School Lunch

[mother2gf3]

Ok so I have 4 children ages 2,4,6 and 8. All except for my 8 year old have Celiac. My 6 year old will be starting 1st grade this fall, I am stuck. I am 3 months into learning my children have celiac, so im fairly new to this diet, its one thing cooking meals at home but does anyone have suggetions on meals bringable in a lunchbox?

[Eriella]

Here are a few of my suggestions:

- apples, carrots, pretzels, and peanut butter

- bean dip and guacamole with tortilla chips

- lunchable-esque meals with rice crackers, meat, and cheese

- thermos with leftovers

- salad

- tuna/chicken salad with crackers

- sandwiches on corn tortillas or gluten-free bread

- gorilla munch and buy the milk

- trail mix of health valley rice crunch ems, raisins, and almonds.

[buffettbride]

Lunch has been my biggest challenge as well and it has mostly been packing fresh foods and leftover for dinners for my DD, 9, with Celiacs.

We also got this nifty lunchbox from Open Original Shared Link. It's a little pricey for a lunchbox, but well worth it!! (We got an extra set of containers in addition to the kit). It makes it easy to pack fresh foods and fit them all in one place. Just having something like that to neatly organize the food makes it easier to think of things to pack.

My daughter eats a lot of peanuts and walnuts (no nut issues, obviously), salad mix with her favorite dressing, cheese (no dairy issues either), apples w/ peanut butter, fresh sliced peaches, rice, meats leftover from dinner...stuff like that.

Good luck!

[gfgypsyqueen]

Hi, You might look into a 504 plan if the school isn't very helpful or understanding. I'm looking into it for the fall for other food allergies. Is a microwave an option at the school? (Sometimes that can be part of the 504).

My youngest is a dipper - so chicken strips with ketchup, salad dressing, bbq, honey, anything to dip in.

Stay hot Thermos for pasta and sauce

deli sandwiches on gluten-free bread.

Or skip the bread and roll the meat and cheese up into logs.

yogurt is a favorite.

jello and puddings

cold pizza (homemade is my favorite).

Last nights dinner is a last resort. Meat, rice, veggies, and sauce all mixed up.

Good luck

[kbtoyssni]

Cold pizza! I eat this all the time. I make a double batch on weekends using Jill's Quick and Easy crust in The Gluten Free Gourmet cookbook. It's quick and easy as advertised and tastes good, plus if you add lots of veggies to pizza and not *too* much cheese, it's actually a pretty healthy meal.

Chips and salsa

String cheese

Hot dog in thermos of hot water

Egg/tuna/chicken salad on a corn tortilla or lettuce wrap

Fruit snacks

Lays stax or doritos (although some do contain gluten)

I love Thai Kitchen "ramen" noodles, but he may not have access to a microwave

[Granny Garbonzo]

A lot of what you use for lunches will be dependent on where you live and what resources are available to you.

Where I live we have Fred Meyers Health Food section and a few different Health Food stores and a great Health Food Cooperative...we also live within close travel to Trader Joes and other Health Food stores.

My grandchildren take fruit, jello, and pudding cups (check labels on EVERYTHING)

We get rice noodles from the local asian store and they like them with a sauce simmilar to mac and cheese, or with a little butter and LaChoy brand soy sauce, or with Wheat free tamari sauce.

Rice mac and cheese with hot dogs (since the kids eat a lot of hot dogs I buy the kind that don't have the bad chemicals and preservatives in them)

We get gluten-free crackers of lots of varieties, and also gluten-free pretzels, they dip them in salad dressing or eat them with stuff.

We make gluten-free cookies, get recipes online.....and I have a great recipe for cut out cookies that the whole class will enjoy on a day when you take food for the school classroom....email me at lroper@peak.org

Also, the NAMASTE mixes are truly outstanding...especially the chocolate cake mix...they are in a brown bag.....and the Jiffy white frosting mix is gluten-free and tasty...also, I have contacted the deco icing and sprinkles manufacturers and they are all gluten-free....so you can go to the store and buy those nifty tubes of colored icing and sprinkles and such to make a happy lunch surprise.

The Bob's Red Mill bread mix made in a 1hour cycle bread maker is fast and pretty good. It needs to be eaten asap though, as do most gluten-free baked goods...sounds like your hungry little group would make quick work of a loaf for lunches.....I suggest open faced sandwiches, since the gluten-free bread is often denser and thicker...and mix together the p-nut butter and jam before putting it on the bread, it will ride better and be easier to eat.

Fruit snacks in the little packets are great if you read the labels.

Look into meal shakes that are gluten-free....or get some whey protien or goat whey protien and make your own to send with them....we call them smoothies to the kids and they think they are great.....add fruit or flavorings or just mild or juice, blender them and poor them into a container to be shaken up and drank at school.

Be carefull of packaged chips, stick with those that label them with simple ingredients....some are made from mixed up stuff, you want just plain potatoe or corn or rice with expeller pressed oils and salt. We stay away from cheetos and doritos and anything where something may have been mixed in that is not on the label or that has too many chemicals or whatever.

you can cut up fruit and roll it in lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.

We make our own trail mixes with kid approved ingredients

In a pinch, pancakes with faces or in shapes will do with p-nut butter or something.

Interesting drinks help offset the dulldrums of gluten-free food.

The pizza thing is a great idea, but we can not afford expensive mixes, we just make something like baking powder biscuits out of white rice flour, using the same sort of recipe as the wheat type, and add a pinch of zanthan gum, and add a bit of baking soda also....in fact I add both baking powder and baking soda to most the things I bake for added puff. We just press this biscuit dough into the pizza pan or a rectangular pan and put gluten-free topping on it...and wha-la, pizza...on the cheap.

Best of luck to you in pursuit of great lunches....

Granny Garbanzo

[mother2gf3]

Wow. Thanks for all the ideas. They are all great. I will put them to good use. Thankyou so much.

[NoGluGirl]

Ok so I have 4 children ages 2,4,6 and 8. All except for my 8 year old have Celiac. My 6 year old will be starting 1st grade this fall, I am stuck. I am 3 months into learning my children have celiac, so im fairly new to this diet, its one thing cooking meals at home but does anyone have suggetions on meals bringable in a lunchbox?

Dear mother2gf3,

I have a list that should really help. This is overwhelming. I went through this with myself eleven months ago. You spend most of your day cooking and cleaning obsessively. The rest you are on the phone with reps from companies trying to find out what is safe. I decided to save you the trouble!

1. There are a number of things in the regular grocery that are safe. Some things are labeled already. Wal-Mart's Great Value brand has numerous things you can eat.

2. For the love of God use Coupons on items you are allowed to eat. People can get them and print them out online even. Call some of the local stores and ask if they accept online coupons.

3. Check the ads online and in the newspaper. You would be surprised how many people do not do this.

4. Some items like rice flour and rice noodles are safe to buy at the Chinese or oriental market. The merchants are more than happy to help you if you cannot read the label.

Now, here is my list of great things to get you started:

Condiments:

Smart Balance Margarine*

Crisco Shortening

Crisco Oil

Pompeiian Olive Oil

Great Value soy sauce

Heinz Ketchup

Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce (all Lea & Perrins Products are safe)

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Kraft French Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Kraft Thousand Island Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Pace Picante Sauce

Ortega Salsa

All Classico Red and *White sauces

All Jif Peanut Butters including Smooth Sensations

Welch's Grape Jelly

Cool Whip*

Philadelphia Cream Cheese*

Miracle Whip

Daisy Sour Cream (fat-free, low-fat, regular)*

Snack Foods:

Utz Potato Chips (Found at Sam