An Easy Nutritious Idea for Young Lunchers at Home

When my little guy was around two and a half or so, I developed this concept . As time went by, I improved upon and expanded it.

"The Everything Plate," was the name I gave this dish because no matter what I put on it, it had everything that my little guy liked. He could stay and continue to play while he ate it. It was a big hit to share when he had a friend or two over on the back porch playing. If their mom's were around they marveled at how well they ate things that were actually, "good for them."

I used a full size dinner plate or a large platter for more than one child, washed, cored and cut up an apple or a pear for each luncher. The fruit slices were either spread with peanut butter or topped with half slices of American cheese. There were a few pretzels or baked corn or cheese chips added or possibly a slice of toast or an English Muffin per child. A handful of raisins or other dried fruits went on the plate to get them started nibbling. I might add a pudding or sweet fruit cup or in the winter a cup of soup for each. Sometimes the plates were arranged as a face with the raisins as eyes and the fruit cup, soup or pudding as the mouth with the spoon sticking out like a tongue, the fruit slices making the nose and ears. When he was little he delighted in these designs. As he got older he seemed to want to rearrange them so I stopped doing the face. Sometimes instead of fruit and peanut butter I would give him tuna salad and celery sticks, these made great fantasy insects on the plate. I would stick the celery sticks straight into the tuna to invite dipping. I occasionally gave him unsalted hard boiled egg slices wrapped in thinly sliced ham or melon spears with a slightly honeyed soft cheese to dip into. Napkins were set on the side as needed.

There were many variations, I am sure if you went and looked, you could come up with a few of your own from your refrigerator today. This concept could be easily reduced to a snack with fewer items or less of each item.

Whenever I suggested an "Everything Plate," it was always met with enthusiasm even though he never knew what he was going to get. His friends, even the picky ones smiled when they saw what it was. They would greet the idea enthusiastically when it was suggested at their next visit. It was a bit of an adventure lunch with many different things arranged so he could pick n choose to nibble while they played. I think the fact that they did not have to stop playing to eat was a big part of the enjoyment of it.