Packing lunches for toddlers can be daunting. When you add in a nut-free school that can be even more intimidating. There are some keys that I’ve found helpful.
Make it Fun
We eat with our eyes first. I admit, I’m not great with presentation and serve pretty much everything family style. But, when I serve a monotone meal it drives me crazy. Color makes our food more interesting, not to mention tastier and probably has more diversity.
Make it Easy
I’ve found that the best way to do this is to use a bento style lunch box. This way I see everything laid out in front of me and look for balance and to see that I’ve got protein, fruit and vegetables in the box.
I started packing lunches for my son when he was under a year old and ate several times throughout the day (as opposed to just at lunch time). I loved the idea of the Bentology Classic 6 Piece Set because it had the flexibility to take each compartment out as needed throughout the day. As he has grown this box has grown the system has grown with him (especially because he had a period where he ate part of his lunch at lunch time and the rest at snack time later in the day).
As a family who changes out all of our kitchen-ware for Passover, I chose to try out a different box, too - we tried the Bentgo Kids Compartment Tray, the size of the compartments are different, but, I made it work for the days we needed it.
When I look back at lunches it’s clear that there is a lot of repetition. I appreciate that my son’s school leaves what he doesn’t eat in his lunch box so that I see what he is enjoying and what he doesn’t eat. I’m lucky that he hasn’t gotten too picky (yet), but, he definitely has his favorites. It’s comforting for him to know some of what to expect and that there be some variety, too. Cottage cheese is a huge favorite for him, and his teachers tell me that’s what he goes to first. He also loves strawberries, and is a fruit fan in general, so I’m usually successful with whatever fruit I include. Some weeks he is more interested in cucumber and tomatoes than others, but those are usually in there, too.
For a long time he didn’t seem to enjoy sandwiches and, at home, he would eat the cream cheese off the bread, but not the bread itself. Often, I’ll include leftovers from dinner for his “main”/protein. His interest in sandwiches has grown recently, and I’ve found that he’ll eat more if I cut the sandwiches in fun shapes using cookie cutters. And, of course, week to week it changes. Now that he is a little older, he usually will ask for certain things or make a decision about what he wants when given choices.
Make it Seasonal
In general, I like to keep my food fresh and seasonal. It’s a little harder with the items that I include every day (I know that 95% of the time he is going to finish his strawberries, we’re still experimenting with other fruits in lunch). The best way to do this is with the main/protein offering because I can include what I’ve made for dinner.
Make it Part of Your Routine
For me the routine that works best is to make lunch as I’m cleaning up from dinner. It’s a few more minutes in the evening, but, better than trying to squeeze it in the morning. Having a predictable menu makes it a lot faster, too – I know exactly what I need to pull out of the fridge and can get it done pretty quickly at this point. As he gets older he has a little more say in what he wants for lunch, but usually that comes with prompting (I’ll give him an option between leftovers, a sandwich or a hard-boiled egg in his lunch and maybe choices of different fruits or veggies).