LO's Lunch Ideas

vic8504 · November 2013

My mom watches DD during the week and has been asking for more lunch ideas. The staples lately have been chicken, grilled cheese, some sort of pasta, or left overs form dinner if there are any, with some fruits or veggies...I am terrible at meal planning and my mom normally is good at it just having trouble coming up with new ideas for DD. F will eat anything and everything so that shouldn't be an issue (we haven't given her fish or peanut butter yet.)

So what do you guys feed your LO's for lunch?

zbeesma86 · November 2013

Cheese & crackers

Chicken salad

We do pb&j- but our friend that hasn't given LO pb yet does jelly sandwiches.

Bagel & cream cheese

Deli meat & cheese roll ups

& always yogurt and a fruit.

chefnicole22 · November 2013

Usually I send leftovers from dinner with her. I also make smoothies a lot and add veggies to them since she's been refusing anything green.

cedenton · November 2013

cheese sticks, fruit, PB&J or just PB on toast, grilled cheese, cheese and spinach quesadilla, Applegate (healthier) hot dogs, eggs with spinach mixed in, tater tots, baked french fries, sloppy joes, rice with black beans and chicken.

I made veggie tots like in this recipe and froze them:
https://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/11/cauliflower-tots.html

CoUnTryBB1 · November 2013

LO loves veggies so most of the time I am able to send her with some veggies that need to be warmed and a little chicken or turkey. She has yogurt everyday and it is her favorate snack. She gets dinner leftovers alot as well. If I am feeling really ambitious I sometimes make her pot pies in muffin tins and send one a day and freeze the rest. She likes grilled cheese but I try to only give that to her once a week if that. Any sort of quesadilla she will eat. When I send her finger foods she eats better since she likes to feed herself. She really isn't picky the only time she doens't eat something is usually due to texture.

Megispreg · November 2013

I give her a lot of the same things you mentioned. She likes quesadillas, and they're pretty easy. Turkey lunch meat. She likes peas as a side (I use frozen). She will eat pot stickers I get frozen at Trader Joe's. Yogurt. Any fruit. Cheese. Crackers. Scrambled eggs. Hummus. That's about it.

Toni79 · November 2013

hls19 said:

Deli meat & cheese roll ups

How do you keep them rolled up without falling apart?

This looks like a good idea, but am afraid once DD gets her hands on them they'll fall apart and just give her something to throw at me! LOL!

Oh and my go to statples to pack in DD's lunch for the DCP include:

Leftover from dinner - if there are any

Peanut butter sandwich

Cambell's Chicken Noodle Soup or Beef Noodle Soup (with Extra Noodles) - drained and rinsed really really well - I can usually get two meals from a can of soup.

Any type of pasta - with speghetti sauce or mac and cheese. I picked up a few cans

Rissotto - I made a whole bag of rissotto with chiken broth and freezed it in ice cube trays. I'll pop a few out and mix it with some pureed veggies (also frozen in ice cube trays) ... so I'll get a pumpkin rissotto, or butternut squash riussotto, or a sweet potato risotto, etc. Sometimes I'll mix in some shredded chicken.

Plus I always pack lots of veggies to go with her lunch (and fruits for snack times). I'll cook a bag of frozen veggies, cool, freeze flat on a cookie sheet (so they don't freeze together), then transfer and store in a gallon zip lock bag. Then when I'm packing her lunch the night before, I just scoop out what I want, and its thawed by the next day. I do the same thing with frozen fruit - only wihtout cooking it - just cut while frozen and put in a ziplock bag, then scoop out what I need.

I could really use somemore ideas for packable lunches!

Toni79 · November 2013

cedenton said:

cheese sticks, fruit, PB&J or just PB on toast, grilled cheese, cheese and spinach quesadilla, Applegate (healthier) hot dogs, eggs with spinach mixed in, tater tots, baked french fries, sloppy joes, rice with black beans and chicken.

I made veggie tots like in this recipe and froze them:
https://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/11/cauliflower-tots.html

Oh they look yummy! I want to make them! I need to find more things I can make ahead and freeze for later! That makes packing lunches soooo much easier!

fastcarsandfreedom3319 · November 2013

I've been pinning like crazy because T's new daycare doesn't provide meals, so this is all new to me. I love @toni79's ideas, especially the soup one, that's a great tip!

You can check out my board if you want, there's a lot more on it than just lunch ideas but there are a few good ones that maybe will help you. Clicky!

AmySmolos · November 2013

I'm jealous if all your lo's variety and ease of meals! DS loves all fruit but other than that it's so hard. He eats te same things every day. I wish he ate more variety. Boo!

zbeesma86 · November 2013

Toni79 said:

hls19 said:

Deli meat & cheese roll ups

How do you keep them rolled up without falling apart?

This looks like a good idea, but am afraid once DD gets her hands on them they'll fall apart and just give her something to throw at me! LOL!

Oh and my go to statples to pack in DD's lunch for the DCP include:

Leftover from dinner - if there are any

Peanut butter sandwich

Cambell's Chicken Noodle Soup or Beef Noodle Soup (with Extra Noodles) - drained and rinsed really really well - I can usually get two meals from a can of soup.

Any type of pasta - with speghetti sauce or mac and cheese. I picked up a few cans

Rissotto - I made a whole bag of rissotto with chiken broth and freezed it in ice cube trays. I'll pop a few out and mix it with some pureed veggies (also frozen in ice cube trays) ... so I'll get a pumpkin rissotto, or butternut squash riussotto, or a sweet potato risotto, etc. Sometimes I'll mix in some shredded chicken.

Plus I always pack lots of veggies to go with her lunch (and fruits for snack times). I'll cook a bag of frozen veggies, cool, freeze flat on a cookie sheet (so they don't freeze together), then transfer and store in a gallon zip lock bag. Then when I'm packing her lunch the night before, I just scoop out what I want, and its thawed by the next day. I do the same thing with frozen fruit - only wihtout cooking it - just cut while frozen and put in a ziplock bag, then scoop out what I need.

I could really use somemore ideas for packable lunches!

I roll it with the cheese on the outside then break it into bites- it stays together fine.

CourtneyEeps · November 2013

Veggie burgers (frozen, I haven't attempted to make my own)

Burritos (beans, shredded meat, cheese, spinach, tomatoes and salsa in a tortilla)

Quesadillas (usually with onion, bell peppers and leftover chicken)

Any pasta, add frozen veggies

Vegetable stew, drained to leave mostly just the veggies

Turkey and cream cheese pitas

Breakfast burritos

Toni79 · November 2013

Oh ... one more idea to share ... tofu! Just rinse, pat dry, cube, and serve cold. DD loves it. I guess I could heat it in a pan with some seasoning ... but I don't want to mess with a good thing!

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