Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Oh boy

My son eats - A LOT. And I'm so fortunate because he will eat every veggie under the sun and all the fruits too. So, I have been feeding him organic baby food or I will puree veggies/fruits myself - either way, same thing. He loves it. The only issue he seems to have with eating is CONSISTENCY. In terms of "chunky" vs. smooth, KWIM?

I'm asking desperately for advice. I was told recently by my son's daycare (and I'm very happy with them) that he is ready for the "big boy" room. He's walking, talking, listening well, doing everything he needs for that room BUT eating *all* "table" or "finger" foods. He still prefers things soft or pureed. So, I'm going to be strict - cut out the purees and offer him chunkier food... When he's really hungry, he will eat. Until then, he will likely spit things out but when push comes to shove, he will eat. Fine.

I am looking for suggestions as to what to give him for daycare that's still healthy - fruits/veggies and such, but able to go with him to daycare. They cannot heat things up there or cut. Everything has to come ready to go and served at either room temp or chilled (they have a fridge).

So far I have:

Banana
Cucumber slices
Blackberries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Apple slices
Cheese
Pita wedges
Hummus (I spread it on the pita)


Does anyone have any other suggestions and especially for veggies? I feel like the above isn't "enough" or maybe I feel like it's not a full "meal". I mean, normally, in a day he'll eat carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, squash, etc.

I just want him to eat healthy - I don't want to send him with chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. I'm thinking can I slice up a sweet potato? I feel like it always falls apart - he needs to be able to pick up and feed it to himself. This is a "milestone" they want him to achieve before going to the next room. How do I do that with say, a potato? Boil it and then?

Help!! So sorry this is so long. I feel a little overwhelmed by this. I guess I'm not good with change and I'm afraid he's going to not get enough veggies.

THANK YOU

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

You can roast sweet potatoes in chunks so they won't fall apart but will still be soft, same for squash. Peas are good cold or room temp and have decent protein. You can bake your own chicken nuggets and send them in a thermos. I used to give dd crackers with pb or hummus. The Breton minis are the perfect size for little ones. Will they give yogurt? I use reusable pouches and fill with yogurt so dd can feed herself easily but you can fill them with anything if you want to sneak in purees that he can feed himself. Really you can send almost anything he eats pureed just cut it up instead. I would just try to include protein in each meal like cheese, meats, hard boiled eggs, yogurt.

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

what about small pasta shells mixed with a little butter and peas? you can eat that room temp/ even cold
yogurt sticks, homemade French toast sticks.
im drawing a blank too. i'll have to think some more about good transition foods. i'll be back with more ideas

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

have you given him any table foods? how old is he? have you tried cheerios or puffs? or French toast I feel like those are always good starter table foods.

I am not the best person to give advice for healthy food casue my DD lives on "junk" chicken nuggest, mac and cheese etc. she wont eat anything else

but this site should be able to give you some good healthy lunch ideas
weelicious

Message edited 2/24/2015 10:19:00 AM.

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Dd also used to eat a lot of quesadillas. I would make it on the morning, cut it in a strips once cooled and then wrap it in foil. Same for grilled cheese. I just put some cheddar on a slice of bread and pop it in the toaster over to melt, then key it cool and cut into bite size pieces. Dd likes both at room temp or you could put them in a thermos.

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

ok, how about meatballs- but cut into small bite size pieces
hardboiled eggs, mashed potato with a little ground beef and peas (almost like a sheperd's pie), quesadilla as the pp just mentioned..
small little finger sandwiches with cream cheese & jelly

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

My DS loves avocado, it has great healthy fats.
Also squashes will be fine at room temp.

My ds will eat lots of beans and lentils, so those would work too. He takes forever to eat them but he enjoys picking them up one by one and eating them.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Posted by blu6385

have you given him any table foods? how old is he? have you tried cheerios or puffs? or French toast I feel like those are always good starter table foods.

I am not the best person to give advice for healthy food casue my DD lives on "junk" chicken nuggest, mac and cheese etc. she wont eat anything else

but this site should be able to give you some good healthy lunch ideas
weelicious

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Message edited 2/24/2015 10:51:02 AM.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

What about peanut butter and jelly? Or I don't know if it's a peanut free school - maybe cream cheese and jelly? I give DS that with a fruit and a veggie and he loves it.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

If you buy a thermos, in the morning boil water, let the boiling water sit in the thermos for 10 min, dump the water then place warm food in it and the Food will stay very warm.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

yogurt
beans: chickpeas, lima beans, etc.
avocado
raspberries
carrots
sweet potato
peas

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

I would also get/make chicken grilled or breaded and cut them up into small pieces.

