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I’m fine with making breakfast for BigBrother (and someday LittleBrother). I change it up from day to day. One day it is oatmeal. One day it is a waffle. One day he has cereal. I’ll occasionally get all kinds of crazy up in here and make “Cake-Cakes,” otherwise known to the English-speaking world as pancakes. Or flapjacks if you’re all crazy like. If FireDad is making breakfast, we’ll also have some variation of eggs. Breakfast is easy.
Supper (or dinner, as we use them interchangeably) is also easy for me. BigBrother has his favorites, which is anything with pasta and sauce. I can do a million and one variations on pasta and sauce. And I do. He also loves him some pierogies. He will also eat broccoli in just about anything, especially pasta but also in my chicken broccoli casserole. Not so much the chicken but sometimes. If we grill out for supper/dinner, he will eat a hamburger and has also been known to eat some barbequed chicken. He’ll usually try just about anything. Supper is harder but manageable.
Lunches are killing me. I usually need something quick as it is a known time for LittleBrother to either want to eat and go down for a nap or to wake up too early from a nap or to just generally sit and scream for a bit. BigBrother won’t eat lunch early (tried it) and gets grumpy if you postpone lunch for too long (tried that, too). LittleBrother’s nap in the morning is flexible because, well, uh, our nap routine doesn’t exist. And yes, I’ve tried making one of those as well. So, we remain in the “it needs to be quick” mindset when it comes to lunch.
He’ll eat peanut butter sandwiches. And hot dogs. But that’s about all I can come up with when I try to think of a “quick lunch.” This is always accompanied by either applesauce or yogurt. Milk or water, never juice. And I just can’t get out of the rut. For those about to suggest cutting up fruit, I laugh at your suggestion. The child? Will not (NOT! NOT! NOT!) touch fruit. Bananas are exempt but only if they aren’t mushy. Mushy bananas are just as offensive as cut strawberries, cut grapes, peaches, pears, kiwi, oranges and, yes, even apples. If it is remotely wet or, pleaseohgoodnesNO, slimy, the child will not touch it with his fingers. The concept of using a fork seems, logically, like it should work. Except that the slime factor also applies to his tongue. Sigh.
He has some of the heat up little cup meals with spaghetti rings and macaroni and cheese but, would you believe, the child doesn’t really like them all that much? (I say that with some sarcasm because, ew, have you ever tasted the cup of macaroni and cheese? Ew.) While they fall under quick, they don’t fall under “he’ll eat it unsupervised while I attempt to feed the baby.”
So, the question, of course: What quick lunch ideas work for your kid, keeping in mind BigBrother’s anti-slime factor? Or should I just be okay with peanut butter and hot dogs? What does your two year old eat at lunchtime?
28 Responses to “Lunches”
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My name is Jenna, aka FireMom. I blog here, 
I am curious to read what everyone has to say because I have NO idea what to feed my daughter for lunch. She just turned one and is learning to eat table foods. She’ll eat pasta and chicken strips from Lunchables jr but thats about it. She hates mac and cheese. Today we are trying hotdogs. I am hoping she will like them.
My 2 1/2 year old rarely slows down long enough for lunch. But when he does he likes Oscar Meyer Jr Lunchables. Ham, cheese and crakers. I also give him apples (I buy pre cut apples and take off the skins) and he loves it.
I don’t have any kids, so this may not help. But I eat leftovers almost every day for lunch. Sure there are days when there are no leftovers and usually for me that means a grilled cheese (but that isn’t super quick). So if he likes what was for dinner last night or the night before I would throw some on a plate and pop it in the microwave. Easy and you know he will eat it. It could take making a tiny bit more for dinner every night or something, but it may work. Good luck.
At 2 Liam was eating these kinds of things for lunch:
cheese and cracker
PJ&J sandwiches
grilled cheese sandwiches
bagels and cream cheese
any pasta
guacamole and tortilla chips
hummus and pita bread
leftovers from the night before
Of course now at 5.5 he hardly eats any of that!! Good luck!
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i know the whole FireFamily is super busy, but could you occasionally set aside time on the weekends/evenings to make some other lunches?
you could do mini quiches, raw veggies with dip(s), tuna/salmon salad, cold pasta salad, cheese (& ham or turkey?) with crackers, cucumber sandwiches, hummus (there are lots of variations), english muffin/bagel pizzas, celery with creamcheese or PB and raisins.
be creative!
that said, PBJ and hotdogs/nuggets, etc are fine if they work and Big Brother eats them. He’s growing and happy, so obviously you are meeting/exceeding his needs!
