Easy Lunch-time Ideas?

Is there a reason you say "no more than 30 minutes"? Are the children heavily scheduled with activities?

If you can be more flexible with the timing, then as Fumbles says, why not make it an activity that involves the children - as long as they are, say, over 3, there are many fun things that they can participate in "making". Look online for "healthy kids snacks". For example, ants on a log - give each child celery sticks and allow the kids to spread the peanut butter and select raisins. Make popsicles from real fruit. There are many things that will be delicious and fun for the children.

Keep in mind that children - like many adults - do not really need a "meal" in the middle of a hot day. Just some small nutritious bites. Cheese, cut fruit, cold roast chicken, carrot sticks, etc.

The trick is to make it fun while also nutritious. Are there any dietary restrictions/allergies?

You also want small containers that they can manage, and consider a sectioned plate if the kids are fussy about "ewww, that yogurt touched my strawberry"! So...

- yogurt: kids tend to waste, so see if the family has (or will buy) those very small tupperware-type containers. I like the Rubbermaid ones with the red lids because the containers are square and easy for little hands to hold. Spoon yogurt out from the large, economical container into the small ones.
- cut up veggies like carrots, cucumber disks or spears (sometimes you have to take out the seeds but don't if they don't complain), thin celery sticks (no strings), green/red/yellow pepper strips, snow peas (de-string them and maybe cut in half), grape tomatoes (cut in half if the kids are choking age),
-hummus - great for dipping the above veggies or small crackers. Again, put in a small container or a sectioned plate so it doesn't slide all over
-PB&J - make one sandwich on whole grain bread, cut in quarters, give each kid 2 quarters. If anything goes uneaten, save for snack.
-turkey and cheese sandwiches, same as above.
- cheese cubes, string cheese, or slices
- triscuit crackers (no added stuff) - those are good for the dipping or the cheese slices
- mini pepperoni or turkey pepperoni slices. If you want to be clever, stack one on a triscuit and add a small slice of mozzarella cheese
-apple slices to dip in peanut butter or cashew or almond butter.
- fruit cubes or kabobs (unless they are too little to manage the toothpick, then just put a few pieces on the plate): watermelon, other melon, half a strawberry, a blueberry, a raspberry, half a grape (grapes are choking hazards), sections of clementine/mandarins (cut in half if needed). Go easy on bananas because they get brown if not eaten. Raisins and raisins are okay if the kids chew them.
- nuts - almonds or walnuts
- real mac and cheese (not the boxed stuff with powdered cheese - if you want a recipe, let me know). Make beforehand and heat up a small amount in the microwave.
- pancakes or French toast. I kick up the nutrition by adding soy protein, wheat germ and flax seed to the pancake batter (plus 1 fruit or a few chocolate chips - and this is a good place to use up brown banana slices!), or soy protein and flax meal (which is ground up flax seeds) and cinnamon to the egg batter. You can let the kids help you mix the batter, which gets them involved in cooking. I make a batch and then freeze/refrigerate the leftovers with a piece of wax paper in between the layers, and they keep for a few days in the fridge. I use real maple syrup and not the corn syrup that's just maple flavored; it's expensive but you don't let them drench the plate in it. You can add a squirt of Redi-Whip and a piece of fruit (berry, banana, let them choose) to it. You can make a face on the pancake with whipped cream and fruit pieces.
-tortilla wrap sandwiches: put some turkey and some shredded lettuce and some cheese drips or shreds on a small tortilla and roll up. You can use mustard or hummus as a spread instead of mayo.
- scrambled eggs. Let the kids watch (or help) you break the eggs and then break the yolks through scrambling.
- get popsicle makers and use fruit and water or some watered-down juice for them. Get the popsicle molds that have a straw and a little reservoir for catching/slurping the melted juice. Much less mess! Again, they can help you make them on one day for eating on the next.

It's okay to foster good habits, so that means letting them use a fork (try dessert/salad forks, as they are smaller) or kiddie utensils if the family has them. Put out a napkin and show them how to use it.

I would put only 4 things on a plate. Otherwise it's too confusing, and you want to mix it up from day to day.

Avoid juice - the new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics says the sugar is terrible for them. Go to real fruits for the fiber and nutrition, and milk (if okay by the family) or water for hydration.

