Lunch Idea for 1 and 3 Year Old - Healthy Ideas Please!

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends as a sample menu for a day for each of their ages.
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

It sounds like you're really doing well so far in terms of establishing healthy habits early. While kids can eat anything we do, they have different nutritional needs because of their rapid development that we don't have as adults. So, making sure you're balancing the appropriate amount of fat, protein, and carbs based upon their needs (your one year old needs much more fat for proper brain development, for example).

One thing we're getting a lot of mileage out of right now (kids are 3.5 years and almost 2) are the rotisserie chickens from Costco. Once you peel away the skin, you have a lot of healthy protein in the chicken, and it feeds a family of 4 at least 3 good meals.

Usually, our kids eat a protein (lunch meat, chicken, turkey burgers that have been premaid), a fresh fruit/veggie (we spend about $25/week at Costco on product to have it fresh and abundant - the exception is that they both love frozen shelled edamame), and some kind of carb (yogurt, bread, etc).

The other thing both kids do really well with are quesadillas that you can fill with just about anything from beans to chicken, any kind of veggie.

My only caution (from having worked with Dieticians for many years) is to make sure there are "treats" occasionally available. Kids tend to go off the deep end when introduced to things they're not exposed to.

My son's favorite lunch (he's7) is what he calls a "picking plate." Some cold meat (ham or turkey), crackers, cheeses, olives and pickles and some fruit (grapes or apples, etc.) He loves to eat like that--variety, variety, variety.
He also loves soups for lunch.

We eat very healthy in our house too. Little to no processed foods. I would hate to ever use the word DIET with kids, however, our family is proun to obesity, therefore I choose health eating habits. I get my kids excited about healthy food by telling them its good for their heart. They love telling others about healthy food too.
I just got this really great idea from a friend: Frozen sandwhiches. I know it sounds crazy, but its so much fun to make and then they are super easy to put in a bag and hit the road or microwave for about 10 seconds for lunch (they are better if you take them out in the morning and leave them on the counter to thaw, if you remember :)). You can make so many variations. Pampered Chef sells the sandwhich press and i also found them on Ebay. The girls can help make the sandwhiches, this usually gets my kids to try new things if I let them help prepare. Anyway, give it a try. Here is a website i found with great information and recipes. http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciq-freezing-sandwiches.shtml
Also, my kids love chicken and rice, which you can also make up ahead of time. We add different veggies to is and lunch is served! Ever get them to eat Taco salad? My kids love it for lunch...we play a "crunching" game (only at home though) to see who can crunch their lettuce the loudest. Might not be the best table manners, but they otherwise have wonderful manners and it gets them to eat their salad!

For your own 'pre-packaged' meals to save time, since they alredy love cucumbers and tomatos, try making them into mini-wraps - there are so many type of healthy versions of tortillas out there - spinach, wheat, sundried tomato...try them with a reduced fat plain or flavored cream cheese. Other ideas are turkey dogs with carrots and dip; grilled cheese with whole grain bread (you could even slide in the tomato!). Do they like bell peppers? Great to accompany any meal or for a snack for extra veggies.

I would focus less on what they "should" eat for lunch. My kids typically eat kind of odd combinations (but we have special dietary needs here - no milk and no wheat) of food that end up being extra large versions of snacks. For instance, they eat a few pieces of cucumber, 1 1/2 oranges, some veggie chips (kind of like potato chips, but slightly healthier as there is carrot and spinach puree in them), hummus. That can be eaten over an hour long period and I would still count it as lunch. You have veggies, carbs, protein and fruit, and while it may not be "traditional", it's still a good meal. Some of my kids other favorites are tortilla pizzas, which are corn tortillas with a cheese alternative and pepperoni and some veggies on top. Also, peanut butter and jelly is a good option here, as well as peanut butter on celery sticks or apples with raisins (ants on a log).

I think the point is not to have to have a traditional lunch, but more to have the major food groups covered in the course of a day. Good luck, though! I know it's hard (I have a 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old at home).

Here are some of my son's favorites (he is almost 2):

Soups: Chicken soup, chicken-noodle soup, lentil or yellow split pea soup, broccoli or broccolini (baby broccoli) soup, mixed veggie soup
Spinach (sautee organic baby spinach with onions, add some water and cook until soft)
Green beans (cooked with sauteed onions in tomato sauce)
Rice or pasta with veggies: Zucchini rice (sautee diced zucchini and onions, add water and rice, cook, add spices/herbs like black pepper and dill). You can also add diced vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc) into pasta while cooking.
Carbs: Whole wheat couscous and quinoa, organic mac and cheese/pasta (Annie's has some great options), bulgur wheat (cooked with onions, Anaheim peppers and tomatos)
Fish: He loves salmon! Either grill or put in a frying pan (add some water, little butter/oil, lemon juice, close lid and cook until softens. This makes it softer and easier to eat)

I thought he didn't like (dry) beans/legumes but the other day he ate quite a bit of leftover pinto beans. So it is good to offer/try different foods, I guess!

We have tried Peanut butter and strawberry sandwiches. We use organic grain bread, natural peanut butter and strawberry slices instead of jelly. Also, the ants on a log is a favorite. Celery, peanut butter and raisins.

We sometimes will have raw carrots, hummus, yogurt and and apple.

I try to stray from packaged things.