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Working Moms
jnnfrrose6
member
New DC doesn't do meals
jnnfrrose6
member
in Working Moms
It just occurred to me now that I'm 2 weeks from sending LO to a new DC that they don't provide meals, only snacks, and I need some suggestions! They have a company that we can pay additionally for lunches (not a bad price, so we'll probably go that route), but haven't decided 100% on that. Also, where he's at now, he gets breakfast too (he nurses before we leave and then has breakfast around 8). We're changing DC because the class sizes/programs/curriculum are over all better, but they are lacking in this one area.
I need suggestions on what I can easily pack for him, both breakfast and lunch. I'm willing to try and make ahead at the beginning of the week some options if that works. He's 11 months, but we don't hold back on solids except for honey. TIA!
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Re: New DC doesn't do meals
Our DC also only does snacks. DD2 is 13 months. We usually try to set aside time on Sunday to make a bunch of food, and then will do another session on Wednesday night or so.
Pick a food your LO adores for breakfast. DD2 loves her yogurt, and she's always so excited about getting her yogurt in the morning that she waves goodbye to me with no tears or fuss.
We also try to send in lots of finger foods, although we'll do pouches if we're in a pinch and haven't had the chance to prepare anything else. We like doing cooked/steamed veggies (peas, corn, baby carrots, sweet potato, squash), diced cheese, cut bread, diced chicken or steak. We'll pack cut fruits that are in season as well.
The hardest part is cutting everything up, which is why we like peas and corn, and why we try to do food prep every few days instead of every morning.
Good luck!
I'm not sure how old you LO is, but we send out own meals to daycare. They don't reheat food which is a bummer, but we've adjusted. I try to include a grain, protein and veggie with every lunch. Breakfast I send a grain, protein and fruit.
Breakfast Favorites are:
pumpkin oatmeal bars
hard boiled eggs
greek yogurt with fruit
sunbutter and banana (no nuts at daycare)
applesauce bars
dry cereal (kashi shredded wheats usually)
Lunch favorites are:
cold cheese tortellini with pesto sauce or diced tomatoes
taco salad - sliced tortillas, beans, cheese, tomatoes, avocadoes and corn
cold meat sandwiches - 1 slice of whole wheat, hummus or avocado, slice of cheese and slice of turkey, chicken or ham
cold cheese quesadilla, salsa, avocado, black beans
hummus, steamed cold veggies, whole grain crackers
I'm happy our DC doesn't do meals. It's an area I like having a lot of control over.
We're boring for breakfast and DS gets the same thing every day - oatmeal. They get morning snack around the same time and that does vary, so I'm more focused on him just getting something and the oatmeal is good on iron and calcium.
For lunch, we mostly do leftovers or frozen items. Our DC does heat things up - don't know what we'd do if they didn't. DS is a vegetarian, so things below all are. Items we've sent in the past couple weeks are:
*Mushroom risotto
*Olive and caper pasta (DS's fav, but also lots of other pasta dish leftovers)
*Mango-cucumber quinoa (https://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/mango-quinoa-salad.php)
*Homemade vegetable and noodle soup
*Frozen grain and vegetable mix from Trader Joe's
*Veggie burger with frozen vegetables (TJ's soycutash is the best)
*Hummus and pita with fruit or veggies
*Falafel with fruit or veggies
*Fried polenta and black bean-avocado salad
DS, May 2011
I like a lot of the above ideas!! Our daycare doesn't do lunches (which I'm quite sad about - our old one did and it really made for less headaches).
As PP I tried to do 1 protein 1 carb 1 veggie and 1 fruit. Our standard go tos are (all ok whether you reheat or not):
- cubed or speared cheese
- yogurt
- baked chicken nuggets or sliced grilled chicken breast
- baked fish sticks (from TJ)
- scrambled eggs
- peanut or almond or sunflower butter + jelly sandwich sliced into spears
- pasta/rice/buckwheat
- veggies: broccoli, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot slices, cauliflower, corns and peas, strings beans. Hm. Pretty much everything I guess. Same for fruits.
ours has never done meals, and I like it that way.
Let's see we do lots of things. I'm trying to think back to when DD1 was that young, since DD2 isn't quite there yet with full meals.
We did cheese, steamed veggies, pancakes, French toast sticks, yogurt, eggs, humus, fruits, black beans, guacamole, noodles, really whatever leftovers we had from dinner (cut in small pieces), even sandwiches, bagels, etc.
we regularly use thermoses - which can keep cold food cold for 7 hours and hot food warm for 5. I just use my kureg and put hot water in the thermos, heat the food up in the microwave, then pour out the water and put the food in the container. it works really well.