Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

What Do You Pack In Their Lunch?

shacon-bacon

Recommended Posts

shacon-bacon Apprentice
shacon-bacon
Posted

Just wondering what kinds of foods moms and dads pack for their kids school lunches? Any good breads you've discovered for sandwiches? Any other simple hand held food??

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Mizzo Enthusiast
Mizzo
Posted

For bread:

Udi's white bread is exactly light wheat bread. Leave 3 days worth out at a time, keep rest in frig or freezer depending on usage. It's a small loaf and expensive but it's the only bread my girl will eat so I buy it. She also likes the Udi's multigrain but not as much, it is a little denser and smaller.

missy'smom Collaborator
missy'smom
Posted

Lunch In a Box is a great resource to help you think outside the sandwich. Open Original Shared Link

These days I send:

*broccoli cheese rice casserole with either ham or chicken in thermos, fruit

*brown rice rotini pasta with meatballs in tomato sauce in a thermos, container of parmesan cheese on the side, fruit

*sandwich made with a bread recipe from this forum Pamela's mix, or Udi's bagles

*Use various bread/rolls as pizza bases, today was Udi's bagles, sometimes Kinnikinnick hamberger buns or Trader Joe's French rolls, plus a fruit

*fried rice, xtra meat, fruit

*beef bites(many brands are gluten-free-Old Wisconsin, etc.), rice crackers, cheese cubes, fruit

*chicken quesadillas made with Food for Life brown rice tortillas, fruit

*in the winter, I send Healthy Choice chicken and rice soup with extra chicken added by me, in a thermos

GFreeMO Proficient
GFreeMO
Posted

I don't bother with Gluten-Free bread. It costs a lot and my kids don't care for it unless it's heated.

Today I packed cream cheese on celery, applesauce cup and some BBQ lays Stax. I also pack meat and cheese rolled on Mission corn tortillas. Glutino crackers with meat and or cheese. I also make Gluten-Free cookies and brownies etc. to pack. Leftover taco meat with the lettuce, tomato and cheese and Mission corn chips is something else that they like to take.

celiac-mommy Collaborator
celiac-mommy
Posted

These plus a veggie and a fruit of some sort is what I do for mine:

-leftovers

-sandwiches

-cheese and crackers

-bagels and cream cheese

-multigrain crackers and cream cheese (my kids love the little mini packs of Philly strawberry cream cheese)

-quesadillas

-muffins-- I make PBJ muffins, pizza muffins, ham and cheese muffins--the sky's the limit. Take a basic muffin recipe and add whatever you want. I usually do 1/2c cheese in shreds or cubes, 1/2c meat-same way, for pizza, I add a dollop of pizza sauce in the middle of the muffin, for PBJ, I fill 1/2 the tin with batter, spoonful of pb, more batter, then a dollop of jelly on top.

-pasta salad

I ask them what they want. They help plan meals and I will usually make up a few batches of those muffins on a Sunday night to make the lunch makin' a lot quicker!

srall Contributor
srall
Posted

I'm new to this with my daughter so I'm still trying to expand the menu (good suggestions btw)

The best investment we made was a $13 Hello Kitty Thermos from Target. I send her with homemade minnestrone soup, spinach pesto pasta, even left over meat which doesn't really stay warm but she is willing to eat it cold.

My daughter isn't a huge fan of the bread so not many sandwiches. I do sometimes give her pbj on a rice cake. Not a huge success but it'll do in a pinch. I send apples and peanut butter, cut up fruit and veggies, Envirokidz bars. As I said, we're still working on menus for both of us.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

My kids didn't have to be gluten-free but the younger one never liked a tradional PB&J and the older one liked to mix it up. Sometimes they had jokes made about the lunches, but usually the other kids wanted my boys lunches.

Juice or milk purchased at school & a fruit or carrot sticks & maybe a cookie or candy:

Peanuts or other nuts, gluten-free crackers, PB on gluten-free crackers or celery

slices of cold cuts, rolled and stuck with a toothpick send BBQ sauce to dip

Thick slice of ham or turkey, cut into cubes with toothpicks(popular in lower grades, fork for older)

tortillas chips with some taco meat in the thermos, cheese to sprinkle on

get rice papers at the Asian grocery and fill with fruit, veggies & meat

yogurt

Pancakes as sandwich bread or with a little container of syrup to dip

Just start looking at what you make at home & think of how to reduce it or package it.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


polarbearscooby Explorer
polarbearscooby
Posted

I love Kettle Cuisine Chili with Crackers, Glutenfreeda's gluten-free Burrito, Dinty Moore Beef Stew, fruit, nuts, etc....

