Lunch ideas for a 3 year old

[MJ2.0]

We moved DS to a new preschool. His old school provided lunch and snacks, but this one doesn't provide lunch. No nut products are allowed, and it has to be something that doesn't require heating. I'm also trying to cut back on his sugar intake. X and I have just been packing a series of snacks cobbled together into a meal. Tomorrow he'll have pepperoni and cut up cheddar cheese, saltless pretzels, a banana, a pickle quarter, raisins, and a few small graham crackers.

What other things could I pack for him?

[chiver78]

can your lunch be refrigerated? if so, you could roll up some deli meat/cheese/whatever isn't going to leak into a tortilla (think tiny, like a stick) and saran wrap it.

if not, grapes, baby carrots, grape/cherry tomatoes, apple slices will all hold pretty well

[Shooby]

Small sandwiches. We packed lunches for school in my day and no refrigeration. A few hours wont hurt anything.

[Malarky]

I used to freeze yogurts for my kids.  They'd be defrosted by lunchtime.

[kittensaver]

yogurt

hummus

chicken wings

granola

fruit leather

applesauce cups

protein or snack bars

cheese sticks

grapes

berries

sandwich fixings in a tortilla wrap instead of bread

sandwich fixings in a lettuce wrap instead of bread

his favorite crackers

cut up veggies with ranch dip

a small thermos with soup

a small wide mouth thermos with any leftovers he likes (mac and cheese, etc)

[Happy prose]

If there is no refrigerator, freeze the juice box or small water bottle, and it will act as an ice pack. Anything left over from dinner works too. I like the cheese stick/fruit idea.

[Deleted]

Freeze go-gurts (not very low in sugar but real handy for eating since it is in a tube and they take till lunch to defrost)
Freeze string cheese sticks, they still pull apart in strings after freezing.
Frozen pre-cooked chicken nuggets also did very well & were still cold. These became a standard. 
Little bags of baby carrots, raw.
Tiny cups of cereal - fruit loops/cheerios. I used salad dressing tupperwares to hold them, so just a tiny cup.

I used to freeze the little juice boxes & they kept everything cold, but they didn't always fully defrost by lunch time.
We did a lot of pepperoni too.

We also did little wrap sandwiches with tortilla, hummus, spinach, shredded carrot, cabbage (buy the pre-cut coleslaw pack). 

My G-Kids have same trouble. One kid in school that is so sensitive there can't be nuts anywhere in the vicinity, so they have banned them from the whole school. PBJ's with the natural peanut butter and real jam were soooo nice 

[whoisjohngalt]

1.  tuna sandwich, grape tomatoes, cut up cucumbers, grapes and apple
2.  yogurt with raisins, granola and kiwi
3.  hard boiled egg, roll or crackers, banana
4.  cheese sandwich, berries
5.  once in a while deli meats, pretzels, etc
6.  Left over steak sandwiches - my kids are OK eating it cold.


I buy squeezable apple sauces, not in a cup.

And I prefer to cut up cheese vs buying cheese sticks

also, if we had pancakes the day before, they will have that with either yogurt or cottage cheese

[ArchietheDragon]

Sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches or wraps
Bagel and cream cheese
Egg sandwich
Hard boiled eggs
Fruit
Pasta in a thermos
Cheese stick
Crackers
Smoothies
Oatmeal in a thermos
Hummus and veggies
Cereal bar


That is basically what I give my 3 year old

[moneymaven]

My son is one of the kids allergic to nuts, and they also have an egg allergy at school. We are able to include an ice pack and use a thermal lunch bag to keep food cool.

You can do sunbutter which is made from sunflower seeds and totally safe for the nut allergy kiddos. We usually do a protein and carb, fruit or veggie and occasionally a string cheese or baby bell cheese. It all keeps just fine until lunch (about 4 hours after drop off).

[Deleted]

I generally do the cobbled together snacks thing for my 4 year old. DS has an insulated lunch box and things stay pretty cold in there until lunch.  Mini carrots, various fruits, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese sticks and granola bars are my go to items.  Leftover pizza and summer sausage are good cold.  My son will not eat sandwiches.  I've tried the standby PB&J, lunch meat, just plain butter, but nope.  The only one he'll eat at all is Nutella!  Not exactly the healthiest, so I don't give it much.  I get a case of Cliff Bars from Sam's Club and throw one of them in as his "sandwich" a lot of times.  The ones I get have macadamia nuts in them though. Occasionally we do the spaghetti or mac and cheese in the thermos.

Unlike his older brother, he loves the school hot lunch and this year it was free for Kindy.  I'm hoping that's the same next year when he's in Kindergarten because I really do hate figuring out something every night. 

[Shooby]

Nothing wrong with eating cold foods either. Like left over pizza, etc. Everything doesn't have to be heated. And, we are overly concerned that everything is refrigerated when in reality, foods sitting at room temp for a few hours from morning till lunch time are just fine.

[MJ2.0]

Thanks for all the suggestions!  I'm going to run to the grocery store now and pick up a few things.

Oh, and idk what happened to my avatar, but I'm using Daria until I can search for an even hotter Pam Grier pic.

[tskeeter]

May 7, 2015 5:52:23 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Nothing wrong with eating cold foods either. Like left over pizza, etc. Everything doesn't have to be heated. And, we are overly concerned that everything is refrigerated when in reality, foods sitting at room temp for a few hours from morning till lunch time are just fine.

Generally, I agree.  The rule of thumb we use in home sausage making is to not allow products to remain between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for longer than four hours.  This rule of thumb is based on FDA/Department of Agriculture guidelines.  The science behind this guideline is that cooties (that's a technical term) multiply the fastest at moderate temperatures.  Limiting the cumulative time in the temperature danger zone minimizes the possibility that the cooties will achieve a high enough concentration to make someone sick. 

