Thursday, August 18, 2016

Little Bits of Lots of Things

Earlier this summer I posted the picture below on Instagram and lots of y'all commented that you were interested in lunch ideas.  Over the last month of so I've been snapping pictures of the kids lunches and today I thought I'd share!

While we do have the occasional sandwich, chips and an apple lunch - my kids typically pick the "stuff" off of the bread and eat just that so I try not to do many sandwiches and instead go for "little bits of lots of things" as they call it :)  Here you go - lots of easy ideas!

Cheese - Salami - Yogurt - Fruit - Peanut Butter on Triscuits - Smart Pop



Fruit snacks - blueberries, strawberries, grapes - sliced cooked carrots - yogurt - ham - cheez its - mini pizza


Vanilla yogurt - apple slices - mandarin oranges - monster cookie - hummus - apple cinnamon rice cakes - carrots - pretzel thins - turkey slice  - cheddar cheese



String Cheese - Pretzels - Salami - Peanut Butter Spoon ;) - Mandarin Oranges with blueberries - Leftover pancake with strawberry jelly



Ham - Mac and Cheese - Yogurt - Goldfish (pink princess variety - hahaha) - strawberries with bananas - meatball - muenster cheese


 Cheerios and milk - peanut butter and banana on a graham cracker - apple slices - yogurt - ham - string cheese - pulled pork on a triscuit



Chocolate chip protein bar - turkey dog - chips and guacamole - pears - yogurt with strawberries



Grilled cheese - peanut butter spoon with chocolate chips - kiwi, mandarin oranges and blueberries - hummus and veggie sticks - turkey - sliced cooked carrots


Fruit squeeze - Peanut butter and jelly on a whole wheat tortilla - Annie's bunny crackers - carrots - hummus - pretzel thins - turkey dog - Colby jack


Tomato Juice (Luke LOOOOVES tomato juice!) - yogurt with chocolate chips - celery with peanut butter, pimento cheese, hummus - hard boiled egg - muenster cheese - almonds - pears and mandarin oranges - apple cinnamon rice cakes


Chocolate chip protein bar - almonds - apple slices - pretzel thins - carrots - hummus - turkey on whole wheat tortilla - cheddar cheese - fruit leather


 There you have it!  I use what I have on hand and try to introduce new things while sticking to some of their favorites.  They're much more willing to try a new food if there's only a couple of bites on their plate and the new things seem less daunting when they're surrounded by foods they love.  I know we're lacking in the veggies department, but we're working on that :)  

My kids love having "little bits of lots of things" and I feel like they eat much better.  This is a great way to use up leftovers as well as "single" items (i.e. the last tortilla that they all want gets split up three ways as one of their "little bits").  The kids get especially excited when something unexpected finds it's way to their plate (like the cup of cereal) even if it's a food they have all the time.

  These lunches are the kind of thing I make when we're home during the summer and on the weekends (and sometimes on school nights if I don't have anything else planned) - I'll do a post on school lunches when we have a few weeks behind us.  

I hope you got a few ideas for lunches and would love any tips if you've got them!  

See you tomorrow for Friday Favorites :)

38 comments :

  1. I'm so impressed with the variety of your kid's diets! We are creatures of habits over here and Carter is super picky (gets it from his dad), but I am starting to get better about INSISTING that he try new things. And I know this is ridiculous, but Carter just started eating donuts this year! He's also recently discovered that he can tolerate raw red peppers. I won't say he enjoys them, but I'll take tolerates! Ha! :)

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  2. I can see why your kids are big fans! These look yummy!

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  3. I must be five because this is how I like to eat lunch too. Great ideas, even for adults ;)

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  4. This is a GREAT idea for kids' lunches!! Actually, I would eat those lunches as well ;) Thank you for the creative ideas.

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  5. I love all of these ideas! In fact, I would eat them for lunch myself!

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  6. Great ideas for lunches!! Taking notes!!

