School Lunches

[Guest KylieSuzanne]

Hi everyone,

Ok so i am a senior this year in highschool and i was diagnosed with Celiac one year ago. I have really severe Celiec, the smallest things can make me sick and i have to be super careful when i eat, or even touch anything. I also eat dairy very selectively. Because of this, i have to pack my lunch everyday for school no matter what.Now here are my problems, 1. i am super bored with what i eat 2. i am really sensative about being made fun of about my food. For lunch i usually eat a main something (usually pb&j sandwich on an apple cinnamon rice cake, actually pretty good for anyone who wants to try i just eat it to much, or leftovers from dinner the night before if it doesnt need refridgerated) and then lots of fruits and veggies and either juice or water. Last year in the class i had before lunch, we had a fridge and a microwave so that made it very easy to make good food, but i can't do that this year. So does anyone have good lunch food things that they like to bring that are easy to prepare and keep well? Now on to my second problem. It may be wierd but maybe somebody else has this issue too, but i do not like it when my food smells funny and to me, gluten free food does sometimes. I don't like to create attention to the fact that i eat special food, so anything that blends well is a major plus. This is really long and i am sorry but none of my friends have celiac or even food allergies so i have no one to talk to about coping. Hopefully someone has good ideas because lately i have just not been eating lunch and that is not a good way to finish highschool (ha hungry, wanting real food, and grumpy that i can't eat it) So any ideas would be great, thanks!!

Kylie

[flagbabyds]

Hi and welcome to the boards, i'ma junior in high school and i have had celiac basically all my life (diagnosed when I was less than 2) and I have never gone a day without taking my lunch to school. I am just like you and i get sick with just the littleist thing!

I usually take a thermous (sp??!?!?!) and sometimes I take brown rice and beef that my dad made the night before, usually just with a balsamic and vinegar sauce to keep it soft and not dry. Or I make pinto beans with tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoesall cooked together and then i put a poached egg on the top. Both of these are dairy free 'cause i used to be casein intolerant so I would be dairy free.

Or I make a sandwich on th bread that my mom makes which makes it look like a regular sandwich andI put turkey and cheese and onions etc.

I always take some snack foods like an apple and orange and some string cheese (i'm back on lactose)

In my car I always keep some meringue cookies and some perky-os just in case something happens to my lunch then I will have something to eat so I won't pass out.

About the microwave you might want to look into getting a 504 plan which is a plan under the ADA which says that all your teachers need to keep you safe and make sure that there is no gluten in the room (one time they were baking bread in the AP bio classroom and in my science class was in the same room and i was not allowed to go to science cause it could make me sick)

YOu can also out on there that you need to be able to keep your food safe and have a place in a refrigerator or have microwave access.

You can AIM me if you want to chat more or send me an e-mail my aim is missmolly3001 and my e-mail is celiacmolly08@mac.com

[~~~AnnaBelle~~~]

