Kid and food help please

[keyslover]

I know this is a common topic.  I am on the verge of tears (PMS is helping) because I do not know what to feed my child anymore.

She is 6.  She is a vegetarian (by her choice), dairy free and has some issues with soy.  Also not a fan of peanut butter.  
Sun butter is tolerable.

I need help with ideas.  I also need help thinking outside the box for school lunches.  I am so accustomed to sandwich as the main option.  Oh, she doesn't like soup or tomato based things either.

[isabel]

Cucumber and hummus sandwich.
White bean purée on rice cakes.
Lentils and beans, lightly seasoned and served room temp.
Egg sandwich with mayo/mustard.
Deviled eggs.

Cow dairy or all dairy? I eat a goat milk yogurt that's really tasty. I can get the brand if you want.

[underwaterrhymes]

Have you ever seen www.vegetarianlunchbox.blogspot.com?

I don't think she updates it any longer, and it was meals for her and her H, but you might get some ideas.

[isabel]

Oh, I also make a really delicious quinoa and veggie salad with a cumin-lime vinaigrette. It can be eaten room temp and would be a good source of protein. Let me know if you want that recipe.

Edamame as a side would give her extra protein too. I don't know how sensitive the soy issue is.

Eta: you can pretty much do any sort of grain salad with different veggies and vinaigrettes. Pasta salad, too. Rice salad with edamame, shredded carrot, and diced cabbage and a peanut vinaigrette. Pasta salad with bell peppers, cucumbers, and green beans with Italian vinaigrette.

Anything like that will be fine at room temp for several hours and would make for a nice change of pace from the sandwich routine.

[keyslover]

May 3, 2015 12:07:29 GMT -5 isabel said:

Cucumber and hummus sandwich.
White bean purée on rice cakes.
Lentils and beans, lightly seasoned and served room temp.
Egg sandwich with mayo/mustard.
Deviled eggs.

Cow dairy or all dairy? I eat a goat milk yogurt that's really tasty. I can get the brand if you want.

All dairy

[underwaterrhymes]

Also, www.ohsheglows.com has a ton of vegan recipes. She doesn't use soy in most (if not all) of her recipes.

[Jalapeñomel]

Hummus
Fruit
Beans
Eggs
Coleslaw
Egg salad
Potato salad
Cucumber salad
Three bean salad
Pasta, broccoli salad

[keyslover]

May 3, 2015 12:11:30 GMT -5 isabel said:

Oh, I also make a really delicious quinoa and veggie salad with a cumin-lime vinaigrette. It can be eaten room temp and would be a good source of protein. Let me know if you want that recipe.

Edamame as a side would give her extra protein too. I don't know how sensitive the soy issue is.

Eta: you can pretty much do any sort of grain salad with different veggies and vinaigrettes. Pasta salad, too. Rice salad with edamame, shredded carrot, and diced cabbage and a peanut vinaigrette. Pasta salad with bell peppers, cucumbers, and green beans with Italian vinaigrette.

Anything like that will be fine at room temp for several hours and would make for a nice change of pace from the sandwich routine.

Yes, I would like the recipe. 
Veggies are hard.  Sauces are hard.  She is seriously so picky is drives me crazy.

[abs]

May 3, 2015 12:23:37 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Lol at some of these suggestions. What picky six year old doesn't love quinoa and lentils?!

My picky 4.5 year old would rather eat quinoa and lentils than pizza or chicken nuggets. She is super weird though.  I don't understand it.  I'm actually going to try the quinoa salad suggestion because I bet DD would like it!

We struggle with the same thing OP. DD isn't a vegetarian but lunch is hard because she basically hates all kid food.  She likes steak, baked chicken, and fish but none of those are lunch box friendly.

We do a lot of bean rollups (refried beans in a tortilla then sliced pinwheel style) and pasta with added protein.  Otherwise she gets almond butter and jelly and I just hope for the best.  If I cut in squares she is more likely to eat it.  A lot of days though she just eats her fruit, veggie strips, and crackers.  

[papie]

I'm with Que. It's nice that she is vegetarian, but then she needs to understand that she must fill her protein needs in other ways. Make her participate in the choices. She is old enough. I'd ask her what protein she wants in her lunch every day, give her a short list to pick from and add up the protein grams for her so that she understands that let's say, one tbsp of hummus is not quite enough protein for lunch.

My DD is super picky, thankfully not vegetarian. My struggle is making her eat fiber and vegetables. So when she brings lunch, I just make her pick a fruit and a veggie to add in, from the available choices in the fridge.

[MixedBerryJam]

May 3, 2015 12:36:19 GMT -5 Que? said:

May 3, 2015 12:33:43 GMT -5 abs said:

My picky 4.5 year old would rather eat quinoa and lentils than pizza or chicken nuggets. She is super weird though.  I don't understand it.  I'm actually going to try the quinoa salad suggestion because I bet DD would like it!

We struggle with the same thing OP. DD isn't a vegetarian but lunch is hard because she basically hates all kid food.  She likes steak, baked chicken, and fish but none of those are lunch box friendly.

We do a lot of bean rollups (refried beans in a tortilla then sliced pinwheel style) and pasta with added protein.  Otherwise she gets almond butter and jelly and I just hope for the best.  If I cut in squares she is more likely to eat it.  A lot of days though she just eats her fruit, veggie strips, and crackers.  

I put leftovers in my kid's lunch. No shame in that game.

Indeed. And the best investment I ever made was an insulated lunch bag for my son. He's older, but for lunch tomorrow he's getting green salad with sliced leftover steak. The bag keeps things cool (or warm) for several hours, certainly long enough for lunch. As soon as he gets home from school it goes straight into the fridge to chill for the next day.

