Giveaway: $250 super-pack of MightyNest lunch gear
I will be the first to admit that Mazzy's lunches are less than inspired. I attribute this to the very limited amount of foods that Mazzy will allow in her mouth. But it's also possible that Mazzy has a very limited lunch repertoire because I have been giving her a very limited menu.
I guess it's a 'which came first, the chicken or the egg thing'.
I am willing to accept we are both to blame.
I've been packing Mazzy's lunch since she started camp this summer and it always contains the following very uninteresting items:
• 1 half turkey sandwich (initally I gave her a whole sandwich but it always came back half-eaten)
• 1 plastic baggie of vegetables (usually mini carrots since DUH they come pre-cut)
• 1 reusable plastic container of cut-up fruit
• 1 plastic baggie of crackers or pretzels
The reason for turkey sandwiches is because I can't find any other protein source that she will eat cold. She won't eat cheese, she won't eat roast beef, she won't eat ham or salami, she hates tuna fish (my mom's old lunchbox go-to) and for some reason she thinks peanutbutter and jelly is disgusting, even though she has never allowed it to touch her lips.
The camp leaves all the uneaten stuff in the lunchbox so you can see what your child is and isn't eating. Often the vegetable baggie is never opened, but I'm not going to be the kind of parent who sends her kid off for the day with no vegetables.
I also recognize I am wasting a lot of plastic, especially after my mother scolded me for sticking the supposedly reusable plastic containers in the dishwasher. That's a no-no. Something about releasing the plastic chemicals and then those chemicals leeching onto your food. If you want to know the full details, I'm sure there's a newspaper article my mother would love to send you in the mail.
A little over a week ago, MightyNest contacted me and asked if I was up for a "Lunchbox Challenge". It meant equipping Mazzy with the right tools for a healthy lunch, including environmentally friendly lunchbox gear and reusable sandwich and snackbags.
I took a look through all their colorful gear and creative storage containers (like the Lunchbot Bento boxes, the Lunchskins snackbags, the Din Din spoon and fork set and the stainless steel straw bottles) and began to think about packing lunch a little differently. Is it possible that in addition to being healthier for my kids and better for the environment, MightyNest might help the picky eating problem too?
Before I continue, I want to be clear that I am not someone who slaves over her childrens' meals. I am a big fan of doing things as easily and as quickly as possible. I find making lunches (and cooking in general) boring and a chore— especially since neither of my kids like eating them.
But the MightyNest lunch gear seemed like it could appeal to my creative side and make the food more fun for the kids. Plus, we weren't really talking about cooking or tons of prep work. Just more thought, a little cutting, and some careful arranging.
That sounded like my speed.
For starters, I ordered tons of lunch gear in pink— bento boxes, airtight containers, a thermos, a straw bottle, sandwich wraps, a giraffe lunch bag, etc. Surely, Mazzy would be more excited about her meal if she opened up her lunchbox to find her favorite color instead of a sea of clear plastic.
Secondly, I got some cookie cutters because I thought fun shapes might her boring turkey sandwich more appealing.
All last week, I made Mazzy's lunches as creative as possible without straying too far out of her (or my) comfort zone.
I can't show you the lunches I made without showing you what the camp returned uneaten. That would not be the whole story. So I'll say this— the process was mostly successful, but not entirely. I think we're going in the right direction, but Mazzy's picky eating is not something we are going to solve in one week.
MONDAY:
WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK:
Mazzy ate all her turkey and left the bread. Which is fine. She said she didn't like the watermelon mixed together with the blueberries, which I had never done before. She did like the flower shaped watermelon, but complained of SEEDS. Oh, what I do for my children to just accept white watermelon seeds.
TUESDAY:
WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK:
I used crackers to separate the tomatoes from the celery and since she didn't like Monday's bread, I rolled plain turkey and added a mini bagel with cream cheese on the side. I have never given Mazzy a bagel in her lunch box before and clearly this new development was something she chose not to acknowledge. But it was nice to know she liked the turkey rolls, something I would never have just stuck in a plastic baggie. And YAY for eating all her veggies!
WEDNESDAY:
WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK:
Success! I packed all things I knew she liked, except a snuck in a tiny cheese sandwich shaped like a flower amongst the turkey. There is no fooling Mazzy. Initially, I was concerned that using the cookie cutters to make sandwiches would waste a lot of food, but then I realized you could roll up all the excess turkey scraps into sandwich sushi. Yes, sandwich sushi.
THURSDAY:
WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK:
Apparently, Mazzy was not as thrilled with sandwich sushi as I was. But I was encouraged that she at least tried one. I then had a long discussion with her about how tortilla bread was still bread, just flattened bread. Maybe I should have explained it to her before camp.
FRIDAY:
WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK:
She didn't touch any of her turkey sandwiches (not even to eat the turkey out) which was confusing until I found out Friday is pizza day at camp. Apparently, most of the parents forgo bringing a lunch on Friday and let their kids get the hot lunch. I guess that's what I will be doing next week.
The plums were a brand new thing so I am not surprised she didn't try them, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. One thing that is great about packing a bento lunch is you can introduce new things in small ways.
