Nut-free lunchbox ideas

[LimeSlice]

I have just found out DD1's new school next year is nut free. I am really disappointed about this for several reasons, chief one being she LOVES nuts. LOVES THEM. They are a staple part of her diet AND her school lunch box, always have been, and it makes me cross she isn't allowed to eat them.

I choose the meusli bars she gets because they are crap-free, which means they are made with nuts. She loves trail mix we make together every week, and I make my own nut butters often for her sandwiches.

I refuse to give her a lunch box full of processed crap and useless food, so I need some new ideas that are TOTALLY nut free please and not boring!

I want to start giving them to her now so she can get used to it.

[PumpkinZulu]

For main lunches or snacks? Lunches, things like salad and hummus wraps, homemade sushi rolls, bean salad, homemade savoury slices (like dill and feta). Snacks, fruit skewers or salad, crackers and cheese, dip, bread and olives, cold meats rolled up with a toothpick, sweet slice or fruit muffin.

[nothing2lose]

For main lunches or snacks? Lunches, things like salad and hummus wraps, homemade sushi rolls, bean salad, homemade savoury slices (like dill and feta). Snacks, fruit skewers or salad, crackers and cheese, dip, bread and olives, cold meats rolled up with a toothpick, sweet slice or fruit muffin.

If you can pull off that stuff every day for your DD's lunch, you're a better mum than me!!

In fact, PZ, can you pack my lunch for me??!!

Most schools are nut free these days. I just go for muffins and slices or bickies without nuts.

[PumpkinZulu]

Lol! My mum used to make that sort of stuff for my lunch and my brother's lunch...I'll see how I go in a few years

[Phteven]

Popcorn.
Yogurt squeezies (freeze them in summer)
home made museli bars
Cheese/baby bel
savory muffins

Try googling bento boxes - although you mightn't want to get as extreme as some of the japanese mums.

[sangie]

Give her the trail mix and muesli bars as an after school snack so she isn't missing them totally!

My DD loves avocado and cheese sandwiches. Other things I put in her lunchbox for kinder are cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, cheese, homemade muffins/biscuits, fruit pieces or whole fruit, yoghurt, cruskits with vegemite, rice crackers.

[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.

[Mother Goose]

We pack a variety of different things and I try to do any "baking" stuff on the weekends. But here's a snap shot of what dd gets for snacks and lunches....

"the Deli Select" aka kabana, cheese, rolled up ham.
Popcorn
Crackers and dip (hommus is the fav)
Vegemite sandwhiches
Plain butter sandwhiches (I dare not argue)
Home made mini muffins
Veggie sausage rolls
Chicken schnitzle (we have to have it for dinner once a fortnight so she can have left overs for school)
Fruit tubs
Yoghurt tubes
Ham and cheese with crackers
Sausages
Cucumber sticks
Mini tomatoes
Mushrooms

Good luck. I find lunch boxes to be very frustrating at times!

[PumpkinZulu]

Chickpea patties, pita bread filled with spinach, olives, capsicum, cucumber, hummus, focaccia with roasted veggies, tuna and rice, grain salad (grains, capers, sultanas), homemade veggie chips. The list goes on. There are SO many lunch options without nuts, even without meat and dairy, it's just a matter of getting creative.

[LimeSlice]

Chickpea patties, pita bread filled with spinach, olives, capsicum, cucumber, hummus, focaccia with roasted veggies, tuna and rice, grain salad (grains, capers, sultanas), homemade veggie chips. The list goes on. There are SO many lunch options without nuts, even without meat and dairy, it's just a matter of getting creative.

There are several restrictions to that though - like them being able to eat it unassisted, time constraints of how long the school gives them to eat lunch (if they don't finish it in time, they can't go out and play), their normal likes/dislikes, how long it takes to prepare these things at home, how long they keep vs cost (especially if it is something only C is eating). Needing to be creative is one thing, having time to find out the hard way what works and what doesn't, whilst being a full-time studying, part-time working, single mum of 2 kids, is the hard part.


Really loving all these suggestions! Thanks And those links are really helpful, too.

Onyx - this is another issue - changing her mindset about it. Her lunch is most days a variation of peanut butter (with celery and cheese; honey and banana; carrot and cheese; onion; vegemite lettuce and cheese....yes, all though WITH peanut butter, she is wacky! lol) But that is what she likes, she *likes* eating PB everyday and enjoys it. So the monotony is there, I vent my variety frustrations on her snacks usually (lol) but it is going to require changing her mindset. That's why I'm asking early, going to start trying things out on her and see what she actually likes and doesn't like before school starts. FX!

[PumpkinZulu]

Oh okay, fair enough Really didn't think my suggestions were too out there. That's the sort of stuff my mum made fr us, she worked full time and was a single parent of two. Point is, you should be fine, just need to kick the PB habit during school hours by the looks of it

[Pholi]

Interesting thread...

I can't answer for kids lunches (I don't have any) but my biggest food discovery on the last 5 years or so has been homemade hummus and hummus-style bean dips. I have been eating more of these since pregnant, because I'm reducing the amount of tuna I eat, and avoiding deli meats and soft cheeses, which were my lunch staples along with bread/wrap/crispbread, salad veg and fruit.

Hummus, like the bean dips, actually freezes really well, so I make a large amount (2-3 tins worth of beans or chickpeas) and freeze it in small containers or icecube trays, and just defrost what I want for the day. It even defrosts well in the microwave! They also last the best part of a week in the fridge, but I'm being extra cautious because of my pregnancy atm. They can both be made to different textures, with more or less blending, and different thicknesses, too. I add very little oil, if at all, and more water/whatever other liquid I put in them, which increases the health factor unless you subscribe to the 'more olive oil is better for you' school if thought, in which case, I'm cutting out a few extra calories. There's no sugar, unlike most muffin and many slice recipes.

And I flavour them differently depending on my mood at the time - lemon and garlic, lime and ginger, cumin and coriander, cajun, roasted red pepper, green onion, sundried tomato, olive... I've even tried using steamed veg to add to it - carrot, cauli, parsnip - the stronger flavoured veg made for a more distinctive spread, but they all need some kind of spice or herb with it (think soup flavours - cumin with the carrot, parsnip and curry, cauli and parmesan were all good combos).

These are pretty cost efficient, time efficient if you make a larger amount and freeze, healthy, can be used as a spread in wraps or sandwiches, alone or with other ingredients, or as a dip with crackers or crudites.

Have I sold these to anyone yet? Can you tell I'm a big fan?

I also have had a yoghurt maker for the last year or so, and have discovered how easy and cheap it is to make cream cheese at home. This also lasts well in the fridge (though doesn't freeze very well) and supports a myriad of different flavourings/toppings, as demonstrated by the dips shelf at the supermarket. I often use a thin layer on a sandwich instead of butter, or in a thicker layer as a main ingredient of a sanger or wrap.