What do I feed my kids......Lunch Ideas!

What do I feed my kids??? A question I hear a lot and honestly a lot of people seem to get stuck in this area. It doesn't have to be fancy but it does need some variety, so that in hopes they eat better and more. So, I get a lot of questions on what I feed all my daycare babies.  And it can be a handful at times feeding 8 plus kids for breakfast, lunch and snack and I too, quickly run out of ideas! So I'm left to make it fun and interesting for the kids so they are hopefully a little less picky(which who doesn't have a picky eater!) So I've decided to share a weeks worth of lunch ideas to hopefully inspire you to make some fun meals and maybe find and try something new!

So I'm required to give my daycare babies a variety of foods with fruits, vegetables, protein and bread, which sometimes can make meal planning a little easier! I plan out all my meals from daycare to home (including Elise and Brandon's lunches). That way I have a game plan and options for the week and can stick to a shopping list. Plus it also helps me not over buy when it comes to the dreaded grocery store shopping, my least favorite chore! Although I've recently come to love of online shopping and that makes grocery shopping a little less of a pain!

So what do I feed these kids? I only pictures Monday's meal as you probably get the idea of what everything looks like! So here it is:

                                                                               Monday- This was Halloween so 

today was a little bit more special lunch

They had spider PB/J with pretzel legs

grapes kabobs, banana and blueberries

cheese stick and kettle corn.

Tuesday-

So this is a huge favorite and we make this several 

different way, but today it was simple.

Cheese and black bean quesadillas (sometimes we add in grilled chicken and kale and it's awesome!)

corn, pineapple, salsa and

tortilla chips for dipping. 

Wednesday-

So this is kinda a fancy lunch (sorta) but they all love it!

Their "fancy" consist's of:

Grilled Chicken (just with salt and pepper)

white rice, green beans, peaches and everyone's favorite

garlic bread!

Thursday-

So this is a complete "duh" meal, it's a meal that kids LOVE, 

you can probably guess what it is....my son asks for this all the time.....

If you said SPAGHETTI the your right!!!

Sometimes I will add tiny mushrooms and they never notice!

So with that they had apple slices, salad with ranch and

honey carrots! (these are awesome and sooooo yummy!)

Friday-

Chicken Enchilada's

(I make this in the crock pot and cheat and layer tortilla, sauce, shredded chicken and cheese and repeat) you can also add black beans and kale!

it takes only 3 hours so I can usually get this in in the morning and we are set!

I serve this with tortilla chips so they can scoop it up and ranch ( they usually eat anything with ranch!)

We also have corn, steamed broccoli and mandarin oranges

So obviously some of these ideas either you probably already try or do but it just gives you an idea what I do for my kids! I do give my kids breakfast and snack and those ideas I honestly usually just put on a rotation so that it makes planning a lot easier! But here are some ideas:

Breakfast ( we also have to give them a side of fruit with whatever is listed!):

Cinnamon Rolls

Pancakes

PB toast

Cereal

Egg tacos

Banana Bread

Blueberry Muffins

Biscuits and Gravy (everyone's favorite!)

Just to name a few

Snacks:

Trail mix (chex cereal, kettle corn, marshmallows, peanuts and pretzels)

Pumpkin muffins

Brocomole and tort chips (sooo yummy!)  

Pizza Bagels (homemade)

Rice cakes

Cottage Cheese and fruit

Pepperoni, cheese and crackers

granola bars and yogurt

So hopefully those give you some quick simple ideas when you are thinking of planning on what to feed the kids and family! I'm already looking at next week lunches and have the base planned and they are:

Monday-Chili Mac (great for fall weather!) and cornbread

Tuesday- Cinnamon french toast with eggs and sausage

Wednesday- Open face Chicken pot pies over biscuits

Thursday- Re fried bean (homemade) and salsa tortillas

Friday- Ham and cheese roll ups with broccoli salad

So that is what goes on at my house at lunch! It's a lot to make 8 plates and any given time and feed two babies! That means lots of dishes, cleaning and tons of messy chairs and floors! They are precious little tiny humans though and even though they are messy they are the best!

Enjoy!