So here's what I learned from the MightyNest Lunchbox Challenge:
1) I love packing bento boxes. It was fun to figure out simple ways to present new and old items. Plus, knowing I was posting pics on the blog helped me try to make things look different and exciting.
2) Packing bento boxes made me think about color as I tried to do something different in each quadrant. This lent itself easily to variety and a broader range of nutrients than Mazzy would usually get in one day.
3) Packing smaller portions of more things helped me as well. Usually I load up a whole baggie full of one thing, which always leads to a lot more waste. It also opens up opportunities to stick in something new without it throwing off her whole lunch.
4) Packing one bento box instead of packing several plastic bags guarantees that Mazzy opens and sees everything, as opposed to leaving an entire bag of veggies unopened. The veggies were the thing she seemed to eat the most, which was not the case before.
5) Using less plastic bags is not only healthier for your child and the environment, it's ultimately a money-saver. I can continue to use my new gear for years to come instead of buying box after box of baggies and disposable containers.
I'm not saying my relationship with Ziploc is over for good (I use them for tons of stuff besides food), but MightyNest's challenge ended up being way less of a challenge than I thought. Two of my friends who happened to witness what I was doing this week immediately said they were going to try it out too. Who knew I would turn into an evangelist for bento boxes?? It really is a very easy change to make with a lot of positive outcomes.
In addition to selling products for healthy living, MightyNest has a place on their site that gives ideas on how to institute healthy changes for your family. They ask people to sign up for pledges, like the pledge to only use reusable snack and sandwich bags. They also have a great resource which shows the different lunchboxes they carry with a guide as to what gear you can fit inside. And to top it all off, MightyNest donates 15% of every purchase to your local school with a goal to raise $1,000,000 for schools this coming year.
What I would really love, as a lot of our kids go off to kindergarten for the first time this year, is that we take the Lunchbox Challenge together. If you sign up through the widget below, you will be entered to win a $250 super-pack of lunch gear from MightyNest similar to all the gear I used in this post. Don't worry— I don't think you need to get all the pink!
FYI- this giveaway is only open to Mommy Shorts readers.
In order for me to continue with the challenge, I'd love for you to share meal ideas in the comments, especially meals that might broaden Mazzy's eating habits. In my next post, I'll take some of your ideas and test them out on my very picky four-year-old and perhaps I'll try to rehab my even pickier one-year-old too.
I need as many ideas as possible! Maybe my next challenge should be called: Breaking out of the Turkey Sandwich Rut?
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This post was sponsored by MightyNest but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I am OBSESSED with this!!! Ordering a set for Gavin to go off to Kindergarten with right now!!
These look like so much fun! Can you tell me, how easy are the reusable snack bags to wash?
I do this for my son at home. We call it “picnic lunch” because its finger food and quick to prepare/clean up.
Have you tried all the meats? My son loves pepperoni, summer sausage, and any of those pre-sliced minidiscs of meat from the deli (I think they are for pizzas). But if you are worried about protein you could also do nuts or hummus. Kids love dipping and hummus can be used with almost anything- carrots, crackers, pretzels, etc.
Other favorites are yogurt covered raisins, mamdarin oranges, string cheese, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, and breadsticks.
My last suggestion is maybe letting her pack it herself? Like have a selection of things she can use and you and her pack it in the evening before bed. Then she just grabs it in the morning. You would be sure she likes it, could explain or encourage new things, and maybe she would be excited to eat it if she made it.
Good luck expanding those food horizons! And I love these boxes. ..might have to get some for myself.
My daughter doesn’t like sandwiches unless they are just prepared. She said the bread tastes funny if the sandwich has been made for too long. We like to take the lunch meat, spread cream cheese on it and roll it up. That is her all time favorite. I also found a cook container for veggies that lets you put the dip in a removable container that snaps on to keep everything in one place. It is pretty cool.
http://smile.amazon.com/Hutzler-Snack-Attack-Celery-Serve/dp/B00C2SMB5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407789476&sr=8-1&keywords=celery+and+dip+holder
Yep, they are all dishwasher safe!
Here’s a few I’ve tried:
‘inside out’ sandwiches. That’s turkey on the outside, bread inside.
Eating with a toothpick -very popular
Yogurt
‘Lunchables’ but homemade
Breadstick pizza-dipping into pizza sauce
This might sound weird if you’ve never tried it, but it’s amazing.. GRILLED PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH. Made just like grilled cheese of course, but with peanut butter instead. My 6 yr old and 2 yr old love them. Not sure how well this would work going off to camp, but it might be worth trying with your kids at home.
Try beans as a finger food. My 2.5 yr old daughter loves red kidney beans and cannelini beans. They are easy to pack and full of protein. Great post!
My five year old is obsessed with “snacky lunches” – like crackers, cheese, pretzels, raisins, fruit, etc. Basically ignore bread and use crackers instead and fill in with the snacks she’d have eaten otherwise.
Check Alyson Hannigan’s Twitter (@alydenisof)! Go through her pictures, she makes the most amazing bento meals. You can get great ideas from there!
