I'm really interested to get some discussion started on kid lunch ideas. Specifically, peanut-free, kid lunch ideas. As most of you know, Hayden is severely allergic to peanuts, so that really nixes a lot of foods/menus for us and totally rocked my world. I grew up on PB&J!
And as much as I appreciate how the "chicken nugget" has become a staple of our diets - I'd really like to branch out into less processed territory. I have no problem with side items - my kids have a love for fruit! And Corbin is truly an oddball with his love for veggies - especially raw spinach. Cracks me up.
But, when it comes to the "main course", I come up short! I have a few menus to alternate, but I'd love to mix things up with some new offerings.
As you post in the comments, I'll update this post with your ideas so we all can share!
**Here's what we came up with! Thanks ladies. I'll update as we get more comments.**
I'll go first. I saw this one in Parenting Magazine and tried it out last week - the kids loved it.
Banana and strawberry (or your kids favorite fruit) sandwich.
Basically just puree or mash banana and spread it like peanut butter - same for the strawberry (or you could use jelly, but I think the less sugar route is just as good). Throw it on some bread of your choice and Tada! It's almost like PB&J!
Breakfast for Lunch!
Several of you have mentioned serving Breakfast for lunch! An idea I think will get rave reviews from my kiddos. They love breakfast foods, and apparently a lot of other kids do too. Guess I just needed to start thinking outside of the box.
Serve up some Hummus
Laura gave me a great idea on FB to get in some extra protein with hummus and pita bread. A great finger food that I will enjoy too. Yum!
Baked Potatoes, Pasta Salad, and English Muffin pizza!!
Katie sent me some awesome ideas including pasta salad, baked potatoes (I can't believe I've never tried that one - I love baked potatoes), some great ideas for English muffins, and a ton more!!
Homemade "Lunchables"
Robyn's idea of making my own lunchables was a hit today! The kids loved making a "sandwich" out of their crackers, cheese, and chicken.
Leftovers
Gail likes to serve up leftovers from dinner - a great idea. Of course, this assumes that I A.) cooked dinner and B.) they liked it. Hehe.
Get out the crockpot
Yes, I need to pull my crock pot out more often. It's been neglected this month and I know my kids could appreciate some yumminess from it.
4 comments:
Hm, the blog ate my comment so I'll try again and hope I remember everything. ;) Breakfast food is usually a safe bet for us: scrambled eggs and toast, breakfast tacos, omelets (usually more work than I'm in the mood for), French toast, pancakes. Any of those with a side of fruit (bananas or applesauce being the easiest) will go over well around here. Dinner leftovers if he liked what we had for dinner. "Lunchables," meaning I give him cheese, lunch meat, crackers or bread, and some fruit and/or veggies. Mini pizzas on tortillas or naan (I have a recipe for naan, otherwise it's pretty expensive). I'll have to keep thinking, but those are the ones that come to mind.
As I told you before, we usually don't have "lunch." Our "lunch" is a second breakfast (he loves breakfast foods) or "lunch" is late and more snacky (a fruit/veg or two, string cheese/yogurt).
We do the crackers, deli meat, cheese thing...or black beans mixed with corn...I make a big box of whole wheat pasta with some kind of sauce (tomato, alfredo, pesto) that is always in my fridge for quick reheat and eat for him. Try to elevate grilled cheese by adding spinach, haha,or elevate mac n cheese by adding squash.
A friend of mine does chicken salad a lot...and homeade coleslaw/broccoli slaw a lot...
I learned Roland likes how the crockpot cooks chicken, haha, more tender or something, so I make so up ahead and then reheat, so that helped eliminate chicken nuggets. I have a recipe where you add broth, a little bit of dijon mustard, and a little bit of pure/real maple syrup.
Yeah, so I guess leftovers...
Mmmm I could totally got for a banana/strawberry sammich right about now. Delish!
I'm enjoying my visit to your blog. I'll be back, for sure!
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