Lunches for preschoolers

[muffin0]

DD always had a PB&J. I would also send in a juice/water/milk. She always wanted fresh veggies so I'd send either carrots, broccoli, snap peas or cauliflower. Usually with ranch. I would also either give her a apple sauce pouch or some grapes (I usually let her choose) sometimes a gogurt.

It was ridiculously easy and her teachers always told me they were impressed with her lunches, because of all the fresh stuff. Thankfully she asked for it, so it wasn't a struggle.

[teeah22]

PB&J
Peanut butter on cinnamon toast
Clif bar
Cheese sticks
Cheese cubes
Apples
Strawberries
Dried fruit
Pretzels
Goldfish
Mini Triscuits
Gogurt
Applesauce
Chocolate milk

[ElizabethBennet]

What kind of yogurt? Is it regular or Greek?

I was just looking for different meal ideas for my kid because we're in a rut and found these:

www.journeyofparenthood.com/2013/03/healthier-preschooler-lunches.html#.Ue8hmW1Ilco

wendolonia.com/blog/2012/05/18/the-week-in-bentos-may-14-18-2012/

weelicious.com/ (this has a lot of different ideas)

pinterest.com/beckzw/foodforharper/


I found all of these on pinterest

[teeah22]

Jul 23, 2013 19:41:15 GMT -5 socratic said:

Jul 23, 2013 19:38:37 GMT -5 teeah22 said:

PB&J
Peanut butter on cinnamon toast
Clif bar
Cheese sticks
Cheese cubes
Apples
Strawberries
Dried fruit
Pretzels
Goldfish
Mini Triscuits
Gogurt
Applesauce
Chocolate milk

I always forget about cheese sticks! I am going to get some tomorrow!

Cheese cubes are super easy too.  I buy the blocks of cheese and then cube it all up at once, it's so much cheaper than buying it already cubed.

[Deleted]

I have a great eater so he's easy to fix for. This is his typical lunch:

PB/honey or turkey/mild cheese on wheat
Fresh fruit like grapes, watermelon, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries or a combination thereof.
Mixed roasted nuts or pistachios with one or more if the following thrown in: Cheerios, Goldfish, teddy Graham's, raisins

I've also sent the following in his lunch:
Roast chicken
Tamales
Beans and rice
Raw carrots and broccoli with ranch
Cheese sticks
Tortilla roll ups with turkey/cheese
Pasta/sauce
Hard boiled egg
Water. Always water.

ETA I've started putting SF carnation instant breakfast in his morning milk. It has a good amount of protein and vitamins. Also, he loves to munch on the Kashi high protein cinnamon cereal with some almonds thrown in while drinking said milk.

[gretchenindisguise]

L's standard is

1/2 sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich on a sandwich thin bread.

Tube o champions yogurt

Mozzarella cheese stick

Cheddar bunnies

Fruit (today was grapes and blueberries)

Veggies (today was carrots and cherry tomatoes).

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[Gato]

DD is super-picky, so sandwiches are always either PB&J (sun butter when PB isn't allowed) or grilled cheese with an orange veggie puree spread.  She likes grilled cheese cold.  She'll also eat hard boiled eggs or whole wheat crackers with something cheesy between.

Sides include:
berries or other fruits cut up
yogurt
string cheese
half an avocado
ravioli
pasta salad - here she'll accept ham, turkey, and/or peas

Hmm... there must be more.  I hope I'm just forgetting stuff because it's the summer.

[anodyne]

Will he eat cottage cheese? It is surprisingly high in protein. I send cottage cheese with peaches, raspberries, what ever is in season on the side.

[keyslover]

Sfl

[emsumm]

Ours looks a lot like gretchen's...We only pack lunch twice a week for camp, but I do picnic dinners a lot so I'll include some of those things.

PB&J (I freaking love the frozen ones from Costco - so easy and high cal, which my kids really need)
or
Turkey slices with pita and hummus

And any of the following:
String cheese
Chobani champions squeezy yogurt
Granola bar (again, high calorie - the chewy nature valley one)
Fresh fruit - berries, cut up peaches, apple slices, etc.
Baby carrots or snap peas or red pepper slices
Applesauce pouch
Stretch Island gummies

They get cheddar bunnies or goldfish as a snack at camp so I don't send those. They get graham bunnies when I run them to camp in the morning so I don't send any extra sweets.

[litebright]

Right now, I've got sliced cucumbers, baby carrots, blueberries & fruit newtons in the fridge for DD1's lunch at camp tomorrow. I'll make a turkey or ham sandwich in the morning.

Other things I've got for her this week: bell pepper slices, snap peas (raw), turkey pepperoni & Ritz crackers so she can construct little "sandwiches", granola, sliced plum, a whole apple, turkey or ham rolled up with lettuce in a tortilla (or cut into pinwheels), those Terra veggie chips (YUM), Craisins, and yogurt-covered pretzel balls.

