gluten-free School Lunch Ideas

[Esther Sparhawk]

I'm both a mom of a kid with celiac disease, and I am also on staff at a school lunchroom. So I see what kids like to eat and what's served at school. These are some of the gluten-free things I like to send in my daughter's lunchbox:

• deviled eggs w/ gluten-free mayo (they store nicely in a sushi box)
  
• gluten-free lunchables (seal one baggie with rice crackers and Glutino crackers; seal another baggie with Hormel's canadian bacon--it says gluten-free right on the label-- and cut up different kinds of cheese; you can even include a plastic knife and a little container of cream cheese for spreading)
  
• Yoplait yogurt with gluten-free granola or a gluten-free Envirokids rice crisp bar
  
• mom's home-made gluten-free trail mix
  
• holiday cut-out sandwiches (make a sandwich on your favorite gluten-free bread and use a cookie cutter to cut the sandwich into a fun holiday shape)
  
• gluten-free cottage cheese with chopped up pears mixed in the cottage cheese (use the disposable tupperware, if you don't want to lose your good stuff)
  
• Kozy Shack pudding
  
• Dole fruit cups and Dole jello fruit cups (be aware that the Dole fruit-n-yogurt cups are NOT gluten-free)
  
• peanut butter-filled celery sticks and cream cheese-filled celery sticks
  
• thermos full of home-made gluten-free soup w/ gluten-free crackers
  
• cold chicken hot wings (made 'em for dinner the night before -- now they're tasty, cold the next day)
  
• gluten-free potato chips, corn tortilla chips, Fritos, or Funyuns with a home-made gluten-free dipping sauce (experiment with gluten-free salad dressings mixed with sour cream or call ahead to find out if pre-made dips are gluten-free)
  
• a mini sandwich bag of gluten-free mixed nuts and M&M's
  
• Juicy Juice drinks
  

I hope my ideas have inspired some of you moms out there. If some of you have other nifty lunchbox ideas to add, please reply and share with the rest of us!

[Aligray]

Thank u so much for posting this! i really needed it!!!

[buffettbride]

Thank u so much for posting this! i really needed it!!!

If you're looking for something else to help out with those pesky gluten-free lunches, try here: Open Original Shared Link. It is a GREAT system.