Hey I dont know what to say, but I really wanted to say hey, I was just diagnosed with celiacs last year and mine is just as severe, also it has made me lasctose and tolerant, so I thought it was neat seeing someone so close to my age that has the same problem, so...ya! If I come up with any ideas for lunch, I'll be sure to let you know! :-)

~~~AnnaBelle~~~

[jmengert]

I'm not a teenager, so I hope it's okay to post here, but I'm a teacher, so I have to pack my lunch, too. When I don't have access to a fridge and it's lunchtime, I use freeze packs to put in my lunch (the blue ones you can buy at Walmart, Target, etc.). I bought an insulated lunch bag, and putting any cold salad (egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad), sandwich, cheese, etc. stays fine for several hours, so that's something to think about if you can't get access to a fridge.

[lonewolf]

I'm not a teenager either, but my daughter is a Freshman and has gone gluten-free because it makes her feel better. I've been packing gluten-free lunches for a long time for myself.

Today, she took deli turkey (Applegate Farms brand) wrapped in lettuce leaves, secured with a frilly toothpick. She also had carrot sticks, potato chips, a few plums and a juice box. Other things she likes are tortilla chips and bean dip (kept warm in a little thermos), sandwiches made on rice tortillas, leftover pizza, soup, chicken or turkey salad and leftover dinner. For "sides" she likes fruit, raw vegies, all kinds of chips or popcorn, Envirokidz Cereal bars, homemade cookies, pistachios or almonds, dried pineapple and anything else she can find in the fridge. I eat similar foods and try to not eat anything more than twice in the same week.

[Kassie]

hi, i'm a sophmore and i too am very sensitive. i have to pack a lunch every day so for lunch i usully just like bring sandwhiches with gluten-free bread, rolled up meat with fillings inside( but only do that if u can keep it cooled i learned from that i got so sick), crackers and peanut butter, cereal( i even brought a bowl and had milk with it if u can), salad, pancakes or waffles either plain or bring syrup in seperate container, gluten-free bagels and english muffins. i also bring muffins that my mom bakes. so there is just some ideas, also i always bring like like fruit, chips, pudding, yogurt, fruit snacks, or string cheese. feel free to e-mail me at ( twin_kassie2@hotmail.com

[flagbabyds]

hey kassie or anyone here, if you ever want to chat, i love to meet other celiac teens...

celiacmolly08@mac.com ---------->e-mail

missmolly3001 ---------> AIM

[eKatherine]

I'm obviously not a kid, but I've packed lunches my whole life. Rice paper wrappers are good for wrapping up any kind of salad and/or meat filling.

[Guest nini]

I'm not a kid, but a mom who packs my kid's lunch every day... I download a copy of the county's lunch menu off their website for each month and try to come up with gluten-free versions of the food choices they are offering. Today it's hot dogs... so I'm boiling hot dogs in water and warming up some gluten-free bread in the microwave, sending her with two packets of ketchup and told her that she can get the oranges off the lunch line if she wants (I've already verified with the cafeteria that the fresh fruit is prepared in a clean separate area of the cafeteria and not handled by anyone handling anything with gluten) Sometimes it's Taco's or Taco Salad, or Chicken Filet sandwiches or spagetti, beanies and weanies, or chicken nuggets or fish sticks... I just find gluten-free alternatives for each of these menu items and go from there. If she's not in the mood for any of those things, I'll do a pb&j sandwich on Kinnikinick bread.

I think if you get creative and look at what your school's menu is, it might give you some ideas to convert into gluten-free options.

Another idea I think might be fun and different is to make vegetarian sushi rolls... you can prepare the rice and veggies easily enough the night before and then just prep them in the morning. e-mail me at nisla@comcast.net if you want a recipe.

[2Boys4Me]

Not a teenager, nor are my kids yet...but I wanted to throw out Taco Salad as an offering. My non-gluten-free son takes it all the time. Taco chips, lettuce, sour cream, grated cheese and tomatoes in a tupperware thing and then taco meat in a thermos. The first time he tried to put the salad in the thermos . Now he knows better and puts the meat in the tupperware thingy. He always has applesauce for his luch dessert. My gluten-free son always takes banana bread, hard boiled eggs and cheese cubes or else left over sliced meat from the night before. He just eats the meat cold. He might also take some jello or pudding or canned fruit snacks if the mood strikes him as we're making lunch.

Good luck...and at least you can take peanuts. Our school discourages peanuts so that limits a lot of snacky type treats.

[amber-rose]

Hey, I'm 14 and I'm a sophomore,

I have you tried KinnicKinnick (sp?) bread. It looks like regular bread, and its very good! I usually make a turkey sandwich with that, with Hormel turkey, because it says clearly on the package that the turkey meat is gluten-free. And its in almost any grocery store! Just buy a couple cold packs and put one in there, that'll keep it cold. Thats the only lunch idea I have, but if i think of any others, I let you know!

[jnifred]

don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but my kids LOVE to have a baked potato sent in their lunch box. I stuff it in a hot container after it is cooked (micro)(like you would put soup in) and then put the "fixings" in small bowls in their lunch bag. Takes a couple minutes in the morning to put together while the potato is in the micro.

[rachael128]

Hi,

Everyone has really good ideas for lunches I think I'm going to try out a couple. Anyway for lunch I usually bring a brown rice tortilla wrap by Foods For Life, and you can put just about anything in the wraps and it usually stay together pretty well. I also bring cut up veggies and fruits, I also pack some pecans and almonds. I have found that these are really easy to make in the morning and look normal.

Good Luck with everything

[Saz]

Hey. I just have one suggestion. If you find it hard to find things to take to school, maybe don't eat the things you take to school on the wkends etc? I know that canbe hard considering you're already limited and it doesnt really solve the variety problem but its the only thing I can think of it.

[flowerchik]

Hi! I'm a sophmore. I don't have celiac disease, but i'm allergc to gluten, corn (and pretty much everything else ) I wasn't very good about not eating gluten and i got very sick, so now i have to come up with foods to eat. So if anyone has any suggestions for school lunches (that dont have corn/nuts/fruits) that would be great! I agree with everyone else in that it's really hard when your friends don't get that you can't have gluten. So it would be really great if i could bring lunches that looked normal. Thanks!!!!

[ironic]

I was trying to get fruit from the lunch line (I packed everything else) and the lunch ladies wouldn't let me. I explain all about Celiac disease - but they made me pay for a full lunch anyway. I was *really* mad (I mean have some compassion), I threw everything but the fruit away in front of them, and since then I bring my own fruit.

Just thought I'd share my (not so bad) horror story!

[linds]

hi. i am not a teenager but close. i am 21 and in college. when i was in high school i ate their lunch because i was not yet gluten free but looking back, the ting that i ate everyday my entire junior year could easily be made gluten free. It was a veggie wrap! very delicious. Use a rice tortilla i suppose and fill it with lettue tomatos cucumbers chopped brocoli anc cauliflower and a bit of chees. then at lunch add a bit of your favorite kind of dressing. if you like veggies it is something good to try.