Looking for Cold Toddler Meals for Daycare

hi A. ,
- my daughter LOVED deviled eggs . make a dozen . pack up 1 a day . let family eat the rest .
easy.healthy [ if eggs are ok]
-dipp'n sauce in a small tupperware of ranch dress'n , tuna salad [ just a tad] etc. be ceative add long sliced bagel ti dip .... yum .
- small baggie of mandrin oranges, peaches, banana,
fresh fruit . yummmm
100 of things to feed a child ... ask grammy ... they had no lunch rooms when they went to school ... brown bag everyday !
t

Grapes & cheese! My son eats this almost everyday. Cut the grapes in half & buy a block of cheese & cut it into small cubes or strips. You can try different kinds of cheese. My son's favorites are american & cheddar & mozzarella. He does not like swiss or provolone. Cheeses are great for meals b/c they have protein & calcium & are easy to eat. You also can do other fruits. My son loves: strawberries, watermelon, kiwi. He also like apples & oranges, but those are harder to prepare in advance. You can also cube chicken breast if you cook that for dinner the night before.

Lunchables are terrible for young children because of the sodium content. Once in a while is ok. The other lady's idea to make your own is better.

There is yogurt in my kid's lunches every day. They will eat pasta cold, even ravioli. I purchased a good thermos for them, and can also send in a warm lunch, sometimes scrambled eggs. Hard boiled eggs, fruit, whatever you would normally send your kids warm, you can let them eat cold. They don't have preconceived notions of what should be warm and cold. My kids will eat frozen peas and corn, you could put them in frozen and they will thaw by lunchtime.

You could research the Japanese practice of making bento (box) lunches. They are the experts in healthy, fun, and portable lunches. They make hard boiled eggs into bunnies and color them with food coloring, lots of t hings to make the lunch attractive and fun for the child.

My 14 month old's current favorite is almond butter and applesauce sandwiches--a little modification on the standard PB & J. Other nut butters like cashew and almond butter are getting to be pretty commonly found in grocery stores these days. Great source of protein without the peanuts! And sooo easy!

Hummus and crackers
fruit - grapes, melon, strawberries, blueberries, mango all great
cold pasta. my son loves pasta w/pesto
homemade pizza with veggie toppings
hope this helps!

We do a lot of cream cheese with jelly or apple butter. Sometimes I put in a little cool pack. Pizza and cheese quesadillas are also a hit. We make quesadillas in the toaster oven and cut them into small strips with the pizza cutter. Additional sides...bananna, cheese sticks, raisins, fruit cups, pretzels, crackers. We use an insulated sippy with a few ice cubes to keep the milk cold. The kids don't seem to mind it being a little watered down, so I don't.

My son has food allergies to peanut & egg, so sometimes finding him cold food ideas for lunch was difficult. Now he loves to eat crackers with apple butter (he dips the cracker in a little plastic bowl of the apple butter). He likes cheese and crackers and carrots. We also give him soy nut butter sandwiches, tastes almost like peanut butter, he loves them.

Can your child eat cooked, soft veggie chunks in Ranch? Crackers and cheese? Fruit cup, raisins, butter bread, muffins?

- whole wheat tortillas with sunflower butter (folded in half and cut into pizza shapes)
- steam some baby carrots - freeze them and take out a few each day
- grapes cut in half
- apple slices with the skin off

Jelly, cream cheese, or hummus sandwiches cut into bite size pieces
single serve fruit cup
goldfish
teddy grahms (sp?)
small (baby food plastic container) of diced veggies
pre cooked small container of raviolis
any gerber finger foods that your little one likes
water or 100% juice boxes

Kids do not need as much varitey as you might think. As a daycare provider and a long time mom, the best eaters eat the same thing everyday. They like predictability and this is just one more way to keep them happy. Plus you won't the worry if your little one is liking what you sent if you know they love one thing stick with it. They won't get sick of it. My oldest child has eaten a pb&j everyday of his life and will into adulthood LOL!

when my youngest was little, she is 9 now, I made everything into a "salad" for her plus she didn't like meat and it was one of the few ways to get some into her... but ham, chicken, beef, anything I just put through the food processer and mixed with a bit of plain yogurt instead of mayo I sent it with crackers since she loved to dip and a spoon and she ate it. All she would eat was tuna salad so we tried that... and cut up fresh fruits. Good luck!!!!

