Need lunch ideas for daycare for 1 and 3 yo DDs

[marensmama]

I'm getting bored with what I send them, I can only imagine they are too.  Generally, it alternates between some form of pasta or a sandwich or cheese, crackers, and cubed meat.     In addition of course they have vegetables and fruit, plus yogurt, granola bars, and fruit for snacks.  Our daycare has a nut-free policy and the DCP is willing to warm up something or cut up a banana, but the rest has to be done beforehand IYKWIM.  Neither of them will eat soup.  Any thoughts on how I can spruce up what's in the lunch bags?

TIA! 

[emz1907]

Hi

I can give you some examples of what we give our 1year old has for lunch if it helps? He often has sarnies too as in my head thats a 'lunch time' thing, but I do also give him homemade chicken/beef stews, corned beef hash, risotto often with toast or bread fingers to dip in. If daycare would heat them up you could include these. My top freezer drawer is 'Callums drawer' as its full of little pots of meals. I tend to make big batches of stuff and freeze them for easiness.
What about like a rice salad? cooked rice with chopped up ham a little cooked onion some herbs and grated cheese?

[marensmama]

Sounds like something I'd like, but Hayden has a rice sensitivity and Maren wont touch the stuff!  Thanks for trying though!

[Diana1981]

How about a warm salad with potatoes, brocculi, cheese, hard-boiled egg, etc.  my ds loves this...I also make a salad with carrots and beets...its really good.

[emz1907]

Mashed sweet potato with meat pieces and cheese in a pitta pocket? Or homemade little pizzas with peppers and tomatoes etc

[jess, lukeys_mom]

Hi Nicole,
I make little muffins and burgers for luke and freeze them, and then they only need to be heated up in the microwave for about 30 seconds to be served.  These are always loaded with veggies and then ground turkey/chicken etc.  Homemade fish fingers are good too, or croquettes.

You could also do small whole grain pitas, cut a little bit at the top, then add grated veggies, cheese and a little diced meat and ask DCP to warm in micro for a minute for cheese to melt.

Little pre-cooked potato cubes that can go with some little veggies and cubed meat might also be a nice change instead of a bread meal?

FWIW - our day care provides the food, we don't bring it, and lunch is sandwiches with various spreads and fruit day in, day out. What you're doing now sounds better than what they are getting!

[imaayafa]

my little ones get hot lunches at daycare but when they were home i used to grate zucchini and garlic and cheese and put it in an omelette (zucchini gets so soft when peeled and grated that you can't see or feel it) and they loved that. you can also put those in a sandwhich. i also make lots of sweet potato bites for them. and lentil/vegetable soup (whole or pureed). at daycare they eat chicken meatballs or veggie meatballs a lot. with cooked veggies and grains. if your little ones are sensitive to rice, buckwheat is very soft and healthy and can be added to soups or just served hot or cold with tomato sauce and/or peas or other veggies. i sometimes make omelettes with the peas too for them. you can also make tuna melts. my one year old oddly enough loves canned mackerel in olive oil! oh yes and don't forget ovocadoes if they go for that, it's very healthy and packs well in salads or sandwhiches.

[brenda2]

my 1 yo loves cottage cheese, raisin bread with cream cheese, quiche, fish, and hard boiled eggs, and of course all veggies and fruit.

my dcp does luch which is usually soup of some kind and we send the snacks.

ikwim though about getting bored with what you give them!  my LO still only has 2 1/2 teeth so i'm finding it a challenge to come up with easy to chew ideas.  when you say sandwhich do you really mean a traditional sandwhich?  i don't think my LO could chew that.

[imaayafa]

i experimented tonight by cooking basmati rice with peas and then scrambling an egg into it with olive oil and salt, it came out like a mush, but it tasted great and my one yr old and my 3 yr old gobbled it up. my LO ocassionally eats bread (sandwhiches) without the ends, despite not too many teeth. i try to only give him very healthy whole grain sourdough bread that is very soft and fresh with a very soft spread like ovocado or soft cheese or tehina and he has no problem with eating it in small bites, bc it all melts in his mouth.