Lunch Ideas

[sclark9602]

I am having the hardest time with my 9 yr. old and eating. She is so very picky. She doesn't eat breakfast b/c quite frankly she's tired of eating CoCo Pebbles and that seems to be the only cereal that we can get. We do get a couple of the W/Gluten-Free cereals from a store about 15 miles from the house but it's eaten up so quick. It's so expensive to keep going back. Also I buy the Vanns Waffles that they can have and the same thing, they eat them up quick too and they are expensive.

Today me and DD have argument b/c she didn't eat breakfast and now she's walking around in circles looking for something to eat for lunch. She has her bread that we get from Kinnickinnick that is very good. We have lunch meat, cheese and so on but she didn't want it. The things she did want we're out of b/c she didn't want them last week and I ate it for instance Refried Beans. I have suggested many times to put refried beans in a tortilla with cheese melted on it and she always sticks her nose up at it. Of all days today she wants that. She is in there crying and I'm the bad guy in the family b/c DH babies her and gets onto me for making her cry. I am fed up with this and don't know what to do. Can someone please give me some suggestions on what I can do to help this lunch situation?????

Thank you so much,

Shelly

[Rachel--24]

Any way you can stock up on all the stuff she *might* want to eat if she gets in the mood? She probably doesnt have alot to choose from at once. Could you designate a place with all her food that noone else can eat so that she cant make excuses that there is nothing to eat?? Let her pick out what she wants and enough different items that she wont get bored with her diet or feel as limited.

[sclark9602]

Any way you can stock up on all the stuff she *might* want to eat if she gets in the mood? She probably doesnt have alot to choose from at once. Could you designate a place with all her food that noone else can eat so that she cant make excuses that there is nothing to eat?? Let her pick out what she wants and enough different items that she wont get bored with her diet or feel as limited.

Yeah and for a while b4 we moved, that is what I was doing. I just need to figure out what foods that she will eat or like. Sometimes she likes certain foods and other times she doesn't which I can understand but it sure does become a pain. When I buy food they (son also has Celiac) act like they have to eat it all b4 the world ends. I know I sound really mean about this but geez calm down a little on the food. It won't go away. I have also been putting more veggies and fruit in their diet b/c her tummy is very bloated. At the time I didn't know if it was the Celiac causing it or just eating too much. So, I quit buying all the junk food such as chips and stuff like that. I'll get it figured out sooner or later.

Thanks.

[gdobson]

I know this doesn’t help right now, but I take my 9 year old son to the store and have him actively pick out the food he wants. If he asks for applesauce (for example), we investigate the choices together – call the company, etc and find out which ones we can have. He is a lot more agreeable when he feels like he has some control over his choices. Of course he goes in spurts of always wanting the same thing, and then never wanting it again. Right now we are on hot dogs wrapped up in corn tortillas and cheese, apple sauce, and Envirokids cereal bars. I stay away from the junk food even if it’s gluten free because I notice such a big difference in his disposition when he doesn’t fill up on “good stuff.” I also find if he doesn’t eat his lunch at school, he usually has a bit of a melt down and becomes very irritable. For breakfast, I like to buy that Pamelas gluten free baking mix. It has recipes for muffins (my kids love blueberry muffins made with it) waffles, and pancakes – using a waffle iron is bound to be less expensive than frozen waffles.

sorry for the font

[StrongerToday]

My daughter will be 9 next month. While I'm the one who's gluten-free, she's still a 9 year old - they sound similar We often go through food favorites and then wham the next day she sticks her nose up at it. I buy foods I know she'll like (applesauce, fruits for eating and smoothies, etc.). While I've noticed she'll whine if we're out of something, she will eventually realize that food will NOT magically appear and she manages to find something to eat after all.

[sclark9602]

My daughter will be 9 next month. While I'm the one who's gluten-free, she's still a 9 year old - they sound similar We often go through food favorites and then wham the next day she sticks her nose up at it. I buy foods I know she'll like (applesauce, fruits for eating and smoothies, etc.). While I've noticed she'll whine if we're out of something, she will eventually realize that food will NOT magically appear and she manages to find something to eat after all.

Thanks you guys for your advice. This is all just a fact of life that we'll have to get use to. For almost 3 yrs. we've done really well with this diet but today was actually one of the first days that it's been very hard.