[Chocolate Lover]

May 7, 2015 11:25:20 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions!  I'm going to run to the grocery store now and pick up a few things.

Oh, and idk what happened to my avatar, but I'm using Daria until I can search for an even hotter Pam Grier pic.

I love the Daria avatar!

[HoneyBBQ]

Some great suggestions here.

My kiddo just gets cold leftovers as the main, plus either protein, veg and/or fruit. So I'll throw in a cheese stick and chopped up veggies (cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots) or strawberries and blueberries, etc. Today she has leftover home made pizza with that. The other day was ravioli + salad + fruit. 

If we don't have leftovers, we have cans of Amy's lentil soup from costco. My kid scarfs that down cold...

Also yogurt, cottage cheese, Amy's animal crackers, dried fruit, etc.

My kid eats anything though, so I am very lucky.

[Chocolate Lover]

May 7, 2015 11:29:38 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 7, 2015 5:52:23 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Nothing wrong with eating cold foods either. Like left over pizza, etc. Everything doesn't have to be heated. And, we are overly concerned that everything is refrigerated when in reality, foods sitting at room temp for a few hours from morning till lunch time are just fine.

Generally, I agree.  The rule of thumb we use in home sausage making is to not allow products to remain between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for longer than four hours.  This rule of thumb is based on FDA/Department of Agriculture guidelines.  The science behind this guideline is that cooties (that's a technical term) multiply the fastest at moderate temperatures.  Limiting the cumulative time in the temperature danger zone minimizes the possibility that the cooties will achieve a high enough concentration to make someone sick. 

We all know the science, but how many of us have had leftover pizza from breakfast out of the box still sitting on the kitchen counter?

[HoneyBBQ]

May 6, 2015 18:57:08 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

chicken wings

[tskeeter]

May 7, 2015 11:33:30 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

May 7, 2015 11:29:38 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Generally, I agree.  The rule of thumb we use in home sausage making is to not allow products to remain between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for longer than four hours.  This rule of thumb is based on FDA/Department of Agriculture guidelines.  The science behind this guideline is that cooties (that's a technical term) multiply the fastest at moderate temperatures.  Limiting the cumulative time in the temperature danger zone minimizes the possibility that the cooties will achieve a high enough concentration to make someone sick. 

We all know the science, but how many of us have had leftover pizza from breakfast out of the box still sitting on the kitchen counter?

The alcohol still in your system kills the cooties.  



Or, if you feel a little ill, you don't know if it's the hangover, or the pizza.

[Chocolate Lover]

May 7, 2015 11:36:39 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 7, 2015 11:33:30 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

We all know the science, but how many of us have had leftover pizza from breakfast out of the box still sitting on the kitchen counter?

The alcohol still in your system kills the cooties.  



Or, if you feel a little ill, you don't know if it's the hangover, or the pizza.

Well, my very underage children can attest to the fact that it's the hangover making you feel like crap.

[Shooby]

May 7, 2015 11:29:38 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

May 7, 2015 5:52:23 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Nothing wrong with eating cold foods either. Like left over pizza, etc. Everything doesn't have to be heated. And, we are overly concerned that everything is refrigerated when in reality, foods sitting at room temp for a few hours from morning till lunch time are just fine.

Generally, I agree.  The rule of thumb we use in home sausage making is to not allow products to remain between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for longer than four hours.  This rule of thumb is based on FDA/Department of Agriculture guidelines.  The science behind this guideline is that cooties (that's a technical term) multiply the fastest at moderate temperatures.  Limiting the cumulative time in the temperature danger zone minimizes the possibility that the cooties will achieve a high enough concentration to make someone sick. 

Well, i have managed to survive years of school and working without always having access to a refrigerator.  

[MJ2.0]

here's what I got:
strawberries, baby carrots, apples, a cucumber, 4 Beech Nut fruit/veg pouches (DS loves those), whole wheat mini bagels, and whole grain round Saltines. I'm hoping these will help round out his lunches. I wish I could have used more suggestions, but DS is weird about textures (like his momma) and appearances (again, like his momma), so he won't want to try stuff like hummus or a hard boiled egg. I'm hoping to make some roasted chickpeas this weekend. If he likes those, that will be awesome!

[whoisjohngalt]

My kids made this thing in cooking class -

raw eggs, milk, cheese, veggies are mixed together and baked in muffin tins.  Instructor used bread to line up the muffin tins, so you get those "cups" that you can just take and eat.  It was pretty decent

They did the same thing with mac and cheese (minus the bread) - mixed boiled elbow, milk, eggs, 3 kinds of cheese, broccoli and baked it in muffin tins

So, you can make that ahead of time and have 2-3 lunches.  It tasted just fine cold

ETA:  it was pretty fast and kid-friendly to make  - their class is only an hour long

[Shooby]

I know people who eat cold soup out of the can. There are lots of options. But, little kids are quite happy to eat the same stuff over and over.

[ArchietheDragon]

May 7, 2015 14:19:23 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I know people who eat cold soup out of the can. There are lots of options. But, little kids are quite happy to eat the same stuff over and over.

people are disgusting

[Deleted]

May 7, 2015 14:19:23 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I know people who eat cold soup out of the can. There are lots of options. But, little kids are quite happy to eat the same stuff over and over.

My 12 year old ate almost the exact same thing for lunch the first 7 years of school.  PB&J, vanilla yogurt and granola bar.  Then he switched the PB&J to chicken wraps...with greek vanilla yogurt and granola bar.  

[MJ2.0]

All that was left of his lunch was 3 pepperoni slices, so I guess that worked. Tomorrow he's having 2 wheat mini bagels with cream cheese, strawberries, and apple slices. I don't expect to find a single crumb left.