Baby/toddler lunch box ideas

[soootiredddd]

Please could you share ideas for lunchboxes. DD(12 months) goes to a childminder where we need to send food and they often go out for picnics etc so can't always use microwave.

Couple of restrictions/considerations:

1. She's not the 'best' eater in the world, quite fussy, doesn't take to new foods very well, struggles with textures and things that are hard to chew. We did BLW like we did with our eldest but she just seems to struggle and will often gag/spit stuff out or just chuck it on the floor etc. She's still BF but she doesn't have any milk during the day (won't take a bottle/cup of milk, drinks water ok). Overall I'd say she eats more like a 9 month old and will often have meals where she will refuse to eat anything at all...


2. She has CMPA so can't have dairy


3. My DH and older DD3 are veggie so we generally don't have a lot of meat at home. I'm happy for her to have it but we don't tend to have it in, as a rule


4. Ideally can be eaten cold (see above)

Thanks!

Can she eat dairy-free cheese and yoghurt? If so then mini cheese sandwich; or cheese cubes and breadsticks.

Egg mashed up well and then cut up into small sandwiches that she can handle, maybe with some mayo so that it binds well and doesn’t fall apart too easily (probably inevitable!)

Dairy-free yoghurt with an ice pack against it.

Chopped/sliced fruit & vege sticks like cucumber

Homemade quiche cut into smaller finger pieces

I’d say houmous and breadsticks but that’s quite messy for a picnic for her age (DS loved houmous at that age)

Homemade mini fruit muffin (Ella’s Kitchen red cookbook has a low-sugar recipe that my 7yo still likes).

Perhaps have a look at some recipe books from the library for toddlers for some ideas.

mykidslickthebowl.com/muffins-for-baby-banana-blueberry/

These muffins are good.

My DS also has CMPA but we were told to keep trying him with dairy to build his tolerance. So we give him small amounts - e.g. cheese triangle on toast (or bread for a picnic).

Frittata,
Sliced boiled egg.
Cold potato wedges/sliced boiled potatoes
Pasta with veg and a bit of tomato sauce is fine at room temperature. I’ve found fusilli the easiest for DS to pick up.