I have access to a microwave so that's a plus, but I'm looking for some more idea's for when I don't have one...

curlyq Newbie
curlyq
Posted

For my 7 year old we send:

Italian pasta salad (full of veggies, cheese cubes, pepperoni's, etc)

Tuna salad and a rice cake

Egg salad

Chicken salad

Apples, celery and PB

Fruit, ham and cheese kabobs

Homemade lunchables

7 layer dip and taco chips

Hope that helps!

shacon-bacon Apprentice
shacon-bacon
Posted
  • Author

Good ideas! Thanks guys :)

ProudMommyDebbie Rookie
ProudMommyDebbie
Posted

My two oldest don't have access to a microwave at school, and the bread has become too complicated, so here is what i've done lately:

they have had to eat everything room temp or cold, best we can do for now.

Gluten free hot dogs

Gluten free lunch meat wrapped in corn tortilla

tuna

ground beef mixed with eggs (usually leftover from dinner the night before)

sides of fruit, veggies, applesauce, jello, and/or a small string cheese or cheese slice.

Drinks - small water bottles or natural juices, or Keefer smoothies

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

I get to pack my first "kids" gluten free lunch tommorow. I just found out today that my 5 yo had a positive tTg. Based on his symptoms, my diagnosis and his positive test we are not going to do the biopsy and just go gluten free. Luckily he likes alot of my gluten free stuff, fruits, veggies, yogurt, Udi's bread, and rice cakes that I think he will make it easy for me. I plan on taking him shopping tommorow for his own stuff for his lunches and snacks (he is in kindergarden). I have the added burden for his snacks that I have to make sure they are nut free because he won't be able to bring anything with that into the classroom. There are others in his class with nut allergies. Any suggestions on snacks/brands that are gluten free and nut free?

missy'smom Collaborator
missy'smom
Posted

Any suggestions on snacks/brands that are gluten free and nut free?

Enjoy-life brand is nut-free and gluten-free. Here are some things that I put in Ds's snack box when he was in elementary school, for emergencies when people sent goodies in(his teachers NEVER let me know ahead)all shelf stable, individually wrapped, fruit leathers, mini boxes of raisins, other dried fruit, pudding cups, fruit cups, applesauce cups, M+M's, One of the gluten-free pretzel brands has individual packs. Ian's Cookie buttons come in individual packs, individual Smartpop popcorn bags

Ahorsesoul Enthusiast
Ahorsesoul
Posted

Here is what I packed for dh's lunch tomorrow (sorry no kids), he likes his sweets so it's not very balanced:

Hormel's Natural Chicken lunch meat and Colby cheese sandwich on Udi's Bread with lettuce (no need to heat it, Udi's is excellent bread)

Glutino gluten-free pretzels

Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip cookies

Potato Chips

Leftover cranberry pie (used Gluten Free Pantry Pie crust to make the pie)

Cranberry juice

Box of Raisins

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,547
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    gizmo1jazz2
    Newest Member
    gizmo1jazz2
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Taken Seriously

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Your post demonstrates the profound frustration and isolation that so many in the Celiac community feel, and I want to thank you for channeling that experience into advocacy. The medical gaslighting you endured for decades is an unacceptable and, sadly, a common story, and the fact that you now have to "school" your own GI specialist speaks volumes about the critical lack of consistent and updated education. Your idea to make Celiac Disease a reportable condition to public health authorities is a compelling and strategic one. This single action would force the system to formally acknowledge the prevalence and seriousness of the disease, creating a concrete dataset that could drive better research funding, shape medical school curricula, and validate the patient experience in a way that individual stories alone often cannot. It is an uphill battle, but contacting representatives, as you have done with Adam Gray, is exactly how change begins. By framing it as a public health necessity—a matter of patient safety and protection from misdiagnosis and neglect—you are building a powerful case. Your voice and your perseverance, forged through thirty years of struggle, are exactly what this community needs to ensure that no one else has to fight so hard just to be believed and properly cared for.
    • Scott Adams
      Looking for a gluten-free roomie in Denver CO

