Lunch Suggestions for 1 Year Olds

Sandwhiches,tuna or lunch meat,just cut them up into pieces.Vienna sausages,they usually love these and they mush up so they won't choke.(lunchables)Cheese and Crackers and cut up lunch meat.I get the chicken noodle soup in the character shapes so they can pick it up and drain some of the broth off.I know it's messy but they usually love ravioli or spaghetti O's!Beanie weanies.Chicken and rice (which is just rice,cream of chicken,and cut up chicken,and you can add broccoli to it if you'd like.)That's something that was popular with the kids in the daycare I worked at!

how about broccoli cheese soup??...the bear creek brand is very tasty & you would have enough in one pkg for all 3 children & yourself...a few crackers so they can dip the crackers into the soup to cool it off a bit...get out the bibs..might be a little messy..but quite good...my 4 yr old grandson still asks for it at lunchtime..and he was raised on this stuff..

My kids love kid kabobs. I put small pieces of deli meat, cheese, and grapes on flat toothpicks (or you could use pretzel sticks).

T., I understand wanting to add variety. My kiddos LOVE scrambled eggs with a little shredded cheese on top. They actuallly eat the eggs better at lunch time than they do at breakfast.

M.

Hi T.,
I have a 16 month old and I feel like I get in a rut sometimes too. I may be able to give you some new ideas, because we are vegetarians. First off, I would steer clear of all the processed meat you are serving. It really is not good for the kiddos. I tend to make quesadillas a lot. Just cheese with black or refried beans and sour cream to dip in. Kids love to dip things!! My son loves them. I try to feed a fruit and two veggies with every meal. Good choices are apples, bananas, grapes, melons, blueberries,or even kiwi. Another favorite we have is cubed avocados. Avocados are so healthy. My son also loves frozen peas. I agree with you about the peanut butter, but what we do is sub pb with sunflower butter. It tastes similar and will give you another meal option. I hope I may have given you some new ideas. Good luck!!

My 17 month old loves hummus on crackers and veggies. We have that a lot for lunch! Soup is also a great idea, although messy, but tasty and nutritious! What about bagels with all fruit jelly and/or cream cheese...the whipped stuff is really good and it's easier to spread. I also do lunchmeat with cheese and crackers a lot or cheese quesadillas with a little bit of chicken and salsa. Instead of mac and cheese, sometimes you could do whole wheat pasta with a red sauce and parm. cheese. My advice is the fresher the better! It is hard not to get stuck in a rut...we're kind of there now too! I think it's winter! ;)

A big hit at one of the day cares I worked at was english muffin pizzas. Also, to make hot dogs more fun, we did pigs in a blanket. We would also do buttered noodles with Ham pieces in it, sprinkled with parmesean cheese. If i remember any more ideas I will let you know.

I have a 19 month old also. I serve him anything I eat just smaller pieces--pizza cut up in small pieces, turkey, ham sandwiches, peaches, apples, bananas, chicken breasts grilled. Frozen veggies (green beans, corn, carrots, peas) cooked up and then cooled down. Those are great finger foods! String cheese is another great choice! All 3 of my kids love that! I always think protein, fruit, veggie at every meal to keep them eating a more balanced diet. Good luck!

I used to do bite-sized cubes of cheese and ham or turkey; great because toddlers can feed themselves. Add "side dishes" of goldfish crackers and banana slices and you have a balanced meal. Chunky vegetable soups (reduced sodium) are good too. Good luck! When they get just a bit bigger, they'll enjoy cocktail franks wrapped in crescent dough and baked. Mini dogs in their own mini-buns. I also used to serve mini-hamburgers made with Pepperidge Farm dinner rolls for the buns. Just the right size for tots. Jello cubes make a fun finger-food dessert. Sounds like you're starting all these kids on nice healthy diets - good for you!

Here are some additional ideas:

-Pasta with marinara sauce or olive oil and parm cheese
-Cheese/Chicken quesadillas
-Meatballs with egg noodles and cream sauce or gravy sauce (similar to beef stroganoff)
-Paninis - basically ham/cheese/etc with different breads/meats/cheese than grilled cheese
-Eggs, hash browns or tater tots
-Pancakes/waffles/other breakfast foods
-Pizza or mini pizzas on english muffins

Hope this helps!

some ideas that I do that you didn't mention: real chicken breasts cooked the night before and served cold cut into squares, my son loves them, he pops them in him mouth like its popcorn. And they are great b/c you really can cook them in advance. You could try chef boy r dee pizza with different toppings and light sauce so its not too messy, spiral pasta (whatever pasta they can grip with their fingers or get on their utensil will work best)with a little melted butter and parmesean cheese sprinkled on top, cheese tortilla's are a big hit at my house: 1 slice of cheese, on a tortilla shell melted and cut into triangles, I serve mini pancakes and sausage links for lunch sometimes, a bowl of cereal with applesauce and yogurt or vege's can be a satisfying lunch, cheese and crackers with applesauce or yogurt and a vege... my son also loves canned green beans served cold, which is a fun twist on a vege and easy :) add some ranch dressing for dipping and its a "cool" new thing. :o)

Salmon patties go over good with my kids and did with the kids I used to sit for also. Not quite as good but still tasty heated up if you want to make them up the night before.

It's so easy to get stuck in a rut, I sure do with my kids. I often times don't so much make it a "meal" but make sure that they have all the food groups. My kids don't like a meal the same way we do, they'd rather nibble on stuff. Sometimes (especially at that age) I'd put a muffin tin (6 holes) with 6 different things to eat... whole grain noodles, whole grain crackers, frozen peas or corn, shredded carrots, red pepper (my kids LOVE red pepper and it's cheap right now), cucumbers, fruit in appropriate sizes, cheese cubes, yogurt to dip things in, raisins or other dried fruit (which are great mixed with those crispy asian noodles), lunch meat, cut up chicken or ham, beans, etc. My kids are big cheese eaters and we eat a lot of mini whole grain bagels baked with cheese and whole wheat tortillas with cheese (colbyjack or mozerella with turkey peperoni). I figure everything is best in as close to it's natural state as possible, so the less cooking I do, the better!

I'm going to keep checking this for ideas!

K.