lunch ideas

I'm struggling with what to give the girls for lunch. During the school year they eat lunch at daycare, but now we're home for the summer and we keep having the same things over and over. I cook a pretty big meal for supper, so I'd like something quick and easy. We don't usually have a lot of leftovers from the night before and what we do have DH usually takes to work for his lunch. Oh, and I should mention that the girls don't like bread unless it's toasted/grilled. How's that for limiting choices? Gah! Anyway, we keep having:

Mac and Cheese
Fish Sticks
Grilled Cheese

Yesterday they had deli meat and cheese on crackers (and some other sides).

Help!

 

My poor girls usually get the same most days, Peanut Butter and Jelly. I usually mix up the sides, crackers, fruit, granola,raisins, etc.
You can toast the bread and try PBnJ...

 

Some ideas that may work (?):
-Cheese quesadillas (I like to add refried or black beans)
-Chicken nuggets
-Mini pizzas on English muffins
-Strips of firm tofu
-Turkey hot dogs
-Meatballs with marinara

 

All of the above ideas, plus sometimes we just have smoothies or yogurt and crackers/fruit. You could try kabobs with pieces of chicken, cheese, fruit, lunch meat, bread. My boys love kabobs! We do a lot of deli sandwiches and peanut butter. I've been meaning to try pasta salad with my guys...

 

some other things you could try...

i make lunchmeat/cheese rollups with tortillas (spread with cream cheese)
or baked chicken nuggets
hard boiled eggs
believe it or not, my girls LOVE liversausage! on big bread rolls! so they get that for lunch a lot lol (they hate grilled cheese. whose kids are these??? )

 

Couple more things

Ham and cheese croissants or crepes
Toast/English muffin with ricotta and honey
On lazy days crackers with peanut butter

I'd totally try PB&J on toast or cream cheese and jelly on toast. Or cook more in the evening for more leftovers.

 

Here are some favorites around here:

PB & J (you could grill them - it's actually REALLY good!)
nachos (tortilla chips with shreddd cheese for the younger ones, my older one like beans and meat/veggies on hers too)
hard boiled eggs
quesadillas (tortillas with cheese)
lunch meat, cheese and crackers
mac and cheese
chicken nuggets
soup
hot dogs
I've got one that just started liking salads, so that's been fun
crescent rolls with lil' smokies rolled inside
I have another one that has been turned on to baked potatoes. So sometimes I'll make one up and steam up some brocolli, put some cheese on it, etc.

 

Pizza - you can get english muffins and toast them with some jarred sauce and shredded cheese or some Naan bread
Pasta - you can cook some of the Barilla Piccolini pastas (wagon wheels are the fave in my house) in around 7 minutes or so - serve with sauce or butter
my daughter will make fruit an entire meal! Bananas, apples, grapes, strawberries etc...she hasn't met a fruit she won't eat!

 

A plain egg omellette that you cut into strips, spread some Cheez Whiz, and roll it up.
What about a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (dip the sandwich in egg like for French toast) since you mentioned they liked grilled bread.
Brown rice mixed with quinoa and shredded carrots and brocolli (mine don't touch brocolli if they can identify it so I chop it and hide it. The secret ingredient to this dish is a bit of butter and sometimes a sprinkle of brown sugar on the veggies before I mix them in. I've also added mashed turnip to the rice (with a little brown sugar) and they usually like it. Make extra and the next day serve fried rice!
Pasta covered in a cream soup with hidden carrots and brocolli.
Pierogies. (cheese and potato dumpling things) We buy them frozen and just boil them for a few minutes. The kids love them.
Sweet potato fries. I recently bought a mandolin to make these, but it's not that hard to chop by hand.




I see a few people have mentioned hard boiled eggs. How are you serving them? My boys will eat egg salad sandwhiches, but I can't see them eating a plain egg.

 

I wrap lunch meat around a cheese stick--nice and breadless.

 

one of the boys' easy faves is bean burritos- just a can of refried beans, cheese, nuke it in a tortilla and you're done.

 

I've actually gotten some good ideas here! I'm in your situation, out for the summer and lunch sometimes becomes a rut.

We've done alot of what's been mentioned. The other night we made some Mexican rice as a side dish and my girls gobbled it up. I didn't think they would like it, but since it was such a hit they ate a bowl full for lunch the next day.

 

We do alot of what has been mentioned.

