Preschool lunch ideas

Need some help. My older DD is bringing home full to partially eaten lunches from school. I am at a loss as to what to put in there. I even have asked her what she would like to see in there and if I pack it most of it still comes home. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Oh, Rachel, lunches are the bane of my existence. I have struggled with this for years! No matter what they ask for they don't seem to eat it! I don't know what you've been sending but I have tried sandwiches of all kinds, cheese & crackers with fruit, rice cakes, mac & cheese in a thermos, bagels, muffins w/slices of cheese & fruits, etc. I can't think of anything I haven't tried over the years & nothing has been overly successful for long. I think one thing to remember is, whatever you pack, it needs to be something that can be eaten fairly quickly, kids have no patience for eating when they are at school!

Oh, and my SIL has gotten desperate enough on occasion to pack dry cereal in a bowl with a thermos of milk & evidently that has been successful with her kids. Maybe not manageable at 4 but something to keep in mind for when she's older.

 

I ALMOST always send an Uncrustable and some carrots or a slice of cheese sometimes a go-gurt!

 

Rachel, I had to add that if when she eats at home you are feeding her beer & chips like your little one in your avi, then maybe she is missing that when she goes to preschool! :rofl:

 

QUOTE(tinalb @ Apr 20 2009, 07:21 PM) [snapback]1281643[/snapback]
Rachel, I had to add that if when she eats at home you are feeding her beer & chips like your little one in your avi, then maybe she is missing that when she goes to preschool! :rofl:


What, they can't being bottles of Corona to school? Just put the limes in a little ziploc bag... :laughing:

Nolan is basic...wants a cream cheese sandwich every time, either on a bagel or on bread. Meghan wants peanut butter almost all the time. I buy the little snack bags at BJs (teddy grahams, goldfish, etc) and put one of those in, too. Sometimes grapes, apples, watermelon. And a juice box. I have also sent in pasta which they eat cold.

 

Mine love lunchables, but also like:
rolled lunch meat and cheese sticks
any kind of fruit
yogurt
tortillas with shredded cheese inside
mac and cheese
chicken nuggets
sometimes I'll pack spaghettios or ravioli
left overs sometimes

Our preschool will heat foods up, so that helps. My kids could live off of PB&J, but they have nut free preschool so they can't eat them there.

 

Today one of my girls had cream cheese on a mini bagel, carrots, celery and banana bread. She usually has cottage cheese. The other girl had a 1/2 a plain bagel and a squeezy yogurt.

I have done cold grill cheese. Left over pasta.


What does she eat for lunch at home?

 

QUOTE(tinalb @ Apr 20 2009, 07:21 PM) [snapback]1281643[/snapback]
Rachel, I had to add that if when she eats at home you are feeding her beer & chips like your little one in your avi, then maybe she is missing that when she goes to preschool! :rofl:


You know she doesnt like Corona... Gin and Tonic's are her fav :lol:

QUOTE(ljcrochet @ Apr 20 2009, 09:11 PM) [snapback]1281775[/snapback]
What does she eat for lunch at home?


At home, I have the same problem as Tina mentioned above. Even if I fix what she asks for it can still go uneaten. :headbang: I have been packing the same for school as what she will eat at home minus the hot food. She eats turkey with swiss, peanut butter sand, peanut butter and honey on crackers, carrots, chips, snack bags of crackers, squeeze yogurt, fruit, and an occasional snack bag of cookies. Today, even the cookies came home uneaten. I have no idea why she isnt eating at school. She doesnt eat a huge breakfast either. I just dont get it.

And then as soon as she gets home she wants a snack and then she is begging for dinner at 4:30.:umm: I do not give in and explain to her that she needs to eat lunch to avoid being hungry, but she just doesnt.

 

Lunch is really distracting for kiddos -- Nadia is forever telling me that she didn't have time to finish, because the timer went off. I wonder if you could ask the teacher if she's spending most of her time talking to classmates instead of eating....the teacher could probably keep an eye on it and remind her to eat.

I send standard sandwiches -- ham and cheese, turkey, Sunbutter & jelly or honey (it's a peanut-free school), turkey pepperoni and cheese. Sometimes I put cream cheese and ham in a pita.

I always send a fruit, a munchie (some baked chips, Goldfish, pretzels), and depending on what the sandwich is, a piece of string cheese or a small yogurt. I figure *something* will get eaten...

I'm also guilty of waaaay overestimating how much Nadia can eat, even though I know she has a tiny appetite. For example, if there is absolutely nothing else to eat, she might be able to eat an entire sandwich with the crusts cut off, if she's really starving. Otherwise, a half sandwich is plenty, if I expect her to eat some of the other stuff, too.

Oh -- and we have a standing rule that she finishes her lunch when she gets home from school.

 

The boys are just two and they sporadically go to Mother's Day Out. There is a child in their class with peanut allergies so we have to be cautious about what we send. I typically pack those dual trays of kid's lunch packages with the mini ritz, swiss cheese slices and diced turkey. With that I send a cup of fruit (either diced apples, mandarin oranges, or diced pears). For snack I send a bag of cheese its, chips or rice krispie treats. I pack them a milk for lunch and an apple juice to have at snack time. Everything I send they can pick up and easily feed themselves, but they are always starving when they come on, but there appears to be no leftovers. Sometimes I will include a banana - it just depends on how well they have eaten breakfast. If it hasn't been a good morning for breakfast, I put the banana in - don't know why - I just think it's good for them.

 

I over pack their lunches so that hopefully they'll eat something. Generally it goes like this:

banana
soy pudding
crunchy snack (chip-based)
cereal bar or grapes
DS gets a soy nut butter/jelly sandwich
DD gets some black beans that she eats whole and maybe some peas

 

Rachel, :hug: personally I think kids just want to anything else besides eat when they are 3! Play, play, play, talk.... you know, the important stuff! :lol: John ate like Leah for many many years and I never thought it would end. But it did. When he was in K, he first started finishing meals (peanut butter and fluff) and now he asks for turkey or ham with mayo on a bulky roll and he finishes it all! Who would have thunk????? It will get better. Just keep giving her different things and eventually she will eat it. You will probably be pretty frustrated in the meantime. :hug:

 

QUOTE(tinalb @ Apr 20 2009, 07:21 PM) [snapback]1281643[/snapback]
Rachel, I had to add that if when she eats at home you are feeding her beer & chips like your little one in your avi, then maybe she is missing that when she goes to preschool! :rofl:

I have no advice, I just had to say how much I loved this comment. :rofl: :rotflmbo: