5 Simple Kid Lunches (2 Years Old + 5 Years Old)

A little more than a month ago, after sharing a quick snapshot of Chase and Ryder’s lunch on Instagram Stories, I had someone send me a direct message asking me to continue sharing their meals on IG. When I shared this request publicly, I had more than a few people say they loved seeing a peek into the boys’ eats so I’m hoping it might be of interest to some of you guys, too! Here are 5 simple kid lunches to try.

Today’s post is one I actually started working on before Rhett was born and before the boys began preschool last week, so it includes glimpses into what their lunches look like when we’re all at home together. I can try to make sharing the boys’ meals a little more of a regular thing around here and share their breakfasts, dinners and preschool lunchbox lunches, too, so just let me know if that’s something you’d like to see more of on the blog! You’ll quickly realize our meals are very simple — most take 5 minutes or less to plate up — so there’s nothing too crazy going on around here.

Also, before sharing their lunches below, I have a few caveats I must share because that’s what bloggers have to do these days, right? First, our boys are big snackers. Sometimes I feel like they eat little meals all day long, so their main meals might not seem as big or hearty as you might think they need, but that’s often because they’ve been snacking. (They will also often request a yogurt pouch, whole wheat pumpkin muffin or a spoonful of vanilla almond butter soon after lunch if they’re still hungry, so on days where their lunches might look lighter, they likely either snacked before lunch or soon after lunch.) Second, I’m sharing their meals here to show you guys what works for us and not at all to make you think this is what your kids should eat. You do you! You know your children better than anyone else and I know mine better than anyone else and we’re all just doing the best we can to help our little ones grow up healthy and strong. I try my best to keep Chase and Ryder’s meals relatively healthy when we’re at home together and that typically looks like trying to incorporate fruits, veggies, whole grains, a source of protein (often from dairy, beans or nuts because they’re not huge meat eaters) and fats into every meal.

5 Simple Kid Lunches

• Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers + Cheese + Pickle + Carrots/Cucumbers + Blueberries + Pouch

This was a snack plate lunch which is one of my go-to lunches to whip out when we’re low on food. The boys always love lunches like this and went to town on this one! Chase and Ryder are both 100 percent obsessed with pickles so that was their favorite thing from this lunch but they also inhaled their pouches (these were the Simply Nature organic prune, butternut squash, quinoa and apple pouches from ALDI) and the crackers. Simple Mills almond flour crackers are my favorite because they’re filled with healthy fats and a bit of protein so they have more staying power than traditional crackers. Plus, the boys love them!

• Quesadilla/PB&J Sandwich + Hard Boiled Eggs + Red Bell Pepper + Pear Slices

Chase is a quesadilla fanatic… Ryder, not so much. While the boys typically eat very similar meals, sometimes a few things on their plates vary, as was the case with their lunch on this particular afternoon. While Chase had a quesadilla made with cheese and fresh basil, Ryder had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Their sides were the same — hard boiled egg with salt, raw red bell pepper (Ryder’s favorite veggie!) and pear slices.

• Grilled Cheese + Hard Boiled Egg + Carrots with Ranch + Grapes

Our kids LOVE grilled cheese and always get super psyched when a gooey grilled cheese finds its way on their lunch or dinner plate. I typically make their grilled cheese using ALDI’s Simply Nature Thin Slice Organic Graintastic Bread or Dave’s Killer Bread Organic Thin Slice 21 Whole Grains because both are thin sliced and great for little hands and mouths. A hard boiled egg paired with carrots and grapes rounded out their meals (Ryder’s were sliced smaller/thinner) and they gobbled this one up. Chase also had some ranch dressing on the side for dipping his carrots.

• PB&J + Hard Boiled Egg + Strawberries + Cucumber + Yogurt

The number of hard boiled eggs we go through in our house on a weekly basis blows my mind. (Thank goodness for our egg cooker which makes preparing + peeling the eggs a breeze!) Our boys love them (but unfortunately not the yolks — they both think they’re too dry) so they pop up on their plates for meals and snacks all the time. For this lunch, they ate their eggs with a little salt on the side for dipping, along with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sliced strawberries and cucumber. I specifically remember both boys requesting Stonyfield whole milk yogurt pouches as they ate this lunch as well but they didn’t make it into the picture.

• Simple Mills Pizza + Cucumbers + Peaches

This was a rainy day lunch so it was a little more involved than usual. The boys helped me make pizza using a box mix from Simple Mills (hooray for making lunches that also serve as an activity!) and we topped it with pizza sauce and shredded cheese and served it with a side of sliced peaches and cucumbers with salt. I buy the pizza crust mix from Thrive Market and our whole family loves it!

Question of the Day

What are some of your little ones’ favorite foods to eat for lunch?