Home Lunch Ideas For Kids

Description

Toddler Recipes: Home Lunch Ideas for Kids. We have some meal suggestions and snacks. We also have found some favorite containers to use for packing lunches and a few tips to keep that lunch warm . Some of these suggestions are perfect for the health conscious parent but we have also added a few meals that we think most children will enjoy.

Main Meal Ideas

• Veggie Mix
  Baby carrots, celery sticks, cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, steamed broccoli or cauliflower with favorite dressing. Switch it up and add a spinach dip or a veggie dip.

• Fruit Salad
  Grapes, sliced apples, strawberries, blueberries, melon, watermelon etc. with a scoop of yogurt, cottage cheese or caramel dip. We love this container for bringing veggies and fruit.

• Tortilla Wraps
  This is a favorite as you can fill it with so many different things.

1. Hummus, shredded carrots, cucumbers and deli meat.
2. Salame, Cucumber and Tomatoes.
3. Nutella or Peanut Butter (if allowed) and Jelly.
4. Cream Cheese and sliced Cucumbers with a little Hot Pepper Jelly (if they like spicy things)
5. Special spreads like Trader Joes Speculous Crunchy Cookie Butter and Cucumbers.

• Homemade Lunchables or a Mini Charcuterie (this is a great make ahead lunch)

1. Cracker such as Saltines, Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Multigrain Crackers, Pita crackers
2. Cheese cubed like cheddar, monterey jack, colby jack or pre-sliced. The pres-liced squares of cheese are great with cookie cutters for fun shapes. Pre-wrapped cheeses like Babybel and Cow Cheese are fast and easy to pack.
3. Meats like salami, pepperoni, prosciutto or deli meats. With a little practice you can make a fun rose salami using a small glass.

• Turkey or Ham Pinwheels
  Spread hummus on a tortilla, then layer a slice of turkey or ham and some spinach leaves. Roll up and cut into 1 inch rolls.

• Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Not feeling like a sandwich? Another favorite is toasting 2 pieces of cinnamon toast, spreading some butter in between the slices and packing it in a sandwich container.

• Banana and Honey Sandwich in Raisin Bread

My husband's favorite is two slices of raisin bread, spread peanut butter (if allowed) or nutella or similar spread, sliced bananas and a drizzle of honey.

• Mini Subs
  Small Hoagies filled with favorite deli meat and a slice of cheese or chicken salad

• Salad
  Lettuce with croutons in a ziplock and a creamy dressing using this container, pack a spoon for the dressing

• Egg or Tuna Salad
  Butter Lettuce or iceberg lettuce with a scoop of egg or tuna salad. No additional dressing needed. Add a sprinkle of paprika on the egg salad.

• Cold Pasta Salad
  Pasta, Olives and cut Cherry tomatoes with a little Italian style dressing

• Bagels
  Fill with favorite toppings such as cream cheese, honey or even peanut butter and jelly. (They have thin bagels now too)

• Chicken Salad
  Make a sandwich, pita pocket or pack a scoop in a container with crackers on the side. Change up the flavors with adding fruit chunks of apples and sliced grapes. Or add a teaspoon of curry.

• Cold Pizza
  My girls love leftover pizza from the night before. They will eat it cold too! They prefer not using the school microwaves.

Warm Main Dishes

See our container suggestions for keeping foods warm. Toaster Ovens are very handy for quick heating and wrapping in foil or for better heat retention cut into smaller pieces and place in a thermos.

• Soup

• Macaroni and Cheese - Home made if their favorite but if not a tub of Dave Evans will suffice for a couple lunches.

• Bagel Pizza: toasted Bagel with pepperoni and melted mozzarella cheese.

• Hamburger Sliders
  One will fit in the thermos suggested

• Hot Dog
  Heat and slice. We recommend the fully cooked hotdogs, heat in microwave.

• Baked Beans
  Add a teaspoon of honey or a few sliced Hot Dogs

• Quesadilla
  Make ahead and zap for a few seconds in the microwave to pack. Slice into small strips. Add a little salsa or sour cream in a small container

• Chicken Nuggets
  Zap in microwave or bake in a toaster over for quickest heating

• Chili and Sliced Hot Dogs
  Homemade or can, just heat and pack. Add a tablespoon of shredded cheese on top.

• Grilled Cheese Strips
  Grilled Cheese in a pan or even toasted and then cut in 3rds or 4ths. It might not stay "crispy" but still is a favorite

• Fish Sticks
  Another easy to prepare but this too will not stay crispy

• Pasta
  Pasta lightly seasoned with butter and Parmesan

• Spaghetti and Chili
  Left overs from dinner make a great hot lunch idea. Just heat and pack in a thermos.

• Canned Items
  Great for a quick lunch idea Chef Boyardee and other brands offer some kids meals

Snacks

• Cheese Sticks
• Cheese Slices (cut out fun shapes with mini cookie cutters or into cubes)
• Home Made Snack Mixes: Raisins, Pretzel, Goldfish, Cereal
• Carrots, Cucumbers, Grape Tomatoes or Celery Sticks
• Hard Boiled Egg (cut in half for young children)
• Yogurt with fruit or Drinkable Yogurts
• Frozen yogurt: thaws nicely by lunch
• Fruit cups such as sliced peaches, mandarin oranges. These can be messy so I drain the juice and put the fruit in a small container with spoon.
• Apple Sauce (best for older children since this can get messy)
• Jello Snacks and Pudding
• Granola Bars
• Box of Raisins
• Popcorn
• Trail Mixes
• Apple Slices with lemon squeezed to retain color and caramel dip
• Pretzels and Goldfish varieties
• Triscuits or Wheat Thins with a few slices of Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese

A favorite was a mix of popcorn, goldfish and pretzels. We just stored it in an airtight container and used a measuring scoop to put in a small ziplock.

For Older Kids

Easy to Make Snacks

Lunch Containers

There are many fancy ones at The Container Store that can hold different items separately. I've seen a few at Walmart as well. These are the ones we have used with success that are easy to clean and have lasted the entire school year.

Keeping Things Cool!

Dip Container

BPA Free Containers