School Lunch, 'hot' Lunch

[Kaylee's Mom]

Kaylee is starting 1st grade next week. Kaylee really really wants to be like the other kids and have 'hot' lunch. I've worked hard with the school lunch program.. I've been to the school and looked over all the things they use in their lunches, they will substitue gluten-free things where needed. Does anyone one else's kids eat the school lunch, or anyone try it not have it work? I am supplying the school with Kaylee's bread. She will only eat one kind and I know the school won't go out of its way to get it.

Thanks!

[Juliebove]

There is no way! I checked through the whole month of Sept. and every meal has something wheat based in it. Daughter does have additional allergies. Things were so much easier when she could just buy lunch.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Maybe she can have something to heat up? When I went to school they always had a microwave in the cafeteria. Good luck!

[Darn210]

I tried and failed. I previewed the menu and picked the one meal (out of the three week rotation) that looked like her best chance. I verified it with the school district's dietician that it was a safe meal . . . and it was for about half the year. Then the supplier changed one of the items - the corn tortilla chips. It was still a tortilla chip but now it had wheat and oat bran in it. When I saw her get off the bus I knew it had gone wrong. I went and talked to the cafeteria manager and she showed me the new chips. I contacted the school dietician and she tracked it all down. The suppliers contract stated that they could make comperable food substituions as long as the price stayed the same.

I had only worked with the school district's dietician who was not even located at my daughter's school. I didn't work with the cafeteria workers at all - this meal (nachos supreme) all had prepackaged items so I didn't need to talk to them about handling but maybe they would have noticed that the chips had changed although I doubt it, they feed over 600 kids a day. The dietician offered to work with me on putting together a plan for her but I turned it down. It wasn't that important to my daughter and quite frankly, I just didn't want to have to constantly monitor that things were going to plan.

Now, if you still want to pursue this, I recommend that you contact member Cruelshoes. I know that she has successfully managed to work with her school district to provide a hot lunch. I believe it has to be "ordered" the previous day and it is "assemble" specifically to their requirements at the school districts main food service bldg and then sent over to her child's school the next morning. I may have gotten some of the details confused but if they are still doing this, they've been doing it for quite a while and would be able to provide you with some history of it's success.

[Kaylee's Mom]

Kaylee's school is extremely small so all the meals are made at the district kitchen in the big school. I've spoken with the dietician who is also the food coordinator and plans all the meals. A lot of their stuff was gluten free to begin with, they make their own sauces for pasta's, chili, and taco's.. which is just tomato's and seasoning, not the packets, they do it themselves. they are going to prepare her meal first, when its something like sandwhiches, and on a paper plate/towel. I'll be at school the first week anyway getting them trained in her diabetes care, helping them count carbs and giving insulin. so I'll be able to see how they are doing.

[celiac-mommy]

I would also say no way. I know our school would work with us if we asked, but the risk is way too high IMHO. My dd helps me pack her lunch every day, that way she can be in charge (within reason) of what she's eating. There's never been a complaint here!

Good luck to you though, I hope it works for you!

[Kaylee's Mom]

Today was the second day of school and second day of school lunch. I must say I am very impressed with the lunch ladies and how they are handling Kaylee. They have been great.. I've been in the kitchen both days to see how they are doing everything. They are taking steps to prevent CC, I did supply them w/ Kaylee's bread because she's very picky about that. When they have a cookie for a 'treat' They have a supply of gluten free treats that Kaylee can pick from including icecream, posicles, and cookies. I also gave them gluten free whoopie pies for that extra special treat or birthday party. Kaylee is LOVING having the school lunch. The ONLY thing that has been difficult is because she also has type 1 diabetes we have to have carb counts which we haven't had these past few days (they've been totally it for the entire week, doesn't work that way, I need it broken down by item per day). So I've been helping them make an educated guess and doing the best we can. But so far I've very happy that they are making this effort for Kaylee

[MySuicidalTurtle]

That's great to hear!

[amysmom]

Today was the second day of school and second day of school lunch. I must say I am very impressed with the lunch ladies and how they are handling Kaylee. They have been great.. I've been in the kitchen both days to see how they are doing everything. They are taking steps to prevent CC, I did supply them w/ Kaylee's bread because she's very picky about that. When they have a cookie for a 'treat' They have a supply of gluten free treats that Kaylee can pick from including icecream, posicles, and cookies. I also gave them gluten free whoopie pies for that extra special treat or birthday party. Kaylee is LOVING having the school lunch. The ONLY thing that has been difficult is because she also has type 1 diabetes we have to have carb counts which we haven't had these past few days (they've been totally it for the entire week, doesn't work that way, I need it broken down by item per day). So I've been helping them make an educated guess and doing the best we can. But so far I've very happy that they are making this effort for Kaylee

[amysmom]

My daughter has diabetes as well as celiac. I would never trust our cafeteria and it is wonderful that you can. When I pack Amy's lunch I put an index card listing all the things in her lunch box and the carb count for each item. The nurse then reviews what she ate and calculates the total. Example: If she only eats half her sandwich she only add half the carbs if she doesn't eat an items the carbs are not added. Before she was diagnosed with Celiac and bought hot lunch, we took it from lunch to lunch, and the nurse kept a log of all the items on the menu along with their carb count. Everytime she ordered something different we calculated the carbs for serving and entered it on the log. The proportions were always the same so when she bought lunch it was easy to calculate the carbs. I also purchased a carb counting book that stays with her diabetes items, just in case of any questions and I haven't used it in awhile but calorieking.com was always a great resource.

[Darissa]

Kaylee is starting 1st grade next week. Kaylee really really wants to be like the other kids and have 'hot' lunch. I've worked hard with the school lunch program.. I've been to the school and looked over all the things they use in their lunches, they will substitue gluten-free things where needed. Does anyone one else's kids eat the school lunch, or anyone try it not have it work? I am supplying the school with Kaylee's bread. She will only eat one kind and I know the school won't go out of its way to get it.

Thanks!

My daughter is in 4th grade. We do not have her eat at the school due to CC. SHe is happy to bring lunch. Her friends love her lunches! I purchases a hot thermos brand soup container. I make homemade chicken soup and put it in the freezer in individual containers and warm it up in the morning and place it in her hot container. Also, she can take taco meat in the hot container and bring chips/lettuce/cheese/tomatoes in her lunch bag and make her own taco salad at school. Meatballs also work well in the hot container. Enchiladas also. I do not put milk base soups in the hot container, but everything else works great. I make sure I purchase the "thermos" brand containers. They stay the hottest. I have purchases cheaper store brands, and they do not work well. Also, we take fruit salad with yogurt. We also take honeynut rice cakes from Lindberg and put peanut butter on them for her "sandwhich". SHe likes ham and cheese roll ups and the cottage cheese doubles (that have the cottage cheese and the fruit to mix in). But, she really enjoys her hot container and it is fun to come up with new ideas of what to put in the hot container. Sometimes I surprise her at school with a hot lunch from home (usually left overs ) and she enjoys that. I also have a bag of treats that the teacher keeps in her classroom so when they have treats or birthday or holiday parties, she can choose a treat out of her special bag. The teacher is also great about letting me know ahead of time if she knows a parent is bringing in treats..(like cupcakes or pizza) so I can do the same for my daughter. Last year they had a pizza party, and I brought up her hot gluten-free pizza when the party started!

Good luck! IT takes some creativity and work to figure out lunches, but it does get easier!

Darissa