Thanks.

[Nic]

If the health food store is too far, you can go on line and order in bulk. We also eat the Envirokids cereals and cereal bars. There is a company called Gluten free Naturals that you can look up on line that makes the best pancake mix and also pizza crust mix. For lunch we do: hotdogs, gluten-free pizza that I make and freeze, buttered gluten-free pasta (Tinkyada is best for us), mac and cheese that I make with gluten-free pasta, grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly on gluten-free bread. He is now also starting to get into lunch meat.

[Izak's Mom]

my son is nowhere near nine, but off the top of my head would she go for tater tots? cascadian farm makes organic ones that are really good. what about tuna or chicken or egg salad? (or is that icky to a 9-year-old?) in addition to rice pasta products, we've been using a corn-quinoa one too (can't remember brand off the top of my head, but local price chopper supermarket had it). i do pasta salad with pesto, or saute a little garlic in olive oil with little slivers of apricots and roasted yellow peppers and put that on the pasta with parmesan cheese. celery & peanut butter or celery & cream cheese is a good lunchy snack too...not sure if this is helpful, but good luck!

[powderprincess]

Everyone suggestions are really good so far.

I might add to introduce different styles of food to her. I think I was worse than your daughter at age 9. I was. . .er. . .I am. . .so picky.

However, I have had great luck with expanding my food options with other cultures foods. I was not really introduced to it as a kid. It was all-american diet for me. I think the best way to introduce kids to food like that would be to have them actively involved, for example in the grocery store, like other posters mentioned.

I know cookbooks can get expensive, but it might be worth some time in the library to look through books with good photos of food. Or browse a store. I love the photos in the williams-sonoma cookbooks. That way she can pick what looks good and weed out what looks gross without having the pressure of wasting food, time, and money. After she picks out a couple or even just one, figure out how to make it gluten free together. Make it a food-treasure hunt and find something completely new. It is easy to get bored with the same couple sandwiches on the few kinds of bread she can have.

Just my $0.02 good luck and have fun!

. . .i do pasta salad with pesto, or saute a little garlic in olive oil. . .

Garlic makes everything better! Apparently I wouldn't eat baby food until my parents figured out to put garlic on it.

[sclark9602]

Everyone suggestions are really good so far.

I might add to introduce different styles of food to her. I think I was worse than your daughter at age 9. I was. . .er. . .I am. . .so picky.

However, I have had great luck with expanding my food options with other cultures foods. I was not really introduced to it as a kid. It was all-american diet for me. I think the best way to introduce kids to food like that would be to have them actively involved, for example in the grocery store, like other posters mentioned.

I know cookbooks can get expensive, but it might be worth some time in the library to look through books with good photos of food. Or browse a store. I love the photos in the williams-sonoma cookbooks. That way she can pick what looks good and weed out what looks gross without having the pressure of wasting food, time, and money. After she picks out a couple or even just one, figure out how to make it gluten free together. Make it a food-treasure hunt and find something completely new. It is easy to get bored with the same couple sandwiches on the few kinds of bread she can have.

Just my $0.02 good luck and have fun!

Garlic makes everything better! Apparently I wouldn't eat baby food until my parents figured out to put garlic on it.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Ya'll are so great to help me out. I appreciate it. I'm still trying to get the hang of this posting and replying so please bare with me. Thanks.

[Nic]

I know this is more of a dinner idea but the other night I was making shrimp scampi and never thought my son would eat it (he is 5). But I tried anyway putting it over gluten free pasta. I didn't give him that many shrimp thinking he will never eat this. He ate everything on his plate and then picked all the shrimp out of the serving bowl and ate them too. It makes me so happy when we have a success with a new gluten free meal choice.

[CarlaB]

I am having the hardest time with my 9 yr. old and eating. She is so very picky. She doesn't eat breakfast b/c quite frankly she's tired of eating CoCo Pebbles and that seems to be the only cereal that we can get. We do get a couple of the W/Gluten-Free cereals from a store about 15 miles from the house but it's eaten up so quick. It's so expensive to keep going back. Also I buy the Vanns Waffles that they can have and the same thing, they eat them up quick too and they are expensive.