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had no idea there is a "Louisville" in Colorado!😉 I thought it was a typo because I always think of the Kentucky city--but good luck!
    • Scott Adams
      Allergy medication: cetirizine by the HealthA2Z is it gluten free?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Navigating medication safety with Celiac disease can be incredibly stressful, especially when dealing with asthma and severe allergies on top of it. While I don't have personal experience with the HealthA2Z brand of cetirizine, your caution is absolutely warranted. The inactive ingredients in pills, known as excipients, are often where gluten can be hidden, and since the FDA does not require gluten-free labeling for prescription or over-the-counter drugs, the manufacturer's word is essential. The fact that you cannot get a clear answer from Allegiant Health is a significant red flag; a company that is confident its product is gluten-free will typically have a customer service protocol to answer that exact question. In situations like this, the safest course of action is to consider this product "guilty until proven innocent" and avoid it. A better alternative would be to ask your pharmacist or doctor to help you identify a major national brand of cetirizine (like Zyrtec) whose manufacturer has a verified, publicly stated gluten-free policy for that specific medication. It's not worth the risk to your health when reliable, verifiable options are almost certainly available to you. You can search this site for USA prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication: To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/   
    • Scott Adams
      Protein or fat?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      What you're describing is indeed familiar to many in the Celiac community, especially in the early stages of healing. When the intestinal villi are damaged from Celiac disease, they struggle to properly digest and absorb fats, a condition known as bile acid malabsorption. This can cause exactly the kind of cramping and spasms you're seeing, as undigested fats can irritate the sensitive gut lining. It is highly plausible that her reactions to dairy and eggs are linked to their higher fat content rather than the proteins, especially since she tolerates lean chicken breast. The great news is that for many, this does improve with time. As her gut continues to heal on a strict gluten-free diet, her ability to produce the necessary enzymes and bile to break down fats should gradually return, allowing her to slowly tolerate a wider variety of foods. It's a slow process of healing, but your careful approach of focusing on low-fat, nutrient-dense foods like seeds and avocado is providing her system the best possible environment to recover. Many people with celiac disease, especially those who are in the 0-2 year range of their recovery, have additional food intolerance issues which could be temporary. To figure this out you may need to keep a food diary and do an elimination diet over a few months. Some common food intolerance issues are dairy/casein, eggs, corn, oats, and soy. The good news is that after your gut heals (for most people who are 100% gluten-free this will take several months to two years) you may be able to slowly add some these items back into your diet after the damaged villi heal. This article may be helpful: Thank you for sharing your story—it's a valuable insight for other parents navigating similar challenges.
    • Beverage
      Diagnosed celiac for 1-2 months ago and everything makes me bloated.

      By Beverage · Posted

      I had a very rough month after diagnosis. No exaggeration, lost so much inflammatory weight, I looked like a bag of bones, underneath i had been literally starving to death. I did start feeling noticeably better after a month of very strict control of my kitchen and home. What are you eating for breakfast and lunch? I ignored my doc and ate oats, yes they were gluten free, but some brands are at the higher end of gluten free. Lots of celics can eat Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, but not me. I can now eat them, but they have to be grown and processed according to the "purity protocol" methods. I mail order them, Montana Gluten-Free brand. A food and symptoms and activities log can be helpful in tracking down issues. You might be totally aware, but I have to mention about the risk of airborne gluten. As the doc that diagnosed me warned . . Remember eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all lead to your stomach and intestines.  Are you getting any cross contamination? Airborne gluten? Any pets eating gluten (they eat it, lick themselves, you pet them...)? Any house remodeling? We live in an older home, always fixing something. I've gotten glutened from the dust from cutting into plaster walls, possibly also plywood (glues). The suggestions by many here on vitamin supplements also really helped me. I had some lingering allergies and asthma, which are now 99% gone. I was taking Albuterol inhaler every hour just to breathe, but thiamine in form of benfotiamine kicked that down to 1-2 times a day within a few days of starting it. Also, since cutting out inflammatory seed oils (canola, sunflower, grapeseed, etc) and cooking with real olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, and coconut oil, I have noticed even greater improvement overall and haven't used the inhaler in months! It takes time to weed out everything in your life that contains gluten, and it takes awhile to heal and rebuild your health. At first it's mentally exhausting, overwhelming, even obsessive, but it gets better and second nature.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.