My DS had to be on table food also to move up to the 12-18 month room and he would have issues with chunkier stuff cause he was sued tot he purees. COLD TURKEY! I had to stop it all together. TH only thing I would still give him was apple sauce in a pouch.

Since you are limited on time I would take a few hrs on Sat or Sun and make a bunch of food. Cook some chicken and meatballs and a few veggies and then you can have it for the week. I do that will pasta also and then just add butter or sauce. Cheese and crackers can also work.

I never had to worry about lunches cause my daycare provided them but I work in the city so dinnertime is a crazy rush so i always needed things somewhat prepared in order to get DS to bed at a reasonable hr. If you pre-plan on the weekend it becomes much easier.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Posted by DaniJude

Posted by MrsT809

You can roast sweet potatoes in chunks so they won't fall apart but will still be soft, same for squash.

When you roast, and again - I'm so dumb - do you just put them in a pan with the lid on?? In chunks?

Or do you actually boil the chunks in water?



When I make meals - I bake, I saute stuff in a pan or a wok - I'm just not used to necessarily boiling or roasting - I guess I'm weird

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Posted by DaniJude

Posted by cheryl28

If you buy a thermos, in the morning boil water, let the boiling water sit in the thermos for 10 min, dump the water then place warm food in it and the Food will stay very warm.

That's farking genius!!!!

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Mango
Pineapple
Apple

Veggies:
Squash
Spinach
Broccoli
Cubed sweet potato
Zucchini

I'd add:
Chicken breast diced (baked or fried)
Turkey sticks

Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

My dd is a huge eater too. When she was a baby all her purées were given to her cold. She's so funny now bc she'll ask for something and if she sees me cooking it she says she wants it cold even if it's frozen. For breakfast at school she usually has a yogurt, a chopped hard boiled egg, French toast that I make on the weekends and freeze (bakery bread, vanilla extract, a lot of cinnamon and I make it eggy) and a clementine. Some of the kids have oatmeal hot in a thermos. For lunch today she has lentil soup. I make it, my mom and grandma make it and then I freeze individual portions. She gets a lot of left overs. Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peas. I'll dress them up differently each time. With olive oil or butter or grated cheese.

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

I used to make my kids mini pancakes with fruit or veggie purees. Bean dips with crackers or pita chips, cold pasta salad-like rotini. You can premake a bunch of mini meatballs and freeze them then just micro before work and put in thermos. I do goat cheese on rice cakes or crackers, cheese sticks. I usually try to do a protein, carb and veg or fruit. Then I can ensure they are getting a balanced meal

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare:

Here's a list of "Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner" foods My 18 mo old DS has eats. this list is limited with no meat options because we are vegetarian. I use a thermos funtainer to keep pastas and soups warm. 100 Days of Real Food website has tons of great school lunch suggestions.
1-veggie burger
2-grilled cheese
3-mac&Cheese
4-pasta (with beans/veggies etc.)
5-"bread" patties (eggs, grating cheese, bread crumbs an whatever else you want..)
6-broccoli bites (Stacy's snacks recipe)
7-spinach bites (Pinterest recipe)
8-quesadilla (bean/cheese)
9-Eggplant (breaded or floured and baked)
10-cream cheese/jelly on whole wheat bread
11-pizza
12-Stromboli
13-Soup
14-veggie pot pie
15- pancakes
16-waffles
17- French toast
18-oatmeal

Sides:
Cucumber/olives
Cheese
Potatoes
Mixed Veggies
Avocado


For Snacks: I serve milk w/snack
1-mini muffins (banana/blueberry/pumpkin/bran)
2-fruits
3-crackers/cheese

If he is having a really hard time managing food textures and has a very sensitive gag reflux, you might want to consider getting a feeding Eval with a Speech Therapist or an Occupational Therapy Eval for sensory processing. There could be an underlying reason for the poor tolerance to table foods/textures. They could identify if he is just a "picky eater or a problem feeder."

Re: Need your help - HEALTHY meal/food ideas for daycare: