Snack and lunch ideas

amother

Emerald

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 11:30 pm

I have a 2yo and 4yo who are in playgroup/preschool.

My 2yo is there from 9-1:30 and needs a snack and a lunch.

My 4yo is there from 8:30-3:45 and needs lunch and 1-2 snacks (the school does provide some snacks, but in case he doesnt like it or is still hungry etc)

my 2yo is not so picky and there are no allergies in his playgroup so im pretty good with him- most things can go.

my 4yo on the other hand is very picky and in a peanut free school (and there is a peanut allergy in his class). I have been sending him with cream cheese sandwiches for lack of other ideas. but he doesnt always eat them (or eat all of them-sometimes hes good with half a sandwich) and by the time he gets home (after 4pm) they have been out for HOURS and are garbage imo. if it had been PB I would have put in the fridge for tomorrow.

So I need ideas for him of either other lunches I can send (to be eaten cold only) and healthy snacks that wont go bad if left out all day. So far ive only been sending him with pretzels, animal crackers or raisins. there HAS to be more ideas out there.

looking for mostly healthy and variety. TIA

ra_mom

Mon, Oct 12 2015, 12:30 am

Muffins. Keep them individually wrapped in the freezer.
Corn pops.
Sliced apples (drizzled with a drop of lemon juice to prevent browning).

Container of pasta and cottage cheese.
Cheese pancakes.
Egg salad sandwich. Tuna sandwich. Lox spread sandwich.
Sliced eggs with potato salad.
String cheese, crackers, veggie stix.

What does your four year old eat at home? Can we figure out a way to send something similar to school?

Last edited by ra_mom on Mon, Oct 12 2015, 12:31 am; edited 1 time in total

rachel6543

Mon, Oct 12 2015, 12:30 am

Things that are good without refrigeration:
- fruit leathers
- freeze dried fruit
- dried apricots, dates, cranberries
- fresh grapes, blueberries
- applesauce cups
- bananas
- rice cakes or crackers
- flat bread crackers
- granola bars
- fig bars
- homemade muffins (recipes are endless - carrot, zucchini, blueberry, banana)
- homemade healthy oatmeal raisin cookies
- dry cereal like Cheerios
- "veggie" sticks
- cheese sticks or yogurt tubes (freeze and they defrost by lunch time)

freshair

Mon, Oct 12 2015, 12:36 am

My 18 month old is in a peanut free daycare. His menu every day is grapes for snack a whole wheat bread with hummus and veggie sticks for snack again. He is there from 9:15- 5:15 daily.

amother

Emerald

Mon, Oct 12 2015, 11:22 pm

thanks for the ideas. there are some good ones, but some things I cant see go over well...

like cheese sticks, my 4yo SOMETIMES eats them and sometimes eats a bite or two. but no way a cheese stick will last till 4 in case he doesnt eat it at all and that would be a waste.

ditto with yogurts that he sometimes takes and sometimes doesnt.

muffins are a very good idea.

dried fruit not so much. fresh fruit I can only send what will still be good if not eaten (like bananas and pears get gross in a bag all day) grapes he sometimes loves and sometimes doesnt.

fruit cups and applesauce are a good idea.

eggs he doesnt eat (maybe two bites of a fried one. maybe.)

tuna sandwich sounds gross for lunch to me. the bread will be all soggy ew.... (unless I send the tuna in a container and the bread and let him make his own sandwich but not sure his teachers will appreciate it much...) (im a little picky myself....)

thanks again so far!

singleagain

Mon, Oct 12 2015, 11:55 pm

amother wrote:

tuna sandwich sounds gross for lunch to me. the bread will be all soggy ew.... (unless I send the tuna in a container and the bread and let him make his own sandwich but not sure his teachers will appreciate it much...) (im a little picky myself....)

When I was a kid, I always only wanted tuna, but I also didn't like soggy bread. my dad would cut the top of a pepper off, clean it out, put the tuna in there and wrap it in foil.

also, if you think he will eat the refrigerated foods, might it be worth it to invest in a lunch bag with an icebox compartment, to keep things cold. I just googled "cold lunch bag" and [utl=http://www.packit.com/freezable-mini-lunch-bag-1324.html]this site[/url] popped up. Or I'm sure you can find similar bags in other stores, this also came up in search, so maybe search "insulated lunch bag" as well as "cold lunch bag"

ra_mom

Tue, Oct 13 2015, 1:05 am

I place the tuna between two pieces of lettuce before sandwiching in bread.

Or I freeze a tuna sandwich overnight and it defrosts by lunchtime but it's not soggy. Don't let it sit in the freezer too long though (1 week is fine) or it will taste like it's from the freezer.

If he can bring meat to school, I'd go with turkey and other cold cut sandwiches.

amother

Emerald

Tue, Oct 13 2015, 1:11 am

I will look into a cooler bag thanks

he doesnt eat "salad" aka lettuce to the rest of the world. tuna and pepper could be an idea. I wonder how frozen tuna would go over... guess I can give it a try.

thanks!