Lunch And Snack Suggestions?

[bnsnewman]

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can pack in my daughters' lunch? She is in Kindergarten and is known for being a huuuge snacker. We always used to joke that she was on the Anti-Atkins diet (and we always wondered why she had stomach pains). She loves carbs and we have a heck of a time getting her to eat protein. So trying to switch her diet over to gluten-free products has been frustrating for all of us.

Does anyone have any safe go-to snacks that they can suggest also? We both thank you! Natalie

[Nantzie]

My daughter is a big eater too. She seems fill up better if I include a banana in her breakfast or snack. Also, gluten-free pancakes - Pamela's has a good mix. We also do a lot of gluten-free crackers and cheese, but they don't fill her up much. Apples and peanut butter too if she can tolerate them - apples were too rough for me for a while. Applesauce. Gluten-free pretzels - most taste exactly the same. Raisins or craisins.

Also, if you haven't tried them, try one of the more popular bread mixes. Our personal favorite is Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix. Another popular one is Gluten Free Pantry's Favorite Sandwich Bread. We use Pamela's for any type of sandwich, which works out great.

Hope that helps.

Nancy

[Guest maddiesmom]

My daughter likes to take tuna for lunch.. just tuna and mayo in a container... that is how she has always eaten it. She also like beanie weinie's, fruit, yogurt... ham and cheese roll ups and she loves to have just cereal for lunch.. she can buy the milk at school.

[Kellygirl]

I snack on fruit source bars and Enjoy life chocolate chip cookies. These choices are both great because my nephew who is 4 years old and a big snacker has a severe peanut and lactose allergy so between the 2 of us we cover all the allergies. Anyway he and I love them both. Trix cereal is also something I like to snack on. I eat it right out of the box. Haven't tried it with soy milk yet. I love it as a snack. Dora the Explorer cinnamon stars are gluten free also

[RiceGuy]

Here are a few snacks that come to mind:

Popcorn

Popcorn balls (made with peanut butter and carob/cocoa to hold them together)

Rice/popcorn cakes (peanut butter is great on these too)

Applesauce (Try mixing peanut butter with it for a delicious and creamy "pudding". You can also add carob/cocoa and a dash of cinnamon)

[suebny]

My son is 10 and was diagnosed in December. Like your daughter, he was Mr. Carb. Two of the lunches that he likes best that also travel well are mac and cheese made with his favorite gluten free pasta (glutano or tinkyada or ancient harvest's quinoa are the faves of the moment) mixed with the either a slice of cheese and a little milk to melt it all together or the cheese powder plus milk from regular mac and cheese like Amy's or Kraft. The other lunch that travels pretty well (because some of the breads turn hard so fast) is a Foods by George english muffin with ham. As far as snacks go, the pretzels which seem to taste best to us are the Glutino ones. good luck.

[Guhlia]

banana bread makes great peanut butter sandwiches even without being heated first.

fried rice in a thermos

hot dogs in a thermos, buns packed separately (Open Original Shared Link)

stuffed shells using Tinkyada shells (in Thermos)

macaroni and cheese in Thermos

pizza casserole in thermos (beef, Tinkyada pasta, cheese, tomato sauce)

For snacks:

pretzels w/ peanut butter for dipping

apples w/ peanut butter

nuts

breadsticks w/ pizza sauce for dipping

caramel apple popcorn (freeze dried apples w/ caramel popcorn)

cheese cubes

pinwheels (lunchmeat wrapped around cream cheese)

tortilla chips w/ cheese and salsa

Lara bars

[gfgypsyqueen]

If there is any food that your child likes for dinner, try to pack it for lunch. Mac and cheese never traveled well for us.

deli meat, crackers, sliced cheese. (all separate for us no foods can touch!!)

Jello, fruit cups, apple sauce, pudding

homemade cup cakes

pizza - maybe he'll eat it cold?

chips and salsa or cheese dip

We made a big issue out of food groups and she had to pick something from each food group. Yes we had cutouts of foods she liked on the fridge and she could pick what went in the lunch box. This was a huge battle at first, but it has gotten better. She is very picky so veggies are still barely eaten.

Any chance the teacher is willing to microwave his meal is the classroom before lunch??

[bnsnewman]

As always, you guys totally rock! Thank you for the suggestions, and keep 'em coming if anything else comes to mind!

As far as the teacher heating up her lunch, they won't do it because then they will have to do it for everyone. I understand, and that's ok.

Today we tried gluten-free hot dog buns and she hated those. With dinner, gluten-free potato rolls - she hated those. I found some gluten-free cereals at the store today and bought those. One of the cereals is similar to peanut butter crunch, but gluten-free, and her comment about the cereal was something along the lines of "it's tortuous". Big sigh. The only things that she actually likes so far are Pamela's cookies and the KinnikKinnick cinnamin sugar donuts (and they have 5 grams of protein per donut!).

Regarding the suggestions for pizza - where do you get gluten-free pizza dough, or crust? Thanks tons, Natalie

[Guest lorlyn]

Natalie,

I get gluten-free pizza dough at whole foods or at a health food store. When my daughter was diagnosed in Nov. 06 her school would not let her use the microwave either. The other day I mentioned that Celiac disease falls under the ADA regulations they told me that my daughter could use the microwave. Good luck on the lunches.

[Karen B.]

Have you tried Chebe rolls to make little "Lunchable" size mini-sandwiches? A co-worker's kid (not a Celiac) always asks me if I have any "chubby" buns (apt nickname) when he comes to our office and if I know he'll be coming, I try to have some for him. I gave him a couple a long time ago with lunchmeat in them for a snack and he's never forotten them.

I think he liked the idea of mini-buns (I make them about 1-1/2 to 2 inches across). They also make great breadsticks and I've made "pizza sticks" by mixing in sun-dried tomatoes and oregano (and sometimes pepperoni). Chebe bread is really durable and holds up to "squishing" if that's an issue.

The last time I made chebe mini-pizza wedges for our Celiac group, they were wiped out by a swarm from the ROCK group (the kids meet before our meeting).

You can really vary the taste of chebe by changing the cheese you use. Just keep in mind that chebe bread will get gummy if you stick it in a ziploc too soon. I get best results when I cover it with a tea towel in colander overnight. If you need more details, let me know.

Ever try making mini-muffins? Something like carrot cake with nuts will hold you awhile and you can also add extra quinoa flakes to make it more filling. Kids seem to be fascinated by little food.

As you may guess, I don't have kids but at work, they always come to my desk because I have "weird food" food.

[lonewolf]

My kids are a bit older than your daughter, but for snacking they like:

Envirokidz Cereal Bars

Homemade chocolate chip cookies

Little baggies of Gorilla Munch

Raisins

Fruit-a-Bu fruit roll-ups

Nuts

Rice cakes with peanut butter

Apple slices dipped in peanut or almond butter

Lays Stax in individual cups

Clif Nectar bars

Ener-G pretzels

Another good snack is the 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies:

1 egg

1 C peanut butter

1 C sugar

Mix together well, drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375

Makes about 24

[RiceGuy]

Kids seem to be fascinated by little food.

That reminds me: Mini peanut butter sandwiches made with crackers. Unlike breads, crackers aren't expected to be soft, and usually don't get noticeably stale so fast.