easy lunches that don't involve lunch meat that my slim 15 m/o can eat as well as myself who is... - Page 2

[allnaturalmom]

Originally Posted by tbavrbab 

I have also made potato and vegetable things that I either fry or bake.  I boil the potatoes and veggies and puree them and then shape them on a tray (sometimes I use a pastry bag to make letters or numbers) sometimes it needs an egg and gluten free flour to make it dense enough to hold together.  Then I bake them.  The kids LOVE these.

Thank you for this.... I'm going to give it a try! Reminds me of mashed potato 'pancakes' only shaped and baked instead of plopped and sauteed. LOL!

[tbavrbab]

Originally Posted by allnaturalmom 

Thank you for this.... I'm going to give it a try! Reminds me of mashed potato 'pancakes' only shaped and baked instead of plopped and sauteed. LOL!

I got the idea from the frozen Dr. Praeger's(?) vegetable/potato shapes for kids and decided to combine the idea with my mom's potato croquette recipe.  The croquettes were always fried, but I like to bake mine instead. The pan *does* need to have some oil on it or the potato thingies will stick.

I baked them at 400-425 degrees for about 5-10 minutes per side.

[lilgmommy]

I think I may be the 10th person to suggest beans. But my toddler ate a TON of beans.  His favorite were lightly seasoned black beans with avocado and sour cream (of course omit the sour cream)  Avocado went with everything for a while and he will still request it (at 4) whenever there is one in the fridge.  The key is getting them to ripen properly.

Something that I use to make and is making it's way back into rotation are salmon cakes.  I take a small can of boneless, skinless, pink salmon and mix it will a few tablespoons of cornmeal, seasonings of your choice (we like powdered garlic, salt, pepper) and I add an egg as a binder.  If it looks a little dry add a Tbsp or so of water, you want them a little loose. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry them until crispy golden on either side.  If you use non stick cookware I guess you could even bypass the oil.  I generally get 6 small (3 inch diameter) cakes from each small can. If there are any extra the kids love to eat them cold. I have also tried it with wild caught sockeye salmon but we actually prefer the taste and texture of pink salmon for this.  Serve with a little salad for yourself or whatever else you have on hand.

[velcromom]

The easiest thing I know of for lunches is leftovers. I just think it's a bit much most days to plan three separate meals, especially when you have a toddler around! I normally serve something left from dinner the night before, or something I've frozen from previous dinners. Leftover potatoes get chopped and fried into hash browns, meats get diced and warmed, tossed into the hash browns or possibly tossed in a stir fry type thing with any leftover pilaf, rice or pasta. Normally veggies are not saved so I will add that on the side - snap peas are sweet and most kids like them, a lot of kids will eat homemade sauerkraut, my dd at that age would enjoy the thicker, crispier parts of a leaf of lettuce diced to finger food size and coated with a few drops of homemade vinaigrette. Soups get diced buttered toast tossed in so the little one could eat the cubes up soaked with the broth instead of trying to eat the soup with a spoon.

And everything served warm gets a bit of pasture butter on top for the good fats.