Although my son has just in the last four months started eating meat (right about when he turned 4) we haven’t done it in sandwiches yet. He still sticks to PB&J (no banana!), cheesy buns (cheese melted on a bun in the microwave), or a quesadilla (just cheese of course). I feel kinda lame packing his camp lunch because it really doesn’t vary. This gives me incentive though!
Have you tried pancakes with fruit in them (blueberries or banana)? Small ones are good cold or can be dipped in yogurt. Does she like beans? My daughter loves them cold. You could also make mini pizzas at home with english muffins or buns and just top with cheese and veggies she likes. What about dip with her veggies? I’m brainstorming for you and me both 🙂
My son eats a cheese stick, popcorn or pita chips, a container of berries (any kind), and lemonade or soy milk. Sometimes I can convince him to eat a few pepporoni or some bacon. My daughter gets chicken nuggets (I bake them quick during breakfast), a cheese stick, some kind of pretzel/cracker/whatever, apple slices or pineapple chunks, baby carrots, and apple or pear juice. My son is picky and not a big eater. My daughter is only picky about meat and a fabulous eater. They are 3+ years apart and almost the same size. They come by it naturally though, so I shouldn’t complain too much.
My 3-yr-old daughter likes clementines she can peel herself, dip for anything (hummus, ketchup, sour cream dip, etc.), olives, dried fruits, granola bars of any kind, string cheese/cottage cheese/sliced cheese/any cheese. Peanut butter is a great dip for carrots, graham crackers, celery.
I’m at a loss like you. Mine will eat bologna but that is about it. Glad it’s one of the healthier cold cuts… :/
He is going into kindergarten so I am scouring Pinterest for ideas. And there are a ton. I like the idea of nuts because he eats at 11 and our school has no snacks! He is in for a world of hurt because he grazes all day long. He is 5! Flash to me questioning this on open house day, new parent tour day, gradual entry day…
So impressed by the increase in veggie consumption! We do some pasta salads I can make on the weekends, raspberries with chocolate chips in them, tomato caprese salads (with dressing in a little container), and little homemade baked cheese sticks with marinara sauce on the side. A lot of stuff I’ll make once a month, freeze it, and then throw in the fridge in a bento box the night before school.
Does she eat cream cheese on the bagel? Maybe do some mini bagels and cut them into “dipper” chunks and include some cream cheese? I would try the hummus dip for veggies, too – get that protein in! And I also ditto the suggestion above to have her help you with it – my kids are more willing to try things when they’ve helped make it (am I remembering that you tried that once with her and dinner, and it didn’t go well? Maybe if she’s making it “fun” with the shapes, etc, she’d be willing to give it another go?). I’m lucky in that my kids love on cheese (they’d live on it, if allowed) but haven’t really freaked out about meats either. So we can rotate turkey, ham, chicken, etc. They LOVE pepperoni, so we’ll occasionally throw together a homemade lunchable type kit with cheese, crackers & pepperoni. If she’s eating the turkey and the crackers, you could skip the cheese and double up on the turkey. We do lots of tortilla roll-ups too – whole wheat tortilla, cream cheese or thick ranch, meat, shredded cheese, roll up & slice into “sandwich sushi” – my kids like salsa so they’ll occasionally get a cup of salsa to dip them in.
Waffles, toasted cheeses, salami rolled up…check out my Pinterest page mrsjakubowski kids lunch ideas!
My son can be a picky eater. Doesn’t like cheese but will only eat a cheese pizza, doesn’t like cheese but, finally, likes Mac & Cheese; smh! I accidentally ran out of bread and made him tortilla roll ups with chicken and he liked them and asked for them again! But one day he said no mayo just chicken and tortilla and I was like what?? That’ll be dry and gross. But I did it and the next day he said chicken and mayo roll up. I realized yeah we know it’s dry and un-tasty but he doesn’t and he learned something and I realized it was a good teaching/learning moment, for both of us!
I do lunches like yours for my children. They love notes or jokes to look at when they open their boxes. My youngest always wants her plastic attached chopsticks with her lunches. Her lunches always get a lot of attention.
The cookie cutter idea is so cute. I love these boxes too. I hate sending things off in plastic and glass containers are a non-starter for our toddler. Have you tried a cold quinoa salad with cucumbers and half cherry tomatoes? I cook the quinoa in pre-made broth for extra flavor – and I can make enough quickly in a rice maker or on the stove top for a few meals and just add in other ingredients each time. I like black beans and some salsa or other sauce with the quinoa or pieces of salmon and green onions with the quinoa. The black bean combination seems to go over well some days with my picky 2-year old.
My son loves Black beans! I was so surprised but he eats them like crazy. Also I make cheese tortellini with a little tomato sauce.
My son just switched to Seton Academy and I know have to pack lunches for him. He is also a very picky eater and I have yet to find what he will enjoy at school besides junk. He just turned 2 in April and he doesn’t talk a lot so he can’t even help me pack his lunch. I do use the sandwich cutters but he has yet to touch a sandwich while at school. I love this give a way and I am also obsessed with looking at creative lunches to pack for him. I scour the web and pinterest like it is my job!! =)
Dip for the veggies! I get a yogurt ranch dip, which gets my kids to eat more carrots and cucumbers.
