OT- School lunches.. Help, I need ideas!

[DVCJones]

Please help...

My DD5, like many children, is a picky eater. She will be starting full-day kindergarten in the Fall and I am at a loss for ideas for lunch. Seriously she eats like 6 things. (mac and cheese, hot dogs, pizza, chicken, PB&J, pasta and cereal)

Her daycare would always heat up food so it was never a problem. I could also send her in with a PB&J. However, her new school does not allow peanut products of any kind. I get it and respect why this is policy

So what do you mommies do?

Also, she will not eat deli meat. I have been trying to introduce new foods all summer. I would feel awful sending her to school with dry cereal, yogurt and fruit every day. She may eat cold pasta too.

ugh! help!

 

[Benducci]

my youngest dd had a jelly sandwich every day for 3 months- that was what she wanted & the only thing she would eat. I figure I am giving her a decent breakfast & a decent supper so lunch can be catch as catch can. She moved on to yogurt tubes for awhile. I also heat mac&cheese or soup & put that in a thermos - it stays warm up to lunch time. Good luck! She may change what she wants when she gets to school & sees what the other kids eat too.

 

[mom2mira]

The thermos idea that the previous post metioned is a great idea so you can at least send a few of her favorites with her. We have one that we use for my dd and we throw it in the microwave before she leaves and she's not had a problem with the stuff being cold before lunch.

Something we have been doing here lately is making skewers of stuff for lunch and for some reason it has really helped my picky almost 3yo try some new stuff. There is something about eating stuff off a stick...lol. Maybe something to try with some cubed veggies, cheeses and cold chicken with some ranch dressing for dip. Even if she just eats the chicken she would still get something in her. We do them with fruits too with yogurt as dip and veggies with veggie dip.

 

[stace1214]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with you sending in yogurt and dry cereal for lunch, obviously she'll be getting "better" meals at breakfast and dinner, so I wouldn't worry. You may want to let the teacher know that your daughter is picky and that you are sending in sort of an unusual lunch so that she/he doesn't try to have your daughter buy a more complete lunch in the cafeteria. On occaision, I've heated up students lunches in my classroom before going into the lunch room if a parent has asked, I'm not sure all teachers would do this, but I didn't mind.

 

[skw444]

We're buying a thermos and I plan to send Mac n Cheese heated up in it. Also, someone gave me the idea of filling the thermos with hot water and putting a hot dog in it. It will keep the hot dog warm until lunch time. I also plan on sending in spaghetti in the thermos and chicken nuggets cooked in the morning and wrapped in tin foil.

 

[thegrimdwarf]

Will the school allow a PB substitute? My son is going to summer day camp, and they are peanut-free. So I asked my friend with a peanut allergic son for some lunch ideas. She told me about Sun Butter, which is basically sunflower seed butter. It doesn't taste exactly like PB, but with some jelly on bread, it's darn close and my son eats it with no problem. I found it at Target.

I did call ahead and let the folks at camp know that it was not a PB sandwich, because looking at it, you wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Ohio Disney Girl]

My picky DD eats dry cereal in a tupperware container and then pours her milk carton in it at school, waffle sandwiches or bagels with flavored cream cheese, cheese sandwiches, and even soft pretzels and string cheese fro variety. She will eat lots of fruit, raw veggies, and yogurt also. She will not each lunch meat at all! We also do chicken noodle soup in a thermos in the winter. She is starting to want to buy some lunches at school since her friends do it- peer pressure starts at K already!

 

[Aristomommy]

DD9 went through a picky stage too and I found the school lunches very unhealthy. I made pb&j's when they were still allowed and then made cheese sandwiches with whole wheat bread, mac and cheese, spagetti, lasagna, crackers with cheese, fruit and yogurt etc. The warm items are best in a good thermos, I like the funtainers and they work great until lunchtime. DD ate fruit and I put in bananas many times since it's quick to eat and filling. At her school they really don't have a lot of time to eat, so items that are easy to open and ready to eat are the best.

 

[PollyannaMom]

... I would feel awful sending her to school with dry cereal, yogurt and fruit every day. She may eat cold pasta too.

ugh! help!

Don't feel awful! - Mine took string cheeses, crackers and an apple SOOO many times last year. - It seems strange to us as adults because we're in the habit of thinking lunch means a sandwich; but really, there is protein, grain and fruit there. It's probably way better than lots of people grab from vending machines at work.

As for the deli meats, DS won't eat them actually between bread either, but he will eat ham just rolled up, and a seperate roll. Would she try something like that?

Good luck!

 

[DISNEYFOS]

HA I almost posted this yesterday....I was just googling for ideas last night. My DD starts a camp and she'll be there over lunch. She also eats mostly hot lunches.. I did find a Foogo that will keep food hot for 5/6 hours.

Some Ideas I came up with.. Mini bagel sandwich with veggie (or regular) cream cheese & sliced cucumbers. Flour tortilla rollup with cream cheese sprinkled with cinamon and thin apple slices.

I'll probably do a lot of cheese, yogurt, cut up veggies..etc. Like a previous poster said..make sure there is a protein, healthy carb, etc..

 

[melancholywings]

I love making DD Bento lunches. I often don't have the time to be as fancy as some of the bento pros. But in her bento box I can put a variety of little food, and as she has to bring the box back I get to see what she's eating...or not eating. Some of her favorites are little hotdogs cut into octopus, grapes and cheese cut into stars. Or i'll take little bamboo skewers and make mini cold shiskabobs.

