Toddler lunches

[aaemommy]

I'm a little bit at a loss for what to send my toddler with to preschool. I know quite a few of you ladies have toddlers so wondering what your thoughts are before I ask on a board I'm not as active on.
Guidelines:
- he'll need a lunch and 2 substantial snacks (he has a big appetite and gets very hangry lol)
- no peanuts
- no way to warm it so it must be thermos friendly or served cold
- he doesn't like sandwiches
- I avoid processed foods for him as much as possible

Thoughts? Ideas? Help!

Eta he's not a kid that's content eating the same thing every day so I need LOTS of ideas!

[ellesea]

Are you allowed any nuts? Tree nuts?
Pasta
Crackers and cheese
Humus wraps
Naan bread or veggies with humus dip
Kielbasa or lunch meat(is that considered processed?)
Sandwich wraps
Muffins(there's plenty of healthy options out there)
Yogurt or yogurt parfaits with granola and berries.
Homemade or store bought granola bars.
My toddler likes to snack on nuts and seeds. Raw walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds etc.

And of course fruits and veggies.

Will he eat a sandwich of its cut into a shape?

[aaemommy]

Thanks for the ideas ellesea!
I need to talk to his teacher about allergies in the room so I'm not sure about tree nuts.
I plan to send lots of fruit/ veggies. Hummus is a great idea! He loves anything he can "dip" in lol
He isn't a big fan of bread in general, so I don't think cutting it into a shape would make a difference. He also doesn't do very well with wraps- he's not quite 2 and hasn't gotten down how to hold them so everything doesn't come out!
He LOVES yogurt but is super messy with it. Maybe I'll save that for a backup if I can't come up with anything else for a day.

[k3am]

I send the yogurt (full fat, no added sugars) with blueberries, berries, banana-oatmeal bites, string cheese, and one of three main dishes: PBJ, Mac n cheese, or dinner leftover (leftovers only get eaten occasionally).

But her meals are pretty much 100% the opposite of what you're asking for. 😆

[annarose]

I am so thankful our daycare serves lunch. DD1 eats everything they give her. We can offer the same things at home and she refuses - it's annoying.

[cuppycakes]

That's tough! Too bad they couldn't invest in a microwave 😕 I do a lot of string cheese, applesauce, danimals both out of the plastic containers and the squeezable ones, cut up fruit, grahm crackers or apples with peanut butter, raisins, cold pizza, those frozen sandwiches that thaw out???

[k3am]

Aug 3, 2016 14:57:45 GMT -5 annarose said:

I am so thankful our daycare serves lunch. DD1 eats everything they give her. We can offer the same things at home and she refuses - it's annoying.

This is the main reason I wish I could send DD to the "better" center. But.. I can't justify an extra $700ish a month between two kids.

[aaemommy]

He's going to a preschool class in a Catholic school that is pre-k through 8th grade. So they have a cafeteria that serves school lunches but they are really junky. Nuggets, pizza, burgers, fish sticks, etc. I don't want him eating that every day. And his class has 16 kids so I get why they don't want to have to warm up lunches!
I am going to buy a thermos though so I can send soup/ pasta/ other warm things in that occasionally.

[ellesea]

Since he is pretty young, at that age I did a lot of deconstructed meals. Instead of doing a full wrap you could fill it and slice it. Just make sure there is something sticky(cream cheese, humus) to hold it together. I've seen this done with slices of strawberries or bananas. Super yummy, almost like dessert.

[jbeans27]

Aug 3, 2016 13:55:15 GMT -5 aaemommy said:

I'm a little bit at a loss for what to send my toddler with to preschool. I know quite a few of you ladies have toddlers so wondering what your thoughts are before I ask on a board I'm not as active on.
Guidelines:
- he'll need a lunch and 2 substantial snacks (he has a big appetite and gets very hangry lol)
- no peanuts
- no way to warm it so it must be thermos friendly or served cold
- he doesn't like sandwiches
- I avoid processed foods for him as much as possible

Thoughts? Ideas? Help!

Eta he's not a kid that's content eating the same thing every day so I need LOTS of ideas!

Here are some things my toddler likes for school lunch (he's 2.5). I find that he actually eats better at daycare... I guess it's the peer pressure?

