cream cheese, ketchup, cheese etc without paying the premium for lunchbox sizes. 
- kids (and adults) eat with their eyes so sending things that look appealing or require some making or dipping on the part of the child can often get them to eat more or eat newer foods. Chopping cheese or veg into sticks for example. 

Ah, can't think of much more at the moment. Will have a think. Hope this helps.


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## oliviarose

^^^ wow, that is a great list. Would not of thought of half of them. 

My daughter is a little fussy thou. 

Ours selection is sandwiches, baps, wraps. Lettuce, tuna, chicken, ham fillings. Yoghurt, babybel/cheese string, raisins/fruit bar, carrot sticks, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apple, oranges, flavoured water and as a treat mini cheddars. On the odd occasion she may have a small chocolate bar or cake.

Love the ideas of boiled eggs and flap jack, Liv would love making the flap jacks too xxx


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## oliviarose

^^^ wow, that is a great list. Would not of thought of half of them. 

My daughter is a little fussy thou. 

Ours selection is sandwiches, baps, wraps. Lettuce, tuna, chicken, ham fillings. Yoghurt, babybel/cheese string, raisins/fruit bar, carrot sticks, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apple, oranges, flavoured water and as a treat mini cheddars. On the odd occasion she may have a small chocolate bar or cake.

Love the ideas of boiled eggs and flap jack, Liv would love making the flap jacks too xxx


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## smam

I think I give my 5yo too much lol! 

she has:
a ham or chicken sandwich
pot of grapes/strawbs or an orange/apple
cheese
frube
box of raisins/cereal bar 
a drink of squash and occasionally a homemde fairy cake! 

She eats the whole lot and only brings the crusts back. I don't want her to not eat her lunch so I haven't put in rolls (she won't eat them) and haven't tried pitta with heer yet as I'm not a fan!


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## going_crazy

Wow, some great ideas! My DD's aren't allowed crisps, chocolate or sweets in their lunch! They always have a sandwich, but sometimes I swap that for either:
* roll
* pitta
* bagel
* brioche

Recently, mine have been having half a hot X bun as a little extra!

Other things I have put in for their lunch:
* Cocktail sausages
* Cocktail sausage rolls
* Mini scotch eggs
* Fruit flakes
* Cereal bars
* Yogurt drinks
* Home made trifle in little pots
* Home made mini quiches
* Mini cheddars / Ritz biscuits
* Breadsticks
* Flapjack
* Custard or Jelly pot
* Pot of grapes/strawberries/raisins etc


Obviously they don't have everything at the same time!! :haha:

xxx


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## Deethehippy

My son does not like bread (fussy!) so i pack crackers and and cheese.
A chunk of cucumber, a yoghurt, a bar such as a fruseli (sweet but vaguely healthy) sometimes crisps, fruit juice, satsuma/grapes.
Sometimes also cheese strings, flapjacks, dried fruit, coconut macaroons, 
fairy cakes, school bars, that sort of thing.
Try to vary each days so he does not get bored!


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## Mummyplus3

Love these ideas they are great!
+
3


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## kelzyboo

Hi all, i'm gatecrashing for some ideas lol

My DD has: 
sandwiches (has to be ham), she's only just started letting me put the ham on the bread and will only have half a sandwich. I pop in some chopped ham seperate aswell in case she won't eat the sandwich!
A fruit shoot or capri sun
A packet of crisps, mostly quavers or monster munch
A biscuit or cake bar, occaisionally mini cadbury fingers or cookies and party rings
Sometimes a fruit winder.

Thats all folks, mostly the same thing everyday, of course i switch the crisps and biscuits around each day but thats all the change she will tolerate. I must say, some of the things you ladies pack sound delicious, i'm a little jealous i can't try any lol She has ASD and there would be a huge problem if i changed any of them but i'm always on the look out for ideas that she may like. Shes always been a very fussy eater and has a limited diet really, will try some of your suggestions at home first see how they work out, i hate packing the same things everyday it drives me mad!! 

I'm going to give a few things a go though thankyou xx


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## oOKayOo

Sometimes i make a small pot of Pasta to put in as a main ,or a sandwhich like BLT , Ploughmans etc, or sometimes ill make a chicken Ceaser wrap or buy some sushi.

For Nibbly bits i make a small fruit salad with blueberries , strawberries , grapes, or ill do a thing of Cut up Cucumbers and Carrot sticks with a hommus dip.
Chuck in a Babybell or Cheese thing , or a yougurt muller corner / petite fleu ( whatever its called)

No Drink as the school doesnt allow Juice of any sort , so they have cups of water from the Cafeteria.

I dont put chocs or crisps in though , she has two cooked meals which one is usually pizza so thats her junk for the week.


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## tallybee

My son's nearly 7 and he has crisps at playtime and then his packed lunch which consists of a sandwich with cheese or ham and salad, at least 1 piece of fruit, juice, a babybel or cheese string, and a cereal bar or a cupcake or flapjack or whatever we've been making at home. Sometimes a little box of raisins and/or some olives or baby tomatoes in a little tub. He's got a big appetite but stays skinny :rofl: sometimes when I'm extra disorganised I'll give him dinner money but he always has to take extras like fruit as the portions are tiny!

Sometimes when we've made homemade pizza he has a couple of slices of that instead of the sandwich, he loves it cold. I make the base in the bread machine and put cheese in the crust :)


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