[emsumm]

Jul 23, 2013 21:54:32 GMT -5 litebright said:

Right now, I've got sliced cucumbers, baby carrots, blueberries & fruit newtons in the fridge for DD1's lunch at camp tomorrow. I'll make a turkey or ham sandwich in the morning.

Other things I've got for her this week: bell pepper slices, snap peas (raw), turkey pepperoni & Ritz crackers so she can construct little "sandwiches", granola, sliced plum, a whole apple, turkey or ham rolled up with lettuce in a tortilla (or cut into pinwheels), those Terra veggie chips (YUM), Craisins, and yogurt-covered pretzel balls.

God, I love those Terra chips.

[luvvy]

This thread is awesome. I feel much better about what I'm feeding my kid and have some great new ideas!

[SugarKane]

My 3 year old has some sensory issues and is super picky so she gets the following 3 days a week for preschool

Roasted red pepper hummus and cheese sandwich with whole wheat bread
Sugar snap peas
Baby carrots
Honeydew, grapes or strawberries
Stonyfield tube (won't eat any other kind)

I'd love to pack her some other stuff like I do for my 7 year old, but she is guaranteed to eat this and she's really little so I'm sticking with what works.

[jena]

Get a thermos and then you can send leftover pasta or soup (not that my kids eat soup , but buttered egg noodles with peas are a hit, as is mac and cheese and spaghetti)

Sometimes I pack little lunchable type meals, I usually assemble my own. I use muffin liners (silicone or paper) and pack it in a sandwich box bento-style.

[idoinjuly]

Jul 24, 2013 7:26:27 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

Make sure your school doesn't have a no nut policy. Daycare doesn't allow any nuts of any kind, so N get's a jelly sandwich instead of a pb&j.

Puddle, have you tried soy butter?  It's tastes very similar and has as much protein as peanut butter.

[luckyval]

All of these are good suggestions - my kid is also a big fan of
cheese quesadillas
hot dogs
basic chicken nuggets
fish sticks/shrimp
apple chips
Scrabble edition Cheese Its (omgah - letters!)
carrots
cherry tomatoes
celery
bananas
Cheerios

[SpartanGirl]

This page has a lot of great, healthy lunch ideas: www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/02/04/school-lunch-roundup-iii/

My kids usually get some type of sandwich or pasta in a thermos, and then I add a combo of cheese (cubes or string), fruit (fresh or applesauce), and yogurt. I just bought some silicone go-gurt type tubes, and I'm thinking of making some green smoothies and freezing them in the tubes for lunches this year.

[hellfreezesovertour]

Do you have a thermos? I usually pack dinner left overs in the thermos for lunch. You can get so much mileage out of it. We have a thermos that I heat the food and it stays warm til lunchtime!

[gretchenindisguise]

Jul 24, 2013 7:26:27 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

Make sure your school doesn't have a no nut policy. Daycare doesn't allow any nuts of any kind, so N get's a jelly sandwich instead of a pb&j.

Get some sunflower seed butter. Its the best "other" butter in my humble opinion.

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[bex1973]

This thread makes me nervous. I'm so glad that the daycare Morgan's going to starting in Sept provides all meals and I don't have to think about this stuff. LOL - parenting is hard...

[idoinjuly]

Jul 24, 2013 8:13:28 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Jul 24, 2013 7:26:27 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

Make sure your school doesn't have a no nut policy. Daycare doesn't allow any nuts of any kind, so N get's a jelly sandwich instead of a pb&j.

Get some sunflower seed butter. Its the best "other" butter in my humble opinion.

Sent from my DROIDX using proboards

Gretchen, as far as taste or nutrition?  I'm always up for trying to things for dd.

BTW, she had a skin test at the allergist and didn't show to be allergic to peanuts!  Next they want to have us come in for half a day with pure peanut butter and give her more and more throughout the morning to see how she reacts.

[Deleted]

Ditto weelicous, I make many of her meals for dinner and then send them as leftovers. We have a no peanut policy so we rotate between sandwiches and leftovers. I got a sandwich cutter and use that quite frequently to make sandwiches fun. For sides I always get the squeeze apple sauces from trader joes and I typically send a fresh fruit like cut up strawberries, blue berries or grapes. I will also do a small amount of baby carrots and a milk.

[eb777888]

Yogurt, turkey sandwich, fiber one brownies, chips, fruit snacks, crackers, etc.

I always add a bag of carrots or apples even though he NEVER eats them.

coconut water or chocolate milk to drink

Pretty standard.

ETA: CHEESE STICKS. He must have his cheese sticks!

[MrsBean]

I know Weelicious has been mentioned already but her Instagram feed is great inspiration. She posts a picture of her son's lunch every day and the recipes are usually on her blog:

instagram.com/weelicious

[gmail]

Great suggestions everyone - thanks!!