[1confused1]

My daughter is also 6 and incredibly picky. This isn't going to be super helpful because of your daughter's allergies, but here is what she eats:

applesauce
string cheese
yogurt
crackers
granola bars
scrambled eggs for dinner (every night)

Does your daughter eat tofu? Trader Joes has a great selection of meat free products, some of these could be found at your regular grocery store too (meatless corn dogs, veggie burgers, etc.)

[madringal]

Check out @weelicious on IG for a bunch of great lunch options.

[hopecounts]

I'd hand over responsibility for her lunch.
make a 'lunch packing' list for her with a protein section/ a veggie section a fruit section and if you want a dessert.
Rule is she has to pick one item from each category but it's her choice what it is, she can choose what goes on the list but must have a minimum number of options (your comfort level but 4 or so would probably be fine)
Have her help you make the list (either typed or visual or both depending on her reading skills) including picking her choices.
then set up her drawer (or a plastic bin on a shelf) in the fridge and she can make her lunch while you make yours in the evening (anything needing to be warmed she can pre-pack and you can warm in the morning for her).
You can't force a kid to eat so avoid a power struggle and set acceptable rules then let her follow them in whatever way works for her. She may well do better having control over this and when it's her problem to come up with choices she may decided that X protein isn't so bad.

[isabel]

keyslover
abs

spoonwithme.com/2010/07/17/southwest-quinoa-salad-with-chile-lime-vinaigrette/ (The cayenne in the vinaigrette isn't spicy, but I would probably leave the hot peppers out.)

ohsheglows.com/2011/06/20/high-protein-quinoa-almond-berry-salad/

[livinitup]

May 3, 2015 12:14:32 GMT -5 keyslover said:

May 3, 2015 12:07:29 GMT -5 isabel said:

Cucumber and hummus sandwich.
White bean purée on rice cakes.
Lentils and beans, lightly seasoned and served room temp.
Egg sandwich with mayo/mustard.
Deviled eggs.

Cow dairy or all dairy? I eat a goat milk yogurt that's really tasty. I can get the brand if you want.

All dairy

What? These aren't dairy. Maybe some brands of hummus, but not all, and not homemade. Beans and lentils aren't dairy- or am I crazy? And eggs are confused with dairy, but are not dairy, neither is mayo.

[underwaterrhymes]

May 3, 2015 14:08:13 GMT -5 livinitup said:

May 3, 2015 12:14:32 GMT -5 keyslover said:

All dairy

What? These aren't dairy. Maybe some brands of hummus, but not all, and not homemade. Beans and lentils aren't dairy- or am I crazy? And eggs are confused with dairy, but are not dairy, neither is mayo.

She was responding to the question "cow dairy or all dairy" not the list of options.

[livinitup]

May 3, 2015 14:09:31 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

May 3, 2015 14:08:13 GMT -5 livinitup said:

What? These aren't dairy. Maybe some brands of hummus, but not all, and not homemade. Beans and lentils aren't dairy- or am I crazy? And eggs are confused with dairy, but are not dairy, neither is mayo.

She was responding to the question "cow dairy or all dairy" not the list of options.

Oh thank goodness. That makes much better sense. I thought I was going nuts.

[beans20]

My 11 month old is allergic to eggs and dairy (ugh). And I bought him dairy free cheese which he likes. Maybe for lunch she can do that with some crackers and a piece of fruit? It does have soy but you can probably find one dairy and soy free at a health food store. I also bought those reusable pouches and make smoothies and freeze them. I use soy yogurt, but you can use coconut milk yogurt. I usually do yogurt, banannas, strawberries, and sneak a veggie in there. My 4 year old even loves it. I bet if you freeze it and put it in her lunch box it would be perfect by lunch.

How about a whole wheat bagel with homemade fruit "jelly" or pasta salad with healthier noodles?

[auntie]

At that age DS was always happy with some sort of green salad- you could throw chick peas in for protein

Hummus and pita was another lunch staple at that age

Kids that age only need about 19-35 grams of protein a day

[keyslover]

May 3, 2015 13:36:14 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

I'd hand over responsibility for her lunch.
make a 'lunch packing' list for her with a protein section/ a veggie section a fruit section and if you want a dessert.
Rule is she has to pick one item from each category but it's her choice what it is, she can choose what goes on the list but must have a minimum number of options (your comfort level but 4 or so would probably be fine)
Have her help you make the list (either typed or visual or both depending on her reading skills) including picking her choices.
then set up her drawer (or a plastic bin on a shelf) in the fridge and she can make her lunch while you make yours in the evening (anything needing to be warmed she can pre-pack and you can warm in the morning for her).
You can't force a kid to eat so avoid a power struggle and set acceptable rules then let her follow them in whatever way works for her. She may well do better having control over this and when it's her problem to come up with choices she may decided that X protein isn't so bad.

I like this.  I think I do not give her enough credit or responsibility some times.  

[keyslover]

May 3, 2015 14:52:48 GMT -5 carrotsmakemefat said:

I wouldn't go all out for lunches. I'd give her what she will eat. So a personalized bento box with veggies, hummus, almond butter, pretzels and that kind of thing.

What about tuna? You could do a tuna sandwich.

And honestly, I was such a picky eater. And I turned out ok. And I eat way more options now

She won't do tuna  Living creatures and all that jazz.

[msmerymac]

I definitely suggest hummus. Also, any kind of "bowl" - black beans and rice, red beans and quinoa, chickpeas and couscous. Then add any kind of seasoning and veggies she likes.

Add 1 piece of fruit each day.

Check out the Vegan Lunch Box blog and cookbook. She started it for her vegan son.