Day Lunch Ideas

Hi K.--
I send finger food with my two-year old. She likes bite-sized tortellini with cheese or spinach and cheese filling, peanut butter on crackers, apple slics with skin removed, raisins, Goldfish, etc. When I worked as a toddler teacher though, even the pickiest kids liked chicken nuggets and build-your-own cracker sandwiches with pre-sliced sausage and cheese pieces.
I also have been surprised that my kid eats more at school than she does at home--I think it has a lot to do with seeing her peers eating their food. Good luck!

K.,
I teach 2 year olds duing the school year from 9-1. Some partents give the child the same thing everyday. If thats what your child eats then send it in everyday. Find out if your school is a peanut free school. Put in fruit and veggies, cut up into small bites, cheese and crackers, (I make this for my 7 year old. Instead of buying lunchables, I buy the items that are in the lunchable. Much cheaper), sandwiches made out of cookie cutter shapes, pb and jelly (if not a peanut free school), yogart, pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs cut into bite size. (I know they should be hot, but we cool the food before we give it to our kids anyway.)If you have a thermaus tht keeps heat in, you can do soup, noodles. I suggest buying a lunchbox that has 2 side by side different compartments. That way if you do send in something warm, it will keep it from getting ice cold. I tell my parents to try to buy juice that has less sugar.(I make crystal light and put it in a squize bottle for my son.) I hope this was helpful. Send in leftovers from dinner like mac and cheese and chicken, pork chops whatever you had for dinner and if your son really likes it, send it to school.
Happy Lunches :)
J.

my picky two year old will eat almost anything that has a "dip it" to go alongside. A little container of dressing, ketchup or some sauce is always good. Add in some baby carrots, small pieces of celery, cherry tomatoes, black olives (fun to stick on the ends of your fingers) Fruit is always good. My two year old wants his apple whole. So I buy the little macintosh ones. The skins are much easier to eat than the red apples. You can put in a little container of mandarin oranges. A banana, grapes. Yogurt is good all the time. Some little packs of gummy fruit chews. Definitely make your own lunchables. Just get an easy shape metal cookie cutter to cut the meat and cheese. Pretzels and dried fruits are good treats. Granola bars. My son loves the Fiber One and Kellog's All Bran bars. All bran also has little crisps in individual bags that are pretty good too. You could find a bowl that comes with a lid and put in some of his favorite cereal and a small little container of milk. Jello. So much to pick from. Good luck... you'll find plenty to keep your little dude happy!

Hi K. - I agree with the other mom's replies and here are some addt'l suggestions/tips...most places won't heat up food anymore so investing in a good Thermos that can be used to keep foods hot or cold is a must (Target & Wal-Mart sell a silver & black 10oz Thermos). Also if you go to the Sporting Goods section of Target or Walmart you can get 4x6 size cold packs to use in the lunch boxes. My daughter likes the Dannon yogurt drinks & they're great for the hot summer months (I pack a straw for this), pre-made fruit cups are great too (just try to watch the ones that are in syrup vs. juice), I make my own luchables too (b/c the pre-made ones are SO full of fat &/or sodium): w/Ritz crackers, a slice or 2 of American cheese folded into quarters and (Hormel) Canadian Bacon (ham) circles (pre-made and in a zip-type pouch) then my duaghter stacks everything together for a "sandwich", frozen grapes are good too they can act like an ice pack and they'll be defrosted enough to eat by lunch time, instead of buying snack size bags of Goldfish I just use & re-use a small plastic container (this way they don't get crushed upp either), rolled up ham slices or ham & cheese rolled up together in a tortilla (maybe cut into bite size pieces). For drinks we have just "discovered" the flavored waters...lemon water (which my dghtr calls lemonade), mixed berry & raspberry...but you have to read the labels b/c flavored waters are made differently and some brands have too much stuff you don't want...we've been happy w/Dasani...it's a wonderful way to get more water into our busy, busy kids! After your son's been at his new school awhile, ask him what the other kids eat for lunch & best of luck!
K.

Hi K.,

My son is a picky eater, too!! Here is what I give him in his lunchbox: Yogurt, string cheese, apple sauce, banana some kind of cracker or cookie like ritz bitz or teddy grahams, chewey granola bar, fruit roll up or fruit snacks. I usually put 5 of the above items in his lunch box every day. The banana, string cheese and yogurt are the "staples" that go in every day and then I change around the other 1 or 2 items. There is no refrigerator, but I ask the teacher to make sure he has the yogurt and string cheese for morning snack and then when it starts getting really hot out I put an ice pack in there.

Also, I buy the individual snack size bags of everything such as cookies and crackers and I tend to stock up on them when Publix has them at Buy One, Get One Free. It's so much easier than putting things into ziplock baggies. Anything to save me a little bit of time is always a help.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your son changing schools!!

L.

Do they have refrigeration or microwave or toaster?