D.C. Area Babies

lunch ideas

I had been serving DS the Gerber lunches because he is very impatient when it comes time to me making meals.  DH decided he wants me to serve him other things because he doesn't want him eating all the preservatives and sodium.  Well, it seems as just about everything I've tried to serve lately he doesn't want to eat.  The only thing he'll eat is pbj and whatever fruit and yogurt I give him.  What does your DC like to eat for lunch and/or dinner?
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Re: lunch ideas

  • Can you kind of emulate what's in the Gerber lunches but make them yourself? That way you can control what's going into them but maybe he'll still eat them. It looks like a lot of them are pasta with veggies. You can make a casserole or batch of pasta on the weekend and dole out through the week, and then just add some thawed frozen veggies or cut up fruit.I do that a lot for J right now.

    It might help to get one of those cool containers with the different compartments to make them more appealing/"cool." 

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  • I never realized how hard it is to come up with menu ideas, especially ones that are quick and easy. DD is much younger than your son but here are some things I pack for her for snacks and lunches:

    Protein

    Low sodium ham or turkey from the deli that I get sliced 1/4" thick and then I cut into cubes. I also freeze the slices individually so that I can thaw them out and use them one at a time.

    Veggie burgers sliced into cubes

    Turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's sliced into cubes

    White meat chicken nuggets (from TJs)

    Fish sticks (from TJs)

    Dairy

    Cheese sticks which I cut up into cubes

    Yo Yo Baby Yogurt

    Veggies

    Peas, corn, broccoli or mixed veggies (frozen that I microwave in water)

    Fruit 

    Peaches or pears with no added sugar in the little plastic containers from the grocery store.

    Carbs

    Whole wheat pasta with cheese sauce and pasta sauce

    Cous cous

    Whole wheat Annies bunny crackers

    Whole wheat Goldfish

    Other than that, I also try to feed her leftovers of things that DH and I eat for dinner or other fruits that we have in the house. She likes salmon, cous cous, rice, stir fry, etc. But the list above are things I try to keep on hand in the freezer and pantry as quick and easy options.

    I'll be interested to hear what the others say because I'm looking for more ideas too.

     

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  • VTKendra's list is great.  DD doesn't really like much meat.  Additional protein choices she loves are hard boiled eggs and hummus.  We use hummus for dipping veggies and spread on sandwiches w/tomato, spinach, and feta. 

    An additional dairy choice DD loves is sour cream for dipping.  We do a lot of steamed veggies and she loves to dip them. She loves grilled cheese w/tomato too.

    DD also loves watermelon in cubes, bananas, and dried cranberries.

    Pasta or rice are staples and our go to when we can't think of anything.  We mix them with frozen peas and carrots.

    Lunch is a tough one.  Leftovers are the easiest.

     

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  • Some more thoughts . . . there was a post about daycare lunches a week or so ago. You might also want to check out Weelicious, which has awesome ideas for baby and toddler food.

     In line with vtkendra's post, here are some things we serve DS:

    Protein

    Turkey meatballs (I use this recipe and subsitute ground turkey)

    Chicken nuggets (I coat tenderloins with yogurt and mustard, then bread crumbs, and bake - easy!)

    Avocado

    Turkey sausage with veggies and cous cous

    Nut butters (I'll be intro-ing these once pedi OK's it) on wheat toast

    Dairy

    Small cubes of cheese

    Greek yogurt

    Veggies

    Frozen mixed veggies

    Sweet potatoes (roasted and cut up)

    Spinach pesto and peas mixed with whole wheat pasta

    Mashed potatoes

    Roasted/steamed carrots

    Fruit 

    Melon

    Bananas

    Raisins

    Blueberries

    Grapes

    Applesauce

    Carbs

    Macaroni and cheese with whole wheat pasta and pureed butternut squash

    Sweet potato pancakes

    Oatmeal with fruit puree

    Dry cereal

    Quinoa with protein or fruit mixed in - he like roasted bananas and pears

     

    Otherwise, he'll eat whatever we're eating: hamburgers (well, DH eats those), barbeque chicken, pizza, etc. We want him to try Indian next . . .

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  • imagetomandcourt:

    Otherwise, he'll eat whatever we're eating: hamburgers (well, DH eats those), barbeque chicken, pizza, etc. We want him to try Indian next . . .

