{Tyke Bites} Five Tot-Friendly School Lunches

Since the kids started Mother's Day Out and go one day a week, I've been prepping lunch for them to take to school. It took a little getting used to because I had to pack stuff that didn't need to be warmed up and that they can easily eat with little assistance since they aren't at home. Even with just one lunch (or four, depending on how you look at it) to pack per week right now, I'm always thinking of stuff that's a little outside the norm—since the latter tends to be a PB and honey sandwich or lunch meat and cheese. I'm no nutritionist and though we try to eat healthy around here, some meals contain extra carbs or typical kid fare. Regardless, here's five lunches that went over quite well with the kiddos and the lunch boxes came back empty!

peanut butter & honey sandwich squares, whole grain goldfish (with a gummy worm hidden in the mix!), all natural white cheddar cheetoh puffs, cherries, cheese stick and honest juice pouch 

Seasoned black beans, homemade guacamole, half banana and white corn chips

elephant-shaped grilled cheese, chex mix, greek goddess yogurt, rice krispie treat, veggie/fruit squeeze pouch and honest juice pouch

whole wheat toast pizzas (all natural pepperoni, pizza sauce and mozz cheese - was out of pitas and tortillas!), strawberries, raisin and nuts with a few m&ms

cheese quesadillas (brushed thin layer of coconut oil on outsides of tortilla, sandwiched shredded cheese in the middle and cooked on pan until brown), half a cliff zbar for kids (granola bar) and strawberries

And I'm always looking for new ideas, so please share some of your fave lunches (adult-friendly lunches too!) in the comments section...

{Tyke Bites} Easy Go-Tos & One Pan Dinner

Welcome back to another installment of Tyke Bites, where I share a random day of meals for my two-and-a-half year old quadruplets! (You can follow the underlined link, or visit the Tyke Bites category found in the sidebar on the left to view all my posts about what the kiddos are eating.)

It was an ordinary day at home so I decided to give the kids a slightly out of the ordinary breakfast by adding some whipped cream and sprinkles to some of our favorite waffles, Earth's Best frozen organic mini waffles, along with fresh berries and Applegate Naturals turkey breakfast sausage links (they usually eat two to three links apiece, but we just start off with one).

Lunch was a quick and easy go-to: turkey lunch meat, cheese, raspberries, banana, pretzels and cheez-its. The kids got a kick out of the meat and cheese being rolled up and some ate it that way while others separated the pieces first. As any mom knows, sometimes variation on a popular item is all it takes to revamp interest!

For dinner, I did a one-pan meal to keep things simple. Rachael Ray's roast pork chops with green beans and potatoes was fairly popular, paired with bananas and cheese cubes. 

Occasionally the kids will get a graham cracker in between breakfast and lunch if they start getting hungry, but we typically save a regular snack for that long stretch between lunch and dinner (generally they get it after post-lunch naps). That ranges anywhere from white cheddar popcorn, pretzels, goldfish with raisins, dried fruit, etc.

What are some of your favorite go-to's or easy quick-fix meals?

Happy eating :)

P.S. Don't forget you can find all my Tyke Bites meals and other tot-friendly fare on my Pinterest board here!

Tyke Bites & Balsamic Cherry Chicken Recipe

Yesterday—one of those days that motivated me to gulp a bottle glass of wine at the end—I did manage to try a new recipe, despite the cranky kids and busy schedule and exhaustion. Call it a last ditch effort to accomplish something before calling it quits. Cherry balsamic chicken—with wine! Check out our day of meals and scroll to the end for a yummy recipe. Cheers!

Breakfast: mini whole grain bagels with cinnamon sugar cream cheese, eggs, turkey sausage and fruit. My kids just don't eat eggs very well, though I've tried various ways to serve them. If you have some unique ideas on serving eggs, I'm all ears!

Lunch: I made some super easy quesadillas, which were a huge hit! I spread a thin layer of coconut oil on the outer layers of two mini tortillas, piled some shredded cheese in between and then cooked on each side on a flat skillet until they browned slightly and the cheese melted. I used a pizza slicer to cut them into quarters. Served with salted avocado pieces and strawberries. Everyone requested seconds and cleaned their plates! (And everyone is also still in their jammies because it was freezing cold and felt like a good day in stay in our fleece!)

