Toddler and infant friendly Lunch and snack ideas

[lil_miss_understood]

Free of gluten, dairy, nuts, berries, apples (except Golden Delicious).... Am I missing anything? Oh yeah. Bananas and amaranth. Soy and other goitrogen light (brassicas, canola/rapeseed... any others? can't think of any atm).

I would like things that are easy and fast to make (so I don't have to go in the kitchen for long) and NOT make ahead (I already spend an entire day on meal prep in order to get supper on the table at a reasonable hour), preferably which aren't too messy for a finger-feeder.

Here are my ideas right now:
Lunches:
Pasta with tomatoes and ham
Pasta with pizza sauce and pepperoni
Hot dogs and french fries
Hot dogs and beans
Roasted eggplant and hummus sandwiches on store-bought gf bread
Leftovers

Snacks:
Fruit
Canned fruit
Carrots with hummus (not very infant friendly)
Celery with hummus (same as above)
Tortilla chips with salsa
Tings
Veggie Crisp
Sunflower seeds (I realize these aren't infant friendly... I was thinking of things I've been snacking on )

Honestly, right now we're eating hot dogs, fries and canned fruit very nearly every day. I want to get us back to a healthier eating zone but I'm so tapped out and just out of ideas.

[Casha'sMommy]

[dannic]

beans and rice
pasta salad
tacos
boiled eggs
(can you do eggs? I thought they were out, but didn't see them on the list)
fruit and sunbutter
guacamole
peach or mango smoothies

[ASusan]

Lunches consist primarily of dinner leftovers around here.

Popular right now -

chili (Moosewood vegetarian recipe with quinoa instead of bulgar wheat. I *do* use a lot of canned stuff in here, but...it's super easy in the crock-pot. Can be served with gluten-free cornbread and tortilla chips as scoops.

Taco night with: tostadas (crisp, flatish taco-like shells), refried beans, ground meat with onions, garlic and other spices added; tomatoes, lettuce, and salsa. DS LOVES refried beans - calls it hummus. ("bean hummus, mama.")

crock-pot chix curry - Chicken legs and thighs, curry S&B Oriental brand is gluten-free,, I believe., coconut milk...cook for several hours on low. Par-boil some potatoes and add them with some frozen veggies 30 minutes before serving. Those of us who can cut up veggies can do so and add them earlier to the cooking. Serve with rice cooked in bone broth or coconut milk.

Amy's gluten-free, dairy-free pizza one night a week. You can add more veggies to the top if you're so inclined.

For snacks, we're still doing a lot of clementine tangarines and grapes (imported from g.d knows where) when they're on sale. Applesauce or soy-yogurt goes to daycare for a snack.

Gluten-free pancakes, made with a mix, are still a staple for breakfast, and DS eats them several times a week as a daycare or on-the-go snack.

[lil_miss_understood]

We don't use eggs at night or on weekends because DS1 is intolerant but no one else is so it occurred to me we can eat them.
I forgot coconut. We can't eat that either. Nor peanuts.
Rice ends up ALL OVER.

[mamafish9]

Sweet potato fries are good too.

I also make little balls of stuff (anything from salmon to veggie purees, and mix them with some flour until you can roll balls) and fry them in kid sized little balls - they freeze great. While I'm at it, I fry veggie chips too.

I cook up a batch of ground meat about twice a week and stash in jars in the fridge - good finger food for little ones - DS likes ground lamb plain, I need to add flavor to ground beef for him.

And I think that's it - most of our other stuff is very egg laden.

[Theloose]

Lunches here are either leftovers or soup (bone broth, random veggie, leftover meat, leftover rice or noodles. Wakame is good, as is miso or lemon juice for flavor).

Snacks I need to work on too. They're mostly applesauce or whatever dd is craving (I don't snack much) so things like chocolate chips, sweet potato chips, pine nuts, rice cakes, hamsteak... Or better yet, extra lunch food conveniently left on the table for her to find when she gets hungry.

[mamafish9]

Oooh, if you can do eggs, then fritters are awesome - an egg, safe flour, and any meat/veggies/rice you have lying around. Fry like a pancake, sprinkle with salt. Totally yumm, easy finger food (I cut it up into little squares for DS), and you can put stuff like rice in there that you can't give a toddler without a huge mess. I can also add things DS wouldn't eat straight up, like spinach.

Scrambled eggs are fast too, and pretty decent finger food, actually. Blender batter pancakes are quick and easy too.

We also eat lots of egg salad (mash hardboiled eggs up with mayo - helps keep the egg all together, so you don't end up with egg bits everywhere). But lots of kids will just eat a hardboiled egg straight up.

[moonlitemama]

Snacks:
*breadsticks with sauce (have you tried the Chebe mixes?)
*muffins/mini muffins
*quickbreads
*cornbread
*homemade gelatin
*baked squash
*steamed broccoli
*red pepper strips
*cucumber spears
*trail mix/cereal mix
*fruit leather
*crackers
*pretzels
*rice pudding

Lunches:
*sandwiches (ham, egg salad, tuna, chicken salad, ham & egg) Do you have a gf bread recipe that you use? If not, I would be happy to send you a few. I even have a skillet bread that can be made in about 15 minutes. Also, wraps, which you can serve cut in pinwheels. I can send you the tortilla recipe, if you'd like.
*meatballs (you can cook up a big batch when you have a chance and then just reheat as needed)
*pasta w/ chicken and broccoli
*polenta w/ spaghetti sauce (again this can be cooked up ahead and kept in the fridge and just reheated)
*rice cakes w/ toppings or plain flavored ones
*waffles/french toast (cook ahead and freeze)
*mac & cheese (I have a GFDFSF recipe that's pretty good & gooey)
*baked potatoes
*chicken nuggets (if you make them yourself, you can freeze a big batch)
*falafel
*quiche (you can make mini ones in muffin tins, freeze and reheat as needed)

[mom61508]

bumping anymore ideas???

