What Do I Send to Daycare for Lunch?

Most daycares provide lunches for them. You can request certain types of foods, some do. Just a thought...

I'd say to use whatever protein you normally use. Make it bitesize - pinwheel tortilla/shredded cheese sandwiches or cheese stix (if you eat cheese), little tofu chunks, nut spreads that crackers or pretzels can be dipped in etc. Also little pieces of fruit and veggies appropriate to his age. I'd mainly use familiar, simple stuff.

Hi,

We are vegetarians too (I try to do vegan for the most part). And, we are of Indian origin. Here's a list of food items I give my son:
Rice dishes (vegetable rice, red beans rice, vegetable and lentil soups with rice, vegetarian chili)
Indian wheat bread (roti or paratha)
Pastas and noodles with vegetables and tofu
Sandwich - whole wheat bread with a vegetable curry filling (thick and sort of dry)
Cut whole wheat tortilla into wedges and stuff with some vegetarian filling
Steamed vegetables, fruits, yogurt, cheese
And, other items like rice/lentil pancakes (idlis), dosas (rice/lentil crepes) etc.

Most of the above items can be made for dinner, and the leftovers can be used for lunch the next day, if time is a constraint.

We eat organic in our house with very little meat.
Some things my son eats and that you could pack for lunches.
.....yougurt, cheese, applesause, fruit, raw veggies such as
carrots, peppers, cumumbers. (my son loves green, red and yellow peppers they are very refreshing). Dry cereal in bag.
I make my own trail mix with granola, rasins, carob chips, etc. PB&J sandwiches. My son loves sprouted breads and big slices of hearty whole week oraganic bread from the bread store. Organic mac and cheese, noodles, we do soy product such as Morning Star brands but just be careful with soy at
at young age. You can send rice cakes with peanut butter on them. We buy organic burritos the are easy and quick. Also
we live on soups. You could send cans of soup and a slice of
hearty bread. That is very filling.
If I think of more I will post again.
m.

Here's a week menu I would send my daughter with.
Mon.
tuna pasta salad in a cold insulated lunch bag
boil noodles of your choice and chill, add tuna, miracle whip (or other dressing) relish, shredded carrot
and then send along some fresh fruit and a thermos of milk
Tues.
pretzels with hummus dip, sliced cucumbers, fruit of your choice, and a thermos of milk
Wed.
Quesdilla - put tortilla in a warm pan and add a mixture of cheese, black beans, and spinach, fold in half and chill and send with fruit and a thermos of milk
Thurs.
peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fruit, coleslaw, thermos of milk
Fri.
pizza sandwich on wheat english muffins - pizza sauce and tofu, with finely chopped veggies in the pizza sauce
fruit, thermos of milk

Also chopping up brocolli, with cheese cubes, raisins, chopped walnuts with a light dressing.

get lots of small tupperware containers and plastic silverware because sometimes it gets thrown away even if its a metal fork

I see there are already lots of good ideas posted. We are not a vegetarian family, but I do have a 17 month old daughter that goes to day care, and I do send her lunch with her. She has been good about eating a variety of foods, so I try to keep it varied for her. Sometimes I send organic whole wheat mac & cheese made with plain yogurt...one of her favorites, but often I send leftovers from whatever we had the night before. She has taken eggplant parmagian and spinach quiche.

When I have stopped by at lunch time I notice a lot of the kids have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cheese and crackers...I send those sometimes, but not often. I've commented to the staff about how they probably find it strange that my child doesn't bring traditional "kid" food, and they say they like to see the variety I send, and she continues to be a good eater. I also send fresh fruit/veggies and some type of dairy product daily (yogurt, cheese, cottage chesse...). I sent taboule a few times, and the first time I sent it, they were unfamiliar with it and heated it up for her...but she ate it warm. ;-)

I see you have some great responses. One other thing is CousCous warm or as a cold salad, a good veg option. Also I fed both of my kids beans right from the can or rehydrated dried beans! My girlfriend thought I was absolutely crazy and then she started it with her kids. How easy can life get and they are so full of protein and iron. To this day my daughter loves kidney beans. You may need to tell them how to prep the food ie warm cold etc but good for you food for sure. At 15 months I know you may have to wait a couple months or smoosh them.

Hi H.,
My present day care provider makes lunch.Last year I sent mac&cheese, cottage cheese,yogurt, dino buddies,Boca burgers, vegetarian pizza,and hummus.Of course fruits and veggies and snacks like goldfish. I'm sure other mothers have many other suggestions.
I also work in a school, so I'm feeling your pain, as far as the summer coming to an end.
L.