Hello A., My name is M. and I am a licenced home childcare provider. I am aware of the issues with packing lunches most childcare centers do not cook meals and have the parents pack lunches for their children. I have discussed this very issue at meetings as to the nutrition that kids need and with packing lunches this is very hard to do. Meals are important and I know as a parent that good food choices and eating habits are formed early in life. I feel that cooking breakfast and a hot lunch are very beneficial. Cold foods are limited and can make children not want to eat and then you worry if they are hungry all day. If childcare centers dont have time to heat them up their lunch then maybe you should exploe your options and look for a good home daycare that will feed your child the way you would at home. When parents work you worry enough about them being cared for and loved and to pack a lunch is an added expence. I as a mom and a chilcare provider can understand why you want the best for your child and to make sure that they are eating healthy. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me, ###-###-#### Thanks M.

I cook my son veggie pasta, once done I mix it with cubed ham or turkey, olives, cucumber slices and toss with zesty italian dressing..put it in the frig overnight. In the morning I just put some in his divided dish, along with string cheese that I cut up, grapes or oranges, and sometimes craisans. He loves pasta...plus it is best cold.

My youngest daughter is almost 1 year old and she likes to eat bread and veges. We do beets and carrots (they are in slices as they are canned) and I cut them into quarters. She also likes cottage cheese. Oh, and she likes other kinds of cheese cut into little pieces. Just started giving her ham and bologna cut into little pieces too.
Make sure you cut the food yourself at home and put it in bowls or zippy bags for the staff to put on plates. I worked at a daycare and lunch time was crazy. We had to heat their food. Some even brought "quick" microwavable meals. Real great if you want all the sodium and are home with one or two. But try heating all that for 10-12 kids. By the time you get everything warmed up the first ones are cold again. Wish they requested cold meals there too.

have you done eggs yet ? tuna fish? You can make sandwiches out of them, or deviled eggs, which are kind of fun. baloney and cheese ? turkey sandwiches ? ham ?

Gabby's only 11 months old but I make her cold meals everyday that don't require heating - she eats all of these items cold: mac n cheese, turkey meatballs, chicken fingers, veggies, slices of cheese, organic lunchmeat, grilled cheese sandwich cut up. Hope this helps! and good luck

I used to send in ham and cheese without bread. I also used to send in cheese and crackers. kids don't eat that much so it doesn't have to be a sandwich. fruit and/or veggies are a good option too. my daugher ate peanut butter so sometimes i'd send half a sandwich or make pb cracker sandwiches.

you can try apple butter sandwiches. My son loved them. They also sell lunchables with cut up ham and turkey and little teddy grahms. Or you could dice up turkey or ham. Jelly and creamcheese is good too, since no peanut butter yet.

we do yogurt every day (as another mom mentioned), fruit, jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, cheese & turkey sandwiches, even a Nutrigrain cereal bar (we do chicken fingers, hot dog, fish sticks, & meatballs, but they all get heated up at school); plus we do 1 additional carb (goldfish, pretzels, ritz crackers, cheese its, etc.)

Lunchables are a great idea although they can be quite expensive. I would buy a pound of lean lunch meat, some cheese and some Mini Ritz Bits crackers. Cut the cheese into bite size cubes. Also grapes (cut in half), banana, apple, watermelon are all good things to get your baby started on. My kids love ham, cheese, crackers and fruit for lunch. It's very affordable and healthy. Good luck.