OT-Peanut-free lunch/snack ideas

[kg66]

Our DD's are in a nut free school. Prior to this year, there was an older girl with allergies(gr.6 or 7) and there was a notice on the door, but you were still allowed to send whatever in the lunches. After JK registration in Feb. it was found to be that there were going to be about 5 or 6 new children starting with severe anaphylactic allergies, and they implemented a total nut ban on the entire school immediately. This way, by the time these children started in the fall, everyone would have received the instructions and the lists of safe and not safe foods. As well we had to sign a paper and return it to the school that we would not deliberately send in peanut/nut products. That being said, my girls love PB & J sandwiches, so I really had to stretch it for my DD 9 who is SO picky. I tried ham roll ups in a tortilla, that lasted about a week or so. She won't take a hard boiled egg because the kids around her tell her it stinks up the classroom. Finally, I figured out something she'll take everyday, and hasn't caught on how good it is for her. A grilled cheese sandwich! I cook it up in the morning, wrap it in tin foil, put it in a reusable ziploc container, and send along some ketchup for dipping and voila, she's happy.And to the last poster Nancy, check your local grocery stores, right now Goldfish come in the individual bags for Halloween, you could buy a big box or 2 to stock up for the year. Good luck everyone.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Never thought of grilled cheese for lunch at school. I think I will surprise my guys tomorrow with that.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

The grilled cheese are really good when you make them on the flat tortilla's - 2 of them with the cheese inthe middle and after cooked cut them into triangles with ketchup on the side. My guys love em this way.

 

[Dina]

As a mom of a boy who's allergic to nuts-- thanks for being so careful. Our school is not peanut free, but classes of kids with allergies are. A mom of a girl in my son's class just complained to me that her daughter shouldn't have to bring a nut free snack to school. It's not fair to her since she's not the one with the allergy. Thanks for being so nice about being careful!!!!

 

[digskat]

As a mom of a boy who's allergic to nuts-- thanks for being so careful. Our school is not peanut free, but classes of kids with allergies are. A mom of a girl in my son's class just complained to me that her daughter shouldn't have to bring a nut free snack to school. It's not fair to her since she's not the one with the allergy. Thanks for being so nice about being careful!!!!

For me, it is the hope that if my child was allergic, everyone else would have enough concern for their safety, to not send something that would harm them. A boy in my daughter's class, is so severely allergic, that they requested no one have peanut butter for breakfast, for fear of trace amounts making it to class. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, if my carelessness/thoughtlessness caused harm to a kid.

 

[D'Oria]

Hi,
I'm new to this. My husband and I just found out a few days ago that our 2 year old daughter has a PA and TNA as well and egg white allergy.

I'm having a really hard time find egg free bread, most of the breads in the grocery store list "may contain traces of eggs" so we can't take the chance. Any suggestions where I could find egg free bread? I'm in London, Ontario, someone suggested Remark fresh market, so I'll try there tonight.

Thanks for any help, and it's great to know that there are other people in this situation who you can talk with!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I would start a new thread stating you were looking for egg free bread in your area. I know of a place out near me but that doesn't help you much. sorry!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We ended up using alot of pita's and the flour tortilla's when our ds' was allergic to eggs. There is bread out there that doesn't have the warning.... I'll look next time I'm in the grocery store. I also look after a wee one that has an egg allergy so I should know this!!

The PA and TNA are the easy ones to deal with (my ds' is TNA but not PA) for us it's the coconut allergy that's difficult to manage.... If you read labels coconut is in way too many foods!!

 

[D'Oria]

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it. I know this sounds like a silly question, but if I wanted to create a new threat asking for egg free bread, how do I do that?

In the meantime, if you happen to come across any, could you let me know, I'd appreicate!

 

[abirdd]

This was a link supplied to our playgroup http://www.bossesports.com/_documents/DownloadCenter/Document58.pdf
Keep in mind it's US based, but does cover Canadian products.

