The food revolution hits the toddler lunch box

I’m writing this as part of Scattered Mom’s lunch revolution party.  Woo hoo!  Party on!

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I’ve been packing Alden’s lunches for daycare for almost a full year now, so I thought I’d share some of his favourite meals and take some of the mystery out of the toddler lunch box.

First. Pay attention to any food restrictions you get from your child’s school or daycare.  Find out if it’s a nut-free facility.   Take any message about food allergies seriously.  If your school is nut free, that means that no one should be eating nuts in the school or daycare.. no matter what time of day.  (Yes, this is from personal experience.)  If there is a request to refrain from sending certain items to school, please treat it with respect.  It’s not meant to throw a wrench into your life, it’s meant to reduce the chance of someone else’s child ending up in the ER.  These kids rely on the compassion of the people around them to stay safe.

If your child loves peanut butter, there are peanut and nut free options such as Sunbutter that you can use instead. Or pumpkin seed butter.  There are alternatives.  And they are easily found at the grocery store.

Second. Cute lunch boxes are optional.  I sent Alden to daycare with a boring old black insulated box for almost a full year.  There were no complaints.  Then I lost it.  And yes, I replaced it with a very cute owl lunch box.  It makes us both feel good.  In the beginnings, choose a box that suits your needs and is large enough for milk, bottles, jars of baby food, applesauce etc.  You can see my lunchbox roundup for more ideas.

Third. Figure out what kind of containers you’ll be using to store the food and drinks.  I switched up our plastic containers for glass ones and I use a mason jar for Alden’s drink.  His food gets heated and plated at daycare, so I am not worried about a glass bowl being pitched onto the floor and shattering.

Fourth. Fill that lunch box!  Some of my favourite things to pack in Alden’s lunch are:

• veggie sticks
• meat balls
• rice shaped with cute rice molds
• fruit
• bean patties
• chilli
• banana or zuchini bread
• homemade pizza
• hummus
• Nooooooooodles!
• Kamut puffs
• risotto
• rice pudding
• falafels
• graham crackers
• stand by recipes like: crackers, sunbutter and jelly sandwiches, wheat squares etc.

A sample lunch for my almost two year old.

Five. Don’t underestimate the power of peer pressure.  If you think your nubbin doesn’t like veggies, try sending them anyway.  If they see their friends eating carrot sticks, your kid may just take a nibble or two.  And nibbles count in the beginning.  Don’t count success by how much was consumed.  A taste counts.  Spitting it out counts.

Six. If at first you don’t succeed try and try again.  Take for example Alden and his apples.  He loves applesauce, but I couldn’t convince him to eat an apple slice.  The apple offer was made on many occassions (with and without a dip or Sunbutter).  Then last night he looked at the apple peeler and said “apple apple!”.  I cut up an apple and he ate the slices.  Peel and all.  Out of the blue.  Miracles do happen.  The same thing happened with berries.   He hated them until I convinced him to try one from the garden.  He has been hooked ever since.   Don’t get frustrated.  Kids are on their own food discovery schedule… despite our best efforts to turn them into instant foodies.

Learning to mix

Seven. Get the kids involved.  On the weekends, I bake snacks for the week.  This is a perfect time for little fingers to start seeing how to cook without any of the weekday stresses.

Eight. Final tip.  Pack lunch the night before.  It saves SO MUCH hassle in the morning.