Toddler Lunches?
 

Any ideas for toddler lunches and snacks for when I have to send KO to the sitter?

Feeding her at home is no problem, but thinking of foods that pack well for lunch at the sitter's is a different story.

Egg free and something that would keep well in a lunch box :D

She's not super picky (although she'll randomly decide she doesn't something, like strawberries, which she's been eating for 6 months...but then she eats kale and zucchini :scratch).

Also, I like making homemade stuff, but honestly I'm not above buying premade food, like high quality fish sticks or chicken nuggets :shifty :shrug

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Get a cute bento box if she doesn't have one - we did a lot of snack-y lunches at that age and I used mini muffin tins with 6 compartments at home. The lunch box would let you do the same thing but well contained. :)

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Veggies veggies veggies!!!!

Beans are a nice finger food.

KD loves rice. And will eat cold oatmeal
Chunks. :bag

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Fresh fruit. Cut up raw veggies. Cubed or sliced cheese and cut up meat with or without crackers. Pretzels. Hummus.

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Can you send a small thermos? I have been doing that for ds' lunches and it is so nice. I have sent leftovers if ravioli and pasta with chicken. Stays warm in the thermos

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Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Beans is a great idea. Oatmeal too-- she loves oatmeal. She doesn't like cold food, but her sitter doesn't mind warming things up for her :yes

Any specific raw veggies? She doesn't have molars, so we don't give her anything that we feel could be a choking hazard (like carrots). We've tried peppers--they're hit or miss.

Cheese and meat would be super easy :tu

That's a great idea!

---------- Post added at 08:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 AM ----------

Any specific bento box you'd recommend?

I have trouble coming up with snack-y foods that aren't carbs (because I personally love carbs, haha) :shifty She loves to eat things that are saucy/creamy-- casseroles, chicken enchiladas, barbecue. But those are really messy, and my sitter has six kids total in her house, so I don't want to send terribly messy things every day.

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Avocados are our ultimate convenience food- I brought a half an avocado to the park yesterday and I just spoon it out and feed it to her.

Frozen peas are a favorite here (thawed). That is what we bring to church.

Grapes cut in quarters

I second beans as a finger food. She also eats pieces of homemade veggie burgers (Costco sells some that are just actual food if you don’t want to make them).

Bananas are good.

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

She loves avocados and peas. We haven't done grapes yet. Veggie burgers is a good idea :tu Thanks! :)

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Oh, and EZ lunchboxes are my favorite bento. If you get baby bottle labels you can put her name on them. It stays and stays wash after wash.

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

When you do start wanting to try raw veggies, grated carrot works better. Those applesauce/neggie or other fruit blend pouches are handy if she would like those.

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Following for ideas. My DD is fairly picky--she won't do veggies plain yet, and she's surprisingly not much into breads. For mom's day out I've been packing a higher-calorie pouch (one of the ones with grains and/or dairy, not just the fruit + veg ones) and some goldfish crackers or peanut butter crackers. IOW, my standards have lowered a whole lot since my firstborn was a toddler :lol

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

If you do grapes, make sure to cut them up and not in circle slices. (we made that mistake with our first one on a hotdog............so from then on, hotdog and grapes were cut in 1/4 slices.)

If your daughter would like carrots, you could grate them. She could either finger eat or start to learn to use her fork/spoon. (My mom made us carrot slaw with raisins. We thought it was a sweet treat.)

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

There are also nice reusable pouches you can fill with yogurt, applesauce, smoothie, etc. Cheap, low mess, and not wasteful. The ones we had opened at the bottom for easy cleaning.

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Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Thank you! Some really good ideas there :tu

Grated is a great idea-- thank you! She loves those fruit/veggie blend pouches; I actually bought two boxes at Target today. I like that she can feed them to herself and they're not messy :shifty

Mine likes bread but doesn't seem sure about the texture of crackers yet :giggle Funny how kids are so different!

Do you have a favorite brand pouch with grains and/or dairy?

I'll have to look into those! It'd certainly be cheaper...but it would also be actual prep work for me :shifty ::giggle

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

If you decide to go with pouches, the ones with the spout on top are easier for kids to eat from. (When I was buying them, they made some with side spouts.) Also look for sloping shoulders from the top - they're easier to clean than square pouches with corners. I like Squooshi and Nature's Little Squeeze (these also have a clear window so that you can see the contents). I used to fill a dozen pouches at a time and freeze them, which was easier for me to prep. Yogurt freezes really well, too. (I've even done pudding. :shifty)

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

The littlest will be 7 next week :jawdrop but from what I remember, favourite toddler snacky lunch items were:

- grated cheese, cottage cheese, hummus, yogurt, occasionally pudding
- grated carrots, spinach leaves with dip (yes, he was a bit of a weirdo :shifty), veggies - (some purees or steamed a little, some raw), mashed sweet potatoes and regular potatoes
- leftover pancakes and French toast with a little compartment of syrup to dip
- applesauce (he loved helping me chop and toss apples, pears and berries into the crockpot to cook down), chopped up berries, apples, grapes, bananas
- toast, chunks of pita bread or tortilla, mini muffins, cubed bread, pieces of different bun, the cheese stick buns were a favourite, a few pretzels, goldfish or multigrain crackers
- rice, quinoa, left over pasta, cooked cheese tortellini noodles cut in half were a favourite - often without sauce but could be with butter or sauce
- cooked & chopped chicken, beef, ham etc.
- I always had a "treat" in one tiny compartment but the treat could be anything - exciting treats were: 2 - 3 mini marshmallows, 5 - 6 chocolate chips, 3 jelly bellies, a Hershey's kiss or two, a few teddy grahams, a few cubes of jello (fun to work on the pincer grasp :haha) - oh! a square of my caramilk bar was always a hit

My ratio for 6 compartments was usually 2 fruits / veggies, 1 protein, 2 carbs and one treat. Or 2, 2 & 2 with the "treat" beside it. Just my 2 cents, but I always put everything out together and allowed it to be eaten in any order. Once they were old enough to ask if they could eat their treat first, my answer was always the same - if they ate the rest, no problem. If they started eating the treat only and boycotting the rest, we'd save it until last. It was never a problem. ;)

Re: Toddler Lunches?
 

Thank you! I'll check those brands out. Freezing is a great idea!


Thank you for those ideas!



For tomorrow (she'll be there 8 am - 3 pm), I packed
- 1 turkey and cheese roll up
- 1 graham cracker
- 1 apple/pea/spinach pouch
- 1 yogurt
- 4 oz breastmilk ;)

And she always has a container of puffs in her diaper bag just in case.

Also, my thermos and bento box came in the mail today, so I'm excited to use those!! :rockon