I don't like to give my son a lot of the "regular lunches." Every once in awhile I'll give him hot dogs, mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, or canned spaghetti. I do not make a habit out of it since they aren't all that healthy for him. I do give him grilled cheese and regular sandwiches with yogurt and fruit to go along with it, but I seem to be running out of options. I try and eat for lunch what I give him. I know I'm getting sick of the same old thing. I've noticed that every once in awhile he'll go through this thing where he just refuses to eat lunch and sometimes it'll last a few days. I've noticed as well that it does depend on what we are having for lunch. So, I was wondering if anyone has any healthy lunch alternatives to what I've listed?
We made pita pizzas the other day that were great! Whole wheat pita, organic spaghetti sauce, lots of mozzarella cheese. 400* for about 10 minutes. Very yummy, easy, and fun for the family. And now that it's getting cold it will be nice to have the oven on ;)
My son is 3 and needs a lunch for preschool daily. I hate making lunches. I have given him stuff to make roll ups. With deli meats, chiken, veggies, whatever. Also fruit salads and veggies with a dip. Pesto with angel hair pasta, can be eaten at room temperature. Vanilla yougurt with berries and granola to make his own parfait. Trader Joes has frozen quiches, burritos etc for a quick heat and eat. Also my son likes omlets and french toast. Easy to make and good for them. I use whole grain or wheat bread to make the french toast. Happy lunch making!
Hi, I know what you mean!! I run out of lunch ideas also. Something your kid could like that mine likes is get a pack of that pregrilled/precooked chicken strips-they are the kind you get at store that you put in chicken fahitas (not sure if that is spelled right) and put the chicken on soft tortilla shells with shredded cheese, taco sauce, veggies.
Another good one is get some chicken breast-cut them in strips and roll them in mixed egg and milk-then in bread crumbs (Progresso is best)-fry in oil and then stick in soft tortilla shells with shredded cheese, lettuce, cucumbers, ranch dressing, green peppers, & onions. Best onions to use is the onions with the tiny bulbs and long green stalks that are found in herb section in grocer. My 3 yr. old daughter loves to chew on the green part but I keep limit on the chewing of them cuz too much onion for little ones isn't good but she loves them. :)
The whole family will love either of these chicken recipes and the frying of chicken can be done ahead of time and frozen if you want to cook and store to have on hand.
Sliced hotdogs put in the grilled cheese sandwhiches or adding any kind of meat like bacon, ham, hamburger with tiny chopped onion, sliced hotdogs is yummy cooked in the grilled cheese with it.
Another one is bagel sandwhiches. If you cook him a big breakfast then he will want a light lunch anyways cuz kids don't eat much. You could taost bagels, put scrambled eggs with cheese & some kind of meat in it then that is good for breakfast and fairly quick to cook. Then for lunch then a sandwhich with pistacio pudding salad on side is good. I got recipe for the pistacio pudding salad if you'd like it. It's absolutely yummy. Hope these all help!! Let me know if you want more ideas and maybe you could tell me a few of your own recipes. :)
Thanks,
A. O.
Like someone else said little pizzas that you make and can let your son help are great. Hear at my house we make englich muffin pizzas the kids love to make their own little pizzas. I also have done like a cheesse foundo with all the veggies. My kids think it is great to be able to dip their veggies in the cheesse. My two youngest children are salad freaks too. I am not sure how your son feels about salad, but it is another lunch that he could help make and make his own. He could put in the veggies he wanted and chicken and cheesse. Hope those ideas help you out.
S.
English Muffin Pizza's are a favorite! Also, grilled chicken with mac & ch as a side, not the meal. Corn muffins with ham & ch roll-ups, and always fruit. One other thing, my doc saidnot to get too tied into what we "think" are breakfast foods vs. lunch foods vs. dinner foods. He said serve any balance of foods at meal time just to avoid the boredom. Most of the time, we eat like everyone would expect. When my munchkin seems tired of veggies at lunch and dinner, I serve them at breakfast - just to make sure she's getting what she needs. I know that may sound wierd, but so far, it's been working and I feel better about her getting what she needs than I feel silly about serving green beans for breakfast:-)
Pick up a copy of Disney's Family Cookbook, great kid recipes! also, you could probably do a search online for some new ideas.
Sometimes we do something fun, like pancakes for lunch or ice cream sundaes for dinner, just to break up the routine. Oh,yea, and they used to love english muffin pizzas, you can let your son help make them. let him roll some of his favorite stuff into a wrap. tacos are another favorite around here. cut your sandwiches into fun shapes with a cookie cutter. maybe an appetizer tray, with cheese, crackers, pepperoni, fruits and veggie sticks. kids love finger foods.
pretend you are camping and make a tent out of sheets indoors, and eat in the tent, or try a picnic on the living room floor!
we tend to get into the same old routine too, so enjoy and think outside the box! hope this helps... God bless!