Cook up some minute rice (you can cook up a bunch in advance and keep it in the fridge for super quick as it reheats well), open a can of black beans, mix up a bowl of black beans and rice. Wyn likes salsa mixed on hers (I do too its a great easy lunch for us but no idea if BB would go for that). For extra Protein melt some cheese on top.
Make up a batch of pasta and keep in the fridge for easy reheating and lunch. It saves well and reheats nice.
In a pinch, breakfast for lunch works well too. Wyn has been known to have cereal and (soy)milk for lunch on occasion.
Audrey eats lots of grilled cheese, lunchables with ham or turkey and crackers, sometimes I’ll pick up Kids Cuisines if they go on sale…she really likes the ones with chicken nuggets or fish sticks. If I have a few minutes, I’ll steam some rice with fresh veggies. She isn’t picky though, so if pbj and hot dogs work for you, I say go for it!
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English muffin pizzas — english muffin, sauce, cheese pop in the toaster oven til the cheese is melty or if you don’t have a toaster oven, toast the muffin and then put the sauce and cheese on and pop it in the microwave.
How about breakfast for lunch?
We have texture issues here too and here are some things that have worked for us?
- cheese cubes/slices – change it up and try different types of cheese.
- turkey cubes (I buy the big chunk of Turkey from Costco and cut it up into cubes… great for stacking into a tower on his plate too LOL)
- O’s cereal – dry
- uncooked pea pods – very sweet and crunchy!
- uncooked french cut green beans
- hummus and pita
- cream cheese on celery
- carrot sticks
- crackers
- rice cakes
- yogurt
- left overs
- miniature ravioli – we like the Trader Joe’s ones (and you can make in advance)
- beans out of a can – you can take almost any kind of little beans – pinto, navy, garbanzo, black, etc. and rinse them off with water in a collander and put them in the fridge in a sealed container and divy them up over the course of the week. I use low-sodium beans. I used to freeze them in ice cube trays and then just thaw one or two cubes of different types of beans. They are a “dry” and protein rich finger food. Beware… beans can explode and start on fire in the microwave… especially the black ones!
Oh, as fruit goes, have you tried the freeze dried fruit from “Just Tomatos”? That stuff rocks! It is great for a healthy snack on the go too! My son adores the freeze dried peas, corn, and all of the fruits. We don’t like the carrots and peppers though as they are too “sharp”. Perhaps he would go for them since they are “dry”? My son especially likes the pineapple and mango.
Does he do smoothies? What about throwing an avocado with a bit of honey in the blender? Yes! Avocado! It is really tasty and if he won’t eat one normally because of the slime factor and touching it, perhaps he would drink one! They have really good fats and nutrition for little ones.
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All this talk of leftovers makes me giggle.
We eat too much for leftovers.
Keep the ideas coming! I’m going to try a few out over the next two weeks (grocery day is Thursday so after THAT, of course).
one thing i can think of that i don’t think has been mentioned (i only skimmed) is what my family called “fake pizzas”. an english muffin slightly toasted with pasta sauce and cheese and melt in the microwave. will he eat fruit in things? like cottage cheese and peaches/pineapple? if he’ll eat sandwiches your options are endless. i’ll “hide” ham in grilled cheese for jamison. if he likes pierogies try some asian dumplings. ling ling is a good brand i think you can get them at walmart.
I’ve had the same problem in the past. I started having lots of “free and available” foods for the kids to eat in the fridge. From an early age, they were told they could have as much of those things as they’d like whenever they’d like.
Basically it amounts to cut up veggies (I used to do so myself – now I’m lazy and just grab the already put together trays at the grocery). My fam loves us some cheese, so I always have a selection of cheeses cut up and in bags that the kids can open easily (they even make cheese already cut up now). I also make sure and have a selection of lunch meats cut up (smoked sausage, cubes of ham, etc) and of course, in our house, fruit (we loves us some grapes, bananas, tangelos and apples). I also started buying those individual containers of dips (caramel, ranch and peanut butter) because around here, you could eat lima beans if they are covered in cheese or peanut butter.
Basically, we “graze”, but to be truthful on weekends (that’s when we’re here at lunch) it’s not unusual for me to grab all the cut up stuff (+ pickles) and throw it on the table. Because at the end of the day, it’s all quality, nutricious stuff so I don’t have to worry about presentation/cooking/etc. I mean, a plate with carrots and celery, cubed ham (or chicken), grapes, crackers and peanut butter is actually a pretty good lunch, no matter what your age.
I’ve also been known to cook a pasta dish in bulk, put into smaller containers and throw one of those in the microwave on one of Jake’s “I’ll only eat pasta w/red sauce” days.
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oh. And tuna fish. Doesn’t require cooking and my kids like it (although I’m not sure that’s normal).
