8 Toddler Approved Lunch Ideas (that aren't sandwiches)

In our house we are breakfast people, we love cereal and eggs and pancakes and sausages, bacon ... The list is endless. We never struggle to come up with ideas for breakfast. However, when it comes to lunch we often find ourselves stuck in a bit of a sandwich rut. Throw in a toddler who changes her mind/tastes on an almost daily basis and we end up eating the same thing over and over.

So I set myself a challenge to shake things up at lunch time and try some new ideas. Hopefully they might inspire you to try something new too...

1. Wrap Pizzas
This is a great one to get kids involved in the making, I pre-chop a few different toppings and let zoe place them on the wrap. We often use cream cheese or pesto as the base and then top with grated cheddar. They only take 5-10 minutes to cook and I often find Zoe gets a real kick out of seeing something she helped make cooked, and then eating it.

2. Quesadillas
Similar to the wrap pizza, Zoe likes to help choose the filling and arrange them on the wrap. Recently we have enjoyed hummus and falafel quesadillas, but you can really put anything in them. We use the George Foreman grill to cook them, which is superquick.

3. Dippy Lunch
This is one of our favourites right now, Zoe loves to deconstruct things before eating so having something which is all separate suits her. Our favourite is hummus or homemade guacamole (which is basically just smooshed up avocado) with pitta bread (cut into strips), cucumber and carrot sticks, and either chicken strips or cocktail sausages.

4. Soup and bread
We have only recently started to get on board with soup. It is still a little hit and miss but she loves dipping the bread. Her favourites tend to be sweeter soups like butternut squash, sweet potato or carrot.

5. Cold pasta salad
A great quick pasta dish we love is pesto with peas, if we have any ham or leftover chicken I tend to throw that in too. We also love tomato and tuna or a little bit of butter with sweetcorn and chicken. Basically anything goes and as Zoe is a total carb fiend like her mother, it gets gobbled.

6. Toasties
Toasties are technically a sandwich, but with the melty cheese and many many filling options which might not be trusted in a cold un-toasted sandwich, toasties are a firm favourite here. Tuna and cheese, or ham and cheese are the usual, but I can also usually sneak in some spinach or slices tomato without complaint.

7. Avocado on toast
Ok ok, so this could be seen as a breakfast food, but when you have a breakfast loving toddler, you need to think on your feet. Zoe is a avocado fan, and this is a great easy lunch. I tend to have egg with mine, although Zoe is not a fan of boiled egg. Its super adaptable and packed full of healthy fats.

8. Eggy fried rice
A firm favourite here, we often have it for dinner but its great hot or cold for lunch. I tend to throw in anything we have that needs using - sausages, salmon, roast chicken, veggies... a dash of low salt soy sauce and an egg... delicious.

Are there any ideas I have missed? What do your fussy toddler love to eat for lunch?