    C love love loves naan. And anything with chickpeas. He's only had Indian at home so I sometimes rinse off the chicken or whatever quickly so that it isn't terribly spicy. I want him to be introduced to the flavors, but I worry about his tummy. 

    NowDNA - C isn't nearly as big as your DS, but lately I've been going out of my way to freeze kid-sized portions of meals that I know he really likes. Our freezer door is currently filled with little take and toss containers of pasta with tomatoes and zucchini, tofu stirfry, etc. It's kind of like having your own Gerber meals ready to go. I just have to remember to cook extra on the night I make it.

    If I'm in a bind, we usually have chicken sausages (precooked, from Costco) in the freezer and dice it up and saute it with peas and corn. For us, lunches at home are pretty hard because the things that I would normally make for myself (a sandwich, salad, soup) aren't really baby/toddler friendly. Although, he does love cut up sandwiches. I mostly struggle with the vegetable/fruit.

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  • These lists are pretty good....one additional thing DD loves is the mini whole wheat bagels and cream cheese (costco has the big boxes of individual cream cheeses) and she loves to put her own cream cheese on. Keeps the bagel from getting soggy early.

    We also do things like dried fruits, sometimes cereal bars.

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  • There are great suggestions above.  I just wanted to say that with DD #2 we've become incredibly lazy and send those Gerber meals with her to daycare just about every day.  We used to have all these things we'd prepare ahead of time for lunches when DD #1 went to in-home daycare, but with two kids (soon to be three) those Gerber meals are just too damned convenient (we pay for DD #1 to eat the school lunch at her preschool).  Artslvr is a bad mommy.  Devil
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  • I'll send dinner leftovers and will make ahead meals and freeze in toddler portions. I'm a big believer in limiting processed foods, so I cook a lot. Premaking food has been a big help since I work FT. I too love weelicious.com...lots of great ideas that are quick to make!

    LO isn't a fan of meats, so I try to combine them with other things (e.g. pasta sauce). Some of LOs favs: mac and cheese w/ spinach and chix, chix or ground beef quesadillas (i'll sometimes add in extra veggies like spinach), sunflower butter sandwhich, pasta w/ tomato sauce & meat & veggies, turkey meatballs, baked eggplant parm

  • I love all of these ideas. I'm going to compile a list for myself.

    imagerubride:

    sunflower butter sandwhich

    I've never heard of that. Where do you get it? Is it like an alternative to peanut butter?

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  • Since I was compiling a list for myself, I thought I would post it here in case you want to copy/paste it into your Blackberry or grocery list. These are the suggestions thus far:

    Protein
    Low sodium ham or turkey
    Veggie burgers
    Turkey meatballs
    White meat chicken nuggets
    Fish sticks
    Hard boiled eggs
    Hummus
    Grilled Cheese
    Avocado
    Turkey sausage
    Nut butters
    Sunflower Butter
    Tofu
    Chicken
    Beans - Black beans, chickpeas, etc.

    Dairy
    Cheese sticks/cubes
    Yogurts
    Sour cream for dipping

    Veggies
    Peas
    Corn
    Broccoli
    Mixed veggies
    Sweet potatoes
    Roasted carrots
    Spinach mixed with other stuff like pasta and rice

    Fruit
    Peaches
    Pears
    Blueberries
    Bannanas
    Raisans
    Graps
    Melons
    Applesauce

    Carbs
    Whole wheat pasta
    Mac and Cheese
    Cous cous
    Quinoa
    Whole wheat Annies bunny crackers
    Whole wheat Goldfish
    Mixed carbs with veggies and protein
    Oatmeal
    Cereal bars

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  • Great list above.

    DD loves grilled cheese with either apple butter, sliced apples or grape jelly (I know it sounds strange but it is really good). Also, perdue has the quesadilla or italian nuggets and those are easy. Other favorites include tortellini (but it has to be cold), turkey meatballs, perogies, peanut butter and banana, hummus and sugar snaps, eggplant 'fries' (the recipe is on weelicious now), polenta slices with pesto and banana slices dipped in pancake batter.

    Also, she would eat steamed peas at every meal if I made them. I think my kiddo has some strange taste buds :-)

     

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