 

[brymolmom]

Just don't get stuck on the whole 'sandwich' to make a meal theory. Most kids that day don't eat a ton - and can be filled up for the remainder of the school day with a granola bar, a bag full of grapes (or strawberries or a banana), and a cheese stick - along with a big container of milk. Or go for cheese and crackers plus a bag of carrots plus a fruit roll up.

I totally agree with the Thermos idea - I am definitely goign to be using it for my picky 5 year old - mac n cheese, pasta with butter - warm it up before going out the door - it'll be warm at lunchtime.

 

[weirdpaintballr]

How long will a thermos keep food warm? I'm in high school and never, ever buy the nasty school food. But I must say, I get extremely tired of eating a peanut butter sandwich everyday!

 

[squirrel]

If you pour hot water in the thermos and put the lid on and let it sit for a while, dump the water and put the food in it should keep the food warm til lunch.

The only other idea I have is a yogurt parfait. Granola, yogurt and her fav. fruits.

The sunflower butter is good. I picked it up at a store across the boarder from here and it was quite cheep too.

 

[wishtdream]

My DD did full day pre-k and full day kindergarten. She had to bring lunch. She often ate apples, carrots, celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing. she would also eat hot dogs and beans or mac and cheese in the thermos container. I would make her lunch at 7am and it was still warm -not hot at 11:30. I would pour boiled water in the container to heat it then add the warmed up food.

This year for first grade we have the option of buying lunch. DD says mom will keep packing it.

 

[vicki845]

I have two picky eaters. Here's what we do,

1 yogurt and fruit
2 grilled cheese and fruit
3 mac and cheese
4 soup
5 leftovers(chicken and rice)
6 noodles with butter or oil
7 chicken strips-made from home
8 pizza-taste good cold
9 cheese sticks and fruits
10 meatballs-I do turkey ones that can be baked in the oven

 

[cap'njacksgirl18]

Please help...

My DD5, like many children, is a picky eater. She will be starting full-day kindergarten in the Fall and I am at a loss for ideas for lunch. Seriously she eats like 6 things. (mac and cheese, hot dogs, pizza, chicken, PB&J, pasta and cereal)

Her daycare would always heat up food so it was never a problem. I could also send her in with a PB&J. However, her new school does not allow peanut products of any kind. I get it and respect why this is policy

So what do you mommies do?

Also, she will not eat deli meat. I have been trying to introduce new foods all summer. I would feel awful sending her to school with dry cereal, yogurt and fruit every day. She may eat cold pasta too.

ugh! help!

I am almost 20 now, but I was very very picky too! I am now a vegetarian. I hated eating a lot of things. One thing that helped me was trying different things to dip food in. My mom had me try things like hummus, tabouile, stuffed grape leaves. It doesn't sound like "kid food" but I really liked it. I now love dipping carrot sticks in hummus and having that with tabouile and pita bread. Tribe is one of the brands of hummus and they actually sell individual containers of them to take to school if she ends up liking it. Also they have these new things in the frozen health food section in shaws they are pretzels, but they have pizza baked inside of it. They are actually somewhat healthy and they are good. I tried something the other day that I never thought would go together, but it gave me a little more protein. In my macaroni and cheese i put little tiny cubes of tofu. It has no flavor and you do not even notice them when they are mixed with the macaroni. Try making different pasta salads. Trader joes has some healthy and yummy new snacks. They have snap pea crisps which sound odd again lol but they are really good and they also have bags of strawberries that are like the ones that come in cereal. They also sell fruit leather strips in grocery stores. They are like fruit rollups, but healthy. My friend doug actually asked me for them for xmas and his bday last yr after he tried mine one day lol. One of the brands of them is called fruitabu. I hope some of this helps.

 

[chloe770]

HA I almost posted this yesterday....I was just googling for ideas last night. My DD starts a camp and she'll be there over lunch. She also eats mostly hot lunches.. I did find a Foogo that will keep food hot for 5/6 hours.

What's a Foogo? I also need help with lunches. DS will only eat grilled cheese, hot dogs, pizza,chicken nuggets, french fries, waffles, poptarts, cheerios and pepperoni on occasion. I keep trying to get him to try new things but I sometimes think it's not worth the fight. He will eventually eat something else right?

 

[SmallWorld71]

I would feel awful sending her to school with dry cereal, yogurt and fruit every day. She may eat cold pasta too.

ugh! help!

I know this has been said already, but don't feel awful!
There is nothing wrong with sending the same lunch every day. I teach 1st grade and at least half the kids bring the same things over and over. And, every year I have 5 or 6 who eat cereal each day. The important thing is that you send something she likes that will keep up her energy. Many kids that age will refuse to eat their food bcause their parents try sending in new/ different foods and then the adults at lunch duty will end up getting them some cereal so that they don't go hungry.

Just want to agree with some of the other suggestions:
-Sunflower butter- A friend whose daughter has allergies says this is the closest to PB. Try this at home and see what she thinks.
-Thermos-I sometimes will send in leftover raviolis etc... I heat them up in the AM in the microwave. DS9 always says they are still warm at lunch time. (4 hours later)
-There's nothing wrong with yogurt and cereal.

P.S. My baby starts full time K in the fall too. Where did the time go.

 

[DVCJones]

Thanks for all the great suggestions and the mommy support

I am going to try and find some sunflower butter today. I also plan on buying a good thermos too! I didn't think food would stay warm that long....the things I learn on the DIS

Thanks again!