I Need Idead For Easy Inexpensive School Lunches

[abjhenson]

My daughter is starting kindergarten in 2 months. I am so excited and looking forward to it BUT I am use to making her meals and not food that I can just send with her to school. I do buy her bread but I can not afford to buy a loaf every week and I know she will get tired of it.

I need practicle ideas. I am a single parent and do not make much. In my head I am affraid it is going to cost me a lot of money to buy her school lunch friendly foods. She loves fruits and veggies so the "snack" part wont be an issue.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[missy'smom]

lunchinabox.net is a great resource for school lunch ideas. Open Original Shared Link

You can stretch gluten-free pasta by adding in veggies and meat-my son doesn't like sauce so I mix together pasta that I boil in the a.m., frozen peas and chopped ham, toss with butter or olive oil and send some parmesan cheese in a small container on the side. He eats it room temp. The other pasta combo we do is chopped salami or sliced pepperoni, broccoli(I add the broccoli to the pasta part way through cooking, frozen would work too) and olive oil with the parm on the side.

You can also send breakfast for lunch-make a batch of pancakes and freeze, defrost in the a.m., cut into wedges and send along a small container with a little syrup for dipping. Add some fresh fruit, ham slices, hard boiled egg, cheese cubes, etc. You can make pancake sandwiches with P.B. and/or jelly.

Bunless hot dogs can be cut and put in the lunchbox. I slice on the diagonal, sautee in a pan and add a splash of catsup or BBG sauce at the end.

I also make and freeze homemade chicken nuggets. A freezer stash of partially or fully prepared things helps.

There's a link on my profile to photos of lunches that I've sent. These types of lunches are not made all fresh in the a.m.-a freezer stash or pre-prepped ingredients are my best friend-I am NOT a morning person. I used to make one batch of one thing about once every two weeks.

You don't HAVE to get fancy with it but maybe you can pick out ideas that will work for you from those links. You can do a simple, basic version.

[kareng]

My kids aren't Celiac but they liked "wierd" lunches in the lower grades:

Peanuts, carrot sticks, fruit & crackers

Container with PB and a plastic knife or spoon & celery sticks and crackers

Cereal (Chex or others) could put in a little container and kids can get the milk & put on it or eat dry.

Could do hummus if kiddo likes that

Cheese slices

Hard boiled eggs

Make pancakes & freeze. Then use for a PB sandwich

If she'll do lettuce - wrap a piece of cold cut, cheese and secure with a toothpick (toothpicks are fun)

salami, cold cuts as finger food.

cold chicken with a container of BBQ or ketchup & toothpicks

Kindergardeners can do these things. You could have practice lunches at home this summer so she learns how to un-do the container without stuff going everywhere & that sort of thing. My kids' friends always wanted these funny lunches because they are fun.

Forgot: you can use cookie cutters to cut cheese slices or cold cuts into shapes (heart at Valentines was very popular had to bring for the whole class).

My parents get take out alot from nice places & would give me the little packs that have the knife, fork, salt & pepper & napkins which are handy.

[summerteeth]

I second lunchinabox.net but also do a flickr search of "laptop lunches" -- there are a lot of people on there who take photos of their children's lunches (but not all are gluten-free) - I have gotten quite a few lunch ideas for myself on there.

I agree that buying bread every week would be really expensive. I put just the inside of a sandwich in my lunch quite a bit, or make wraps if I find them on sale, or sometimes wrapped in a piece of romaine lettuce. Leftovers are huge for me because there are only two of us. What about crackers (Crunchmaster brand is pretty cheap)and a topping (like cheese and/or meat).

[Mizzo]

All the above are great idea's.

I often send in a dinner leftovers for lunch. They do not need heated meals so room temp foods are perfect for them.

invest in some kid friendly containers that can be microwaved. and a lunch bag with separate compartment's. I would pack a meal, nuke it and put in the lunch bag right away as is, no ice pack, and it always came out fine. Then pack the juice, fruit, yogurt, cheeses etc.. with the ice pack in the other part.