I have a menu for our summer sitter that I post on the fridge for her to make. She's a college student and is ok in the kitchen but doesn't have a lot of experience cooking so they are all quick and easy to prepare. Basically, I came up with 7 meals that I rotate in order. It's not all super healthy (pizza is on the list), but it's a decent combination I think. And since I have it planned out, grocery shopping is easy. Here is the list:

- Chicken noodle soup with cheese and crackers
- mac and cheese and cantaloupe
- Ground beef and cheese tacos with cherry tomatoes(this is great because I can make 2 lbs of burger into taco meat, then freeze in 1/2 lb portions which gives me 4 meals worth and all she has to do is reheat)
- Baked fish and watermelon (buy frozen battered fish fillets)
- Turkey and cheese sandwiches and yogurt
- Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
- spaghetti and garlic bread
- pizza (I buy frozen to bake at home) and grapes

My kids like sandwiches - pbj, ham and cheese. They love mac n cheese and pizza, so I do those occasionally. They also really like peanut butter apples. If peanut butter is an option, there's a lot you can do with that, my youngest always requests peanut butter when I serve carrot sticks, "Can I please dip my carrot sticks in peanut butter." Yogurt is a Herat option.

I don't usually "cook" anything for lunch. Sometimes my kids will request leftovers (especially if the previous night's dinner was one of their favorites).

Find out what the kids like. Always make sure they have a protein, fruits and/or veggies and not too many chips or dessert. If you know the foods they like, you won't have much trouble. Lunch doesn't have to be a lot of work, and it doesn't have to take 30 minutes.

When mine were that age, I used to do up a little plate of snacks things. So cut up sandwiches, some yogurt, some strawberries, some pieces of cheese, some raisins, ...

I didn't cook at midday - but if we had left overs from the night before, I might add a few things to their plates.

I grew up this way - my mom always gave us a fun plate of nibbles in the summer. We weren't into heavy cooked meals when we'd rather be out playing.

We had a lot of picnics outside here for our kids - so I'd make different kinds of sandwiches, cut in fours, and then they had an assortment - along with fruit, or celery sticks or mini carrots etc.

Pancakes have always been a hit in our house - I find them a pain to make so I usually freeze some. That's easy. Grilled cheese. Etc. But nothing much more involved than that.

In a pinch, mine love hotdogs. KD. Not our usual, but my kids find that fun.

During the summer, we don't have much of a routine. My son grazes all day. Hes not much of a sandwich eatter. For lunch he usually eats fruit, yogurt, carrot sticks and peanut butter, or oatmeal. He loves when I buy pizza dough and he can make his own pizza. Let the kids help in the kitchen, they love being involved.

I'll add easy bean burritos. I use whole wheat tortilla, smear on (vegetarian) refried beans and some cheese. Microwave until cheese is melted. Then add whatever - lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream etc, or nothing at all LOL. Roll it up and cut in half, or not. I like what Margie said. I don't cook for lunch really. Sandwiches and think "homemade" type lunchables - bit of meat (sand meat or leftovers), bit of cheese, cheese sticks, cut up fruit/veg, crackers, pickles, etc. And get them involved!!!!!!!!!

There are lots of things that will work for healthy snacks/lunch and many ways to put them together to make them fun/interesting.
Keep in mind any food allergies the kids might have.
Peanut butter (or other nut butters) and cream cheese are almost interchangeable for most snacks
PBJ (cut sandwiches into 4's to make little finger sandwiches and switch up different kinds of jelly sometimes)
cream cheese on small celery sticks with raisins (ants on a log)
cheese cubes or cheese sticks
fruit - strawberries, blueberries, water melon, kiwi, orange segments (Cuties are easy for you to peel), etc
any bread or crackers you use try for a whole wheat or multi grain sometimes instead of just white
jello wigglers
Yogurt parfaits - vanilla yogurt, a fruit, and a little crunchy granola sprinkled on top - looks festive and kids (and adults) love it.
Go easy on the sugary cereals, marshmallows, candy - a little is fine but it's too easy to go overboard with them.

You can go to food magazines like Taste of Home and they used to have a Brown Bag section. It was quick very tasty meals for people to take to work.

I haven't see a Taste of Home magazine in a while but our library has them from the beginning down in the Periodicals section. I go down there and grab a handful then sit down at a table. I can make copies of any recipe or idea I find and pay a nickel for the copy OR I can take a snapshot of it with my camera.

You can also go to Pinterest and search brown bag lunches or easy kids lunches or healthy kids snacks.

If the parents don't have a routine and don't normally fix a sit down, you have to eat what I fixed lunch, then I would imagine you might have a hard time getting them to do it too. So be patient and ask them what they're hungry for. Then go from there.