Lunch:

-Turkey and cheese roll ups
-quesadillas - I swear he'll eat anything in quesadilla form!
-left over tacos (usually just the shell, meat, cheese and lettuce and he puts it together himself - apparently this is a favorite)
-grilled chicken strips and Caesar salad might just be my kid but he loves it!
-veggie hot dogs with applesauce
-chili or soup (they heat it up but could probably stay warm in a thermos)
-Mac and cheese
-sun butter and jelly sandwiches (DS will eat this ONLY if cut into strips)
-any random leftovers, he loves thin slices pork tenderloin cold and will eat room temp corn or green bean

Snacks:
-Berries and yogurt
-hummus and pita and/ veggies
-individual guacamole cup and chips
-cheese and crackers
-banana or zucchini muffins
-dried fruit
-I usually send extra packaged things in case he's still hungry - things like granola or breakfast bars

I'll add more as I think of them!

[k3am]

We have the book Baby & Toddler Food on the go.. Tons of great options. We used more of them when DD was eating real food.

A lot of them are in "bite" form - quinoa bites, mini meat loafs, egg/spinach bites, etc.

I don't generally buy "real" books anymore, but totally recommend this one.

You can also batch make the items and freeze them and pull out one at a time as you need them.

ETA link www.amazon.com/Baby-Toddler-Go-Cookbook-Homemade/dp/1616284994

[aaemommy]

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!

[appleoatmeal]

Lots of great suggestions above! Things that are hits in our house that I don't already see listed: red pepper slices, avocado slices or wholly avocado tubs, cold green beans, single serve cottage cheese cups, cereal fruit bars. I'll also buy a rotaissaire chicken on the weekend and cut it up, my kid will eat it cold with crackers or pasta for lunch. I also second yogurt squeezers for less mess.

[babycaps]

Cliff bars, Belvita Crackers, are a good filling snack!

[k3am]

I'm in awe of the things you guys can get your kids to eat.

[jbeans27]

Aug 3, 2016 23:00:59 GMT -5 k3am said:

I'm in awe of the things you guys can get your kids to eat.

He eats so much better and without complaint at daycare! We went through a period where he would tell us he didn't like whatever we were having (even though he did) and then when he finally ate it be like "oh, I like this". Toddlers....

[gahorseygal]

Aug 3, 2016 14:57:45 GMT -5 annarose said:

I am so thankful our daycare serves lunch. DD1 eats everything they give her. We can offer the same things at home and she refuses - it's annoying.

Yes my DD is the same!

[ellesea]

Aug 3, 2016 23:00:59 GMT -5 k3am said:

I'm in awe of the things you guys can get your kids to eat.

Some of the things I listed are things I've tried and not necessarily something he will eat. If it were up to him he'd eat a bagel with butter for every meal and snack.

[k3am]

If I send anything different, it gets sent home. Completely untasted. We've tried soooo many different tactics and in the end, gave up.

[ellipses]

We've always had meals provided by DC until now, so I'm facing the same dilemma as you with my super picky eater. Some days he wouldn't eat what they served. I bought a bento box and I've tried it out a few times at home, and I really like it. I often make homemade lunchables, with cheese, meat, crackers, etc. I've been looking up bento box ideas and one is to use a tortilla and roll it with a piece of lunch meat or some sort of spread and cut it into pieces, almost like little sushi rolls. Easier to eat then a whole wrap. My DS doesn't like sandwiches but will finally eat bread and the disassembled parts. He'll eat lots of fruit, crackers, pretzels, tomatoes and carrots. I let him pick out things like that in the grocery store because he's more likely to eat what he chooses. He likes plain pasta so we use various noodle types. He won't eat any type of sauce or dip. For packaged food, he likes the kids cliff bars.

[annarose]

Aug 3, 2016 16:57:42 GMT -5 k3am said:

Aug 3, 2016 14:57:45 GMT -5 annarose said:

I am so thankful our daycare serves lunch. DD1 eats everything they give her. We can offer the same things at home and she refuses - it's annoying.

This is the main reason I wish I could send DD to the "better" center. But.. I can't justify an extra $700ish a month between two kids.

I hate thinking about the quality of the food but 1) at least she is eating and even veggies! 2) I probably ate worse as a kid and I survived
We do the best we can at home so I feel good about that.

[ellesea]

Ds1 would dissect any sandwich I gave him and eat only the bread until I found a sandwich cutter shaped like Mickey mouse. He demolishes his sandwiches now.