Healthy non-cook lunches

[PigPaws]

Hi all,

I'm sick of forking out for expensive pouches to send with my 10 month old when he goes to his childminder. Especially as they're just not cutting it - they're essentially puree! The childminder won't make him lunch or heat/cook anything - it all needs to be provided. Any ideas for healthy non-cook lunches that I can prep in advance and send with him?

Thank you!

Sandwiches and cut up fruit or veg? My 9mo loves cucumbers and pretty much all fruit.

Definitely sliced fruit and veg but something more substantial? He's a bit small for sandwiches - he's not really eating larger things like that yet. And still no teeth!

My 9mo doesn't have teeth yet. She manages toast and pitta bread might be worth a try? My dd is allergic to dairy but dd1 was always partial to cubes of cheese. Hard boiled egg?

Savoury muffins? Pre-cooked omelette strips? Sweet potato fingers?

Mashed banana and avocado, although the avocado will discolour.

Hummous and breadsticks.

Following because I'm having exactly the same thoughts about my 10mo's lunches.

I was thinking of getting a good cool bag (one of the ones with ice packs) and sending him into nursery with yoghurt, fruit purée (for on top of yoghurt - he is obsessed with yoghurt), cheese cubes, chopped up fruit and veg (chopped blueberries, grapes etc., carrot and cucumber sticks), maybe sausage rolls, pasta, dry Cheerios, and some of those prepacked wafers/Organix crisps as snacks. You can use puff pastry to make sausage rolls, spinach and ricotta rolls, pinwheels which can all be served cold. I've been batch cooking things like meatballs and putting them in the freezer. They could be chopped up for your DS.

DS has three teeth now but even before he got them he was surprisingly competent at chewing most things.

I'm also sending in breakfast. I'll be sending the Organix baby porridge (which is really nice imo but Ready Brek is also good), Organix baby cereal and milk. Grown up porridge is good for filling them up but probably too much effort for them to make at our nursery - I bought an insulated baby food container in Boots but an ordinary Thermos (the ones for food) would keep the heat in.

I think if you toss avocado and apple in a little bit of lemon juice they won't discolour so much?

Also, I've found Pinterest quite helpful for this.

I use the Little Grazers blog for ideas.