Today me and DD have argument b/c she didn't eat breakfast and now she's walking around in circles looking for something to eat for lunch. She has her bread that we get from Kinnickinnick that is very good. We have lunch meat, cheese and so on but she didn't want it. The things she did want we're out of b/c she didn't want them last week and I ate it for instance Refried Beans. I have suggested many times to put refried beans in a tortilla with cheese melted on it and she always sticks her nose up at it. Of all days today she wants that. She is in there crying and I'm the bad guy in the family b/c DH babies her and gets onto me for making her cry. I am fed up with this and don't know what to do. Can someone please give me some suggestions on what I can do to help this lunch situation?????

Thank you so much,

Shelly

Shelly, everyone has had great ideas for you, I just wanted to ask a question (not that you need to answer, me, it's just to make a point for you). Does your husband scold you for making her cry in front of her? It's really important that he does not. At least in front of the kids you need to have a unified front so that they don't pit one of you against the other. Assuming Dad works outside the home, it's okay for him to baby the kids, but he has to reinforce you in your role as Mom by making the kids respect you. If he respects you (and vice versa) then the kids will have the example of respect that they need. If he's free to scold you in front of her, she has the example of walking all over you, which is what she's doing. I'm sure your husband does not want his daughter to marry someone who does not respect her, and if he's disrespecting you by undermining your authority in front of your daughter, it's the example she has and the standard she will use in finding a husband. Tell him he needs to be the man he wants his daughter to marry!!!

I know it's not a solution for your food issues, but this stood out to me as the bigger underlying problem -- I have six kids, I've been known to say things like, "You don't like what's being served, fine, there's always breakfast tomorrow" (assuming it's dinnertime) -- then no snacks till next meal -- they'll only do this once! I've never asked what they wanted to eat, I make them what I feel like making! Of course, by the time they're 9, they make their own lunch with whatever they find in the kitchen. If I don't have what they want, I tell them that I go to the grocery three or four times per week, if it's not there, they should have put it on the list! With their spelling, it does make the grocery shopping interesting!

Everyone had great food ideas! Once a pediatritian told me he loved big Catholic families because there was no such thing as a picky eater. Eat what's served or go hungry! There's no time to make 8 people 8 different meals!!!

[Esther Sparhawk]

My Annie is only three, but we do daily sack lunches for her at preschool. It took me a long time to figure out ways to make lunches fun for this kid. Here are some things I include in her lunches:

PB&J cut into shapes with cookie cutters

leftover home-made meatloaf (made gluten-free of course) sandwiches -- cold w/gluten-free mayo

boiled egg sandwiches (we call 'em Easter egg sandwiches)

Bumblebee brand tuna sandwiches on rice crackers (like Lunchables)

homemade potato salad

deviled eggs

Kozy Shack brand puddings

jell-o

raisins/dried fruits/home-made gorp

celery sticks w/ peanut butter

carrot sticks (keep a jar of these in the fridge for easy access)

popcorn (and it can be a pretty cheap treat)

Cracker Jacks (I called on this one months ago, so it might be time to call again and make sure they're still okay)

gluten-free yogurt (Whole Soy & Co. is a gluten-free brand we use)

Envirokids rice crispy bars

I'm a schoolteacher as well as a parent. It sounds like your kids, who are growing and therefore hungry all the time, are also hording food. Next time you go shopping, try this. Buy two of all the cereals, chips, and snack foods. Put each kid's name on one of the two snack food boxes/bags. Tell them that they are not to invade their sibling's snack foods or (come up with a good consequence that works for your kids) will be their punishment. Then they may pace themselves better about the snack foods.

Each kid is worried that the other will eat ALL the snack foods, and he/she will get none. It's a pecking order thing. If your kitchen doesn't have a good-sized pantry, limit your snack items to whatever you do have space for; in other words, don't buy one bag of chips, one jar of applesauce, one can of refried beans, and one box of cereal. Just buy two boxes of cereal and two jars of applesauce. Leave the refried beans and chips for next week. I have a tiny pantry, myself, and I have to compromise all the time.

I, too, am new to this forum. Hope I helped a bit.