There are these 6oz easy screw lid cups from Ball that are freezable. I never freeze anything in them but use them for EVERYTHING. Yogurt, jello, cheese and cracker, chips, cereal anything.

Another good investment is a Tupperware container (sandwich size)with a dip well that has it's owns inner lid. Veggies and dip, cracker's with PB, etc.. Your hot meal can go in it with the well holding ketchup or BBQ sauce. The inner lid removal may need practice so as not to yank off and send contents flying, or just instruct your little one to ask for help.

Plan on 2/3 sandwiches 3/2 leftover meals , alternate days and your good.

[Beth03456]

  On 6/12/2010 at 10:17 PM, abjhenson said:

My daughter is starting kindergarten in 2 months. I am so excited and looking forward to it BUT I am use to making her meals and not food that I can just send with her to school. I do buy her bread but I can not afford to buy a loaf every week and I know she will get tired of it.

I need practicle ideas. I am a single parent and do not make much. In my head I am affraid it is going to cost me a lot of money to buy her school lunch friendly foods. She loves fruits and veggies so the "snack" part wont be an issue.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

My non-Celiac Kindergartener didn't like sandwiches except peanut butter which isn't allowed, so I used to just send in yogurt, crackers and fruit for her most days. I also send her pasta with sauce in a thermos sometimes. She didn't want a lot of variety like I would.

My Celiac pre-schooler likes sandwiches. We were making bread from scratch, which is less expensive than buying it. His favorites are PB&J or cream cheese and jelly. He also likes deli meat (no bread necessary), pepperoni, cheese, gluten-free crackers, baby carrots, and fruit. I'll be sending in lunch each day next year too.

[Wolicki]

My son, who previous to Celiac lived on PB&J sandwiches, now cannot live without ricecakes with peanut butter. I buy Trader Joe's rice cakes ($1.29 for 10) and smear with peanut butter. I wrap it in foil, then add a banana, apple or orange, a container of applesauce or fruit rollup, some nuts or tortilla chips and a juice box. My older son is more adventurous so I make him lettuce wraps with meat and cheese, or corn tortillas with bologna and cheese (heat in micro, then roll). They both love ants on a log. Peanut butter stuffed in celery, with raisins on top.

[irish daveyboy]

Have a look at the about me section of my profile.

I'm sure you'll find some suitable ideas for a Celiac's Lunchbox.

Best Regards,

David

[Catt7378]

  On 6/21/2010 at 6:48 AM, irish daveyboy said:

Have a look at the about me section of my profile.

I'm sure you'll find some suitable ideas for a Celiac's Lunchbox.

Best Regards,

David

My daughter loves bakebeans in her lunch box, also cherry tomatoes, olives, gluten-free lunch meats ham etc, pineapple chunks, pikelet sandwiches.

[buffettbride]

We are big fans of laptoplunches.com.

We spring for Udis bread and send sammiches most days now, but we also send pizza on Kinnickinnick crust, and leftovers a LOT of the time. We also got a thermos to keep soups and leftovers warm, which works out really well.

Lunches are the hardest part about having a Celiac kiddo, IMO. You just have to be patient and creative. :-)

[abjhenson]

Thank you guys for all the ideas. The balogna with corn tortilla was a good one. I am not sure why I didn't think about it myself. My daughter recently came up with a new idea. A tostada sandwich. Shes 5, I thought it was creative My daughter loves celary so I will definately try the ants on a log with her. Thank you guys once again.

[i-geek]

I second the rice cakes with peanut butter. That was my breakfast this morning.

On another celiac/gluten-free forum, several posters commented that they used Asian rice wrappers to make rolls filled with anything from fresh fruit to cheese and veggies to leftover meat from dinner. I haven't tried them but I like the idea and your daughter might have fun deciding what to put in them.

Also, some of Progresso's soups are gluten-free (I had a can of their lentil soup for lunch yesterday). The safe ones say "Gluten Free" on the back of the can. You could heat up soup in the microwave and put it in a little thermos if that's something she'd like.

