Talk to me about daycare lunch

[Deleted]

I will have to send his lunch and I am getting really nervous about it.  

1. What do you send? I'm worried because he is used to having everything in bite sized pieces.  He only has 5 teeth and doesn't use them well to pull the food apart.  
2. What do you put it in? 
3. What do you send their milk in? 

[charlielove]

I send lunch to my mom's house w/ Charlotte when she goes. I just put it in an insulated lunch bag, and her milk in her sippy cup. I pre-cut everything I send.

I usually send fruit, a veggie, yogurt and

cheese quesadilla
pita w/ hummus
PB&J
Mac & cheese
Beans & cheese

[Deleted]

Thanks, charlielove! He loves hummus so I know that will be a staple. Stupid question--so you have the hummus in a little container for her to dip or do you spread it on before she goes.

[charlielove]

Jul 16, 2013 12:41:04 GMT -5 @thadsrad said:

Thanks, charlielove! He loves hummus so I know that will be a staple. Stupid question--so you have the hummus in a little container for her to dip or do you spread it on before she goes.

I spread it on the pita and then cut it all up. She isn't too great at dipping yet.

[The Foozzler]

Before we took a summer break, I sent everything to daycare in bite sized pieces. Usually a protein or meat, a grain, and a vegetable. For example, one day might be cut up chicken, spinach tortellini, and peas.

Some staples included:
Spinach or bean quesadilla
Tortellini
Grilled chicken or chicken tenders
Pasta with butter
Mac and cheese
Leftover steak
Black beans
Avocado
Cheese cubes
Peas
String beans

For milk, I use the munchkin click and lock straw cups. I send 2, one for the morning, and one for the afternoon.
For snack, I sent goldfish, fruit bars, cubes of fruit, crackers, occasionally a pouch.

I tried not to send very messy things for the most part.

[rubber pants]

Daycare provides milk, so thats great!

I send a waffle and Oikos Greek Yogurt cup every day for breakfast. She has a banana at home when she wakes up.

For lunch I usually send some sort of pasta with sauce or butter (whole wheat rotini, cheese or meat filled ravioli's, cheese tortelini) + black beans. Then I send a string cheese, 1/4 avacado and a little container of fruit.

[tennisgal]

My DC also provides milk so I don't have to worry about that. They also provide snacks: crackers, cereal bars, applesauce, oatmeal, etc. One weird thing about my DC is that they can't heat anything up in the microwave, so if I want something hot, I have to bring it in a thermos.. or I heat the crap out of it when I get there and hope it's still warm when lunch comes around (I leave that stuff in an insulated tote.)
For lunches I'll usually send yogurt, cottage cheese, cutup fruit, toast, rice cakes, ravioli, sometimes a pouch, leftovers from dinner, mac&cheese. DS is limited in what he currently likes and more limited in the whole non-microwaved things, so it's tough and I feel like I'm sending the same thing everyday.

[Deleted]

Thanks guys. My stress level is way to high about this. Thad grazes all day and I'm afraid the switch to scheduled meals is going to be hard.

I am totally buying a skip hop book bag and lunch box. Just have to decide what animal.

[Deleted]

Sandwiches, cheese sticks, yogurt, bananas (any fruit really) pasta, the broccoli cheese patties from the weelicious website, leftover dinner, quesadillas.

[Deleted]

If your daycare doesn't allow pb or for those allergy kids sunflower butter or cream cheese sandwhiches were always a hit with my toddler class

[jaime183]

I cut everything up ahead of time (pampered chef scissors are the best)

I also keep frozen veg and chicken nuggets on hand for days we don't have anything to send

He eats jelly sandwiches, tofu, chicken nuggets, veg, fruit, pancakes, yogurt

Only water during the day

[Deleted]

Jul 16, 2013 13:27:47 GMT -5 @dragonmommy422 said:

Sandwiches, cheese sticks, yogurt, bananas (any fruit really) pasta, the broccoli cheese patties from the weelicious website, leftover dinner, quesadillas.

Also, I buy a gallon of milk and leave it there(in home daycare) and sent like three sippies that he has there too. I send his lunch in a bag I found at babies r us, you freeze it overnight and it stays cool all day.

[outrunthemoon]

I wasn't going to read this thread but now I'm glad I did. I always send in McKenzie with a pb&j sandwich or turkey and cheese with one or two fruits then a snack like cheerios or teddy grahams for later. But I know she is getting sick of the same thing every day. I definitely need to get some snack foods and widen my range of fruits/veggies I send her. Pay day is Friday so off to the grocery store I go. I'll definitely be checking back to this thread for ideas before I go!

[katie]

Jul 16, 2013 13:23:28 GMT -5 @thadsrad said:

Thanks guys. My stress level is way to high about this. Thad grazes all day and I'm afraid the switch to scheduled meals is going to be hard.

I am totally buying a skip hop book bag and lunch box. Just have to decide what animal.

I think he will adjust fine with the scheduled food. L goes to a center and they keep them very busy so I don't think she has much time to really think abOut eating. They all seem to do what the others do at this age so he will get into the groove quick . On the weekends I roughly follow their schedule but I still find her snacking more at home. 

Our DC provides lunch and milk but a lot for the food mentioned is what they give there...quesadillas, pasta/ravioli, nuggets, soy nut butter & jelly, chicken and rice, chicken teriyaki, pizza...snacks are crackers and cheese, fruit, goldfish, graham crackers, breads (banana/blueberry)... She also gets pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal, French toast for morning time there. She eats a banana before I send her in.