Also, as an alternative for cookie cutters, I use one of those sandwich/toast “stamps”. You can get them in the $1 section of Target usually. I have one that says “have a nice day” with a smiley face and one with a crown and “PRINCESS”. Guess who gets which? That’s right, they both want the princess one.
Question: Is Mazzy a grazer eater? What I mean is will she snack all day and not a big fan of single meals? Because my son is a grazer and since he has basically maintained a constant height/weight and he is skinny the Dr. said it wasn’t a problem. But that’s why my son won’t eat all his lunch, not necessarily because he doesn’t like it but he prefers to eat a little all day then all of his food at lunch. Lol, but schools don’t allow this and boy he is hungry when he gets home! But in the summer program he was in he knew most of the teachers and I explained to others this was his way and they would make sure he didn’t throw away all his lunch and he could eat it at snack time AND later if he was hungry.
My son is a picky eater at times too! It’s sometimes a, “mind over matter” thing with him. He tends to eat things more that “he” picks out of the fridge himself. Or eats things that “he” helped me make. Now, if I pick or make the exact things that he’s helped me with before, but I didn’t let him help this time… he won’t always eat it. Little stinker! Lol. Just a little trick I’ve learned along the way just to get him to eat. ;). He also loves having things that he can dip food into. For example, hummus, peanut butter, honey, mustard, etc. Good luck with everything! 🙂
I like the idea of packing one new thing each day. Maybe she could pick out the new item she will choose? Or let her pick which shape she wants. Tell her if she eats at least one bite of the new thing she can have X reward on the way home (gummi bears, a mini cookie or 2)? I am not ashamed to bribe sometimes. Hummus is a great idea. My daughter will eat it by the spoonful. She also loves poppy seed dressing? Chicken sliced really thin like the turkey? Does Mazzy eat bell peppers? That would be an easy way to get colors in the box. Raspberries? Mango? Oven baked red potato bites?
I’ve been following u on Instagram for a long time. But I can’t find where to sign up for email updates .. Help
I check out the combinations they use in Lunchables, then re-create them using healthier ingredients. I have two picky eaters as well, which makes it hard to fit in a lot of variety. We do whole wheat tortillas as a sub for bread, and do peanut butter as a dip for pretzels, crackers or apple slices.
My 4 year old is all about apples dipped in peanut butter. And fruit. He also says “I don’t want to eat breakfast (or lunch or dinner, depending on the time of day) I just want to eat junk food.” I find he will eat more when he’s given some sort of dip. Mustard is a favorite, as is sour cream. Getting him to eat is always a challenge. Plus, every food item must be on it’s own plate. Maybe a bento box will thrill him….
So glad to see that my kids aren’t the only ones who leave food in their lunchbox.
Pesto pasta is pretty popular for my kids – with some tomatoes on the side…. I also agree— letting them help sometimes makes the lunch much more popular.
Press store bought biscuit (try the Immaculate brand, they’re the Annies of fridge-to-oven products)into a greased (coconut oil) waffle maker…a tiny savory waffle for her turkey.
Also my kids (now teens) hounded me for those pre-made junk food lunch kits (which I never bought, why they thought they were SO cool…idk) …so I cut their veggies, meat and cheese to resemble those products. A lousy trick but it worked.
My son is obsessed with cream cheese and avocado sandwiches, I mush up half an avocado with cream cheese and spread it on the bread. Also yogurt to dip the fruit in.
Fun fun stuff! I’m a bento Mom and it’s something I do over on my blog a lot too. For the past couple years now I do a big bento post for the grade my daughter is going into, and I’m product testing this week to do our Second grade lunch post. I’m excited to see you doing it here. If we get really creative for the week, I will usually do a weekly bento lunch post.
We use easylunchboxes and my 7yo daughter loves when I cut circles out of whole grain tortillas, include a little closed cup of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese. She makes her own little pizzas, it’s cheaper and so much healthier than the lunchable versions.
My 4yo son doesn’t eat lunch at school yet, but he likes them as well so sometimes I will make some up for him. His favorite is banana sushi. Take a whole grain tortillas, smear some wowbutter on it, sprinkle some raisins and lay down a banana. Wrap it up, and slice into little chunks of ‘sushi’ I trade out different things like nutella for wowbutter or throw in some tiny chocolate chips or marshmallows.
my kids won’t eat sandwiches. I used to be able to deconstruct them and send bread, cheese, and meat – but that doesn’t fly now either. I tend to send hot lunches in their thermos’. If you heat it with hot water first, it will stay hot until lunch (unless the camp you send your child to is thoughtful enough to put all the lunches in a fridge, then the hot lunch is slightly under room temp. oops!) Anyway – the other thing they will eat is salad (I know, leftovers and salad – my kids are crazy!). I bought the rubbermaid lunch/salad kids to keep the sections apart and they add their own dressing. My kids are 8 and 10.
Eating with toothpicks, and I somehow talked my 4 year old into loving black olives, small pickles, carrots, and wheat thins with hummus to dip in. It’s a great light dinner substitute when she is too hungry to wait for the real thing to be cooked!