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  7. These are great ideas and look delicious! Thank you

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  8. I love all these ideas. Elle is the world's "lightest" eater. We started buying protein packs that she LOVES for lunch: cubes of meat and cheese and a handful of nuts. We pair it with some fruit and usually some veggies. I'm thrilled it Elle eats half her food at any given meal. My little guy, though... he eats! I'm going to have to start doing better at lunchtime foods for him soon, so these are great ideas!

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  9. love the variety! triscuits with PB and PB with chocolate chips {we'll be incorporating that into our lunches}. looking forward to your school lunch photos. i'll be referencing this post for sure!

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  10. Great ideas! Love the peanut butter spoon! :)

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  11. I do these types of lunches too and I think that's why lunch is my favorite meal to fix. I even love packing lunch for my kids. #weirdo #oddmomout

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  12. My five year loves lunches like that...he calls them "Snack lunch" or "snack dinner" and 100 percent the best way to get him to eat new foods is to try them in a snack meal :)

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  13. Great ideas!! My daughter loves to eat little bits.

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  14. I love this!!!! We just found out my little one has Celiac Disease, so I've been looking for alternatives to our daily turkey sandwich lunch! (Haven't found a gluten free bread that she loves yet). Also love the idea about small bits of new foods surrounded by their favorites!!

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  15. My 15 year old twin sons still love this type of lunch, only the quantity is a bit larger:). We call them "snacky lunches".

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  16. This is SO clever! Love seeing your combinations,and I can see why trying something new doesn't seem overwhelming when it's just a little bit. :)

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  17. I just gave up sandwiches for my kids as well. I love the PB spoon!

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  18. Great lunch ideas- my son likes to each like this too! I'm looking forward to your school lunch post because I'm always struggling for new, easy, do-able ideas!

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  19. Love the variety!! I like to have little bits of things to just get a taste. I don't need 10 crackers I need like 2-3 and I am a happy girl. Great ideas for summer lunches!!

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  20. Is it sad to say that I would eat all of those things for lunch as well? LOL well not the yogurt things but I love to have hummus, veggies, some crackers and cheese and some salami. A cut up apple and fruit. Way better then a sandwich.

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  21. You are a lunch rockstar! I always struggle with lunch ideas for my kiddos. These are great suggestions!

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  22. These are all such perfect lunches! My kids aren't about the bread either.

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  23. love it!!! we just had a peanut butter spoon for a snack. LOL!! Greer loves little bites too!!!

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  24. These are great ideas, Andrea! Our kids have sadly gotten very picky the older they have gotten and I like the idea of just giving them a few bites of something here and there.

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  25. Why didn't I think of this before?! My daughter has food allergies, so I'll have to modify everything, but I love this idea! There's no way I could ever put a cookie or other "treat" on her plate, though - She'd just eat that and say she was done! Haha! :) Thanks for sharing!

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  26. This is exactly how I do my kids lunches!

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  27. I need to step up my kids lunch game!!!!

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  28. Thanks for the great tips and lunch ideas! I would eat almost everything too!

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  29. WOW! You are crazy creative even in your kids lunches!! I am impressed. Yogurt with chocolate chips is my personal favorite. But...come on - who can eat only THREE tortilla chips with guac?? No way!! Haha

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  30. My kids LOVE those types of lunches, too. I bought the planetbox rover for each of them for the days we pack lunches because it's PERFECT for "snacky" lunches. Fun!

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  31. I stole your idea and did this for dinner. So easy for me and fun for the kids!

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  32. My family has always called it a hodgepodge & do for breakfast, as well! One of my favorites!

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  33. I just bought bento boxes so I can do this for my kids' school lunches. Last year I did way too many lunchables!

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  34. Cute cups! Following on Instagram and fb

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  35. I know these are supposed to be kids lunches but they're kind of exactly what I want to eat for lunch, too!

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  36. Love the ideas and all the options you include on their plates! Thanks for sharing and giving us Moms some ideas to mix it up at our homes.

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