Create healthy and easy lunches for toddlers
My daughter has been attending a new (to her) daycare since January, and I have to send breakfast, lunch and snacks for her daily. In an effort to keep things from being boring, I try to create different lunches for her. I’m also trying to keep the lunches healthy. Since I’m preparing lunches every night, I’ve had to come up with a lot of easy lunches for toddlers. The one thing I’ve been consistent with is sending Happy Tots Whole Milk Yogurt Cups every day.
My daughter eats a LOT. Sometimes I will try to send leftovers from our dinners for her. There are a few days that I know it’s going to be a battle for her caretaker to get her to eat, so I’ll resort to a sandwich. My daughter is also pretty independent – aren’t all 2-year-olds? (Gosh, I can’t believe she’s almost 2!) Since Miss Independent can do everything by herself, I send a variety of foods she can eat on her own.
Every day she gets:
- breakfast (cereal or pancakes or waffles. She also eats eggs and banana at home before daycare.)
- fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries) – I send two servings
- sandwich or leftovers
- cheese stick
- Happy Tot Whole Yogurt cup
- apple sauce pouch or a toddler snack bar (think granola bars, but specifically for toddlers.)
- usually a serving of a vegetable – the girl loves tomatoes, so those are easy. If I have carrots that are soft enough for her, I send those. Or a steamed vegetable from dinner the night before.
See? It’s a lot of food! The one thing she absolutely loves day in and day out are her yogurt cups. I discovered these several weeks ago when we knew we wanted to incorporate more probiotics into her diet. I compared several brands, and these are specifically made with toddlers in mind. They’re made with whole milk, organic ingredients and no added sweeteners!
This girl. She’s a (sweet) mess. I do let her eat her yogurt on her own, when we’re at home and done for the day. I think at daycare she feeds herself for a little bit and then someone helps her, so she doesn’t get yogurt everywhere.
I purchase two different flavors for her (because these are the easiest for me to find.) The Happy Tot Yogurt cups in Strawberry Banana Oats & Chia seem to be a favorite of hers, and to switch things up, I’ve given her the Apple & Pear flavor. (Download a coupon for HappyFamily products today!)
Clearly she’s happy with either flavor! Be sure to check out this coupon for the Happy Tot yogurt!
What are your favorite toddler lunch items?
