Food for daycare for a 1 year old?

[bauchtanz]

DD is 1.
Her daycare is an in home that is very acomidating. I have always made my own baby food or bought organic and took it in.

She has always fed herself, although at the daycare she still feeds her quite a bit to reduce mess.

So I am looking for foods that I can either make ahead and freeze or send already frozen that she can eat for lunch. (Breakfast and supper are with us)
Right now she eats cut fruit and O's with her dad for breakfast.

I think she MAY have a dairy allergy so we are experimenting with no cheese and stuff like that. I have thought of giving them frozen mixed veggies that she could just make for just her, or the wacky pasta that is made of veggies. But I am also looking for some protien ideas. It is feasable to freeze cooked chicken breast for her? Other ideas?

[fallriverfox]

How about hard boiled eggs for protein?

[sadean]

At 12 months, I was providing soft cooked veggies (carrots, green beans, small amounts of spinich and kale...things like that), soft cooked beans squished a little, but still solid enough to pick up (like canned red beans), and soft fruits like banana and avacados cut into small pieces, along with expressed breast milk. Daycare thought I was a little nutty, but they feed those kids processed crap (IMHO). I have relented a little through her 2nd year of life, but I shake my head at some of the stuff they offer the kids.

I never served my 2 youngest children any pureed food...I waited until they could eat "table food" to start solids (around 9 months), but made sure it was soft and not a major choking hazard. They ate what we ate, but I wasn't faced with any allergy issues so you probably need to account for that in your desicions for what you send.

[Mama Poot]

My son is a little older ( 15mo ) but he loves pita bread stuffed with avocado and plain hummus. It's super easy to make, just chop the avocados in a food processor ( takes 3 seconds literally ) and spread everything on the pita. I also like the hard boiled egg idea. Chopped fruit of any kind is good. I would say whole milk organic yogurt, but you have a dairy issue. Perhaps if she grows out of that that could be an option. I don't think you need to necessarily freeze the chicken breast. Just poach it in a little water. It will be super juicy and tender if you cook it that way, and poaching only takes a few minutes. Poach some the night before and wrap it up in the fridge. Take it with you the next morning and have them store it in their fridge. No thawing required!

[huggingmama]

Beans! Not sure if your DD will like them, but DS has loved white cannellini beans since he could feed himself (rinsed out of the can). This is what I would have packed with him had we continued with daycare (I couldn't believe what they fed the others, as a PP said).

[StrawberryFields]

I watch a 1 year old girl and her mom brings her lunch food with her. They are very mainstream though and I do not agree with a lot of their food choices (lots of hot dogs, potato salad, cheetos, etc.), but a few of the better things she brings are:

meatloaf and potatoes, cut into chunks
macaroni and cheese with beans
steamed broccoli
cottage cheese
cut up sandwich
spaghetti and meatballs
mandarin oranges
cut up watermelon
banana
grapes
cubed chicken and veggies

My 1 year old son loves cut up lasagne and that freezes really well. Fresh or frozen beef ravioli is another good finger food. I know that Rising Moon Organics makes vegan ravioli, not sure if it all contains soy ricotta though. My ds likes pasta mixed with pesto.

[martita]

I've been trying to be better about what I bring in too...

Recently we've sent DD (11 months) with:

meatloaf and mashed potatoes
turkey rice soup (her very favorite!)
roasted root vegetable
all kinds of cheese
toast and cream cheese