With the ever increasing cost of school dinners and the fact that many of us are having to tighten our belts I thought this thread would be a good idea. One school dinner for example costs £1.80, thats £9.00 a week. Whenever my kids have a school dinner they come home complaining that they are hungry and raid the fridge! Ok so £1.80 doesn't sound much but two kids equals £18 a week for them to have pizza and chips then come home hungry!

So, how about posting some lunch ideas suitable for pack up, for kids and adults alike that are both filling and nutritious!

I'll start. My son loves pasta so tonight I made them some, took me ten minutes to make and it's all boxed up ready for in the morning :)

200g (weighed then cooked) pasta (I use wholewheat but use whichever you like)
2 handfuls of peppers
Small tin of sweetcorn
Chicken - either wafer thin chopped up or breast cooked and chopped up.
2 tablespoons of mayo (I like the heinz tomato deli one)

Mix it all up and put it in a tub. Don't forget to add a fork!

Ham and cheese tortilla wraps. We love these in out house. Ham, grated cheese or cheese spread. Cucumber,peppers cut into thin strips and onions and mayo if you fancy it. They are so yummy. I also make these for camping trips for when we get their. Im always starvin when I need to put the tent up. Also works with chicken or whatever other fillings you like.

Sausage and egg mayo pita breads is another favorite.

Oh and you could also give them soups in a flask.

Chicken legs

Veg and dips.

cheese, crackers ham and pickles.

I know peanut butter isn't terribly popular over here, but one thing my son always loved in his lunch when he was little was celery sticks with a bit of peanut butter down the groove, with a few raisins stuck in a line on top. We called it "ants on a log," which helped sell it to the little ones.

Salads pack well, and needn't always be a boring old green salad. I often do a carrot salad with grated carrot, diced apple, a few raisins, and a dollop of low-fat vanilla yogurt to make it stick together. My youngest son really likes a crunchy cabbage salad, with tomatoes (I always pack cut tomatoes in a separate container, so they don't make salads or sandwiches wet.)

To keep cold things cold, I freeze a plastic water bottle filled halfway with whatever drink I'm packing (skimmed milk freezes well) and put that in the box.

My kind of thread!
With the amount of money I spend in our canteen per week. I also decided to be frugal and make my own lunches too. It works out maybe 2-3 pounds for me. Well, I am trying to squeeze it down to 2, that's my main goal. So I'm juggling with the ingredient lists at the moment. Also, at work, we only have a microwave as well. So that limits my choices a little.

I've made so far:
diced chicken breast pieces, served with salads. (lettuce, cherry tomato, cucumbers,)

chicken with cold vermicilli (this should really be in a soup of its own, but I forgotten it, so I had it cold :( like a salad)

shredded chicken with some shredded cabbage in a wrap, with some thai sweet chilli sauce (I nicked this idea from some stall in Borough Market!) :hihi: They were selling this for a fiver. Gosh...