Tiffin Ideas for preschooler / Recipes for kids, babies / Baby Food / Toddler Snacks

My DS started his preschool and so daily I need to make something for his Tiffin. I prefer something which is healthy and his favourite.

It’s a real tough job as he is a fussy eater like other kids of his age 🙂

I surfed net but didn’t found much ideas for vegetarian snacks which I can pack for his Tiffin, so in this post I am going to share some of my recipes with all of you. I hope these recipes will help you to put something in your fussy eaters tummy 🙂

Today I am only giving you ideas, very soon I will post recipes with pics. If you have more new snacks ideas then please share with me, like every mom I am always in search of healthy quick snacks for my DS 🙂

So here are few snacks ideas. You can adjust the ingredients as per your baby’s taste.

1. Cheese Sandwich:

My DS like this sandwich and its very easy to make. You can make this by adding some grated cheese between 2 bread slices and make a sandwich using tawa or sandwich maker.

Variations: you can add a pinch of red chilly powder and chat masala on grated cheese. You can also add thin tomato slices with cheese. You can use brown bread to make this healthier.

2. Cheesy Pasta:

You will think again cheese? Cheese is all time favourite of my baby J so my many recipes include cheese.
Boil pasta adding ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. oil. Drain water and add some cheese, ½ tsp. butter and salt to hot pasta. Mix it and let it cool for 2-3 mins. Your cheesy pasta is ready to pack.

3. Creamy Paratha:

Take 1 small bowl whole wheat flour add 2-3 tsp. cream, salt as per taste, a pinch of red chilly powder and milk if required. Knead it to make a soft dough. Roll it in any shape you want and cook it on tawa same as you cook your other parathas. Use less ghee or oil to cook this paratha as it already contains cream.

Note: Try to use fresh cream from your daily milk instead of store brought.

Variations: You can add grated vegetables like cabbage, potato, carrot etc. to make it more healthy. Every time give a new shape to your paratha so your baby will like to eat it. You can use cookie cutters to shape your parathas.

4. Suji Upma:

Take 1 small bowl suji rawa / semolina. In a wok add 2 tsp. oil, add a pinch cumin seeds, mustard let it split, add curry leaves and semolina, fry the semolina on low heat for 2-3 mins., add 2 cups hot water, add 2 tsp. curd, if curd is not available you can use few drops of lemon juice. Mix it well and cook till think consistency. Add chopped coriander and let it cool. Upma is ready to pack for tiffin.

5. Boiled Green Peas:

Boil 1 small bowl green peas till tender. In a non-stick pan add little bit oil, when oil is hot add boiled peas, a pinch of salt, a pinch of red chilly powder, a pinch of chat masala. Mix well and fry for a minute. Cool it and its ready to pack with roti or paratha.

6. Potato Wedges:

This is a favourite snack of many kids. My little one also likes this in his snack or tiffin.

Peel potatoes chop them in wedges or thin slices or any shape you wish but don’t make them thick. Heat 2tsp. oil in a wok add cumin seeds, potato wedges, stir fry till tender, add salt as per taste, add a pinch of chilly powder and chat masala, mix well, cool it. Your potato wedges are ready to pack.

7. Cheesy Roti Sandwich:

Take a medium size roti or paratha (you can use creamy paratha I posted in my previous post). Heat roti on a tawa, add some butter, on upper side of roti add grated cheese, a pinch of red chilly powder and mould the roti in half, cook it for a minute and flip upside down, add some butter and cook for a minute, while cooking press the roti with a spatula.

If you want to make it crispy then flip again and fry till both sides become crispy. Your cheesy roti sandwich is ready, cut it in strips and packs it in tiffin.

8. Spicy Paratha:

Take a small bowl whole wheat flour, make paste of 2-3 garlic cloves, small green chilly and some coriander leaves, add the paste to flour, add salt and 2-3 tsp. ghee to flour, mix it well, make a soft dough using some water. Roll parathas in any shape and fry it on a tawa using oil. Your spicy paratha is ready to pack.

Variation: Kids love stuff like garlic bread. To make your homemade easy garlic bread use this spicy paratha while making cheesy roti sandwich, so it will become cheesy garlic bread. 🙂

9. Suji (Semolina) Halwa:

Take a small bowl semolina, heat some ghee in a wok, add semolina and fry till you get a nice aroma, add 2 small cup milk, add 2-3 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. dry fruit powder, a pinch of elaichi (cardamom) powder. Cook the halwa stirring continuously till desired consistency. I make it medium thick so it didn’t get dry in tiffin. Cool it and pack it.

You can also add thin almond chips and few saffron strands to decorate your halwa.

10. Gud (Jaggery) Roti:

Sometimes kids want something sweet so you can pack sooji halwa or gud roti, both options are healthy and filling.

To make gud roti take a small bowl whole wheat flour, add half bowl grated jaggery, add 2-3 tsp. fresh cream, a pinch of elaichi (cardamom) powder, mix it well and make a soft dough using milk. Roll the roti or paratha in any shape and cook it using ghee.

11. Vegetable Paratha:

You can make vegetable parathas in 2 ways, 1st is stuffed paratha and 2nd is adding the veggies while making the dough.

My DS is only 2 years old, so I use 2nd method as sometimes kids spill the filling and unable to eat the paratha properly.

To make veggie paratha take small bowl whole wheat flour, grated or finely chopped veggies, 2 tsp. hot oil, 1 tsp. red chilly powder, salt as per taste, a pinch haldi (turmeric), mix all these properly and make a smooth dough using water. Roll the paratha and cook using oil.

Kids don’t love to eat same stuff, so be creative. Every time you make a paratha make it in different shapes like round, triangle, square. Use cookie cutters to make different shapes.

To make the parathas more healthy and to change the taste sometimes you can add oats, gram flour, jwari flour, soya flour, bajri flour etc. to your parathas.

Try the above recipes and let me know your kid like it or not :).

Also please share your recipes with me so I can also make some new snacks for my kid 🙂