“I am not afraid. I was born to do this.” – Joan of Arc
It’s almost back to school time and you’re probably wondering “how do I get back into the routine and daily lunchboxes?”
Try to make lunch a mix of foods that are tasty, healthy, easy to chew, and tried before. They shouldn’t be too difficult to chew and cut everything into toddler sized pieces that are easy to handle. Remember to ask for feedback on what your child liked or disliked so you know how to adjust foods or proportions. Don’t worry too much if their appetite varies from one day to the next. This is totally normal!
Here’s a few ideas for a quick and healthy lunchbox:
- Halved grapes
- Peeled baby carrots
- Hummus and bread (either in square sandwiches or as dipping slices separately)
- Soft steamed veggies
- Strawberries
- Cucumber
- Animal Crackers
- Cheese cubes
- Spinach and cheese pizza rolls (pizza dough topped and rolled into a muffin size roll)
- Cubed hard boiled egg (Some toddlers take a while to learn to like the texture of hard cooked yolks and that’s okay—just send the whites for now)
- Whole grain pita wedges
- Dried fruit like pineapple, raisins, pear, apple, apricot, mango
- Yogurt
- Pesto pasta salad with chicken and halved cherry tomatoes
- Veggie and cheese egg muffins (quick to make a batch, great for breakfast/lunch, hot or cold)
- Whole grain tortilla wrap rolls with nut butter or cream cheese and sliced turkey
- Edamame beans
- Soft whole grain sandwich bread flattened and rolled. Spread on any topping or try mashed sweet potato and nut butter, mashed beans and salsa, or herbed goat cheese. Slice and serve as spirals with simple fruit and yogurt.
- Berries
- Snack box of cheese cubes, shredded meat or cold meat, thawed frozen peas or corn, steamed softened carrot sticks, favourite fruit and crackers or dried cereal.
- Low sugar oat cookies.
- Banana, apple or carrot muffins
- Soft roasted cinnamon chickpeas
- Chicken sausage and cherry tomato skewers
