Health Conscious Mommies- what do you pack for lunch?

[BarnMomma]

HI. DS is 2.5 and is a pretty good eater. We eat only organic/non processed foodsand I cook almost all of his meals from scratch, minus the once a week lunch we have out on Sunday but he eats salmon and green beans or if I have to stop for lunch I can pick some prepared foods up fromt he deli counter of our local healthfood store-but again they cook organic and make healthy things like farro salad and grilled chicken and beets. You get the idea. We don't eat junk snacks or processed foods, like lunch meat.

I have always made soup for DS in bulk at the start of the week and that's lunch. But we have had a slight change in our routine and now I'll be needing to pack lunches to go with us that I can keep in a cooler.

So far I've come up with a almond butter and preserve sandwhich on sprouted grain bread, with an appple, and milk. Also, a slice of cold homemade broccoli and cheese quiche travels well.

But now that's it's so cold, I wish there were other options for him to have a hearty lunch that can be packed in a cooler, and eaten well, sometime sint he back of our car.

Any ideas would be great!

Also, I don't use microwaves

[springmum]

Hi,

DS is 19.5 months, and I also cook all our foods from scratch, so am interested in some new ideas too.

Here's one that we made just the other day...and he loved it!!!!!

"Pizza"

adapted from Pizza crust

My subs..

1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup Gluten Free oat flour
salt & pepper
slightly steamed spinach (seemed to mix in better this way
1/3 cup almond milk ( I found the spinach added a lot of moisture

Cook in 425 oven for 20 minutes or until done - I find it's done sooner (if you have a pan that is uneven like mine, be careful that part of it might cook faster than the other part!)
Note: batter will be runny.

Topping

Roasted eggplant pureed with a little tomato paste and seasoning.


It seems like a lot of work, but you could make the topping the day before. You could just store it in a little container and put on top of the crust when it's time to eat in case in makes the crust a little soggy.
The crust is actually really easy & quick, so you could throw that on in the a.m.

I also find that pizza crust can be really versatile. Change the seasonings and/or the toppings (e.g a nut butter on top) and you've got a few different options.

Hope that helps!

[Brigio]

We also eat organic/whole food and I have to pack DD lunch once a week when I work and sometimes more for play dates etc. Today I packed left over roasted chicken, left over roasted veg (carrot, sweet potato, beets, onions), homemade tomato soup with homemade broth, hard boiled egg, non homogenized plain yogurt with previously frozen raspberries and hemp hearts and fruit (orange, kiwi) plus maybe a homemade almond flour muffin. All this food is for the whole day (8-6) and she will have a smoothie at home with us and dinner with us when we get home (but she may not eat it). All if it can be eaten cold except for the soup... DD is 2 HTH!

[Peony]

We do a lot of leftovers. I eat a salad most days for lunch and DD2 usually eats it along with me. Lunch doesn't always have to be one thing but many. We do fruit, homemade guacamole with tortilla chips I make, cheese cubes, yogurt with some granola on the side, applesauce, a big fav is leftover rice with some veggies thrown on top with a splash of soy sauce, a boiled egg. I make a batch of muffins or bread once a week or often one of those makes it's way into our bag. My both girls love egg salad sandwiches. I have a big cooler bag and I just pack it full of small amounts of things, and often all I have left is one egg or a little container of this so it works well for cleaning out my fridge!

[sapphire_chan]

Packing for a cooler, it's going to be cold. You could do a thermos if you can find one that you feel is safe with hot liquids.

[Vancouvercat]

I know this might be a bit "processed" for your taste, but one of my fave on the go meals are hummus roll-ups - I get some whole wheat wraps, spread some hummus on it and role it up! Easy for him to hold as well. Can also put some other stuff in there but I am afraid of it all falling out (he just turned two).

I make salmon "burgers" from scratch and feeze them.

[CageFreeFamily]

We eat the same way, though now we are GFCF.
Our packed lunches usually contain a selection of the following:

smoked salmon
applegate deli meat
sardine,chicken or salmon salad
bacon slices
cheese slices
nut butter and raw honey on veggies or sprouted bread
leftover chicken or ham
deviled eggs
cold asparagus and onion quesadillas with yogurt
yogurt, honey & sprouted granola

fruit slices
clementines
grapes
trail mix
dried fruits
veggie slices with hummus
falafel with hummus
tomato, mayo, salt & pepper sandwiches
cucumber slices
steamed veggies
applesauce
peas and corn
mashed sweet potatoes in a thermos
fermented pickles

rice
pasta salad with beans and parmesan
tabouli
pretzels with yogurt
honey sticks

kombucha, herbal infusion, raw milk or mineral water

HTH!

[JudiAU]

Our diet is similar and these are all favorite lunches of the toddler. (He needs help eating some of them.) We have a little fogo thermos for lunch on the go. Works pretty well

Quinoa with cucumber, tomato, garlic, parsley, and crumbled lamb burger (We buy a whole grass fed lamb ever year) - All time favorite lunch

Hummus and Pita and fruit

PB&J on whole wheat (almost always eaten in the car)

tofu with some sort of Japanese sauce (soy or ponzu or sesame something)

pasta- whole wheat with tomato sauce and a huge amount of frozen spinach and cottage cheese mixed in

Rice Lunch - either "fried" brown rice with a bunch of veggies and some type of protein (nitrate-free ham or egg or tofu) or like a warm rice salad

Potato Lunch - Often Fishy Pie - hardwood smoked mackerel (sustainable - high in omega3s) with frozen peas and mashed potato, or Cottage Pie - Seasoned grass fed beef with veg and and mashed potato

"Courses" Lunch- things that don't really belong together but that he likes, served in the following order vegetable, starch, protein, fruit

A small amount of lunch meat or a rarely, a hot dog from one of the better companies like Applegate Farms. The hot dog comes from either the local German butcher (made there) or is grass fed.

Processed Junk - never - But I do buy a few high quality prepared foods now and then from cafes now and then. There is a place with good stews that I will extend with veg and whole grains. The meat and sauce become seasoning and it cuts on the salt.

Lunch is always followed by fruit, usually fresh

There is always one or two servings of good vegetable prepared in a manner he likes that usually starts the meal or is a snack.

We also eats a fair amount of yogurt, usually unhomegenized whole milk / plain and a lot of avocados.

[Artichokie]

we are also a whole food/nonprocessed/organic food family and we eat leftover supper for lunch.