I can't figure any other way to reasonably make the kids lunch without leaving them in the other room where I can't see them without making it the night before and quickly heating things up or making sandwiches in their presence. Is there a certain way all of you do this so you can give them healthy homemade food without leaving unsupervised? Any tips would be great.

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I'm lucky that I can see the kids from the kitchen due to an open floor plan. I can't see them if they are in the front room but they know they are not allowed out there while I am in the kitchen. But I also try and serve them a lot of what we had for dinner the night before or I make a quicker meal if they are having something different.

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I prep as much as possible the night before. All the meat is pre cooked and I typically only have to warm and serve. I can't see the kids in the playroom from my kitchen either, but I allow them special toys and busy bags that they play with in my line of sight while I prep plates. Then we all go wash hands, sit nicely at the table, and then I serve the food. It takes no more than 15m from start to finish.

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A couple of ideas, can you put them at the table to color or play with a table activity? If I have ones that I can't leave in the playroom that is what I do.
Lunch prep is generally done the night before or early morning. So like we had meatballs, pasta, broccoli and mandarin oranges today. Premade the meatballs. So I put the meatballs and sauce on to heat, water on to boil, broccoli in pan, oranges I peled and placed in a container his morning. In 20 min. It was done. The kids were at the table coloring.
I like to use the crock pot too than it is just the sides. A lot of times I prep the fruit and veggies early morning for the day.
Stir fry, pre make the rice and meat so your just cooking the veggies, heating the meat. Reheat the rice and have fruit ready.
Soups in the crockpot add bread and fruit.
If it is pizza they will look at a book or play while I get it in the oven, have sides ready. Then we will do something while it bakes. I like casseroles that go in the oven so after breakfast I prep that. It is in the oven while we go for a walk and play outside.
I plan for about 20 minutes in the kitchen to get food on the table. We go for a walk right now before that time so they are settled for a book or coloring etc.
Little ones I will give them veggies while I get lunch done.

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They help, or play quietly at the table depending on the food and the group.
Try to incorporate if you can. It is good for kiddos to learn to cut and serve food. Even with a butter knife, a tiny one can cut bananas, and older kids strawberries. Kids can help wash or peel fruit, etc.
Obviously they don't cook on the stove, but there is much they can do to help.

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I also have an open floor plan and can see the children in my family room while I'm in the kitchen. I either make extras at dinner time for the next day or I make the lunch fresh. Other pp's had great ideas of what the children could do while you make lunch! They do like to help, my 2.5 year olds love mixing things and for the younger children sometimes they help and sometimes I give them bowls and big spoons to "cook" with and they sit and stir their "food" in the bowls. One of my children loves to put the oven mitts on and pretend to cook. I don't let them near the stove, they sit at their lunch table and do this.

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I make it during breakfast time when they are in their high chairs eating. I can see them the whole time. I also sometimes cook a little more dinner and then they have it for lunch the next day.

Laurel

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My daycare room is on a different level than my kitchen, so they can either watch a show on tv while I prepare lunch or somedays they like to sit around the table and color on my whiteboards or just chit chat while I fix lunch.

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