Dinner: Some yummy balsamic cherry chicken I gleaned from Pinterest. (Get the recipe on my Food board here.) I had a bag of fresh cherries in the fridge that I wanted to incorporate and probably ate half of them in my efforts to prep them for the dish. I love anything with balsamic and wine, of course, so I poured a few glugs into my glass after I put some in the pan. The results were delicious, though the kids didn't go crazy over the cooked cherries, they did like the chicken! While I was standing at the stove cooking dinner, Harrison peeked over the bar from the play room and said, "Whatcha cooking mommy? That chicken looks good!"

I paired the chicken with some cheesy garlic toast and some fresh green beans I sauteed in coconut oil with minced onion, garlic salt and pepper.

Happy eating :)

{Tyke Bites} Tried & True Foods

At last, another addition to my Tyke Bites series, where I feature a random day of meals for my two-and-a-half year old quadruplets! I enjoy sharing meal ideas with other parents—and have been slowly adding even more things to try to my Tot Food board on Pinterest—as it can certainly get stale serving the same thing to kiddos over and over. Granted, at this age they can become quite particular about the foods they will and absolutely no mommy i will not eat it! But I've made a point to feed them a well-rounded diet, including loads of fruits and veggies, since they were introduced to spoon feeding. I also made all of our baby food and I have no intention of letting all that hard work go to waste. So I do my best to maintain meals that are as wholesome as I can manage, while still featuring fare they'll actually chew and swallow. Including my sweet little redhead who truly loves nothing more than her carbs.

Breakfast was a tried-and-true combo of homemade French toast drizzled with honey, full-fat strawberry honey Greek yogurt topped with a few sprinkles and bananas. All the quads are on the skinny side, so I add calories where I can!

The kids love mac and cheese—who doesn't!?—and I always make Annie's organic versions. They have been the most successful. Occasionally I add a little pepper or other seasoning. They also ate pineapple and cucumber and carrots with ranch.

Dinner was some pan-seared steak seasoned with Worcestshire, minced onion, sea salt, garlic powder and pepper, topped with some melted butter. I paired it with roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, strawberries and bananas.

We typically do a snack in the afternoon after their nap, which ranges from white cheddar popcorn and whole grain goldfish with raisins to granola bars or their latest craze, chex mix. 

Got some food ideas? Have a trick to sneaking in more veggies? I'm all ears! And don't forget to check out my Tot Food board on Pinterest and even send me some of your favorite kid-friendly pins. 

{Tyke Bites} Easy Prep Meals & a Chicken Crockpot Dinner

Food, food, food! I bring you another Tyke Bites post, featuring what a typical day of meals looks like in Quadville...

Breakfast was a super easy mix up of freshly pureed strawberries with vanilla full-fat Greek yogurt, topped with a dark chocolate Cheerio variety. A fan favorite among the crew!

Lunch was another easy make, consisting of ritz crackers and peanut butter, blueberry yogurt-covered pretzels, cheese and raspberries. The kids just don't seem to like sandwiches that much right now—with the exception of grilled cheese—so my go-to PB and honey sandwiches just aren't getting eaten. But crackers are always a win and PB has plenty of protein so figured it was a decent trade-off.

I can thank Pinterest for this dinner inspiration, a simple crockpot chicken recipe with potatoes, onions and carrots. For the quads, I added cheese, raspberries and clementines. And how cute are those plates!? Snagged them for a buck each at Target. The kids call them "new plates" every time I serve food on them. It's adorable.

Thanks for reading!

{Tyke Bites} Breakfast Quesadillas, Eggplant Pizza & More!

Searching for fresh ideas to feed your toddler? Then take a gander at this week's installation in my Tyke Bite series, featuring a random day of meals (and yummy thrills, ha) for my hungry little quad squad...

Breakfast was a new one for us: peanut butter, banana and chocolate chip quesadillas. May not sound like the most appetizing thing, but it was pretty tasty! Easy to make with lots of protein via the PB (or you can also use nut butter or Nutella). The kiddos approved it and I even ate a couple small slices for myself.