Have you tryed to pack ranch dip or something to go with the veggies? I mean, I’m sure you’ve tried that before!
I wish I had some great tips for lunches but my two little ones do not excel at trying new foods! I love that you mention how using these lunch supplies help with portions. I think I will need to give this a try and ditch the multiple containers and baggies we have been using that return home still full of food! Thanks!
I’d cook chicken nuggets and wrap them in paper towels and foil. Did the same with hot dogs. They’d usually still be warm with my “insulating” method.
My oldest loves leftovers, there’s a microwave in the lunchroom with some poor mom helper on heat up duty. His favorite was homemade soup, chicken shoyu, homemade ranen, dad’s asian pork and rice, mom’s italian chicken and pasta and pizza. He’s my more adventurous eater.
I’ve done burgers and breakfast for lunch too. Quesidillas rolled up.
My girls love the lunch boxes the got from a friend.
My kiddos love peanut butter and apple on a tortilla. What about snow peas for a veggie.
My kids love when I roll up different deli meats. They hate sandwiches! Mini bagel with cream cheese is a hit, also sometimes(if I have a coupon) those little baby bel cheeses. Good luck! I’m loving the suggestions here. =) thanks!
Maybe I missed it, but has anyone mentioned eggs as a protein? If you make a thick omelet, you can use the mini cookie cutters for shapes. Egg salad or scrambled eggs and cheese in a sandwich or pita pocket even a boiled egg if your kid likes them. I’ve also made savory muffins with ham (or whatever protein) cut into tiiiiny chunks and cheese. It involves cooking, but if you make a dozen or so you can use them for several days. Put them in pretty cupcake liners and they become much more intriguing 🙂
Awesome! I’ve been looking for bento boxes to pack my one year old’s lunch for preschool two days a week, and these look perfect!
Have you tried to make mini-kebabs? Little cubes of turkey, tofu, cheese, fruits, veggies on little plastic picks?
We do raisins, craisins, almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanut butter honey sandwiches, little muffins with zucchini or Bananas
Have you tried serving your kids pesto on butterfly or fusilli pasta? My girls have always liked it & it has protein & can be eaten cold/room temp. My 11 year old just announced she’s becoming a vegetarian. Now that’s going to be a challenge for packing lunches!! No more salami/turkey sandwiches.
Or some kind of Frozen-themed toothpick… Are they called party picks? If there’s not something commercially available, Etsy would be a good backup.
Can I just say I have never wanted to win a contest more than this one EVER… not even one of those dream vacation things. TRUTH. My son is starting kindergarten in TWO WEEKS and I’m already stressing about what I should pack for the first day of school. He’s not picky but I’m with you on the food prep is mostly a chore.
My son is *only* picky about eating lunch at school, and he’s the world’s SLOWEST eater!
What about cold fried chicken bites? My kids love to eat chicken nuggets cold, the next day!
Good finger food lunches in our house are pistachios, homemade grain muffins (throwin any fruit), rolled cold cuts, banana and honey rollups, cucumbers. Just ordered bento boxes to save my sanity (3 lunches x mulitiple reusable containers to wash every day are a pain!!)
Have you tried hummus as a protein source? Our girls love it and we call it “hummus cheese” to make it sound more appealing. We send tortilla chips and baby carrots to dip in it.
I have been using the reusable bags for a while and love them. My son is also picky and won’t really eat sandwiches at all. I pack cold pasta a lot and he seems totally fine with it. I will send cold Mac and cheese or buttered noodles. Otherwise my lunches look similar to yours.
Add a dip! My kids love dipping everything. We also do “snacky” lunches. Meat always comes out of the bread and tomatoes are better plain for some reason for 4 year olds!
Here’s how you cut a Strawberry into a Flower! Hopefully Mazzy will think that they’re pretty!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eza_0qTWOG4
I got nothing, I’ve never tried packing a lunch & kid 1 always ate the hot one provided by the school. Now that she’s been out of school for 6 months, I’m so grossed out by the idea of those hot lunches! They are so so sweet and I’m pretty sure contain laxatives. When she goes to full-day K in a couple of years, she’ll get a packed lunch like most everyone else (no hot lunches at elementary school here).
My son is in preschool and I have to make his lunches so I did a lot of research on this! Found a couple of helpful books: “best lunchbox ever” and “Weelicious lunches.” They’ve helped a lot with my creativity! Also, maybe try apple slice sandwiches — instead of bread pieces, use slices of apple as the “bread.” Then try different things inside! I also use hummus or guacamole for dipping veggies, cold quinoa salad with tomatoes and cucumber… And instead of plain bread, I try pita pockets (and cut then in half to make them smaller) as an alternate for sandwiches. Pinterest is a wonderful resource too. Good luck!
