Finger Food Ideas for Daycare? (nutritionally dense)

SoxFan777

Hi,

I'll have pretty limited time once I go back to work and I'm looking for ideas for my son for self-feeding at daycare.  He's 13 months, and they think he should be mostly self feeding at this point, although I still give him a veggie puree and yogurt daily that I feed to him at home. 

He doesn't like cheerios much... he ate puffs fine when we were on that stage, though.  He LOVES those "tinyfruits" but they're $3 a bag, so that's lame.  He loves eggs, so I can cut up a boiled egg for him everyday (is that bad for him?).  He's somewhat fussy.  LOVES zucchini, but it's not exactly a "nutritionally dense" food, which is what I'm looking for.  He ate beans yesterday when I was out for mexican and seemed to love them.  We're not vegetarian, but we don't eat much meat as you can probably infer from above.  I bought tofu (firm) yesterday and I'm not sure what to do with it for him, though. 

Any other ideas for easy to prepare, nutritionally dense finger food that can translate well to being packed for daycare?  I've made nearly all his food so far and I'd like it to stay that way even after I go back to work...

MisN

DD loves "healthy" muffins.  I make a big batch of high fiber low sugar muffins and freeze them and then pack half a muffin for a snack.

Other ideas?  avocado pieces, corn on the cob (big hit at our house even cold!), whole grain pasta, mini quiche, cheese, sweet potato, hummus on toast strips, peas,

Dizzbomb

Try these sweet potato pancakes (I use whole wheat flour and about one-third more sweet potato than it calls for in the recipe) - https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/sweetpotatobabyfoodrecipes.htm

We make them "silver dollar" size and the daycare staff break them into pieces for our daughter to feed herself.  This weekend I doubled the recipe and froze the majority of them; they thaw out overnight in the fridge in time for daycare the next day.  My daughter loves them! 

ally81698

We just cut tofu into cubes and DD eats it just like that - loves it

I prepare DD"s food for the day every morning for her babysitters. Other ideas for finger food -

Protein - cut up grilled chicken, tofu, veggie burger, turkey burger, chicken link, mini ravioli, eggs 

Fruit - cut up avocado, strawberries, banana slices

Veggies - well cooked carrots, broccoli, cucumber slices

saturdaynightdoubletree

My kiddos love chunks of avocado, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, frozen peas/corn/carrots they defrost by lunch time as long as they arent refrigerated, cheese sticks, beans of any kind, cereal bars, chunked grilled chicken, cut up meatballs, rice and beans, small pasta with sauce or butter, grilled cheese even once it's cold, applesauce pouches or any other variety, etc. HTH!

rosesandpeonies

well my daughter just has breakfast there but this is what I give her

cut up cantaloupe

cut up apples

 blueberries

cut up strawberries

cut up pancakes (use the microwaveable kind) (whole wheat kinds)

cut up toast (whole wheat) 

cut up waffles (whole wheat) (microwaveable kind) 

cut up tomato

Buddy Fruits (like the yogurt below I had to teach her to eat them) 

yogurt (the ones they can feed themselves with...I had to teach her so that wasn't sent with her till recently) 

scrambled eggs (only because she eats breakfast pretty much within 15 to 20 minutes after getting there) you could do scrambled egg whites for breakfast. 

I do the best I can to offer her a balanced diet.  My rule is to always offer a fresh fruit or veggie with anything my kids eat.  Thats how i grew up so I am so used to doing that anyway.  

stephdruskinis

I boil some frozen veggies (you can get organic if you want) in chicken or veggie broth, and LO loves them.  Very easy to make and pack up, as long as they're willing to reheat for you.

Chocbabe

My LO loves partially frozen fruit, fresh bananas, apples, berries, etc. I also have a great recipe for a "cookie" that he can't get enough of.

3 Tbsp shredded sugar free coconut

3 Tbsp Wheat Germ

1 cup Oatmeal

1 - 2 cups dried fruit

Put in food processor to a molding clay consistency and roll into balls. Smash flat and place in the freezer.

Depending on LO's teeth, give frozen or let sit out for a few minutes before giving to child. My older kids and I love them as well so making big batches works better for us.