For lunch, I served a simple staple of turkey lunch meat, fruit, pickles, pretzels, cheese, mini muffins and veggie sticks, but just changed the presentation. Ice cub trays! At first, the quads seemed a little puzzled. But I haven't seen them so focused or entertained by a meal as they were by this one in awhile. They really seemed to enjoy hunting for the next food of choice in their tray, so we'll definitely be redoing this one!

Mmm mmm. Dinner was a Julia Child recipe I pinned from Kalyn's Kitchen a couple weeks ago: eggplant pizzas. The husband loved it and the kids actually ate a couple bites each, they just didn't seem to care for the skin of the eggplant since it's a slightly odd chewing texture. I rounded out their meal with fruit, Ritz crackers and cheese sticks. The husband and I enjoyed our aubergine pizzas with Caesar salads.

My Tot Food board on Pinterest is slowly growing with more fun ideas—including plenty I've yet to try, like this Funfetti Cake Batter Smoothie!—and I pin my Tyke Bites posts there as well if you'd like to save them for yourself. Eat and enjoy!

{Tyke Bites} Quick B-Fast, Blackened Salmon & More

Hey y'all, here's another installment of Tyke Bites, featuring a random day of meals in Quadville!

This is what I refer to as my "easy" breakfast, something that's super quick to throw together on mornings I wake up late or we're trying to leave not long after eating as it takes five minutes to prep. I use whatever fresh fruit I have on hand, like grapes and raspberries, flavored Greek yogurt (the quads eat the Greek Gods brand and love the honey blueberry flavor!), mini chocolate Wheaties and Nutrigrain bars.

Lunch was grilled cheese, veggie chips, Caesar salad (they just started becoming interested in eating salad) and strawberries. It's nice when I can make myself a plate of the exact same thing and call it done!

For dinner, we do all eat the exact same thing. I make one meal and then supplement some fruit for the kiddos. Normally, what you're served is what you get and I don't offer anything extra. At dinner time, there's only a slight exception to that rule because I want to make sure the babies have eaten a sufficient amount to be sleeping through the night for 12 hours. If someone has really picked at their plate or not liked what they were served, they may get some Greek yogurt or applesauce to help top them off—and of course, everyone else is also offered some or there will be a mutiny.

This night's dinner was blackened salmon, roasted potatoes and garlic, cheese sticks, pineapple and strawberries for the kiddos. Momma and daddy added wine to round out our meal. ;)

And of course there's nothing better than butter cookies with chocolate and sprinkles! The kids go crazy over these and I let them each pick out their own cookie from the box, which they also enjoy because they must select the very best one even if it takes me five minutes, mom.

Be sure to check out my Tot Food board on Pinterest for more pint-sized bites! And in case you missed it, you can check out what we did the last two weekends here.

{Tyke Bites} Banana Bread, Go Bars & Italian Chicken!

Hello my foodie friends! I'm back with another installment of Tyke Bites, which features a random day of meals for my quad squad....

Breakfast was a yummy serving of homemade banana bread (I've been using this recipe lately and the whole fam loves it!) with full-fat Greek vanilla honey yogurt and fresh strawberries. The kiddos enjoy eating their yogurt with spoons and are definitely becoming more adept with cutlery. But not at making less mess. That's what momma is for right? Clean up, aisle 4.

Lunch was a hodge podge mix of leftovers, since that's how we roll some days! We had leftover chicken nuggets, veggie chips, a couple whole grain goldfish, cheese, blueberries and cantaloupe. They ate every bite! I have to remember sometimes that kids don't find random food pairings odd at all, unlike we adults. ;)

I always struggle a little with snack time. Some days we do applesauce out of a community bowl, some days grandma is over and does a tea party with tea biscuits and other days I resort to my trusty goldfish. The quads love them, I just wish I could cut down on the carb-based foods I give them! But I've tried various things to no avail, so I have to feed them something they'll actually eat. I was very happy to find Plum Organic Go Bar's that have oats, chocolate chips and veggies at Target. The kids gobbled them up and they're easy to eat with minimal mess. 

Dinner, however, was a freshly baked home run that I'll certainly be repeating. I made this delicious Italian chicken bake, paired with mini penna pasta tossed with a little melted butter, garlic salt and fresh ground pepper, a couple of the baked tomatoes and sweet blueberries. Yum!

Got a recipe or snack idea you love? Leave me the dish in the comments section puh-lease!