From: EMN002@email.mot.com (Mary Beth Northrup)
Subject: finger food lunch summary (long)
Organization: Motorola, Inc. Plantation, FL
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 18:39:45 GMT

Many, many thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions for finger food
lunches! Below is a summary, broken down by category:

meat/protein:
vienna sausage, toddler meat sticks, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, tofu,
sliced or chunked lunch meats - turkey, ham, bologna, roast beef, chicken -
  (deli-style thin sliced meats are especially good for toothless munchers!),
all sorts of cheese (american, swiss, cheddar) sliced, cubed, or grated
string cheese, canned tuna, cut up turkey or chicken.

fruits/vegetables:
Any sort of cooked, cut up vegetable (left over from dinner is good!) -
  green beans, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots (the mini kind are
  fun), squash, sweet potato, peas, etc. Some babies like straight frozen peas!
Just about any fruit, canned or fresh, cut up or sliced - grapes, apples,
  pears, peaches, nectarines, phums, banana, strawberries, oranges, melon -
  (note:tossing fresh fruit with orange juice helps keep it from browning).

bread/starch:
bread (quartered or cut into fingers), bread sticks, granola bars, sliced
bagels with/without cream cheese (mini bagels are great), macaroni and cheese,
spiral noodles with cheese or spaghetti sauce, buttered noodles, rice,
wide egg noodles with butter/milk/parmesan cheese, peanut butter crackers,
wheat thins, pretzel sticks, Pepperidge Farm goldfish, the new snorkels
crackers (really, any kind of cracker), teddy grahams, OB teddies (oat bran
teddy bear cookies sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar), and, of
course, dry cereal such as Cheerios (otherwise known as one of the five
major food groups for babies).

sandwiches/other:
PB&J sandwiches cut in shapes, peanut butter or cheese spread between two
crackers, pickles, graham crackers with cream cheese, plain rice cakes (the
mini kind) with peanut butter, cheese microwaved on bread (sometimes you can
sneak peas, tomatoes, spinach or broccoli under the cheese), cream cheese with
jam sandwiches, grated cheese and vegemite sandwiches (cut into triangles)
ham & cheese on toast, Gerber's Graduates meals, Chef Boy-R-Dee ravioli.

I also got some great tips -

Small tupperware-type containers are a must for packing little portions.
One mom (Janet Sakell) uses a baby feeder with three Tupperware inserts to
segregate pieces of cheese, ham, and crackers for her sandwich-hating
2nd grade daughter. This way, she can make up any combinations she likes!

My favorite words of advice were from Mary Ryan:
"...And don't worry too much about avoiding all sugar, fat, and salt in his
diet or you'll go crazy. We all obsess too much about this with our first
babies. Eating some bologna or peanut butter for lunch is not like having
Kool-Aid and candy bars!"

Again, many thanks to all who sent suggestions (in case you didn't get my
e-mailed reply). Lunch packing is a lot easier now!

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Mary Beth Northrup                    "In the house and on the street .. |
| (mommy to Sean, 15 mo.)																	how many, many feet you meet!"   |
| EMN002@email.mot.com                                   ---  Dr. Seuss    |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|