Chase’s teacher repacks what the kids don’t eat for lunch and I LOVE that she does this for a myriad of reasons: 1.) I reuse his leftovers. Whatever he doesn’t eat as his lunch that day automatically becomes part of his after school snack. I simply re-plate it and add a few “new” foods to spruce it up a little. 2.) I can see what foods are never a hit. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop including vegetables in Chase’s lunch but it does mean I’ll offer him veggies I know he’s more likely to eat (carrots) more frequently than the ones he will often pass over (bell peppers). Below the photos of Chase’s lunches, I’ve included notes about what he ate from that day’s lunch since a photo of a child’s lunch can be deceiving since (at least in our experience) they rarely eat everything that is packed for them.
I have a simple formula I stick to when it comes to assembling Chase’s lunch everyday and it looks like this:
- Include one fruit
- Include one vegetable
- Include a source of healthy fats
- Include a source of protein
Chase’s Bentogo Bento Box makes it really easy to check all of these boxes off and assembling his lunch before school every morning doesn’t take long at all. As for his drink, he gets water with lunch every day. (He uses and loves this stainless steel water bottle.)
And since I am sure I’ll get questions about the lack of animal protein in Chase’s lunches, I’ll quickly address this by saying Chase doesn’t love meat. He will eat burgers and sausage and occasionally chicken nuggets (only the frozen kind — he doesn’t even like Chik-fil-A) at home but the majority of his protein comes from nuts and dairy as well as whole grains since they have protein, too! Also worth noting is the fact that Chase’s preschool does not have any allergy limitations so nuts and peanut butter are a staple in his lunches.
10 Preschool Lunches
Lunch #1
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Dave’s Killer Bread (Thin Slice — love this for both boys!), cucumber slices, apple slices, leftover chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar rolled into balls, From the Ground Up cauliflower stars cheese crackers
What he ate: Sandwich (but not the crust), all of the chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar bites, half of the cucumber slices, half of the apple slices, none of the cauliflower crackers
Lunch #2
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sliced colby jack cheese, cashews, cucumber slices, carrots, strawberries
What he ate: Sandwich (but not the crust — do you see a pattern here?), all of the cheese, all of the cashews, one cucumber slice, half of the strawberries, a couple of carrots
Lunch #3
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Bitsy’s Cinnamon Sweet Potato Graham Smart Crackers, dried cranberries, sliced yellow bell pepper, clementine
What he ate: Sandwich (no crust), all of the crackers, all of the clementine, none of the cranberries, none of the bell pepper
Lunch #4
In Chase’s lunchbox: Whole wheat pumpkin muffin (topped with sprinkles for a little flare), strawberries, carrots, cashews, leftover Larabar rolled into balls
What he ate: All of the muffin, all of the cashews, half of the strawberries, a few of the Larabar bites and a couple of carrots
Lunch #5
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Simple Mills crackers, cashews, cucumber slices, strawberries
What he ate: A few bites of sandwich, all of the crackers, all of the cashews, one cucumber slice, a couple of strawberries
Lunch #6
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, leftover Larabar rolled into balls, carrots, strawberries, string cheese
What he ate: Sandwich (no crust), all of the Larabar bites, all but two carrots, half of the strawberries, none of the string cheese (this surprised me because he almost always eats cheese in his lunches!)
Lunch #7
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple slices, leftover Larabar rolled into balls, raisins, cucumber slices
What he ate: Sandwich (no crust), all of the raisins, all of the Larabar bites, half of the apple slices, one cucumber slice
Lunch #8
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, leftover chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar rolled into balls, carrots, apple slices
What he ate: Sandwich (no crust), all of the Larabar bites, a couple of carrots, half of the apple slices, all of the Cheddar Bunnies
Lunch #9
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pistachios, carrots, hard-boiled egg white (he hates the yolks) sprinkled with pink Himalayan salt, leftover chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar rolled into balls (Note: I asked his teachers if a hard-boiled egg white was too smelly to pack in a previous lunch and they said it was just fine!)
What he ate: Most of his sandwich, all of the egg, half of the pistachios, half of the larabar bites, none of the carrots
Lunch #10
In Chase’s lunchbox: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, green beans, hard-boiled egg white sprinkled with pink Himalayan salt, cashews, Larabar bites
What he ate: Most of his sandwich (no crust), all of the cashews, all of the egg, a couple of green beans, half of the Larabar bites
Question of the Day
Are there certain “staples” you include in your little one’s lunch every day?
As you can tell, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich finds its way into Chase’s lunch most days.
The post A Peek Into 10 Preschool Lunches appeared first on Peanut Butter Fingers.
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