[Nic]

Mechelle Annie's Mom - What kind of bread are you using for your sandwiches? My son has been enjoying Ener-G Foods Tapioca bread but as with all the gluten-free breads I have found, it is best if toasted. I also use it for French toast, grilled cheese, and garlic bread. But if your sending it to school, do you toast it first and then does it still taste as good? My son starts kindergarten in Sept. and I am a little panicked about lunch food. At home he eats a lot of hot lunches and I know that is not always convenient in school.

Nicole

[GFBetsy]

Nic -

Homemade bread (while more time consuming) tastes SOOOOOO much better than most of the pre-made store purchased brands. Bette Hagman has a book with over 200 gluten-free bread recipes. Or try the bread recipe on Open Original Shared Link. It does take more time, but the difference in taste and texture is unbelievable. Most homemade gluten-free breads need to be stored in the fridge or freezer, but if you reheat the pieces you are going to eat in the microwave, they soften up and taste almost as good as they did fresh from the oven. Another thing you can do is make "pancake" sandwiches. Find a pancake recipe you like, and then use leftover pancakes as bread for sandwiches. (Again, keep them in the freezer and then defrost them when you want them.) They are really good for PB&J, and good for "fried egg" sandwiches w/ham, too. Kind of like an egg muffin sandwich.

As far as hot lunches go, I bought a thermos for my 1st grader, and she took leftover homemade soup to school at least once a week. She loved it, and so did I. It's much easier to heat a thermos of leftovers than decide what kind of sandwich, snack, etc. A thermos will also keep moist casserole leftovers hot until lunchtime, though it doesn't work as well for drier things (like rice).

Another thing I did (though I didn't always stick with it) was to make a 2 week "general schedule" of lunch plans that varied meat sandwiches, PB&J, soup, and other things. That way I didn't feel like I was ALWAYS sending the exact same thing to school.

[jabberwife]

Amen CarlaB! That's how I grew up, and what I try to enforce in my household, but I TOTALLY understand about the picky eater kid thing. I have 3 stepchildren that don't live with us, so as much as I try to enforce this rule, it's impossible because they come from their mom's with a different "I want this, I don't like that" every month. Now I'm new to the gluten free diet and am fearing not being able to even make them the few things they will eat. The idea of trying to introduce gluten free alternatives to their diets when they're over makes me wary--they will complain at times that they don't like "this" macaroni or that my eggs don't taste like mom's--and I'm sure they'll taste the difference between gluten-free macaroni and cheese and Kraft. I may be ending up having my husband cook all their meals, but I hate to hand it ALL to him. Ideas on this one?

[eKatherine]

I think you should get your husband's support and just tell them how it's going to be. They're welcome to any food in the house, but this is what you've prepared for dinner, and this is a home, not a restaurant.

[CarlaB]

Amen CarlaB! That's how I grew up, and what I try to enforce in my household, but I TOTALLY understand about the picky eater kid thing. I have 3 stepchildren that don't live with us, so as much as I try to enforce this rule, it's impossible because they come from their mom's with a different "I want this, I don't like that" every month. Now I'm new to the gluten free diet and am fearing not being able to even make them the few things they will eat. The idea of trying to introduce gluten free alternatives to their diets when they're over makes me wary--they will complain at times that they don't like "this" macaroni or that my eggs don't taste like mom's--and I'm sure they'll taste the difference between gluten-free macaroni and cheese and Kraft. I may be ending up having my husband cook all their meals, but I hate to hand it ALL to him. Ideas on this one?

Yea, just wouldn't sound right in court if the kids said, "Yea, they starve us at Dad's!!" I guess in some situations you have to succumb.

I think you should get your husband's support and just tell them how it's going to be. They're welcome to any food in the house, but this is what you've prepared for dinner, and this is a home, not a restaurant.

This sounds good.

[Esther Sparhawk]

Mechelle Annie's Mom - What kind of bread are you using for your sandwiches? My son has been enjoying Ener-G Foods Tapioca bread but as with all the gluten-free breads I have found, it is best if toasted. I also use it for French toast, grilled cheese, and garlic bread. But if your sending it to school, do you toast it first and then does it still taste as good? My son starts kindergarten in Sept. and I am a little panicked about lunch food. At home he eats a lot of hot lunches and I know that is not always convenient in school.

Nicole