Hellobee

Olive has been in daycare since February 1st, so I’ve been packing lunches for two kids for a month now. Because they have different preferences, their lunches are never exactly the same. Charlie usually eats most — if not all — of his lunch, while Olive usually leaves most of her lunch… womp womp. Charlie has really outgrown his pickiness in the past couple of months and eats a much bigger variety and quantity of food. But unfortunately I have another picky eater on my hands!

I pack a pretty big variety, but I guess it seems like the norm for me because a typical Korean meal is comprised of many different side dishes. It takes me 20-30 minutes to pack their lunches depending on how much leftovers I have, but lunch is still the easiest meal of the day for me to prepare because I have the process pretty streamlined. I rarely do anything special like cut food into special shapes anymore because I don’t have the time, but simply using colorful containers makes the food so much more visually appealing and doesn’t take any extra time at all. These are lunches from the past 2 weeks:

B O T H - rice balls w/ seaweed, cornichon, pesto pasta,  raspberries, clementines, American cheese (not the healthiest but the kids adore it)

O N L Y  O L I V E – prunes, carrots + mushrooms (dinner leftovers from a stir fry), fish roe (fried w/ sesame oil + salt)

O N L Y  C H A R L I E – spaghetti meat sauce (dinner leftovers), broccoli (dinner leftovers from stir fry), parmesan cheese inside the chick container

N O T E S – Charlie always eats better when he has his little chick to sprinkle cheese on his food. I’ve also been packing pickles almost daily because the kids love them, and fermented foods have probiotics which are especially great in the winter to boost your immune system. Olive likes carrots and mushrooms which Charlie does not, and Charlie likes broccoli which Olive does not. But I put carrots, mushrooms, and broccoli into a stir-fry the night before so it seems like I prepared a lot of food when it’s really one dish that’s been separated.

B O T H: strawberries, cheddar cheese,  pickles, dried anchovies (sauteed w/ sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup), bacon, cream cheese sandwich

O N L Y  O L I V E:  roasted carrots, chicken porridge in the thermos

O N L Y  C H A R L I E: asparagus (sauteed with butter, salt, pepper)

B O T H : Dr. Praeger’s Dora fishies, grilled cheese sandwich, peas, avocado, blueberries, olives,

O N L Y  O L I V E : boiled egg, asparagus, cantaloupe

O N L Y  C H A R L I E : Yo Kids Strawberry yogurt, Asian pear, broccoli (sauteed w/ aminos, sesame oil, garlic)

N O T E S : We are almost entirely gluten-free, but both kids had colds and hadn’t been eating well, so gluten came to the rescue in the form of Dora fish sticks. Both kids ate this lunch very well.

B O T H :  strawberries, dumplings, grilled cheese sandwich, olives, cucumbers, Applegate Farms Organic hot dogs

O N L Y  O L I V E : cantaloupe, fish roe

O N L Y  C H A R L I E : yogurt

N O T E S : This was a special Valentine’s Day lunch. I just cut the strawberries, grilled cheese sandwich, and hot dog into hearts. The dumplings, which have gluten in them, were left untouched by both kids. But they ate almost everything else!

B O T H : roast chicken, beef patties (ground beef, green onion, garlic, salt, pepper, coated w/ egg then fried), peas, cucumbers, mozzarella, butter pasta

O N L Y  O L I V E : roasted carrots, clementines, squid + turnip soup

O N L Y  C H A R L I E : raspberries, baby corn in black bean sauce

B O T H : cucumbers, egg fried rice, cornichon, Applegate Farms uncured organic ham, raspberries, grapes

O N L Y  O L I V E : mushrooms (sauteed in butter, salt, pepper), seaweed (leftover from seaweed soup , Coach Farms Goat Milk Probiotic Strawberry Yogurt

O N L Y  C H A R L I E : asparagus, Ella’s Kitchen puree pouch

O L I V E : cheddar cheese, blueberries, cucumbers, avocado, prunes, strawberries, broccoli, tuna salad (cream cheese + parmesan cheese), fish roe, boiled egg, seaweed soup

B O T H : avocado, roasted sweet potato, cornichon, breakfast sausage, smoked salmon, asian pear, strawberries

O N L Y  O L I V E : curry carrots, prunes

O N L Y  C H A R L I E : curry rice

G E A R  U S E D :

Dr. Sear’s Nibble Tray
Laptop Lunchbox
Lock and Lock Square Box w/ removable trays
Lock and Lock Small box w/ removable trays
OXO Tot Aqua Snack Disk
Wilton Silicon Cupcake Liners
Casabella Mini Silicon Muffin Cups
Food Picks
Thermos Foogo Food Jar
Chick Spice Container

F A V O R I T E  F O O D S :

Olive’s Favorite Veggies: 1) Asparagus, 2) Cucumbers, 3) Mushrooms
Charlie’s Favorite Veggies: 1) Broccoli, 2) Cucumbers, 3) Corn

Olive’s Favorite Fruits: 1) Cantaloupe, 2) Strawberries, 3) Clementines
Charlie’s Favorite Fruits: 1) Asian pear, 2) Strawberries, 3) Raspberries

Olive’s Favorite Proteins: 1) Eggs, 2) Bacon, 3) Hot Dogs
Charlie’s Favorite Proteins: 1) Eggs, 2) Bacon, 3) Hot Dogs

Charlie’s Favorite Main Dish: Brothy soups of almost any kind
Olive’s Favorite Main Dish: Chicken Porridge

Charlie’s Favorite Snack: Yogurt
Olive’s Favorite Snacks: Yogurt melts but she doesn’t like yogurt

I think sometimes I pack too much variety, but I do that because they’re likely to eat more at daycare, and I’m so afraid that they won’t eat enough that I make sure they have lots of options. This could actually be having an adverse effect and making the kids pickier! I’m not really worried about Charlie since he usually finishes most of his lunch. But feeding Olive has been such a challenge because she eats far less than Charlie ever did, and she doesn’t like milk either. I’m hopeful that she’ll get better over time like Charlie did, and when I finally wean. Because nothing makes me happier than when both lunches come home (pretty) empty!

What are some of your favorite foods to pack in your little ones’ lunches lately?