Nut-free lunchbox ideas

[meow]

I find this stuff so frustrating too. My son loves nuts and doesn't eat any grains so I'm left with coconut flour to make him things for school.

Mini-muffins and then everything else you can cook in a mini-muffin pan- quiches and meatloaf are good.

Anything eggs- boiled eggs, pikelets, fish cakes (I basically make these pikelet things with a can of salmon & 2 eggs).

Homemade crackers with seeds. Salted roasted seeds. All seed things are a good way to go nut free too- sunflower seeds make a good "nut" butter.

[Nai]

You will find that pretty much every school in Melbourne is nut-free. We have 14 kids (including my DD1) who are anaphylactic to nuts so there is a very good reason why they are nut free. You can give nuts as an after-school snack.

For lunches we pack fruit - bananas, mandarines, apples; squeezy yoghurt, wraps with avocado cheese meat and salad, dried biscuits, home made mini-muffins, popcorn, crudites and dip, home made slices

There are so many things you can make and pack that are nut-free.

[RhiChiChi]

We do the following for kinder lunchbox:
- Fruit salad or just fruit
- Popcorn
- Rice wheels or rice cakes
- Salada or equivalent with a non-nut spread
- Hummus
- Kabana, cheese
- Cheese & crackers
- Homemade mini cupcakes/muffins
- Cut up capsicum, olives etc...
- Sandwich

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Hello,

Saw this and had to reply.

My DS has a nut allergy. I get annoyed with people's blaise attitude to it. My son isn't anaphylactic but we have regular testing and you never know... It is quite scary to watch a reaction. I'm sorry it is a pain for you not to bring nuts but I think every child deserves to be safe at school. We encounter this problem everywhere so it would be nice not to have to worry about it at the place he will be spending so much time in!

[Eenee]

It's still annoying though, especially for children who are allergic and intolerant to other foods. My DD can't have dairy or yeast so we use nuts in a lot of things too. Doesnt leave much for her to eat. But I get it my brother is allergic to nuts.

[Phteven]

Sometimes I think that schools need to take thing son a case by case basis.
We had a child who had life threatening reactions to strawberries and seafood at school for the last couple of years so the school had a policy where those foods weren't allowed but now they have left so it's tuna sandwiches and strawberries all round. The nut kid is still there (although no-one knows who s/he is) so we continue with the nut free policy. We're a small school so the policy can be flexible but in a large school I guess there is much less room for flexibility.
A life threatening or fatal reaction isn't just traumatic for the child who reacts. It distresses teachers and fellow students too. By adhering to a nut free policy we save ourselves the trauma of being the person who was responsible for little Suzy being rushed off in an ambulance.

[LuluHB]

I agree with both sides of the argument - and depending on my mood will side with one or the other (mature I know!!). My DD2 is a nightmare to feed but something I know she will always eat is a peanut butter sandwich so my child can effectively go hungry due to the requirement not to take nuts so others can be safe. The flip side is that I have a nephew who is anaphylactic and I would hate to think of him eating something he shouldn't. Hard to get the balance, and unless I'm in a particularly obstinate mood I will favour the side that keeps all kids safe, albeit not giving them what might be their first choice to eat.

My kids have a piece of fresh fruit, rice crackers and dried fruit (either pineapple or sultanas) for morning tea. They then have a sandwich for lunch. I'll also put in either homemade fruit or savoury muffins, muesli slices etc for after their sandwich, or plain biscuits like Scotch Fingers if I haven't done any baking.

As others have said, I save the nut stuff for after school snacks so that's when the kids will have muffins with almond meal, peanut butter etc.

[meow]

My DD2 is a nightmare to feed but something I know she will always eat is a peanut butter sandwich so my child can effectively go hungry due to the requirement not to take nuts so others can be safe.

This has been my issue. I understand that children's lives are very important so of course we never send nut products to school but it's still frustrating in trying to care for my own child. I get frustrated with society in general that things like nut allergies are becoming so common and rather than fix our lifestyles and stop the epidemics we just ban an otherwise healthy food.

[Phteven]

I agree with both sides of the argument - and depending on my mood will side with one or the other (mature I know!!).

LOL, me too.
I will admit that sometimes at 7am when I'm making sandwiches I find myself thinking less than charitable thoughts about allergies and sharing but I don't have to make sandwiches today so I'm feeling a little more well disposed to the nut kids.

[LimeSlice]

Hello,

Saw this and had to reply.

My DS has a nut allergy. I get annoyed with people's blaise attitude to it. My son isn't anaphylactic but we have regular testing and you never know... It is quite scary to watch a reaction. I'm sorry it is a pain for you not to bring nuts but I think every child deserves to be safe at school. We encounter this problem everywhere so it would be nice not to have to worry about it at the place he will be spending so much time in!

No, you actually didn't "have" to reply at all - especiialy since you didn't actually address the question. But thanks ever so much for turning my thread asking for help into a debate, without contributing to solving the original question posed (which one would imagine you could do given your position of having to live nut-free 24/7).
It isn't a "pain" as you put it, it is beyond a "pain", as my daughter has *other* intolernaces and diet restrictions that mean nuts are an integral part of her diet. So NOT being allowed to use them at all poses a very real issue for me in practical terms, hence why I was asking for help. I use nut-based flours, oils, spreads, whole nuts...in everything from cakes and slices to frying and her meusli. Her standard snack is nuts. She has been to a day care, a kindergarten and a primary school here where despite them having nut-allergies in the school, they do NOT enforce a blanket nut policy, which I appreciate, as it isn't JUST nuts that cause problems for some kids and in fact the nuts that are the SOLUTION to those families.
So, I assure you, I am not blasé about anything, simply trying to find a solution to a problem that is *frustrating* to me and many others.

If you would like to debate, vent, or otherwise argue the merits for or against these policies, or societal responses to allergies or obesity or anytring else UNhelpful to the OP, please start a thread. Otherwise, would appreciate you stepping out or offering something valuable to the question posed.

[Phteven]

Maybe you should approach the school regarding an exemption and to find out if there are currently any children at the school with life threatening reactions. Because some schools are nut free just in case and that's, ummm..... Nuts.

[LimeSlice]

lol Yes, there are actually several kids with nut allergies in the school. The nut-free thing is fine with me, but it is frustrating for some people, myself included, just as I am sure *having* the allergy in the first place is frustrating to those families.
Hence why I have asked for some help in finding alternatives that can work for us.