brown bag lunch suggestions for 2-year-old?

[wednesday]

My son will be starting at a montessori preschool in two weeks. He is not quite 2. He will be there full day and I am supposed to send a lunch. They say they "help" the little ones eat but I am skeptical about how much help they can give a group of kids. I think I need to pack things that are easy for him to open and eat by himself. About the only guidance they give is that they "discourage sweets."

He loves PBJs, so hopefully those are allowed. This current school year they told me they had one child allergic to peanut butter but it is allowed anyway. I am wondering if that will change, and also just kind of anxious about it. I don't know if I want to send my son with a lunch item that could make another child very sick, kwim?

I'd like to send fruits and veggies, but I've come up a little short on what he can handle on his own. Maybe applesauce tubes? Cut up banana in a little container?

I also think I'll send shredded chicken in a little container, because he can feed himself that and he likes it just fine cold.

I'm worried about getting containers and forks etc back. Need ideas for foods that can survive a simple sandwich bag.

Any other ideas? He has a dairy allergy, so any kind of cheese is out. Although he handles yogurt okay.

[peaceful_mama]

My child ADORES bananas! (so much that it's his first WORD other than 'mama' and 'papa'!! How about cut up grapes? A baggie of berries? Any fruit he likes should survive, cut up so he can manage it on his own.

you mentioned cut up cold chicken......would he eat the chicken pasta salad recipe I saw on here? looks like something a lot of kids would like, and it's *supposed* to be cold (it's still on the front page at least it was a minute ago, *I'm* going to try it! That would have peas at least.

I'm at a loss for veggies that would be good cold for a 2/yo as I really don't think they're ready for things like raw carrots......they *tried* to feed 'em to the kids at the daycare I used to work at.....MOST of them couldn't really chew it.

You could *grate* carrot though, maybe into the aforementioned pasta salad?

[late-night nan]

ds loves grapes or tiny tomatoes, sliced in halves

we pack sliced deli turkey or chicken (we like boar's head) since those do not have nitrates

guacamole--ds eats off of a spoon. easy recipe is mashed avo mixed with a tablespoon or so of tomatillo (green) salsa.

pita triangles and hummus

peas or shelled edamame

smoothies in a straw cup

mac n cheese, esp annie's arthur or bunny shapes (we add peas)

veggie booty

string cheese, or cheese cut into moons and stars

all kinds of smooth soups, such as the natural ones in the tetra box (squash, mushroom, etc)--i send in small jars, which they transfer to a cup for "drinking"

chicken nuggets, cut into bite-sized pcs

pizza, bite-sized pcs

ian's alpha tots (mashed potato shaped into letters)

banana bread or other quick bread, esp in mini-muffin form

easiest thing is to send leftovers from dinner, cut into manageable pcs; or keep a collection of large baby food jars, cook up a batch of mac cheese or whatever, divide into jars, chill some and freeze the rest to pack later