[Skylark]

When I was in grade school and had allergies here's some of the things Mom used to pack:

Thermoses of soups (Always, always remember a spoon. This is IMPORTANT.) When mom could find them, I really preferred a wide mouth thermos that I could eat out of. Back when I was a kid they were glass on the inside but you can get great stainless steel ones now.

http://www.(Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned)/Thermos-Barbie-Funtainer-Food-Jar/dp/B001MU0LJM/ref=pd_sim_sg_14

(Oh give me a break with the stupid link bans. It's the cutest hot pink Barbie thermos you ever saw at Amazon.)

I loved my thermoses of warm soup in the middle of the winter. Other kids usually had sandwiches and my soup always looked so much better. It's a big deal to have stuff you like when you have to eat different food from the other kids.

A bag of turkey or ham lunch meat or sliced leftover meat, and a bag of rice cakes. I still love the Buddig smoked turkey I used to eat as a child and it says gluten-free on the bag now. I could put the meat on the rice cakes and eat "open face" sandwiches. I wanted them packed separately because the rice cakes got mushy otherwise.

Cut veggies

pieces of fruit like bananas or apples

PB&J sandwiches on homemade gluten-free bread sometimes (we had issues with the cost too but Mom would occasionally buy a rice bread mix and make me some)

Fruit roll-ups

Little boxes of raisins

Bag of potato chips or corn chips (Cheapest to get a big bag and send a baggie. You don't need individual packages. They squish easy so a hard lunchbox is best and not on a thermos day because the thermos will rattle around and squish the chips. Yes, I noticed these things as a child!)

Hard boiled eggs. Peel it and send in a baggie. I didn't like peeling them myself at school until I got older.

I couldn't eat milk but if she can, you can add string cheese, yogurt (with a spoon), or pudding packs.

If other kids have cookies or sweets, put in a little chocolate, a pudding cup, rice krispy treats (I find off-brand rice cereals at 99-cent stores sometimes that don't have malt) or something else sweet to keep her from being tempted to share someone's cookie. Kids trade food all the time so you need to make it easy for her to stick to what she has.

[Darissa]

My daughter loves taking homemade chicken soup. I bought a thermos brand soup container (I've tried the cheaper brands, and they don't keep the soup hot, but the thermos brand I buy at Target or Walmart works really good. They are like 15$, but will last a couple of years). I make a huge pot of chicken soup and than freeze it into individual containers. I make enough to last about 3 weeks at a time. I pull out a container each morning out of the freezer and microwave it for about 6 minutes (from frozen) stiring ever couple of minutes until it boils and than I put it in the thermos. She loves having hot soup for lunch. Every once in a while she takes rice cakes with peanut butter or the Udi's bread with peanut butter. She also likes the yopliat yogurt. We buy the large bags of frozen fruit from Sams club (much cheaper than grocery store)and I make fruit salad from the frozen fruit (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, melons) and she like that.

We also keep a bag of snacks in the teachers classroom for when they have birthday or other kind of parties. We label it with her name on it. She likes skittles or MM's or we put bags of fritos or popcorn also. That way when there is a party, she can have a treat too!

Good luck! But we love the soup. It makes for a nutritious lunch, and pretty inexpensive after you buy the thermos and the freezer containers.

[lynnmb]

  On 6/12/2010 at 10:17 PM, abjhenson said:

My daughter is starting kindergarten in 2 months. I am so excited and looking forward to it BUT I am use to making her meals and not food that I can just send with her to school. I do buy her bread but I can not afford to buy a loaf every week and I know she will get tired of it.

I need practicle ideas. I am a single parent and do not make much. In my head I am affraid it is going to cost me a lot of money to buy her school lunch friendly foods. She loves fruits and veggies so the "snack" part wont be an issue.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This is a little off subject, but I just read in Celiac Disease for Dummies last night that your expenses for a diagnosed Celiac family member can be tax deductible. You just need to keep track of what is spent above and beyond regular food and medical expenses and then it needs to be a certain (around 7%) of annual income. My child was just diagnosed and YES the food is terribly expensive. I am also thinking ahead to school lunches and saw your post. My child is in middle school and I suspect it will be challenging to keep the food different and tasty when all the friends are eating pizza and cookies. Good Luck!

Lynn