Time To Start Packing School Lunches Again

[shadowicewolf]

you don't have to have a wok to stirfry things. A skillet does just the same.

Just take some sort of meat, veggie, sauce (there is a gluten free soy sauce somewhere but i don't know the brand), and mix them up together. You could also do it with rice noodles or serve it with some rice.

-shrug-

I'm one that loves stir frys and asian foods.

[Juliebove]

All of these are good ideas however my 13 yo DD is so picky & dramatic there is nothing on any of these lists that she will eat. They are too exotic/she's never had them/ I don't know how to make them. I don't have an official DX so the school won't make accommodations as far as her heating up her food. Plus she would not t want to as she doesn't want to be different (middle school) She absolutely refuses to be seen with a lunchbox--she keeps it in her back pack & just pulls food out of it quietly) She doesn't like salad-will not go to the salad bar. You would think she is the one with autism the way she acts. (My son is on the spectrum but he is way more flexible)--go FIGURE!) We started going gluten-free as soon as school let out in Jun & I thought by now I'd have some idea of what to put in her (hidden) lunchbox but I am clueless & school starts in 1 1/2 weeks! I cannot pack Lays potato chips & gluten-free cookies for lunch or snacky type food everyday. She will occasionally eat a sandwich on an udi hamburger bun or carry a thermos of chicken & rice soup, but she certainly can't/won't eat that everyday. Of the foods she does like she can't/won't eat it cold. She doesn't like peanut butter or tuna.

This is about 90% of what she eats now

]Meat Sides veg Other

hamburger rice(plain) corn on the cob lays potato chips

steak mashed potatoes broccoli gluten-free choc chip cookies

chicken chicken/rice soup salad (rarely) hersheys chocolate

(wings, nuggets,

etc)

pork chops potato soup gluten-free pizza

bacon hash browns gluten-free pretzels(rarely)

hot dogs grits yogurt( rarely)

salmon french fries ice cream

chex cereal (rarely)

udi hamburger bun

green apples

cold cuts, ham/

bologna/turkey

Oh and she rarely eats breakfast! So theres another problem too! I need help badly!! What am I to do?!????? : (

This sounds sooo familiar! My daughter is 13 too. There are things she will eat at home but not at school. When she was younger, she would take a thermos. But she won't take one now and I really can't blame her. Once with tomato soup, the thermos came open slightly spilling soup all over anything.

The next two times with different thermoses, the lids would not come off. So she couldn't eat. On those occasions what was in the thermos *was* the meal. I did send in a pack of apple slices so she had a little something to eat but she was very hungry when she got home. Now her backpack is sooo heavy that I wouldn't want her to have to take the additional weight of the thermos.

When I was 12 I went through a phase of eating only a peanut butter sandwich (very little peanut butter), Fritos, an apple and cookies for lunch. Every single day. I got burned out on the peanut butter by the time I was 13 so switched to one thin slice of pastrami with a layer of sliced sweet pickles. I used margarine on the bread. Ate the same Fritos, apple and cookies.

So if she is willing to eat the same foods every day, come up with one meal that is balanced and give that to her then.

I don't know what to tell you about the breakfast. My daughter hates to eat it. I often make popcorn at night in a pan and there is usually a little left over. I just leave it in the pan. If she finds it, then sometimes she will eat a few bites of that. I don't require that she eat a full breakfast. I just want her to eat a few bites. She has potential medical problems that have cropped up though. We are awaiting test results. So she might have to take a pill in the morning that will require her to eat along with it.

[Juliebove]

@ KarenG: No no known mental problems but I do wonder sometimes (lol..). She is simply a drama queen! She has shown she can make choices & if anything is questionable she will ask. She will not intentionally eat gluten I've bought/made different things for her to try, but you know the saying "you can bring a horse to water...

She often refuses to try new things, but will sometime. Food is our biggest problem. I've been trying to get her to make some things for herself & she will make a gluten-free pizza & she used to make ramen (but she can't have it anymore) Well I guess a lot of it is my fault, and i have to get thru the resistance she is sure to throw at me but we still need to widen her food choices, and get this gluten-free school yr off to a decent start & we are running out of time. School starts in 10 dys!

@ shadowicewolf , stir fry what? I don't have a wok & never cooked in one.

There are gluten-free noodle things available. We bought one that is noodles and ginger and I think maybe chicken? I can't remember. It is a Thai food. We've got to watch those because she can't have peanut and a lot of them contain peanuts. That wouldn't do for school though unless you make it first and put it in a thermos.

Will she eat chicken and rice? I buy the pouches of Uncle Ben's pre-cooked rice and cans of chicken. Mix together, heat in the microwave and put in a thermos. That's one of my daughter's favorite meals.

[Juliebove]

If anyone has dairy/egg/peanut/treenut/soy ideas, I would love to hear those too!

I like the list Mizzo! Grab from each to make it easy!

My daughter was allergic to those things. Has outgrown some and has some additional allergies. She likes apple slices or carrots or Fritos or gluten-free pretzels (The Wylde by Ener-G and Synders have no soy) with hummus. Coconut yogurt. Rice Chex or Trix with rice milk. She has a container with a bottom that you put in the freezer to chill and then fill it with the milk. The cereal goes in the top. Or just cereal in a bag. She also likes Teff Wraps. I spread margarine on them. I believe there is one that is soy and dairy free but it contains either peas or lentils so she can't have it. We are okay with soybean oil so use one made with that. Otherwise you could use mustard if she likes that. Sprinkle with some shredded lettuce and a roll of thinly sliced lunch meat or strips of chicken then roll up. Wrap in foil. Allerenergy bars. My daughter liked these for a while but got burned out.