That’s basically vegan. Add dairy (not eggs) and you’re at vegetarian.
Most vegans I knew in high school (vegans by choice) subsisted on potatoes, not too many legumes.
Of course, it varies, depending on where you live, what foods are common in your community, what foods your family is familiar with, how broad your palate is, etc.
My 2 closest friends who keep Kosher. One basically is a carnivore who can’t stand hummus, will tolerate falafel, makes excellent Parve oatmeal chip cookies with margarine. His wife loves vegetables and legumes. She loves trying new things and ends up cooking enough things to satisfy him and their 3 kids. Occasionally she makes things she likes, as well.
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Oh man, that would make me crazy—expensive organic berries, lovingly selected and carefully washed—traded away for a bag of junky food!!!
I always cringe a little when I see what portion of her lunch the toddler did not eat (and yes, she does not eat all of it every day because she’s a toddler) because I know how much time and care and $$ went into that lovely lunch.
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Little falafel or other veggie/bean fritters would be a good lunch box item
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Oh man, the capricious toddler. Such a challenge. I’m surprised that no one has come up with a refillable toddler approved pouch that savvy parents can refill with healthy options.
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tcamp: That is a great idea!
This exists and has been one of our absolute favorite kid-related purchases! We have the BabyBrezza brand and have used the 10 pack for the last 4+ years - they are VERY hardy and stand up well to washing. I’ll link below.
Our usual move is to make a family smoothie (that adults and kids both have for breakfast) and then put the leftovers into the pouches. Depending on how soon you need them, you can freeze or put in fridge. We’ve found that a frozen pouch, taken out when leaving the house in the morning, is the perfect cool temperature and consistency by preschool lunchtime.
Also a very hearty vote for Pizza Beans as a great kid lunch option!
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kumquat—Thanks VERY VERY VERY much for sharing info about those awesome pouches! Who knew? Also thanks for the additional thumbs up on the Pizza Beans.
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I want those packed in my lunch
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Did anyone mention Gigantes, the Greek elephant beans in tomato and dill? There are cans of these beans, already prepared, available, too. Zante brand is the common brand in Ontario.
I was interested in this question, so I did a tiny bit of digging. This was a thoughtful read.
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Thank you. I will remember Eden Foods when shopping.
Kiddo (and adult) approved: Roll Ups/Pinwheels
Tortilla or other wrap then:
Hummus plus veggies (can crumble falafels, too), then rolled up, chilled, and cut into rounds
Or
Refried beans, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions, then rolled up, chilled, and cut into rounds
Very easy to riff on.
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Reminds me I used to make hummus and cucumber tea sandwiches for my nephew’s lunch box in pre-school and lower school days.
On the tortilla front, they took plain cheese quesadillas, the accompanying beans (soup or refried) were in a tiny thermos.
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My younger nephew is a very slow eater, and would run out of time to eat his food because he was chatting with his friends 
.
Aside from telling him to eat first and chat later 
, my sil also told him he could eat some of the things later as a snack.
(Until then he was always ravenous after school and we couldn’t quite figure out why — turned out the first pre-school aide used to make the kids throw out anything that had not been eaten at the end of lunch).
ElsieDee—great idea; thank you.
Saregama—hummus and cuke sandwiches! I’m going to make those for her! Did you cut off the crusts to make them “officially” tea sandwiches? Did you use butter to prevent the hummus from soaking into the bread? Also, how did the tiny thermos work out? We would have to remind ourselves that we want the food to be pleasantly warm, not piping hot, at the toddler’s lunchtime and pack accordingly. Now I’m off to google “small thermos.”
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Saregama—that poor little nephew! Wanting to eat the rest of his lunch only to discover it had been tossed!
No butter needed (or at least I didn’t use any, as there’s already tahini in the hummus), and yes I did cut off the crusts when he was little (though I don’t on the occasion he asks for them now, as a tween).
Fantastic.
Aside from beans and soup, anything else they preferred warm went in there too — pasta and rice dishes, oatmeal, and so on. Sometimes quesadillas went in a second thermos after wrapping in foil — insulated bento / lunch boxes weren’t as popular with them (though we did try a few types over the years as they fit more variety).
My friend’s kids took 2-tier bentos everyday, and a thermos only if there was something wet.
This is a great recipe:
https://www.diningandcooking.com/289028/braised-white-beans-and-greens-with-parmesan/
It also appeared in the NYT as Creamy White Beans With Pecorino and Pancetta, but you can obviously leave out the pancetta!!
Now I’m off to google “small thermos.”
May I suggest this Simple Modern model? It’s a little bigger than the kid-sized Thermos brand ones, but it is AWESOME for keeping colds cold and hots hot. DS uses this every day and in 4-5 years the only issue is that I had to buy a replacement lid because the gasket came out when DH cleaned it a little too vigorously.
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