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It get’s even more fun to feed a 2 year old lunch when you are packing for Mother’s Day Out or Preschool where you know they are not getting much help or encouragement to eat but are doing it on their own.
Our lunches are usually a hodge podge. I try to have a fruit (not for big brother though), a veggie, a protein and a starch. So one of my daughter’s favorites is cheese toast. I just put 2 slices of block cheese on a piece of bread and toast it in the toaster oven. For some reason she likes this better than grilled cheese and it is easier. We also do a lot of pasta and hot dogs as well. Meat is the hardest part for us. Veggie is usually green beans or peas. They seem to be the only things she eats.
I feel like I am always giving her the same thing but I try not to worry about it. As long as it is semi-healthy and she will eat it I am ok with it.
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If real grilled cheese is acceptable to BB but too much work for you, try “fake grilled cheese,” as learned from my ex:
- Throw bread in toaster
- Put cheese between toasted bread slices
- Microwave on paper towel for 10-12 seconds (depending on microwave power)
Voila! Fake grilled cheese! Healthier and crunchier than the real stuff, with no butter. (The paper towel keeps it crunchy — microwaving on a plate will make the bottom a bit soggier, in a not-particularly-appetizing way.)
When I used to keep my nephew when he was that age, I would keep cooked macaroni in the fridge. I would put some in a bowl, sprinkle cheese on it and sometimes a little Italian dressing and then heat it up for a minute. He loved that stuff.
Also, grilled cheese? Is that too much time? Because he also ate that nonstop as a two year old.
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Even though my kids are all grown up now, I still make some of their favorite lunches for myself now!! They used to really enjoy chicken nuggets or fish stick with ranch dressing to dip into. They loved eggs in any form – hard boiled, scrambled with a bit of cheese (or cheez whiz) mixed in when scrambling, poached on toast, or even just fried. French toast and bacon was another favorite lunch. Fresh veggies cut into skinny strips and dipped in ranch dressing was always a good choice too – my kids were never too fond of fruit. They would eat yogurt with every meal!! Soup was always popular – but for a two year old, that can be pretty messy!!! They loved grilled cheese sandwiches – and sometimes would want grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches for snacks.
I have a few ideas as well. What about a quesadilla? That is easy. Just buy some tortillas in the refrigerated section, throw some cheese and/or meat in them (like leftover chicken – if you have it
) and microwave. My daughter is about the same age as Nick and here are things I often make for her:
*Purdue chicken nuggets shaped like dinasaurs (available in the refrigerated section and quite good – I eat them too sometimes) They cook in like 8 minutes in the oven
*Sweet potato fries (Alexia makes great ones) they are frozen and again you just pop them in the over
*Spagettios – heat in the microwave
*Toddler pasta meals by Gerber or Beech Nut-
they make Shells and cheese, ravioli of all types, soups, and other pasta dishes. One of my daughter’s favorites is the cheese or beef and tomato ravioli heated and then mixed with a little spaghetti sauce
*Grilled cheese and/or ham
*Lunchables for toddlers – turkey, mozz cheese and cracker, ham, cheddar cheese and crackers
*meat sticks (Gerber makes them) they look like Vienna sausages, but they have turkey, chicken, and beef/pork. They heat up great in the microwave
*homemade pizza (done on bought crust like Boboli or on english muffin or bagel
*Breakfast – scramble an egg and serve with or without cheese with toast or yogurt (yoplait makes great kids yogurt), cereal, or some such breakfast item
*Wrap sandwich – flour tortilla with ham, turkey, cheese, etc wrapped up in it
We then supplement with canned carrots, peas, corn or other vegetable and fruit (I know BB won’t do this)
I have to second the freeze dried fruit. My daughter loves the Gerber graduates freeze dried fruit (especially apples) It can be pricey, but you can occasionally get a great sale on it. My daughter will eat just about any fruit, but still likes babyfood bananas from time to time. I think she likes the texture. It is like eating banana pudding but stronger flavor. She eats regular bananas too, but especially with teething she likes the babyfood variety (especially if it is cold)
Ew…hotdogs?
I would go with cheese sandwiches and finger foods. Veggies, dip, pretzels, low-fat ham, etc…
Or, maybe cook a little more in the evening so that you have leftovers? It is normal for kids to fixate on a couple foods they love and only eat them until kingdom come.
May be turkey franks?
My son doesn’t have a “slime factor” (although he sure used to!), but here are some not-too-slimy things that might work:
cheese
corn chips dipped in guacamole
blueberries
black beans or kidney beans
freeze-dried fruit & veggies (Just Tomatoes brand)
crackers and cream cheese
scrambled egg
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