I am a vegetarian too. My family eats meat but I try to keep it local, organic so we have been through this issue too. One of my friends had a daycare that supplied vegetarian fare for her son. I had to pack lunches because there were no options for my daughter when she started school.
Her absolute favorite lunch is a bagel pizza. We alternate with pizza sause and cheese and veggies or a very little veggie dip and broccoli and carrots and cauliflower cut really small with some cheese. I use whole wheat bagels or crackers and add shreaded cheese and veggies and sause and this can get us through a few lunches with variety.
She also likes baby carrots and chopped up fruit with crackers and cheese. I try to make sure there is enough protien and veggies. She loves milk in a box like the big kids drink so either milk or small water bottles get frozen to keep everything cold until lunch. I just make sure to pull it out and pack the night before so the drink is thawed enough the next afternoon.

Since your little boy already eats what you eat, I would just make smaller portions of whatever you would eat. I'm sure the day care would have refridgeration to store food you pack for him. Nothing wrong with some veggies, fruit, and bread or something like that.

Also, I would be careful with the peanut butter. It's very sticky and can be a choking hazard with such a little one. Many would reccomend holding off on peanut butter until age 3 or 4.

I don't have any inspiring suggestions...but I just wanted to tell you HOORAY for you that you don't want him to eat just anything that the daycare might provide. SO many little ones get stuck with just calorie fillers that are mainly loaded with all the --oses that are so bad for everyone, especially little ones. Back when I was packing lunches, my girls are all in their 20's now, we always called it a snack lunch, since there really wasn't an entree, just lots of good snacky things...carrots and dip, apples, PB on celery, cheese and crackers, real juice....whatever would have been on the menu at home. With an ice pack and thermal bag, you can send most anything. Again...HOORAY for you! He will thank you later for watching out for him.

Have you thought about veggies and dip, like cut up carrots, broccoli, celery, cauliflower etc. Also fruits cut up. I see you're a vegetarian but if you eat dairy he could have cheese and crackers. Pasta salads are easy to make and you could throw some veggies in with it. Also gogurts (the yogurts in a tube" if you eat dairy.
Most childcare providers do provide a lunch so maybe you should check that out before worrying too much about what you can give him.

IMO, your daycare should cater to your dietary preferences to a certain extent. It is not too much to ask to refrain from serving your child meat...instead they can serve pasta, soy products, bean products, etc, without going out of their lunch budget. If you are met with resistence, offer to purchase larger supplies of those foods and keep there only for your child. If your child had a food allergy, they would be required to substitute for them, this is not much different. Of course, that depends also on your restrictions...if you are talking vegan with absolutely no dairy, eggs, etc, that may be a little much to expect from a daycare. Also, if you are providing the food for your child, you should be getting a discount!

~L.

H.,

My son has food intolerances, so he can't eat what the other kids eat. A lot of times his lunches are from leftovers the night before. I add fruit, veggies, and crackers to his lunch and snacks.

I try very hard not to feed him the same thing every day; for example peanut butter or rice products. If he has any type of intolerance to either of these products, then eventually it may develop into a full blown allergy. It is better to rotate these items on a four day schedule. Four days because that is how long it takes for your body to eliminate the chemicals from your body.

I hope that these ideas help! Good luck with your son and your classes in the fall.

What do you feed him now for lunch?? I'm sure if the daycare is certified, they will have a fridge to store food. Nothing should have to change for his lunch, just buy a lunch box to send it with him and go from there. Keeping a kids diet steady is very important, especially in little ones. Also, as others have reported, be careful of peanut butter. My son is allergic to a lot of thing, so we use a soynut butter which he didn't mind the switch...just a thought for you.

before you send pb and j sandwhichs make sure your day care is not peanut free, more and more "schools" are peanut free.
Send him to school with yougurt, veggies and dip cheese and crackers, hummus and veggies..... pretty much anything you would feed him at home.

you certainly can send peanut butter and jelly everyday.

I stay home and my daughter often eats peanut butter and jelly every day for weeks.

Try cheese and crackers. pasta dishes, rice dishes.. whatever you have for dinner the night before save a bit and send it for his lunch the next day.

As long as the daycare provider does not have restrictions for nuts (many do) peanut butter and jelly is good as long as he will eat it. You know best whether he can eat it safely. My kids tend to go through cycles. First it was peanut butter, then cereal, then bagels and cream cheese... I am all for doing the same thing until they get sick of it :) I just try to balance the lunch so there is not too much of any one thing.

First off, find out if your daycare makes their lunch. If so, what is that lunch? If not, Yippee!, you can make whatever you want. I used to make a box of Macaroni and cheese, add some veggies and immediately divide it into half-cup GladWare (disposable containers). Grab some yogurt and maybe applesauce or other fruit and call it lunch. He got milk and snacks (cheese and crackers, apple slices, waffles, etc.) at school and it worked out fine. The Mac&cheese lasted through many meals and all I had to do was grab it from the fridge and stuff it in the bag.
Most daycares will adhere to a child's dietary needs. There were a few vegans in our school so they got something else that fit into their diet when the regular snack was something on their list.