Well, I don’t have any ideas (my son is only 9 months adjusted, and he’s still refusing solids, so… ) but, I want to tell you two things. One, you are doing FABULOUS in working with Mazzy being a picky eater. I was notorious in my family for being a super picky eater (in fact, it turns out I am a supertaster – more on that in my next point – and Mazzy and Harlow may be, as well) and frankly, my parents kind of gave in to me a lot. Not that I think they did anything wrong, they were really doing the best they could with a very strong willed girl! But I really, really applaud your efforts with Mazzy, you’re helping her SO MUCH even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
My second point – it turns out I am a “supertaster.” I have about 25% more taste buds than the average person. Things just taste SO STRONG to me, and always have. My son probably is as well, which is probably why we’re already struggling with him (I’d sigh but I really can’t say I’m surprised. At least I’ll get to experience what my parents went through with me, for karma’s sake. lol.) Mazzy and Harlow may be too, you never know. Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal article on this phenomenon: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324392804578362833147151480
So, pat yourself on the back for doing so wonderfully with your picky eating kids. I turned out fine, and they will too. You’re doing great. 🙂
Love it all!! I was glued to this post. My kids are the worst. Basically cheese sandwiches, Mac n cheese, maybe fine organic hour dogs, yogurt , chicken fingers. I did trick them w fish.sticks , I know who cares not health but I can’t stand the sane thing ask the time. We also do small meatballs from trader Joe’s
Also we do tortellini & any kind of pasta. I stressed so much about this from time to.time and I thunk it my fault. Working mom but it really is the hardest thing. Be happy mazzy eats fruit. Oh hard boiled egg
Cheese sticks, yogurt, turkey and cheese roll-ups, ham cubes
My son (a month younger than Mazzy) loves quesadillas. Hot, cold, meat, no meat, with pesto or hot sauce, and occasionally a pizza quesadilla with sauce and pepperoni. He’ll also eat pasta hot or cold. Much to his disappointment, hot cheetos and oreos are not lunch foods and I don’t care if the other kids bring them to school. I also make lunches 2-3 at a time, so he’s out of luck if he decides he doesn’t like it…
While school currently supplies her lunches these are a few things that we will do for picnics/lunches on weekends that we pack in her lunch box. I agree having a lunch box and getting to choose what order to eat is good. I’m going to focus more on the protein aspect/main part as I think that is sometimes more of a struggle.
Hard-boiled eggs – yellow taken out because she doesn’t like them.
Hummus with baby carrots/bell peppers + pretzels
Yogurt – the tubes if you freeze them the night before are defrosted by lunch time
Cheese, pepperoni, & crackers
Pasta with a side of sauce
Cheese sandwich (we are big fans of the sandwich thins)
cut up left over chicken
We just bought a few reusable snack bags and she was so excited to pack them. We did crackers in one and apples in the other and it made it fun.
Also what about soups/hot items you can put in a thermos?
My two year old loves pineapple, chunks of taco meat (ground turkey), and cooked carrots but not raw ones.
Mini cal zones from biscuits, celery, grapes and croutons aka mini garlic bread. Always wanted Benito box materials!
I’m sold!
How about fruit and veggie skewers? You can buy cute animal toothpicks.
Pasta with sauce on the side. Carrots, cucumbers or bell peppers with humus on the side.
Soup in a thermos.
tacos! tostito scoops, browned meat, cheese. bonus if it’s left over from the night before. my kid will eat 1/2 of a pound of meat that way.
i agree with hummus. mine will dip anything in it.
lastly – have you tried kosher salami? my son won’t eat regular salami, but loves hebrew national. not turkey, but it’s something!
These are so ‘neat’ looking (neat as in tidy. Not neat as in cool – though they are cool). I want some for back to school?
My son just turned 2 and he has always been a terrific eater. He especially loves the Trader Joe’s Chardonnay chicken apple sausage. I remove the casing and cut them up. He loves them hot or cold. I also make my own pasta sauces and purée in veggies such as red pepper and cauliflower. He loves the taste but not the texture so the purée sauces are great.
One things my kids will always eat are “make your own pizzas”. Whole wheat pita, homemade sauce and cheese in separate spots in Bento box. They love to scoop it all up. Otherwise I use Wildtree’s Kids Cheez and sprinkle it on their food. They used to eat anything dipped in ketchup, now they eat anything with Kids Cheez on it (www.mywildtree.com/maryvirnig).
I live in Canada, so I can’t enter, but I do have a couple of ideas! Dipping is awesome. Any fruit can be dipped in any yogurt, and yogurt has the advantage of being different colors depending on the flavor. If you’re doing cream cheese, try a different flavor (strawberry is tasty AND pink) and you can also try different flavors of bread. My oldest son is quite picky but likes really random stuff (like rye bread and mayonnaise). Good luck!
My son is a picky eater too..
Kabobs: pretzel sticks, cubed meat of choose, grapes, berries, or any fruit or veggie that can be easily skewered onto the pretzels. Use separate compartments for pretzels, meat and fruit/veggies. She will have fun making her completely edible kabobs..( my son loves this)
Sliced hard boiled eggs and ham /cheese roll ups are two favorites. We tried mac and cheese in a Thermos, but it didn’t stay warm by lunch time. Does your bento box kit have a thermos that keeps Mac & cheese or soup warm?
