Creative Lunches Your Kiddo (May) Eat

Okay moms, real talk here. Raise your hand if your kid is a picky eater? Raise your hand if you find yourself resorting to dino nuggets yet again to avoid another night of sending your picky eater to bed hungry? Raise your hand if your toddler thinks buttered noodles and fruit snacks are essential categories of the food pyramid? Raise your hand if you think everyone else’s kid is a better eater than yours, so naturally you must be doing something wrong?

Well, dear moms, if you could only see from my vantage point how many hands are raised, we’d all dissolve into a hug fest and tell each other “we’re doing great!”. But you can’t see what I see, so trust me when I tell you that you ARE doing great. Toddlers just…. suck. Dammit do they suck!

Can somebody please explain to me why a kid will be fashionably fearless enough to rock a rainbow tutu with big brother’s spiderman T-shirt, or think it’s a brilliant idea to base jump off the back of the couch onto a tile floor? Yet they will act like it’s a violation of the Geneva Convention’s laws against torture to try the delicious new Chicken Florentine recipe you slaved over all evening? And don’t get me started on how they obsess over something one week, and then act like it’s laced with arsenic the next. Just…. why?!

The good news is that most kids outgrow this stage… by age 30… but in the meantime, us moms are left to pull our hair out and agonize that we aren’t feeding them well enough. We hear claims from Viola Vegan down the street that her perfect children eat quinoa tabouleh and eggplant curry as effortlessly as our kids consume hotdogs and potato chips. We see her flawless social media posts of angst-free family meals and wonder why we are failing. The truth is that we aren’t… and Viola Vegan is full of shit. Her kids protest her dinner offerings too, and while she may not admit it in her Instagram feed, she’s not against resorting to fried nuggets to quiet their complaints (plant-based protein variety of course!) In reality, most kids under the age of 13 are selective eaters and despite every trick in the book we may try, it’s not our fault. It’s time us moms embrace the fact that there is a reason our kids are picky, and it’s rooted in their biology… not our failure as parents.

Furthermore, tastebuds are not fully developed in youngsters the way they are in their teenage and adult counterparts. Did you know that babies and toddlers are more attuned to sweet foods than savory, hence why they gravitate towards fruit and sugary treats? The leading theory behind this is that with an increased sensitivity to sweet, babies are more likely to enjoy their mother’s breast milk and want to nurse for longer. It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint that a baby wouldn’t enjoy tasting different foods as much as the healthy milk provided directly from their mother. Fascinating how the body works, isn’t it? Unfortunately, 200 thousand years of modern human development didn’t account for the processed fruit snacks that our child prefers over a healthy apple.

Even knowing all of this, it can still feel daunting to get our youngsters to be adventurous eaters, let alone enjoy a balanced diet. Believe me, I feel this battle in my soul. Thankfully, I’ve been told my children are fantastic eaters… at school. (Full and fair disclosure, they are not great eaters at home, and I definitely have Dino Nuggets on standby in the freezer!) One thing about kiddos is that if they eat a big breakfast or lunch, they may not be as hungry as we would expect come dinnertime. Unlike most adults eating a standard American diet, babies, toddlers, and elementary-aged children are still very much in tune with their satiety signals and rarely overeat. It’s only through years of conditioning of “clean your plate” and chowing on processed food that destroys gut microbiota that turns them into the over-indulging snack monsters that make up the majority of the American obesity epidemic.

Ben and I figured out pretty quick that our oldest ate pretty much whatever we sent with her to school (with a few rare exceptions). Even foods she claimed to hate at home, she devoured in their entirety in class. A combination of knowing that Mom wasn’t around to do the “bribe me with dessert” dance, and that so many of her peers were eating without complaint, encouraged Brynna to finish her lunch without fanfare. (This is one of the few situations where I will embrace the benefits of “herd mentality”.) With lunch being our best bet to not only balance her diet, but expand her palette as well, we moved onto the next phase of “Operation Picky Eater”.

Make lunch visually appealing

Remember when I said children eat with their eyes? Having a lunch that is visually appealing is a great way to engage your youngsters in mealtime, and get them excited about eating. It starts with the lunch box. Do they have a favorite cartoon character or superhero? Are they the kind of kid that likes to take things apart and explore containers and boxes? For my kiddos, they like variety and surprises. I was able to find these amazingly inexpensive stacked bento boxes on Amazon for less than $10 each in a variety of colors. The bento boxes have three levels, two of which are leak proof, and perfect for little hands to unbox and explore. In addition, I found adorable silicone cupcake and baking inserts in a rainbow of colors and shapes to further divide the bento box compartments and provide visual appeal.

Be creative- in theme and presentation

Other things my girls love is anything that is deemed as out of the ordinary. For example, my oldest Brynna loves “breakfast for lunch” and my middle Evie, loves when I use cookie cutters to turn her vegetables and sandwiches into fun shapes. For less than $15, I bought a variety of cut outs on Amazon in various shapes and sizes that make eating a boring cucumber all the more fun when it’s shaped like a butterfly. Tomatoes that come in orange and yellow colors have much more appeal than boring red ones, and purple carrots are way more exciting than the standard orange variety. Salami tastes better when it’s shaped into a 4-piece puzzle. Hey, I don’t make the rules, I just play the game…

Here are some lunch theme ideas to get you started:

Easy Add-ins I Keep on Hand

• Rotisserie chicken- sliced as is, or mixed with pasta and various sauces
• Baby carrots
• Bag of frozen peas- they will thaw by lunch time
• Sugar snap peas
• Clementines
• Tortillas- for putting a “wrapped” twist on traditional lunch items
  • Wrap a banana with peanut butter and honey, then cut into slices
  • Wrap lunch meat and cheese then cut into pinwheels
• Lunch meat- use cookie cutters to make into fun shapes
• Cheese sticks
• Low sugar GoGurt tubes
• Boiled eggs- I’ll boil 3-4 on Sunday for use by the family throughout the week.
• Whole wheat bagels/English muffins
• Mac and cheese in character shapes
• Cantaloupe or watermelon (I portion these out on Sunday into various shapes and store in the fridge for use throughout the week)
• Fully cooked nitrate free chicken sausage- my girls love the Apple and Italian flavors (they think they are eating hotdogs… please don’t blow my cover)
• Frozen pot roast- I’ll cook 1-2 lb pot roasts in a crock pot and then portion into plastic bags and freeze for later use. I can easily pull out a serving, partially thaw under water in the baggy, then pack for lunch. It will thaw by lunch time and can then be heated. I will also cook a pound of bacon and freeze for later use.
• Chicken stuffed tortellini- I’ll store in the freezer and pull out as needed. Pasta will thaw by lunch time. I often will pair with a sauce, lemon juice and parmesan, or simply a little butter and salt.
• Peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches

I’m always on the hunt for new lunch ideas and themes for my girls. Click on the Contact Me page and send me your best ideas. If they are a hit with my girls, I’ll feature your ideas in a follow up post!