Someone mentioned nachos, my two love nachos. I use baked tortilla chips (unless DH went shopping <_< ) & shredded cheese and then put heaping amounts of "guacomole" (really just smashed avocado) on their plates for dipping.

We also do:
Spaghetti (noodles & sauce)
bean & cheese taco

 

Mine are into ravioli lately. You can buy it frozen and only takes 3-5 min to boil. (i am opposed to the nasty stuff in cans)
mac-n-cheese
any kind of pasta with canned sauce of different kinds
lots of fruit
rice-I ususally add cubed chicken and a little butter or soy sauce
soup with crackers is a favorite (I don't dilute so not so messy)
put any "sandwich" idea into a tortilla and roll up, they love this

 

My kids love raviolis also, although I guess I mostly give that in the evening... also hamburgers (with buns and all), hot dogs (I cut in tiny pieces), sweet potato fries, breakfast sausage, eggs, tuna melt (use light tuna for less mercury), pizza...

 

Here is an idea I got off the back of the pepperoni bag: PEPPERONI PIZZA SPREAD

Mini Turkey Pepperoni's
Cream Cheese
Marinara Sauce/Pizza Sauce
Crackers or Crusty bread

Put a large slice of cream cheese on plate. Pour some sauce over cream cheese. Top w/ Pepperoni (and parsley-optional). Serve w/ crackers or crusty bread.

It's pretty yummy and the kids really liked it!

 

mine love liverwurst which is like pate but cheaper and in a tube. They lick it off a spoon like a lollipop, even my 14 month old.

cream cheese on toast

look for some nut spreads instead of just peanut butter.

kids love icecream cones so you could put something in the bottom of them.

cherry tomatoes which often work better than regular tomatoes.

shreaded veggies raw. long string type shapes

dried fruit -- blueberries, prunes, strawberries, etc.

roll out bread flat and then use it like a wrap.

Even if you do use a can of spagetti or canned ravioli -- finelly chopped avocado adds some nutrition to the mix.

Heather

 

one more thing... at a grocery store they were giving away snacks to promote saltine crackers ? They put cheese on them and melted it in an oven. So easy but I'm going to try it for a quick nice change. Anything under the cheese might be hidden like avocado.

Heather

 

Muffin Tin Mondays! This is my kids' favorite thing and they get excited every Monday. Basically I take a muffin tin and fill each cup with something different. It changes every week depending on what I have in the kitchen. It is a great way to use up those very small amounts of leftovers that would otherwise go to waste! I started with a large 12-cup muffin tin and they each got 6 cups and sat on opposite sides. Now, I have two 6-cup tins and they each get their own.

Examples of things I put in the cups:
Yogurt
Cottage cheese
Leftover veggies
Leftover main dish
Deli meat
Crackers
Veggies
Fruit
Dip for veggies or fruit
Chicken nuggets
Cheese
Half a tortilla each, torn into smaller pieces
Pretzels
Chips
Nuts
Dessert (cookies, cupcake, etc. Whatever is on hand)
Half a sandwich
Anything else I can fit in a muffin cup!


Whatever I put in a cup, I make it small portion. They are getting a variety of things and always have plenty to eat. My rule is they can never have more of one thing until they have at least tried a little of everything else. It is a great way to get them to try new foods!

If you look it up online, some people have themed muffin tin ideas on their blogs for various holidays (like a tin with only red, white, and blue foods for the 4th of July). They're fun, but I'd rather use up the leftovers and food I have on hand than go out an buy special foods. However, that might be right up your alley.

 

if i were to cook, i'd copy what she makes at http://weelicious.com/ every single day! she posts pics of her kids' lunch on fb every morning. it's all healthy and easy!

 

This website is awesome!!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I am going to try the potato tots and veggie burgers tonight :Clap:

 

I chopped up some cooked frozen cauliflower and added to good old Kraft mac & cheese yesterday.

Today I brought back an old favourite I haven't made in awhile -- avocado, yogurt, custard, banana (all blended together) Shrek pudding !!

 

We do this too, but not just on Mondays. My 2 love muffin cups (as they call it) for lunch. I use those silicone muffin cups shaped like hearts & put 6 in a circle on a plate. I swear, anything I put in those muffin cups gets eaten. They love having the variety & everything is in small servings just their size. Crackers, cheese, yogurt, bagels, fruit of all kinds, dry cereal, raw veggies, etc. they eat it all if it's served that way!

 

A friend of mine does the muffin tins and swears by them! I am going to have to give them a try. Thanks for the reminder!!