My 2 year old hates food – of all kinds. Have you ever met a kid who refuses to even touch a piece of fruit or a vegetable? I’m not packing lunches at this point, but I still do a lot of quick prep “meals” that might translate into a packed lunch.
She basically eats 6 things: greek yogurt, oatmeal, waffles, peanut butter, chicken nuggets and baked beans (plus chocolate and cookies of course). In order to get some additional nutrition, I still buy baby food purees and mix them in with her food (I realize I’m enabling the situation but I’m the mom so I get to do what I want!). Blueberry & Apple, Peaches, and Mangos go in the oatmeal and/or yogurt really well. Sweet potatoes mix with the baked beans. Sometimes I can get away with peaches on waffles, but usually I stick to a load of peanut butter and a bit of syrup which she then licks off. She’ll also eat mac & cheese, but there’s really no way to “healthy” up a blue box of junk.
For lunches I think waffle triangles with a fruit puree as dip would work great. Toast them in the morning and they’re good to go! Baked beans are messy, but do the job especially with added sweet potatoes. It might work to have some Triscuits to dip in veggie-filled spaghetti sauce. I can’t tell you that based on experience of course… We used to do spoonfuls of hummus with pretzel chips, but for some reason that got nixed recently. That’s as far as my creativity goes at this point!
“We elves like to stick to the 4 main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup!” Not sure why I felt it necessary to quote Elf, but it seemed fitting.
I have the worlds pickiest third grader (soon to be). Every single day – grilled cheese sandwich ( which turns room temp and not so gooey I imagine) and some sort of other snacks. I’d love to get her to eat better!
Edamame, cream cheese on pita bread
Sunflower seeds might be an option if you can’t give her nuts.
That is exactly the usual menu for my preschooler because I am always in a hurry.
My daughter’s school last year had a peanut product ban so I had to get pretty creative.
One thing I found that has not been mentioned- Laughing Cow Cheese spread. It’s lower in fat and calories than cream cheese but it does the same job. And it helps “seal” rollup sandwiches. My 5 year old is not really a fan of bread but she will eat tortillas.
Also- it is a big pain some days but having her help me “make” the rollups or pack other items and that helps her get excited to eat it later at school.
You have some great ideas for “snacks!” Lucy loves fruits and veggies but I find I get into a rut. She loves cucumbers and cherry tomatoes so thanks for the reminder that they can go in school lunches!
I echo what others have said about hummus. I think carrots are an easier sell with some sort of dip!
As someone who works with children I can definitely identify with your struggles! I see some of the lunches and am blown away by the creativity most of the time. Does Mazzy like eggs in any form? If you do hard boiled you could cut shapes in both the egg whites and the yolk. Just an idea for protein. My sister has had great luck with making smoothies and putting in vanilla protein powder along with fruit. Just an idea. 🙂 I would love to be entered in your contest. These lunch items also make great gift ideas for those hard to buy for school and day care kiddos. Thank you for all your posts! They are phenomenal!
Since she didn’t like the tortilla but likes bread, cut the crusts off a piece of bread and roll the bread flat with a rolling pin. Then roll up the bread with turkey and cut into “sushi rolls.” It’s softer than a tortilla. My kids love “sandwich sushi” this way.
When I don’t have actual leftovers to send (the kids love lentils and soup) I usually go with a turkey and cheese rollup, hummus and naan, or a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a tiny bit of cinnamon or honey. Those never fail for us.
And yes, a cookie cutter is a magical thing, for sure!
I really love that Mazzy had so much FOMO for pizza hot lunch that she refused to touch her turkey. That is so funny.
Sorry, I know you were looking for food suggestions but I’m not your gal. We are an m&m yogurt household. We get in our veggies and new proteins in every night at dinner and also on the weekends.
You can totally put those plastic containers in the dishwasher. They’re made w/o bpa now so the chemical isn’t even there to leech out.
Since the general populace freaked out about bpa, most food container manufactures stopped using it in an effort to get people to purchase their product.
I am so thankful for this post! I, too, have a super picky eater starting kindergarten in a few weeks. I feel like such a lame mother sending her with cheese and crackers and an applesauce pouch everyday!! Some really great ideas on here! Can’t wait to try them out!!!
We love bento lunches in our house. I do it to control calories for my boys. The sandwich sushi is awesome for reducing refined carbs. My boys love olives, hummus, and pita triangles. I also make kabobs out of fruit, or cheese and meat.
I LOVED this! I love that you use reusable containers and that you showed us what you packed and what she ate! Question, do the boxes come with different compartments (I see you used 2, 3, and 4 ones) or can you change them yourself? That’d be awesome if you could change them yourself. What I find the most challenging about packing lunches is that kids can’t heat up their lunch and we eat hot foods for dinner. It’d be so much easier just to pack up leftovers. Nevertheless, I gotta get with the system. I am a boring lunch packer (same sandwich, change the fruit and snack) so I’m excited to see what your readers suggest and what you implement and what Mazzy likes/dislikes!
