Lunch ideas...

[Gwynie]

DS is 18 mths and I give him sandwiches, tins of ravioli, oven chips, etc for his lunch. He gets fruit as his 'dessert'.

But I was hoping that others would be able to come up with low maintenance, healthier lunch ideas.

I always cook his evening meal from fresh, but lunch time tends to be a 'look at the time, god I'd better feed you' type of situation.

Tx

you could give lots of little snacky type bits, I give my daughter (15 months) sticks of organic cheese, buttered crumpet, dried apricots or prunes,that sort ofthing. Also the yeo valley organic youghurts are quite nice.Cottage cheese is a realwinner !

If you've got a microwave a baked potato isn't that much like hard work. I usually brush mine with olive oil, prick it then bung in the microwave for 5 mins on full (850W microwave). If (and only if) I've got time I'll then crisp up the skin in the oven for 10 mins. If ds is really lucky and I planned ahead properly he gets the insides mashed and put back in the potato too

Fillings can be cottage cheese, normal cheese, cheese and beans, etc - whatever takes your fancy and you've got in the cupboard at the time really. Annabel Karmel had a couple of more complex fillings which are more time consuming but they do freeze well.

Other quick things to do with a microwave is to freeze portions of evening meals ready for such an emergency then nuke for a couple of minutes when needed.

Also a big fan of yeo valley organic yoghurts. Other desserts ds sometimes get (when I'm organised) are jelly, rice pudding - things I can make in the evening and then store in the fridge for a few days.

Ooo ... also things on toast tend to get cooked a lot around here! Beans on toast, scrambled eggs on toast, cheese on toast... even been known to do bananas on toast when I had bananas needing to be used up - they were a big hit but then I sprinkle brown sugar on them so they don't really meet the healthy criteria

What about cauliflower and broccoli cheese - could add some ham to this too, you can make in batches and freeze, also, what about scrambled eggs and toast or cheese on toast, or eggie bread, beans on toast.

GeorginaA - we must have been typing at the same time and come up with the same things - spooky!!

lol Jaybee

Oooo ... eggy bread! Haven't made that for ages! Right, that's ds tea sorted

What about an omelette with cheese and onions or mushrooms or tomato?
Soups .... excellent with soldiers! Making your own soup takes 5 minutes (+cooking time) and freezes well.
I also do pasta with pesto - very healthy!

I mix potato, broccoli, carrots and any other vegetables which goes in a steamer...all in it and just wait to be cooked (you can prepare the veggies the night before and all you have to do is pop in steamer... BTW steamer for me is an ordinary pan with a metal basket IYKWIM)

mini pasta (is normally alongside usual sized pasta in supermarket), add in anything, frozen peas, sweetcorn, grated cheese, flaked tuna/salmon, beans (not all together obviously ) really quick to do and healthy

Great suggestions, thanks.

I must admit I do give him beans on toast and similar, but was worried about the sugar and salt content (another paranoid mother moment).

I also give him jacket potatoes, but the idea of scooping out the potato and mixing it with different things is a great idea.

Tx again

mmm cauliflower cheese.

My favourite healthy luch is home-made gazpacho - just whizz up (in a blender or juicer) several tomatoes, half a red and half a green pepper (or 1 of one colour), half a cucumber, a bit or garlic and some olive oil. Then add breadcrumbs to thicken it. It lasts a couple of days and you can freeze it. yummy.

actually I think your supposed to peel the tomatoes, but I never bother (the juicer deals with it)

My 13 month old has her fresh dinner in creche so her tea is like your ds's lunch and her usual menu is usually one or two items from this list:

'real' chicken nuggets
beans
slices of cheese
yoghurt
fish fingers
waffles (the ultimate no-brainer quick tea as it takes 2 go's in the toaster to cook)
Scrambled egg (her favourite)
Rice with frozen veg mixed in
Pasta with frozen veg mixed in
Spaghetti hoops
Pieces of cold meat
Bread/rolls
Mini-pizzas (currently trying birds eye pizzinis and you can top-up the veg on top or make my own)

Sainsburys do reduced sugar and salt baked beans which salve my conscience, except that only 2 out of 3 of mine like them.
Boiled eggs and soldiers are ds2's absolute favourite after nursery lunch at the mo. Also red pepper and carrot stick dipped in houmous.
But I also remind myself of something I once read saying that there is no need to be too worried: crackers, and apple and some cheese provide a perfectly balanced meal!

One of my dd1's favourite sandwiches was chocolate spread and scrunched up cornflakes.

What i did was get 2 slices of bread cut the crusts of and place one overlapping the other by about 1cm then squashed it with a rolling pin making it longer, i then covered it in a thin layer of either chocolate spread or peanut butter and cornflakes and then rolled it so it resembled a miniature swiss roll and cut it into about 6 - 8 rolls and refrigerated it until needed, dd1 wolfed them down, it's an Annabel Karmel (sp) recipe