I do quesadillas a lot with a veggie and light cheese filler. Also, look up "broccoli bites." There's an awesome baked recipe out there that is easy to make and refrigerate.

My DC is also into homemade hummus right now. Makes me sound a bit crunchy, but it's easy to make (and cheaper than storebought)-- DC loves veggies so long as they can dip them

Anonymous wrote:My kids love Ramen noodles. Cheap and easy!

Is this the packaged noodles or just ramen noodles?

My kids love Ramen noodles. Cheap and easy!

I just do easy for lunch and put more stock into dinner. Grilled cheese with side of avocado and green peas, hummus "sandwich" with fruit and broccoli, smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich, scrambled eggs with tomato and avocado, pbj, pizza, 15 month old loves beets so I add that a lot - she gets a lot of smorgasbord foods. As a fellow SAHM, I figure I give them a great breakfast, make lunch something that's easy, and do a bit more for dinner...not going to kill myself over every meal! We also do leftovers sometimes - 1 yr old will eat leftover salmon, 3 yo only likes it right off the oven. Spaghetti is another popular leftover for lunch.

Nibble trays everyday

My daughter hates mixed food so we do a lot of bento box style lunches. Compartments filled with cheese, meat egg or tofu, whole grain cracker, veggie, fruit. If she's feeling adventurous she makes sandwiches using the crackers

Leftovers are great for lunch, especially when you are eating lunch at home. You can also make lunch different by having a picnic at a park, in your yard, in the living room...my kids often eat better in a different spot even if it's the same food.

Mini bagels and make mini pizzas with veggies.

Spread cream cheese on a tortilla and put in veggies and slice into pinwheel sandwiches or make a wrap.

Try out some muffin cup recipes, e.g.,:
http://greatist.com/eat/portable-muffin-tin-recipes

You can freeze pretty easily to mix up the weekly repertoire.

Anonymous wrote:Put their whole lunch on a skewer. Tiny squares of samwich, slice of cucumber, cube of fruit etc

Samwich? Really?

Crackers and cheese - surprisingly filling even for adults
Pasta salad - veggie can be roasted red pepper, or broccoli, or lightly sautéed cauliflower. An Italian vinaigrette sauce/dressing with a little Parmesan. Easier than it sounds
Pizza bites from the frozen section
Grilled cheese sandwiches

Add fruit & veggie to the cracker/pizza/sandwich lunches.

choose from: grapes, carrots, sugar snap peas, apples, strawberries, watermelon, cucumber.

cheese on toast or baked beans on toast, big staples in my house growing up ( in England)

New one i have added into our rotation is avacado and egg on toast. So you smush the avacado and layer in on the toast, fry an egg, or scramble and do it like an omelette, then layer that on top. I then cut my daughters into bite size pieces so she can eat with a fork.
I eat the same thing so nothing goes to waste.
Super healthy and vegetarian.

Put their whole lunch on a skewer. Tiny squares of samwich, slice of cucumber, cube of fruit etc

Also egg sandwiches

Leftovers from dinner
Mac + cheese with peas
Bagel with hummus, cream cheese, cheese slices, nut butter, apple butter or sunbutter
Mini pizza or pizza bagel
Cheese quesadilla with black beans
Pasta with feta and baby spinach
Ravioli
Apple slices and peanut butter
Yogurt with fruit and granola or cereal

I'm guessing I am not the only one and with summer approaching maybe some other moms need some new ideas?

I SAHM and have a 3 year old and 9 month old. I feel like we are doing the same things every day. Any ideas for vegetarian lunches? I do a lot of cooking for dinner and I just don't have energy for lunches.