need some ideas for toddler lunches

[minnieandmickeymouse]

Any moms with 3-5 year olds, what do you feed your young ones for llunch?? I have a 4 and 5 year old still at home, I'm sick of making them PB&J's

 

[MBeds]

Mac & Cheese with maybe some applesauce on the side or apple slices...

 

[Snow Brite]

Anything that is served with a dip is a huge hit. Ranch dressing, tartar sauce, honey mustard dressing, whatever. If they can dip it, mine would always eat it. Chicken nuggets, fish strips, mozzarella sticks, carrot sticks, celery sticks, string cheese, cheddar sticks, bread sticks.

Breakfast food at any time but breakfast is always a hit. Sometimes I will make scrambled eggs and serve it with sour cream and salsa and thats how you know its lunch instead of breakfast.

They used to seriously love mini-pizzas made on english muffin halves with a little bit of spagetti sauce and a slice of american cheese then slid under the boiler for a few minutes.

Sometimes I would make my own "Lunchables" and make cheese and crackers and lunchmeat cut into little pieces.

Other stand bys: Toasted cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, ramen noodles with a handful of frozen veggies from the freezer thrown in the boiling water with the noodles, chicken noodle or tomato soup, bologna and cheese sandwiches with the mustard made into a smiley face, Rice a Roni in chicken flavor with a little leftover chicken chopped up and thrown in.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

My DD is an odd duck. She LOVES cottage cheese and bell peppers with a scoop of hummus on the side. I usually give her a turkey with mayo or bologna with ketchup sandwich, maybe some Baked Lays, cottage cheese or a string cheese stick and a banana or an apple for dessert.

She also likes "mini pizzas" -- a toasted English muffin topped with pizza sauce, a few slices of pepperoni and topped with mozzarella cheese. I stick it under the broiler until the cheese melts.

We also do turkey hot dogs sliced with toothpicks stuck in them and ketchup to dip on the side.

 

[lil mermaid]

Right now, DD is on a quesadilla kick. I take a couple of flour tortillas and some shredded cheese and make them in a non-stick pan. Sometimes will add a little bit of tuna or even some chopped spinach! I'll usually give her some mandarin oranges or banana while it is cooking.

She also likes smoked salmon and cream cheese on a cucumber slice.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

She also likes smoked salmon and cream cheese on a cucumber slice.

Ooo. I love this idea. I'd like to eat it, too!!

 

[Hannathy]

Anything with spaghetti sauce-spaghetti O's. ravioli, beef a roni, etc.

 

[diznygirl]

My kids are in the anything with cheese group. Grilled cheese, mac 'n' cheese, quessadillas, cheeseburgers, brocolli with cheese, hot dogs or chicken nuggets stuffed with cheese..... you get the idea. We throw veggies and hamburger meat into the mac 'n' cheese sometimes.

A MAJOR delicacy is buttered noodles. I don't know why, but this the one thing they will eat anytime, anywhere.

 

[barkley]

ds's favorite is burritos-so i keep cans of fat free refired beans (i don't like the kind made with lard), flour tortillas and jars of mild cheese sauce on hand. it also works well if he wants nachos.

when the kids are home for lunch (summer time) i keep a covered container of precooked pasta in the fridge. if someone wants it "red" i add some jarred pasta sauce, if someone wants it mac n cheese style i add jarred mild cheese sauce. it usualy is used up every few days. i also keep sliced luncheon meats and cream cheese on hand for roll ups, celery/pb and raisins (ants on a log), canned pasta (i hate it but ds loves it), and as an emergency standby or "treat" (cuz if i let them they would want them all the time) i try to have several of the banquet frozen meals in the freezer (usualy the chicken nugget with fries, corn and a brownie as dessert)-i can get them for 93 cents at the store and the kids think it's a huge thing to get a dessert with lunch.

 

[ktpool]

My kids never liked sandwiches very much, but love just deli style turkey or ham or pepperoni with a cheese stick and some fruit.

PB on crackers with banana slices.

 

[goofy's friends]

Some of our favorites (most have been mentioned): Mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, dinosaur chicken nuggets, hot dog slices, ham and cheese sandwiches, pig in a blankets (with mini sausages and crousant), Spaghetios, tomato soup or Chichen noodle soup with goldfish,

All I can think of right now !!

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

Thanks for your ideas Keep them comin if you can!

I am sooo not creative when it comes to food! I feel so bad for my family Your ideas are great and nice and simple. Just what I needed!

 

[DISUNC]

At that age, my kids were Bologna CRAZED!!!! Especially the 'Boars Head" brand....to this day it is refered to as the "GOOD BOLOGNA" in my house....as opposed to the other brands...which are just 'doable'!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

DS is only two, but he'll eat just about anything I eat for lunch. Some days it's canned pasta, others he gets hotdogs or a sandwich with deli meat and cheese. He also LOVES grilled ch eese sandwiches, which I make under the broiler in our oven.

So just try different things and try giving them what you eat to see if they like it.

TOV

 

[MsLeFever]

DD likes yogurt, string cheese, peanut butter crackers, soup at hand, and most anything left over from the night before.

 

[joeymom]

tuna fish sandwiches on bread cut out with cookie cutters are big in our house! DD3 also likes cream cheese "sandwiches" made with pretzels. I always add a yogurt and fruit/veggie. DD3 loves strawberries and baby carrots with ranch or blue cheese to dip. Soup with wonton or matzah balls is a favorite and the usual chicken nuggets, pizza and mac n cheese always go over big! Oh, and she also loves sliced hard boiled eggs.

 

[Daisy Duck 5]

Here are some ideas:
spaghetti and can sauce
beans and weiners
macaroni and cheese
egg McMuffin (egg, cheese and bacon inside english muffin)
cinnamon toast cut out with a cookies cutter
pita with chicken, lettuce and mayo
bagels and boiled egg
muffins and apple sauce
waffles
poutine (french fries with grated cheese and gravy on top)
nachos with salsa
pizza pockets
ham & melon kabobs - put cantaloupe and ham on a toothpick
loose hamburger and onion in a hotdog bun with ketchup or melted cheese
eggs and ham in a muffin cup - put ham at the bottom of a muffin cup and cover it with a egg and bake for 15 minutes
frozen chicken burgers

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

We can usually get DD to eat ANY canned pasta (Spaghetti O's, beef ravoli, etc.).

I've come to terms with the fact that I have a toddler's tastebuds -- have you guys tried these things? MAN!! They are TAY-STY!

 

[luv2nascar]

my not quite 3 yr old is not really into lunch so I don't sweat it. She likes a good breakfast and picks for dinner usually. She is small so she really doesn't eat lunch every day. She wants to take a nap at that time. But she does love dannon drinkable yogurts and the campbell's dora or jimmy neutron soup.

 

[Aidensmom]

Yogurt, deli meat (plain or in a wrap), mini pizzas, turkey hot dogs.

I have a picky eater, who is also on a special diet because of stomach problems, so I really understand the PB&J thing. I will admit that is what he eats most of the time. His teachers tell me that at Pre-K, he always eats his fruit at lunch, but much of the time that is it. He is just not a big lunch eater.