Healthy Kids Lunchbox Ideas

A mum was asking on the forum for ideas to feed her toddler. I have come across a few sites with great ideas for kids lunches that do not require much cooking so I thought it would be a good idea to share them with you all.

I have had my troubles with my 4 year old fussy eating. He now has a varied diet and he eats meat, veg (only as a puree :/), fish, pasta, fruit, cereals, milk, eggs… but he still eats small amounts, like a little bird. When he was not event three I was very worried about this; One day he was joking around without his t-shirt on, and I took a picture of him. When I looked at the pic, I got a fright. He looked SO skinny. He was a little bit underweight and I got so stressed out about that.

In Spain we brought him to the paediatrician for a general check-up and I asked about his eating problem. The paediatrician basically said, that it was the parent’s job to teach the kid to eat a varied diet (at that stage, my son’s diet consisted mainly on beans, sausages and porridge… ) And that quantity was not the important thing here, but quality. The child should learn to eat meat, fish, veg and fruit. If he refused one food, we should offer it again, not just stop offering it to him. Since then I relaxed. If he only ate a few spoon fools, then, that was it. Not battling or forcing it in. At least, he wasn’t eating beans again.

Because of him eating small amounts of food, I looked for ways to make calorific meals for him. So I would add cottage cheese to his egg omelette or to his home made smoothie. I would also add avocado to his smoothie (Apple, half banana, pear or any other fruit, ¼ avocado, full fat Greek yoghurt, Milk). Nowadays I cook with coconut oil as it is calorific and really god for you, one of the best oils you can cook with.

What troubles have you gone through trying to feed your toddler? Have you just tried everything and nothing worked out?

Here are some great examples of healthy kids lunchboxes, taken from 100 Days or Real Food blog. Anybody can do these!

Triple-decker apple & peanut butter sandwich, organic cheese stick, a homemade (and kinda squished) butterfly-shaped whole-wheat biscuit, and frozen peas & corn

Half of whole-wheat banana pancake sandwich with cream cheese in the middle, 2 whole-wheat ebleskiver "round" pancakes, organic apples, plain yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup, vanilla extract, bananas, and homemade granola

Heart shaped peanut butter & honey sandwich (I put the scraps in the freezer to save for stuffing/croutons/breadcrumbs/etc.), fruit mix including oranges and kiwi, organic cheese stick, and Kettle brand baked potato chips