 

[mickey65]

I teach JK/SK and we have had a sutdent in the school since JK (she is now in grade 2) that is allergic to peanuts. I tried to get my then principal to do a nut safe school. She would not, saying parents would not like it. She would not even do a nut safe classroom. She instead told me to set up a table in the classroom that any student who had peanut butter could sit at to eat lunch. Meanwhile the allergic student is in the same room only at a different table. I was no happy. The next year when I had her in SK at least our room went peanut safe. This year we have a new principal and as soon as she found out we had an allergice student, she made the school nut safe.

Funny thing about is is that the kids in my class (when I had the child for SK) were more sensitive than the principal. They knew that she had an allergy and it was very dangerous to come in contact with peanuts. They would not open things in their lunch that had peanuts. They had me reading the labels to check if it had any peanuts in things they were not sure of. Then they would go home and tell mom and dad not to send that anymore!

 

[DutchsMommy]

Thanks to the person who posted about apples with Sprite. DS will not eat apple slices of they are brown and I have had no luck with other method. I will defiantely try the sprite!

 

[jeannief]

I'm not a fan of processed foods, so most of our snacks are homemade. My kids love zucchini and banana muffins, both with chocolate chips of course. We make 2-4 dozen at a time, wrap individually and freeze. They will thaw in the the lunchbag by noon. Same with cookies and brownies.
We make our own granola bars (very easy and they freeze well) so can leave out the nuts.
Kids love homemade lunchables with crackers/pita/croissant and cut up cheese and meat. Tuck in a treat (brownie,cookie) and it's better than the store bought ones since I can customize for each child.
Tacos (heated meat goes in a thermos) are big in our house, I heat the tortillas up and fold them in a napkin then pop into a container. Small container of the fixings and the kids assemble themselve. I make a huge batch of meat and freeze in small containers.
Mac and cheese in a thermos (I make a big batch, freeze them in 2 cup containers and heat in the morning) as well as most kinds of soups in a thermos. Tortellini in chicken broth is filling and warms them up.
Leftover pasta in a thermos, although one child insists that a plate is needed, so he doesn't get pasta. I love 'em, but I'm not sending plates!
I've put a hamburger in a preheated thermos and sent the bun and condiments in containers.
I cut up left over breaded chicken and put in wraps with lettuce and cheese.
Baby carrots/brocolli/caulifower with ranch dip.
Apple slices dipped in lemon water (royal gala and mutsu are best I find for not browning) with a piece of cheese.
Note that if your kids are prone to cavities (mine are) they should not have fruit unless it is after their meal. If they have fruit as a snack they should eat it with a piece of cheese. We found that our after our youngest had 7 cavities. So no sticky snacks for that child, only as desserts.
Caesar salads, we have the pop top container that holds the dressing in the lid so they just pop and shake. If you dry the lettuce well you can put the cheese and croutons in with the lettuce and they won't be soggy at lunch.
I hate making lunches but the kids appreciate the effort... I hope! My biggest beef is the number of containers each lunch takes, as our school is also trying to be litterfree as well as nut/peanut free. the lunch bag needs to be as big as the backpack!

 

[D'Oria]

I know this may be a hard one, but does any one know of a nut/peanut free bakery in London, Ontario? We had a bad experience this weekend at a birthday party, so I'm doing all the work for everyone, so that they next time we go to a b-day party, I can suggest a bakery.

 

[disneyfan2]

Thanks to the person who posted about apples with Sprite. DS will not eat apple slices of they are brown and I have had no luck with other method. I will defiantely try the sprite!

I could not find the original poster, but this sounds interesting. Do you dip them in Sprite then pack them?

 

[sheilag]

You guys likely know this but Disney is great at handling allergies of all kinds - for both sit down meals (have recipe books, can advise in advance when making ADR and they'll call you, chef can come out to speak to you onsite, etc.) and counter service/ snacks (Disney has list of things they can send you that are gluten free, etc.).

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

I could not find the original poster, but this sounds interesting. Do you dip them in Sprite then pack them?

I toss them in the sprite then put them into a container. Orange juice works too.... it's the acid that keeps them from going brown.

Disney is amazing for dealing with allergies.

And I also find that it's the kids in ds' class that are the most sensitive about his allergies. They really do watch their lunches and many parents have come to me to ask if things would be safe as their child will not bring it to school until mom checks!!