Toddler Lunch Meal Prep for the Week

I have seen a lot of great posts about meal prepping for a healthier lifestyle. There have been some for school lunches, but I haven’t seen any for a toddler lunch meal prep. Which is what I really need. In a previous post (www.mamaofthedrama.com) I talked about packing toddler lunch for my daughter with food allergies. When I was writing that post I was still packing her lunch in the morning or the night before. It was incredibly aggravating, I didn’t have the time to spend making a healthy and nutritious toddler lunch. I ended up packing a lot of processed foods which I wasn’t happy about. If I take an hour or so out of my Sunday to pack healthy and nutritious lunches. I can have a guilt-free and expedited week!

In comes meal prepping, to save the day!

The first thing I did was purchase these awesome lunch containers with easy lunch boxes. They are supposed to be for snacks but they are the perfect size for toddler lunches. I bought 2 sets so I have 8 containers, but for some reason, they grow legs in my house. Where do they go?! We only have 5 right now. Which is all I need to meal prep. So, I set out my containers and grab my things to prep. I chop celery, peppers, and thaw out Aria’s special soy free bread. I start putting in things that are chopped and raw. My daughter loves cucumbers so I chop them up and put them in raw. Along with wheat crackers to add fiber and a grain. Alternating fruits and grains to keep the lunch different from day to day. This means I am not buying a ton of fresh (expensive) fruits and vegetables. For the main, I use leftovers or lunch meat. Things that are easy and can be used multiple different ways throughout the week. I have tried to make multiple different things, but most recipes make too much for the portion size a toddler eats. So I ended up packing lunches for myself also. Which wasn’t bad but there was still food waste going on and I wasn’t a fan.

This is an example of what a lunch prep menu is like in our house. (Psst! You can get this as a printable download if you subscribe to my blog!) You’ll notice it has some processed food but full of fresh fruits and vegetables. The commonality is the sliced ham lunchmeat. It is diced up and put into a pasta salad, used in a wrap, and used in a sandwich. Then Friday is just any leftovers.

Here are some examples of lunches. I have prepped.

Elements of a Toddler Lunch Meal Prep:

1. Protein (chicken, lunch meat, beans, etc.)
2. 2 fruits (apple, pineapple, peaches, pears, homemade applesauce)
3. 2 vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, celery, bell pepper)
4. 2 grains (whole grain wheat crackers, veggie chips, whole grain bar, whole grain bread)

I usually only have to buy one of each fruit and vegetable to last the week. The grains are usually shelf stable items so they can last without me worrying.