Snack after nursery

[Azure]

I am running out of ideas for quick snacks for my DS, 18ms, to have after nursery. We get home at around 6.15pm and have about an hour until his bathtime. He has a tea at around 4pm at nursery and so it is really a top-up before bed. Does anyone have any suggestions?

French toast is nice and quick

Pancakes tonight?

This is the time I find the freezer and microwave completely essential - mashed potato (which I freeze in individual portions) with stuff mixed in (cheese, tinned fish, frozen peas or sweetcorn) all zapped for a couple of minutes, is a good standby. If that is too much (my ds still manages quite a big supper despite nursery tea at 3) what about cereal, or yoghurt with fruit? or toast with various toppings - peanut butter, cheese, banana, tuna etc etc?

Favourites for this time was cauliflower or brocolli cheese - using elliott's freezer/microwave technique or scrambled egg with toast, beans on toast, ham and cheese toasties, dips were popular too with breadsticks, pitta bread and raw carrot sticks.

I have the same thing, although my nursery gives tea even earlier - at 3.30pm! I usually give my ds currant teacake & some fruit. He can then eat this whilst he is playing in the lounge.

freezer, microwave combo essential, as others have said.

french toast
baked beans
rice cakes
oat cakes
different types of bread with
cheese (different types)
leftovers
cooked veg
sliced tomato
hard boiled egg
fruit
yoghurt
fromage frais

if i don't have anything in the freezer, i will give ds a buffet composed of a variety of the above.

My DS's are older than yours, but they can always manage a second tea with us, we all sit down together.
However, they are complete pigs, never stop eating.
DH went part time when the boys were 2ish (we are both p/t), after the first week he was home, he complained it was like running a cafe.

forgot to add my other staples below, dried fruit, sultanas, dates, apricots, prunes etc, banana chips.

hth.

I find that at this time of day, when ds is collapsing from tiredness, even pasta takes too long. 5 mins max preparation time is required!

Dont want to hijack this thread but I'm just curious what fromage frais and crisps are. I see this alot on food threads and it seems to stand out to me for some reason.

threeangels, I think you are in the US, fromage frais is a yogurt-like thing based on cheese. Crisps are potato chips, you know like in a packet. I hope this is what you meant and I'm not too simplistic.

Thanks clucks. I understand now.

ds (12 months) still manages a full dinner even after tea at nursery at 4 - he's always too hungry to wait for us to cook and so we've taken to saving part of each night's dinner to give to him as dinner the next day (saves freezing).
Tonight he ate dairylea triangle, 1/2 bowl pasta (cold), bowl sausage & ratatoulli (warm) then bowl of apple & pear puree with choc/vanilla desert (we still buy baby pots for some puds) - this is all after veg cous cous & fruit for tea - perhaps he's building up for a growth spurt?

Janeway,

Perhaps he prefers your food and saves himself up all day for it

sweet of you to say so Clucks - nursery do make more fun stuff than cous cous though

Many thanks for all your ideas - I have made a note of them for when I go shopping. I did cook pancakes last night (ready-made batter from M&S I'm ashamed to say) - DS loved watching me make them but didn't like the taste. Oh well, all the more for me!. DH doesn't get home from work until around 8pm and so unfortunately a family dinner isn't possible during the week.

Cheese omelette is my lazy/fast post nursery snack

I'm not surprised that your children are having a 'second tea' from what I've seen and a close friend who works in a day nursery ( big well known chain) they do not have a lot to eat for 'tea'. It is very little, certainly not enough to see them through until breakfast the next morning.

I always tell the mums exactly how much their child has had for tea and at what time, so if need be they can give cereal or a sandwich etc.