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Let’s get real here. Lunch time with toddlers has got to be one of the most stressful parts of the day.
More often than not, the tears have started streaming down my twins faces before I can even get food on the table.
This is why we need real and easy five-minute lunches for toddlers.
Actual five-minute lunches for toddlers. Not the ones that seem to overpower the Pinterest search.
I don’t have the time or energy to make those pretty heart shaped sandwiches and star cheese cut outs. Just what?? You know those moms are only doing it for the aesthetic. At least I hope.
I’m not here to share with you a week full of beautiful, well curated, airbrushed looking toddler lunches.
Nah. We ain’t about that life here.
Here at Twins and Coffee we believe in realistic motherhood. And that is slapping together meals in five minutes or less with the best quality food we can snag!
Before we get down to the meals (which I actually timed by the way) I want to share with you guys why I choose to shop at Fred Meyer for the best quality food for my family.
I always thought that meme about motherhood and having a favorite grocery store was funny. I’d laugh to myself “but can someone actually have a favorite store?” and now that I am a parent, I have answered the question for myself.
Yes, yes you can. And you will.
I have always loved Fred Meyer for their “one stop shop” experience, along with their convenient locations around the Portland Metro area. But I found a new love for them once I dove into baby led weaning with the twins.
I quickly realized that if I was going to be making meals for my babies, I wanted the meals to be quality. Before then, I didn’t pay much attention to the quality of the foods I was buying. I never really looked for dates, or the absolute best produce, things like that.
They just weren’t things that crossed my mind before the twins came about.
But once I started purchasing foods for them to try, like fresh veggies and fruits, I found that the only place that never let me down with the qualities of what I was purchasing was Fred Meyer stores. And not just one, but all of them.
I have about four within 20 minutes of myself, and I would recommend all of them to my friends and family.
Not only do I love the stores themselves, but Fred Meyer is the home of ClickList and if you follow me on Instagram, you probably know my pouring love for the grocery pick-up service.
It’s basically Fred Meyer telling you “hey, don’t get up. Sit on the couch with your kids and order your groceries, and we’ll do the shopping for you”.
Uh, hello. Mom DREAM right there.
Plus, each and every time I have gone to pick up, I have never gotten a comment about my “toddler-ified”SUV. They happily load in my groceries on top of my double stroller and forgotten jackets.
And, I get the same, top quality groceries that I would have otherwise picked for myself, all without having to take my twin toddlers into the store.
That is just asking for problems nowadays.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather save the tantrums for while I’m putting together the meals from the groceries I pick up, rather than experience them in the middle of aisle 2.
I mean, I’d rather not have them at all. But this is what toddler life seems to be.
Which just circles back to why I think REAL five-minute meals for toddlers are a must.
Below I am sharing with you seven different meals that take five minutes or less. None of them actually come close to the five-minute mark at all. But “five minutes or less” sounds a lot better than “four minutes or less”. So here we are.
One Week of Easy Five-Minute Lunches for Toddlers
Day 1: Banana Roll-ups with String Cheese [TIME 3:37]
Day 2: Berry Spinach Smoothie with Snack Mix [TIME: 4:23]
Day 3: PB Sandwich Squares with Berries and String Cheese [TIME: 2:44]
Day 4: Cream Cheese Sandwich with Sliced Banana and Goldfish [2:02]
Day 5: DIY Lunchable with Yogurt Pouch and Sliced Banana [TIME: 2:18]
Day 6: Pizza Crackers with Fruit Pouches and Berries [TIME: 2:34]
Day 7: Cheese and Chicken Quesadilla with Berries [TIME: 3:14]
They don’t seem too bad, huh? Sound like something you could easily accomplish?
They’re all kind of like a step up from microwaved chicken nuggets, but also a couple steps down from a full course meal that you don’t have the time and energy for.
Keep motherhood simple, mamas.
Fred Meyer for quality foods, and five-minute meals all make for a happier mama.
Which five-minute lunches for toddlers idea do you think you’re going to go for first?
My personal fave (that I always make extras for myself) is the pizza crackers. I just started making them for my twins, and the first time I thought to myself “where have these been my whole life?!”
Angel says
I’ve been looking all over and as a first time mother of a 19 month old baby girl I have found your blog very helpful! Do you have any fairy free lunch ideas as my daughter is lactose intolerant. Thank you.
Lynneah says
I do not at the time! Most of my ideas should be able to be altered, but I’ll get working on some dairy free meal ideas!