[lil_miss_understood]

Raechel,
is your mac and cheese recipe also nut free?
I have recipe upon recipe upon recipe for breads. I don't like any of them. Of course, I'm trying to make them egg-free as well since DS1 would be sad if we got homemade bread and he didn't.

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by moonlitemama

Snacks:
*breadsticks with sauce (have you tried the Chebe mixes?)
*muffins/mini muffins
*quickbreads
*cornbread
*homemade gelatin
*baked squash
*steamed broccoli
*red pepper strips
*cucumber spears
*trail mix/cereal mix
*fruit leather
*crackers
*pretzels
*rice pudding

Lunches:
*sandwiches (ham, egg salad, tuna, chicken salad, ham & egg) Do you have a gf bread recipe that you use? If not, I would be happy to send you a few. I even have a skillet bread that can be made in about 15 minutes. Also, wraps, which you can serve cut in pinwheels. I can send you the tortilla recipe, if you'd like.
*meatballs (you can cook up a big batch when you have a chance and then just reheat as needed)
*pasta w/ chicken and broccoli
*polenta w/ spaghetti sauce (again this can be cooked up ahead and kept in the fridge and just reheated)
*rice cakes w/ toppings or plain flavored ones
*waffles/french toast (cook ahead and freeze)
*mac & cheese (I have a GFDFSF recipe that's pretty good & gooey)
*baked potatoes
*chicken nuggets (if you make them yourself, you can freeze a big batch)
*falafel
*quiche (you can make mini ones in muffin tins, freeze and reheat as needed)

MMMMMMM I want your mac and cheese recipe(although we do dairy) and how do you do your meatballs without bread?

[IngaAnne]

My son is 11 months old, with lots of allergies, so we are running into the same challenges. His "snacking" only consists of breastmilk right now, so we are only dealing with meals. He eats fruits and vegetables at every meal and we are just introducing more complex foods. A few of my son's favorite things:

Breakfast:

- Rice Pancakes made from rice flour, baking powder, water, and overripe banana, but you could substitute another pureed fruit. The pancakes are not overly sweet and I use brown rice, so I consider them to be fairly healthy. It takes maybe 15 minutes start to finish and that includes me grinding my own flour from whole rice.

- Quinoa O's cereal and fruit (other than banana, apples, and blueberries, my son loves grapes, pear, kiwi, nectarine, and plum). The cereal brand is Orgran.

Lunch/Dinner:

- Turkey & Veg Burgers. Just shred zucchini and carrots in a food processor and mix in with ground turkey, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic. We don't have a grill so I saute them in a pan on the stove. Ground turkey is actually my favorite meat to work with. You can do turkey burgers, turkey and white bean chili, turkey speghetti, turkey tacos, or even lettuce wraps with turkey filling, although that last one is not exactly toddler friendly.

- Chicken, Veggie, and Noodle Soup. To make it kid friendly, I just use less liquid (or let it boil down) so it's more of a sauce than a soup broth.

My son also eats tons of potatoes, carrots, beans, and noodles mixed with blended veggies as sauce. His favorite is noodles with avocado.

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

I have recipe upon recipe upon recipe for breads. I don't like any of them. Of course, I'm trying to make them egg-free as well since DS1 would be sad if we got homemade bread and he didn't.

And you still won't try my recipe, right? It meets all your requirements, doesn't it?

Zucchini fritters w/ chickpea flour are egg free, and pretty quick to make (it would be even faster with a food processor instead of a grater). They're finger food.

[lightheart]

you suggested yourself in the first post sunflower seeds , but not kid friendly... they make sunbutter, a little sticky and messy, possibly still a choking hazard if too big of bite is taken.

If rice ends up all over, think about maybe using a sticky sushi type rice then running it through a food proceser, then flattening out little patties. Might be able to freeze the patties, never tried that before.

Rice puffs

can you do oats? oatmeal is quick.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by lightheart

you suggested yourself in the first post sunflower seeds , but not kid friendly... they make sunbutter, a little sticky and messy, possibly still a choking hazard if too big of bite is taken.

If rice ends up all over, think about maybe using a sticky sushi type rice then running it through a food proceser, then flattening out little patties. Might be able to freeze the patties, never tried that before.

Rice puffs

can you do oats? oatmeal is quick.

We do Sunbutter. Usually on rice cakes.
I don't own a food processor. I've been considering get one but I have a small kitchen so I'm loathe to give any more space to "gadgets"- at least before I give it a SERIOUS decluttering. I'll admit that it's not as small as the kitchen in our first house (area the size of a dish drainer for all of your counter needs!) but after our last (open concept, spacious) house, it seems tiny.
We do oatmeal.

eta: And of course since I was planning to do things in the kitchen, now Dh is going out with DS1 and I'm stuck home with the 2 LOs again.

[LBMarie9]

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