Our boys love apples “sandwiches” with PB or sunbutter. I also found individual serving sizes of hummus and guacamole from Costco – great for dipping veggies into. Individually wrapped plums we call “candy”. Homemade lunchables with triscuits, cheese and ham or pepperoni. Hard boiled eggs (only the whites!!) are also an easy option. We’ve also invested in FOGO thermoses so we can pack warm food like soups or oatmeal with fresh fruit slices.
My twins start preschool in 2 weeks. This will be all of our first attempt at packed lunches.
I’ve brainstormed a lunches for my daughter-the picky one. My son will eat anything that is in front of him.
My daughter is a carb fiend and our problem is getting in enough veggies and protein.
We’re thinking of sending them to school with a basic pasta salad (my daughter will eat pasta for every meal)of pasta, cheese, tomatos, oil and vinegar. crackers, baby carrots, and hummus (my son would eat hummus for every meal – just hummus though, by the fist full). And lots of fruit – because preschoolers love fruit.
ooooooh…. that’s a great idea. Googling frozen themes toothpicks now… (i guess pink toothpicks would be good too!)
I used to have a toasted banana and peanutbutter open-faced sandwich every morning. I LOVED THEM. Mazzy would never touch it because she hates peanutbutter but I might start making them for myself again!
Mazzy doesn’t like nuts but for some reason she loves almonds. I’m going to start sticking those inside. Thanks!
Yes, both my kids are definitely grazers/snackers. Harlow can’t even eat sitting still. She likes to play and come back to her food to pick at it every so often. I guess it makes sense that Mazzy wouldn’t eat a bunch in one setting. But I don’t think she is allowed to eat like that throughout the day.
Here you go! Thanks for asking!
http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=864285
That’s a great idea to use lunchables as a template.
We use the thermos a lot. Soup, leftover grilled pork loin, chicken, chicken nuggets, turkey meatballs. Gives them a lot of variety. You heat them up with very hot water and it keeps the food warm for about 4-5 hours.
They will eat ALL fruit. Another big hit is spinach salad with grilled chicken, carrots and cucumbers.
I have noticed that I, too, get a fair amount of returned food… but it also happens at dinner. So we tried something… a few more types of food and much smaller portions. It has worked wonders. Kids see so much food in front of them and they get overwhelmed. It’s better to give less and have them ask for more. We usually leave the bowls of veggies and fruit on the table in front of them so they can get more if they want it. This is especially true with new foods. My daughter (3) is not picky at all. My son (6) is EXTREMELY picky. But, when I try something new (the other night it was meatloaf), I put 3 bites worth on his plate, along with the rest of his dinner. Our deal is that he has to TRY the new item, before he can decide if he doesn’t like it. He tried it, he liked it, and asked for a little more! 🙂 WIN!
And I will never give up my snack-size ziplocs 🙂 I use them to portion out goldfish crackers, cereal, pretzels, etc in our snack cabinet, so the kids can grab something and make their own choices about their snacks. I also have the bottom drawer in our fridge stocked the same way (with apples, carrots, yogurt, applesauce, etc.)
Really great chart of portions for kids 🙂
http://fit.webmd.com/jr/parents/pdf/pdf-how-much-to-feed-chart-4-to-8
If she loves almonds maybe she’d love almond butter?? You could give her celery with almond butter if she goes for it 🙂
I used a PlanetBox for my daughter last year. I love the concept, but the box itself was too heavy for a petite/low percentile for height/weight 4 year old in preschool. I ended up using a Rubbermaid cool bag, Thermos, and washable/stackable containers from Target that worked much better from a practical standpoint. But I spent a lot of money on TWO different PlanetBoxes trying to make them work, so you can be sure as pits that I will attempt to use them again.
But I also did all of the “cute little cookie cutter” sandwiches, veggies, and cheese shapes. I did the color coordinated, yet contrasting, fruit mixtures, healthy snacks, etc. You know what? By the end of the year, it was cold chicken tenders with a tube of BBQ sauce, ONE cut fruit, a “dry/salty” snack, and a dip. And a dried pineapple slice, “just in case”. I found that individual size hummus and guacamole packs (from Costco) freeze well, but thaw by the time kiddo would eat it at school, so at least I knew that she got SOME protein.
And DO NOT underestimate the barter system at school lunch. I learned about this when my kiddo came home with a 1/2 eaten bag of Cheetos one day last year … I had never fed her Cheetos in her entire life. Seems as though “Cheetos” were some kind of barter currency in the preK lunch … I literally started joking that it was like cigarettes in prison, but Cheetos in preK. Then the same thing happened with a 1/2 eaten bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. So I took the hint. Once in awhile, I will surprise her with a snack size bag of true, branded junk food, just so she can seem “cool”. But otherwise, I buy the organic alternative and put it in a ziploc bag.
But have no doubt there is a school lunch currency-barter system. It’s hilarious, too.
I like Planetbox, and if you search for ideas using Planetbox, there’s tons! Weelicious is a good site, as well as 100 Days of Real Food. Try making a sandwich using pancakes instead of bread. Muffins with veggies in them. I’ve used plain yogurt mixed with honey as a dip for carrots and my daughter loved them! I sometimes use an insulated Thermos food jar for warm foods like rice or dumplings.