Several weeks back I started researching “toddler lunches” on the internet, and began cutting and pasting random ideas I found into a document.
Unfortunately I didn’t document which sites the various ideas came from. . .
But when a Facebook (and real life!) friend mentioned she was looking for kid-friendly meals, I decided to post my cut-and-pasted document, with acknowledgements to whoever actually wrote these ideas down (and there were several people).
Hopefully I have made clear, I take no credit for the following toddler snack/lunch ideas! And since my blog makes me no money or profit whatsoever, I figured it was okay to re-post these somewhat-plagiarized ideas for other moms who may be wondering what in the world to feed their toddlers and preschoolers.
There’s honestly nothing incredibly novel on this list. But it’s good to see a lot of options laid out at once, rather than staying in the peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwiches-or-chicken-nuggets-for-lunch-and-animal-crackers-or-goldfish-for-a-snack rut!
- Peanut-butter and jelly roll (in a soft tortilla)
- Wrapped cheese slices or cheese sticks
- Pickles
- Cereal/fruit bar
- Chunks of cheese spread with pretzel sticks
- Raisins
- Granola
- Muffins
- Orange wedges, berries/grapes cut in half, bananas
- Dried fruit
- Carrot or celery sticks (optional: peanut butter for dipping)
- Jello
- Pop-tarts
- Individual servings of applesauce
- Hot dog (already cut up and ready for dipping — save fast food ketchup packs to send with their lunches)
- Tiny boxes of raisins
- String cheese
- Make-your-own “lunchables” with deli ham and cheese, cut into squares
- Whole grain crackers with cheese, tuna fish, or peanut butter
LUNCH IDEAS
- Diced chicken, turkey, cheese sticks cut up.
- Veggies – peas, carrots, green beans
- Fruit – diced apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, banana, watermelon.
- cheese whole wheat quesadilla (just one slice of cheese and heated in a pan till melted)
- romaine lettuce shredded with a tiny bit of light honey mustard dressing
- ham n cheese sandwich on whole wheat or whole grain bread…you could also make it grilled style
- egg beaters omlet with turkey bacon
- grapes halved
- blueberries or strawberries
- apples with a spoon full of peanut butter for dipping
- baby pickles
DINNER IDEAS
- fresh mini raviolis with a dab of sauce or butter
- corn on the cob
- cooked broccoli, coliflower or string beans
- grilled chicken breast with a side of honey mustard for dipping
- sweet potato french fries (baked)
- angel hair pasta with sauce
- teryaki pork loin w/mashed potatoes or potato wedges
- chicken noodle soup and toast
- cooked spinach mixed with bowtie pasta and butter
- broccoli and cheese quiche
- turkey meatballs and penne with sauce
- pita wedges with fresh salsa and shredded cheese
Cheri Sicard of Fabulous Foods had a lot of wonderful ideas for the preschool set:
- Core an apple and stuff the inside with peanut butter. Top with raisins, nuts, sunflower seeds or toasted coconut. The filling will keep the cut apple from turning brown.
- Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, or spread bread with cream cheese and top with dried fruits like raisins, apples or apricots.
- Mash a banana together with cream cheese and top with fresh apple, pineapple or peach slices.
- Pack fresh fruit with yogurt dip.
- Make fancy sandwiches by cutting shapes out of the bread with a cookie cutter (use the crusts and scraps to make breadcrumbs or croutons). Kids love the novelty and will be more likely to finish their lunch.
Another website discussed nutritional information, which was a bit disturbing, because now that my daughter is almost 3 years old, she hardly eats anything any more! (There’s no way she’s getting 6 servings of grains, 3 servings of vegetables, and so on!)
Anyway, I would love for this to be interactive! If anyone reading this post has ideas to share on toddler meals, please feel free to leave a comment!
Thank you!