What to Feed for Luch

Well, when my kids were this age, toasted cheese sometimes with ham, turkey rollups (turkey, cheese, some lettuce and tomatoe on a tortilla warm or cold, mac and cheese with ham chunks, pigs in a blanket (crescent rolls around hot dogs), turkey corn dogs, applesauce of various flavors, all kinds of fruits and veg's.. mmm..i am getting hungry..Dont worry so much about pricey hard to make stuff, the kids really do like simple stuff, so dont worry that if you arent making a fourteen course meal that they are suffering by not eating anything fancy. My grandma used to chop up apples, cheese, and raisins for a snack, and i will still eat that as an adult..It's good! Have fun!

C.

My kids love making their own english muffin pizzas. They put on the pizza sauce, pepperoni and shredded mozzarella. I put them in the toaster oven until the cheese is melted. But that's more of a dinner thing for us. They also like grilled cheese and tomato soup with goldfish crackers.

They basically eat sandwiches, with yogurt, cut up veggies or string cheese and fruit for lunch. My kids don't really like soft tortillas, so the roll-ups are out. And they like a tossed salad with ranch dressing, but again, that's not typically lunch for them.

Do your kids like tuna or chicken salad? Maybe that would be good too. How about hard boiled eggs?

Deceptively Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld is awesome for this!!! Check it out! It changed the way we eat around here and now that we recently found a slew of food allergies I am so thankful that I had started this when I did because it's much simpler to come up with the right nutrients and innovative ways to make things!!
Good Luck!

Hello...

We shop at Trader Joe's. They have lots of organic products. Here are some of our favorite lunchtime meal ideas: grilled cheese on whole grain/high fiber bread with some sort of fresh fruit (I sometimes cut the sandwich into a fun shape); alphabet shaped veggie noodles, small cheese rounds, or fresh mozzarella; fresh fruit smooties; Stoneyfield Farm yogurt smoothies; chicken sausages; rolled up turkey or ham; pickles; breakfast for lunch; eggs, high fiber toast. T.J.'s also has fresh fruit already cut up: mangoes, watermelon, pineapple. Try long Asian noodles too, their fun, and offer them a chance to try something new...Try the Super H Asian Market in Niles...Great place for super produce and great food options.

A couple of ideas. First, I've got the Deceptively Delicious cookbook and am anxious to try some of the recipes, too. Alternatively, here are a couple of healthy snacks or lunch items to consider: edamame lightly salted (you can buy it pre-steamed at Whole Foods), veggie cheese slices alone or on a sandwich(it's soy cheese with lots of protein but comes in flavors like American, Swiss and Cheddar so they'll think they're eating the real thing), hummus sandwich squares (lightly toasted bread with hummus on top....sounds weird but my friend's 4-year old can't get enough of it and it's packed with protein), Sweet Potato pancakes (in the frozen section at Whole Foods) served with applesauce on top....I tried this one and it was excellent and my 18 month old loved it! Lastly, Amy's Organic Chicken sausages are great mixed with whole wheat elbow noodles. I toss it together with a tiny bit of butter. We like the apple and smoked gouda flavor but my little guy also loves the spinach and feta chicken sausage. Cheese is always a great way to sneak in healthy veggies without them knowing it!