Easy Toddler Lunch box Ideas and recipes for Daycare- Week 1

Today I am sharing the most asked post, Easy Toddler lunch box ideas and recipes for daycare. I pack lunch, AM snacks, and PM snacks for V every day. I pack them in separate boxes, so his teacher knows exactly what to offer him for every meal. He gets berries, fruits, and sandwiches for snacks, so his lunch Includes carbs + protein, + veggies.

For reference, V is 17 months old! He enjoys parathas & pasta more than rice, so we make more veggie stuffed parathas or cheese quesadillas with beans/chickpeas/chicken on the side, and his favorite aka meal completer YOGURT!

These lunch box ideas are simple and what we eat as a family. We mostly cook Indian food at home and a mix of Mexican, Chinese and Italian food. We want him to enjoy all sorts of food, so I try to offer him a variety, but it’s not always possible.  In this lunch box series, you will find a mix of different cuisines, but the majority will be Indian. 

In today’s post, I am sharing what I packed in his lunch box in the first week of starting daycare. I will try to post one weekly; each post will have 5 days of lunch box ideas and recipes. So let’s get into the post.

Easy Toddler Lunch box Ideas & Recipes for Daycare

Monday- Homemade Chipotle 

For day1, I packed Cilantro lime rice, beans, and Guacamole.

Cilantro lime rice– I mixed cilantro and squeezed some lime into the cooked white rice; it tastes so good, just like chipotle white rice.

Beans– these are homemade beans; I soak them overnight or 4-5 hours and pressure cook them. I  don’t add any seasonings or salt. He likes it plain so we go with it.

Guacamole– Avacodo mixed with onions, tomato, lime, and cilantro. Sprinkled a tiny bit of salt and pepper into it

Tuesday-  Carrot Paratha (bread), Sauteed paneer, yogurt, and Cherry tomatoes

Carrot & Peas Paratha–  Steamed carrot and peas with spices added to the wheat flour, I will share the recipe soon

Fennel Sautted paneer– This tastes so good guys, myself and Rajesh love it with Parathas. Fennel is a hidden treasure, it’s packed with fiber, good for gut health, heart health, anti-inflamatory and a wholesome seed to include into yours and your kid’s meals. Sharing a quick recipe below-

Recipe:

• Cut paneer into a cubes and keep it aside.
• Heat oil or ghee in a pan, add fennel seeds to it and let it flutter.
• Add choice of your veggies, I add onions and bell pepper.  I first add onions, sautee for a min and then add bell peppers.
• Add salt, coriander and cumin powder, kasoori methi to the veiggies, cook the veggies for few mins until they are soft.
• Now add the paneer to it, cook until the paneer is soft.

Cheery tomatoes and homemade yogurt on the side

Wednesday- Cheese Quesadilla, Chicken Nuggets and Steamed Carrots

Cheese Quesadilla with Almond Flour Tortillas– Almonds are the only nuts allowed at his daycare. I try to incorporate almond flour or almond butter into his meals. I get the almond flour tortillas at Trader’s Joes, they taste so good. Shared them in my recent Trader Joe’s haul I did on my IG stories 

Homemade Chicken Nuggets– Check this post for the recipe, it’s easy you can either deep fry it or bake it.

Steamed Carrots- We have a Beaba Baby Steam and Cook which makes steaming veggies in the morning very easy and quick. You can also steam them in the instant pot with this insert, choose the steam option at high pressure for 2 mins.

Thrusday- Mixed veg Paratha (bread), Cucumber and Yogurt

Mixed Veg Paratha– Steamed veggies -(Cauliflower, carrots, peas, broccoli) stuffed into wheat flour dough. I will share the recipe soon.

Homemade yogurt and Cucumber cut into pieces on the side

Friday- Pongal, Steamed peans, Clementines and Yogurt

Pongal– favorite one pot meal on days when he is down with cold and cough, made with rice, moong lentils, pepper and ginger.

Steamed Peas– Make this in the BEABA, I don’t add any seasoning or butter or salt to it, V eats it plain so I don’t improvise it.

Clementines from breakfast leftover and homemade yogurt on the side

I reviewed this stainless steel lunch box in my toddler daycare essential post, it’s leakproof and each compartment is sealed so yogurt and everything else stays in place!

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Like this? checkout my other Toddler-friendly Posts

• Homemade Chicken Nuggets Recipe
• One-pot Broccoli Cheddar Pasta
• Daycare Essentials
• Toddler Summer Essentials
• Toddler Summer Outfit Ideas
• Vihaan’s first birthday Celebrations
• Jungle theme Cake Smash

If you make any of the recipes or take inspo from this post, do tag me on Instagram and send a DM. It will make my day <3