Cottage cheese, couscous with tomato, cucumber & crumbled meatballs, asparagus, baby corn, popcorn & apple

Chicken, brown rice salad with peanuts, carrot & corn, mixed roast vegetables, hummus, grapes, yogurt & pretzels

Pasta in tomato sauce, green beans, potato gratin, banana, grapes and Earth's Best peanut butter bar

Beets, broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, couscous with chicken, roasted pepper, eggplant & parsley, mango and cream cheese

Potato & zucchini frittata, orzo with tomato, basil & olive oil, broccoli, couscous with mushrooms & parsley, cream cheese & grapes

Orzo with tomato, parsley & olive oil, broccoli, roasted cauliflower, pear, Kozy Shack rice pudding, cheerios & buttered bread

Couscous with tomato, chicken & parsley, roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts with ham & cream, broccoli, cheese, grapes & raspberries

Potato salad with pesto & cream, beets, edamame, barley salad with chicken, tomato & parsley, cheerios, papaya & crackers

Tomato, rice with salmon, parsley and boiled egg, broccoli, beets, cheese and grapes

Cheese, edamame, marinated tomato, roasted salmon, rice, beets, grapes and crisp bread

to respond to Gail's comment, I do not follow any cookbooks in preparing these lunchboxes. There can be a lot of staring into the fridge, trying to come up with something. Most the effort goes into the shopping, combing the aisles for anything that might work for her, although the selection in my neighborhood is pretty basic.

Barley, tomato and green bean salad, cauliflower, ham and cheese with kiwi, apple and crisp bread

Chicken breast, cooked carrot, beets, broccoli, potato salad, kiwi and cheese

Chicken breast, green beans, cheese, white beans in pesto, tomato, roasted parsnip and zucchini, baby banana and crackers

White beans in pesto, tomato, cauliflower, green beans, ham and cheese with cheerios, apple and crackers

Buckwheat, mushroom, white bean and pesto salad, tomato and cucumber, chicken breast, roasted zucchini, cheese and papaya and kiwi

Tomato, buckwheat, mushroom & parsley salad, roasted sweet potato with maple syrup and chicken breast, with kiwi, cheese and indian yogurt rice salad*

The rice salad was leftover from eating out in a local Indian restaurant. It was delicious with yogurt, cilantro and a little ginger and brown mustard seeds. I thought my daughter might like it.... she wouldn't even try it.

Orzo with tomato, broccoli and parmesan, cooked carrot, chicken breast and boiled egg (tossed in a little cream & mayonnaise), apple and cheese

Roasted sweet potato with maple syrup, asparagus, orzo with tomato, basil and parmesan, ham and cheese and fruit salad

Roasted sweet potato with maple syrup, beets, asparagus, quinoa with broccoli and tomato, cheese and cooked pineapple

An introduction..

Hi everyone.
Thank you for your interest in Baby Lunchbox. I am thrilled to see so many comments. To answer your questions...
I bought the rectangle glass container made by GlassLock (it has a plastic snap shut lid) at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The jars are left over baby food jars from puree days. As you can probably guess I made my purees but I did try a few store bought ones early on. I didn't like them much but the jars have been very useful.
I really don't have a lot of time to cook. I am a single mom that works four days a week so for those days in particular I need to be organized. I have worked in restaurants for years so I may have a different approach. I stay ahead of the food preparation, cooking the basic elements in batches and just mix up a small portion of salad or whatever that day. I pretty much always have a few different blanched vegetables and one cooked grain (quinoa, rice, orzo, or lentils etc) in the fridge. I am certainly not starting from scratch every day. A lot of things, like the roasted fish, are leftovers from dinner. I always have the basics like cheese, ham, tomato and fruit in the fridge and couscous in the cupboard in case I am in a bind.

I often cook at night usually while I am working or catching up on email. Not every night and no more than one thing and when I say cook I mean I try to put something on the stove- a whole chicken to simmer, a pot of beets or barley or I blanch pasta or a green vegetable - things that set me up for a few days, nothing complicated. I also often end up cooking something during at least one nap on the weekend.

My childcare is a nanny share arrangement where the nanny comes and picks my daughter up and takes the two kids to the park and then to the other mother's house to
nap. I pack her lunch in a large zip lock bag with her milk and water and the nanny transports it in a diaper bag. If it were in my bag running off to daycare I could guarantee it would get jumbled up but I know it survives its journey because I often see the leftovers still in their straight lines!

I would like to say that not everything in the lunchboxes is a hit with my daughter. I always make sure there is a few things I know she likes just incase and there is a lot of food there.. she rarely finishes the whole thing.

Thanks again, please check back,

Chloe

Sheep milk ricotta, beets, asparagus, quinoa with shredded braised beef short ribs, tomato & parsley, a baby banana, cheese and cooked pineapple

Potatoes (w cream & mayonnaise), carrots and beans in balsamic, beets, rice with corn, chicken and tomato, cheese and fruit

Cheese, beets, green beans, french lentil salad and marinated sausage with fruit salad and cottage cheese

Ham, tomato, green beans, beets and french lentil salad, with papaya and cottage cheese

Marinated bluefish, tomato, cheese, green beans, rice and lentils, papaya and cottage cheese

Avocado, cheese, green beans, tomato, marinated bluefish, crackers and fruit salad

Rice with chicken and corn, asparagus, boiled egg, tomato and cheese, hummus, grapes and pear

Roasted haddock, asparagus, cauliflower, couscous with tomato and parsley, cottage cheese with a little pesto and white peach

Boiled egg, broccoli, carrot, tomato, rice with chicken and green beans, with cottage cheese with pesto, and fruit salad

Couscous with fresh cranberry beans, carrots and green beans, with broccoli, cheese, ham, hummus and a baby banana