Virtual Lunch Party: Day Five

We made it over the half way point, welcome to day five friends!

Tomorrow’s lunch is chicken cutlet, which in my world often translates to chicken nuggets or leftover chicken from dinner the night before. My boys are quite happy eating chicken nuggets or cutlet at room temperature – I get asked that question often. I usually pack them and leave them in the fridge overnight and heat them up before school in the morning, and while they aren’t piping hot at lunchtime, I have yet to get a complaint from either kiddo.

If you’re wanting to try a normally warm food at a cooler temp, I’d recommend doing so on the weekend first. I believe I’ve already shared this, but I never try new foods or methods for school lunches – I don’t like to waste and I especially don’t like to leave a hungry kid hanging.

With that being said, here is a quick video of today’s lunch for the pickiest eater in the house. I consider myself lucky in this department because while this guy has quite the sweet tooth, he still loves green veggies!

Some tips and takeaways from today’s video:

Try new lunchboxes! I laughed out loud when I wrote that, haha! I’ve been a Bentgo Kids girl for over a year now, and while I have nothing but good things to say, I think it’s time for me to step outside the box (literally). I haven’t been afraid to try newbies, I mostly just didn’t want to spend the money. Anyway, I got these little containers on Amazon for a few bucks and they will certainly do the trick for summer lunches. If you’re in the market for a new box, you can check out this roundup I did a few weeks back.
Leftovers make great main dishes the next day! My “chicken cutlet” for tomorrow’s lunch is actually left over BBQ chicken from last night. If you don’t do this super often, it’s a great way to mix up your daily lunches. In fact, tomorrow is leftover day! More on leftovers tomorrow 😉

Today I have yet another guest mama sharing her tips with you! Today’s guest is Holley from HolleyGrainger.com and she’s sharing tips for dealing with picky eaters. This is a huge topic, and something I can’t speak on that much since I only have one semi-picky eater. Holley is a mom, food blogger and dietician, and she also shares her girl’s lunches on Instagram! (you can find her here)

Here’s Holley…

So often the idea of lunchbox packing for a picky child can seem overwhelming for well-intended parents. While my girls’ “choosiness” can make me want to bang my head against a wall when it comes to breakfast and dinner planning, I’ve finally broken through the lunchtime drama by following these 3 tips. While no system is perfect, by slowly incorporating these practices at all of your meals, hopefully, lunchtime will become a peaceful, pleasant and most importantly, nourishing time for your child.

1. Let Your Child Choose. Sure, if it were up to my children they would have chips, cookies and maybe some strawberries for lunch every day. As a mom and dietitian, I know that they aren’t going to get the fuel they need when they aren’t eating a balanced meal. However, that doesn’t mean that your child can’t help plan. For younger children, go through each food group and give options…Cheese, yogurt or both? Turkey or ham? Carrots, peppers, or celery? Ranch, hummus or guacamole? For your older kiddos, let them use meal planning apps to help them see their choices and make their selections.

2. Make a “Yes” List. Create a list of foods your child likes taking every food group into account. Force yourself to go beyond, “she only eats red fruit” or “he won’t eat vegetables” and find those foods that may not necessarily fit into the “lunch” category. Once you create your list, think about other ways to serve that particular food. For example, if your child likes potatoes, can you do homemade baked fries, roasted potato wedges, mashed potatoes, potato cakes or a baked potato?

3. Just Add Dip. I’m often called out by parents questioning how I can label a lunchbox as “healthy” when it has ranch dressing in it. I always respond the same way saying that if a little bit of ranch means that my child will use it as a dip for grilled chicken, lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers then I’m totally fine with it because they otherwise wouldn’t have eaten those foods. Identify “vehicle foods” like this (ketchup, hummus, guacamole, etc.) and don’t be ashamed to include them in a lunchbox.

Holley recently filmed a segment on this exact topic that I think is absolutely wonderful, watch here:

How fun is that #healthylittlelunchbox? Like I said, Holley shares some great ideas on her Instagram account, but you can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest YouTube and Twitter!

Come on over to the Facebook group and chat with us about picky eaters! Do you have one? Do you have any tried and true strategies yourself? Chat with us here!