Help! We’re tired of grilled cheese and hotdogs!
I am a terrible lunch-maker. We eat the same things every few days (or at least it feels that way). And when I absolutely can’t take another bite of grilled cheese, we get in the car and pickup drive-through (usually Subway which is pretty healthy, but still…).
So, I’m recruiting YOUR help. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share with me some {at least} semi-healthy lunches that both you and your children enjoy! If I don’t eat what Big Brother eats, I typically just don’t eat lunch because it is too much trouble to feed 3 people 3 different meals! And it would be REALLY great if it was something super-easy to make! I know, I’m asking a little too much…
I can’t wait to see what great ideas you all have!
Weelicious.com has an amazing section on lunches…check it out!
Have you thought about muffin tin meals? Sycamore Stirrings has lots of ideas on their blog. I recently started giving them to my 22 month old, and she loves them! She eats twice as many veggies that way.
Quesadilla's!! SUPER easy, and although they're much like grilled cheese sammies it's a nice change! Also, it's super easy to add veggies/beans/meats to them for protein!
Sometimes I'll also make PB&J Quesadilla's! Mmmmm!
I always keep whole grain tortillas on hand. You can fill them with almost anything and my kids love a roll up!
We also love "dippers"; carrots and hummus, apples and peanut butter, chicken fingers, always a big hit.
I make the girls a fruit, meat and cheese plate and pizza on english muffins!!
I'll sprinkle some cheese in a tortilla shell and melt it in the microwave. Then I roll it up and dip it in sour cream or salsa for an easy lunch.
Pizza on leftover rolls is also fun and easy.
A friend recently introduced me to Cream Cheese and Cucumber sandwiches. My son, who is a very picky eater, loves them!
Tuna melts: mix tuna with mayo and spread on a piece of bread, then top with cheese & broil. Peanut butter & honey sandwiches on toasted bread, yogurt cups, "deconstructed" ham & cheese (ham, cheese, crackers) with a side of fruit, yogurt topped with a little wheat germ, and quesadillas (plop anything you want in a soft tortilla, fold in half and zap in the microwave for 30 seconds) top our list. Like you, we get stuck in the grilled cheese and mac & cheese rut sometimes! Every day is a battle!
Our rut is peanut butter and honey! Quesadillas, as many have said, are a quick, easy option with ulitmate variety, though I've found with my children (who are pickier than all get out) that they prefer their quesadillas "deconstructed." We also do pancakes or waffles with yogurt and fruit on the side for a fun "treat" every now and then!
We like quesadillas or soup around here. Egg flower soup, garden chowder (which is what we're having today), clam chowder, loaded baked potato soup, cream cheese chicken soup, etc. etc.
Definitely quesadillas! Our other favorite is ham rollups–take a tortilla, spread cream cheese on it, layer it with ham, cheese and lettuce and then wrap it up (jelly-roll style). Use extra cream cheese to seal it. And, then slice it up — you can make about 8 little "wraps". My 3 yo loves these!!
I use a lot of freeze-dried foods. We were having a hard time making sure our daughter got the proper amount of fruits and veggies and when I learned about shelf-reliance and their freeze dried foods we tried it out and she loves them. They have lots of different fruits, veggies and meats and they taste GREAT. They are healthy because they have no preservatives and you can use as little or as much as you want and not be wasting anything. Check them out here http://www.shelfreliance.com if you are interested. If you do order anything, please put me as your consultant. I know finding easy, healthy food is hard. All these suggestions are great, I can't wait to try some of them out.
I was also going to suggest cheese quesadillas;
We all like spinach quiche (my boys are 4 and 2)
1 box spinach
16 oz cottage cheese
4 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 c chopped onion, optional
Squeeze out spinach, then mix everything together and bake in a greased pie plate and bake at 325 for 1 hour.
This could last you a few lunches. And you can change it by adding meat or different vegetables. Spinach seemed to our favorite!
Here are some faves in our house (by little and big people!)
HotDog Banana Dogs:
Hot Dog Bun
Banana
Peanut Butter
Oceanarium
Slice a hot dog in half only to the middle (don't slice it all the way in half)
Slice the split part into quarters to create 8 tenticles
Either prop them up in a cup of water for microwaving or boil them on the stovetop
Serve with mutli-colored gold fish crackers
(If I really want to complete this, I'll make shells & cheese also.)
Kabobs
I give the girls fancy toothpicks or swords with cubed meat and cheese, and small sized veggies and fruits. The girls have to take something from every tray, and can only use their kabobs to do it.
Painter's Palette
Quite a while ago, I found some great small colored plates at the Dollar Store. I arrange them on a larger platter, and match foods to the plate color. Blueberries, Purple Grapes, Sugar Snap Peas, Chicken Nuggets, etc. The girls love when this is lunch because it means paint is on the schedule!
One of our favorites is fish sticks and sweet potato fries- you can do both organic if it makes you feel better! We also do a lot of tortillas with hummus. You can also try C's special mac 'n cheese recipe and add chicken or tuna. I've even frozen it and used it for quick meals! We also have quite a few lunches that consist mostly of fruit- we are big on apples and cherries right now. One more idea- roll ham and swiss cheese in crescent rolls and bake.
Wow! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing all of your ideas. We'll definitely be trying all of them!
Here's another question–many of you have mentioned hummus. Do you buy hummus from the store or do you make your own?
Hummus is so simple to make, and you can add other veggies to it if you do it yourself. Edamame is a great substitute for chick peas too for extra protein. It's a great dip for veggies as well as a sandwich spread with some cream or feta cheese. Jamie Oliver is a huge proponent of whole, simple foods, and did a great show in the US called Food Revolution. His recipe for hummus is here : http://bit.ly/9J62Fl. Lots of good recipes here for simple, preservative free foods, much better than sulfite-filled lunch meats and hot dogs.
I do omelettes for lunch with leftover meat and veggies from the day before, or make a fruit smoothie with frozen fruit and juice, and do chunks of meat and cheese on the side.
Surprised no one mentioned baked potatoes. I mean, I prefer the 1 hour long baked-in-the-oven variety, but a 5-8 minute blast in the microwave will do for lunch time. Just be sure to poke lots of holes! Top with sour cream, ham, and cheese; leftover chili/soup/sauces; cheese and salsa; broccoli and cheese; anything really.
Smoothies with leftover muffins or bread are also a big hit around here.
We love scrambled eggs for lunch (or supper or breakfast). With some fruit and a piece of cheese, Yum!
This isn’t really a new meal but we too seem to have the same thing over and over again but my4 year old LOVES when i cut her sandwich or waffles into shapes… so if you don’t already have them, invest in some small cookie cutters. It’s also great b.c she hates crust. Another idea, have you ever heard of rainbow bread. We got some at the local bakery and froze it so it lasted a while but it’s just what it suggests, bread that is all different colors; it looks super cool as a butterfly with whatever sandwich insides you typically eat. We also cut cheese and fruit strips/fruit leather into cookie cutter shapes which makes it taste that much better. My daughter also enjoys “make your own pizza”. I don’t melt the cheese, she likes it cold but shaped bread and little dishes of sauce and pizza toppings. A big hit. Also any kind of veggie with dressing. she loves mixing catalina and ranch with carrots!