Lunch box ideas?

[rajs4]

I am at a loss and hoping some of you SoWal parents can help. Last week we discovered that two out of three classrooms my children are in are now peanut free environments. Peanut butter is a huge staple in our house but in order to protect the kids with allergies we have to find something else for lunch boxes. Any ideas?

 

[Mango]

My neighbors daughter has a life threatening peanut allergy. The school she attends is aware of it, but it's not a peanut free school. She was just raised to be careful at school and when she goes to parties and friends homes. At Halloween, we always bought her Starbursts candies and set them aside for any other kids that might have allergies.

Although I sympathize, other kids live on the them, and it's sad the majority is penalized for the minority because parents can't control every situation with kids. Other kids will eat their candy, and most, if not all, are made in plants that have exposure to peanuts.

I disliked peanut butter as kid, though. But I loved cream cheese and jelly sandwiches. My mom used to change it up too with apple butter and cream cheese.

Here is a list I found on-line of peanut butter substitutes.

 

[sunspotbaby]

No peanut butter allowed??

I guess I'll have to home school.

 

[dunelover]

My kids love turkey sandwiches, or pinwheels w/ turkey (tortilla w/ cheese and turkey). I have found you can buy hormel, i think, nitrate free turkey and of course whole wheat tortillas at our house, makes for a healthy lunch. Pita and hummus is another good choice w/ protein.

I haven't ever heard of a peanut free classroom..wow... I guess it is good for those w/ allergies and hard for those w/ out. My pet peeve w/ our school, before we homeschooled, was that they gave candy as rewards.....not what a kid needs to focus at school.

good luck w/ lunch. I hated when my mom gave me soup in a thermos at school-i felt like a dork...but that is a good option too.

 

[rajs4]

No peanut butter allowed??

I guess I'll have to home school.

We were surprised to say the least. It wouldn't be so bad if my preschooler wasn't so picky. This is his first year at preschool so it's been an adjustment. It's not as bad with my first grader, they just cannot have any nut product in the classroom. The teacher is seperating the child with the allergy at lunch.

 

[Beach Runner]

Daughter only wanted the "Mommy Hates Me" meals, otherwise known as Lunchables. It was okay with me, even though I know it wasn't healthy for her. Somehow making a sandwich at 7 AM was nauseating to me, and wet bread after several hours in a lunch box was nauseating to daughter, even if I packed the bread, meat, mayo, etc., in separate baggies for her to assemble at school. Not to mention my obsession over improper refrigeration.

Frequently I would deliver food to her at school so it would be freshly prepared.

 

[ckhagen]

We sort of have the opposite situation going on...

My little guy's preschool is not peanut free (no affected children), but I am severely allergic to peanuts. I've grown up to be very careful, but even so, there have been more incidents of accidental peanut contact in the past year than in probably the last 10 years prior combined.

If my husband is packing his lunch, he will often put a pb&j in his box, but he has to be extremely careful to wipe all the counters down and thoroughly clean everything that came in contact (can't just put the knife in the sink, kwim?).

Our church nursery is peanut free due to my allergy. I feel bad, but I don't feel so bad after a few incidents where kids came in with peanut butter crackers and touched me which led to the oils migrating into my eyes and causing my eyes to swell shut.

So... when I pack his lunch (which we've been doing for about 4 months), here's what I do and some ideas for you.

First of all, a big part of our lunch routine is this box... http://www.laptoplunches.com/
It's a lead free, phthalate free bento style box. It seriously encourages you to pack small portions of healthy foods. And... it's waste free!

I get a lot of my ideas from here.... http://flickr.com/groups/laptop_lunches/pool/

I tend to put one carb such as some pasta salad (make it Sunday night and it should last through maybe Wednesday morning in the fridge) from rotini or elbows, throw in some cut up cucumber, sliced grape tomatoes, any other veggies you've got laying around, and a little bit of greek or italian dressing. Other times, I'll put a turkey sandwich, but he's not a huge fan of that. Or even just some whole wheat crackers.

Sometimes I put in colby-jack slices or cubes. I almost always put in fruit of some kind. Sliced strawberries, blueberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, etc... Then I pack a few baby carrots and some ranch dressing in the tiny lidded container. He's a big fan of regular salad too, so if I have some lettuce on hand, I'll stuff that in there with grape tomatoes and some dressing in the tiny container.

Sometimes I'll put yogurt in the large lidded container, with a little bit of granola on the side to pour on top.

I usually include a little treat like a low fat/sugar cookie and there are some great organic, low-sugar water based juice pouches at Sams made by HonestKids (HonestTEA). You get like 24 for $9. If I'm out of those, I'll fill a stainless Sigg or Kleen Kanteen with watered down grape or cranberry juice.

When Winter rolls around, I'll pick up a stainless thermos and maybe put leftovers in it, but for right now we're sticking with all the in-season goodies that are fresh. His lunch goes into a refrigerator at school, but they are not capable of heating anything. With the Laptop Lunch box, there is an icepack that goes into the available carry-case and that may keep things cool if they don't refrigerate.

Anyways... we love his lunch box because it really challenges us to pack variety and small, fresh foods.

 

[beachyteachy]

My daughter likes those Gerber Graduates meat sticks. They look like vienna sausages but they are real meat. I pack them in a different container, though so it won't look like I'm packing her baby food...

 

[northshore]

I am at a loss and hoping some of you SoWal parents can help. Last week we discovered that two out of three classrooms my children are in are now peanut free environments. Peanut butter is a huge staple in our house but in order to protect the kids with allergies we have to find something else for lunch boxes. Any ideas?

I hear ya loud and clear. I wonder if we're in the same class???
First of all the parents need to handout pamphlets about peanut allergies so the students and parents can understand what exactly they are dealing with.
That's what my daughter eats for lunch. It's a good source of protein. But I looked on everything else she may bring in for sides like a granola bar. Nope, contains peanuts. Cereal sticks...nope, they're made in a plant that has peanuts. I say take the little girl out and have her eat with a teacher and then clean the class really good and make sure all of the kids wash up. We definitley shouldn't have to punish our children by taking away a favorite food of most 4 year olds. It kind of reminds me if a child came in and was allergic to the sunlight and we don't let the ohter kids play outside because of the one child. Anyways, I am very concerned with those that do suffer with these allergies.

 

[ckhagen]

Northshore, I understand your frustration...
but can you imagine being a 4 y/o little girl who has to leave and eat without her friends every single day for lunch? It would be pretty demoralizing and humiliating

When I was a kid I didn't have a contact peanut allergy, only ingestion. But, with multiple accidental exposures over the years, it has gotten worse and morphed into a contact allergy as well. With each unintentional accidental exposure (peanut in airport Chinese food last year, peanut in "chocolate" ice cream a few months ago) the risk of going into full blown anaphylaxis increases. I choose to keep peanut products in my house, for my kids, but I'm an adult and I can carefully choose how everything is stored and handled. They only eat it when my husband can prepare, serve, and clean. They usually go straight to the tub afterwards

I think what really needs to be explored is why are peanuts in so many products. I picked up a Kashi apple granola bar the other day that had no nuts in it... but was made with peanut flour! Why peanut flour? Can they not find alternatives? Peanut flour can cause anaphlyaxis by inhalation.

Peanuts cause 80% of allergy related deaths. And with the number of affected kids skyrocketing over the past few years, there are only going to be more and more peanut-free classrooms. Perhaps it's time to start getting to the bottom of the issue as to why so many kids have broken immune systems that bring this issue to the table.