nut-free lunch ideas for preschool/daycare?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

it's only day 4 and i'm running out of ideas. i am used to packing lunches as i used to take picnic lunches on trips to the park with the kids, and i don't mind doing it (i have sort of a thing for bento lunches!). but i have often packed PB&J sandwiches, or if not i included almonds, other nuts for some protein (i often feel all DS eats is starchy!). though daycare won't allow anything with nuts.

so far i have done

-crackers with hummus
-turkey& cheese sandwiches

i have fruit, pieces of cheese on the side usually. sometimes i include a baby food pouch that has veggies/fruit (they both love these!)

any other ideas? ideally something that doesn't have to be microwaved..

i have bought sun butter and was gonna try that with jelly in sandwich but DH keeps saying he is scared to pack it for their lunch for fear they will hate it and not eat it. i tried sunbutter once years ago and it thought was nasty, so i don't know. i need to try it out with them.

[DrSally]

Soynut butter tastes a lot more like Pb than sunbutter. Sunbutter has a really distinct taste. Might be worth trying.

[ett]

Can they bring a thermos with hot food? I usually pack DS2 some kind of pasta for lunch.

Do they eat yogurt?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Can they bring a thermos with hot food? I usually pack DS2 some kind of pasta for lunch.

Do they eat yogurt?

hmm, that is an idea! so far i have been giving an ice pack in lunch box and just sending in cold stuff. a thermos with soup or chili or something may not be a bad idea, at least for DS who loves soups. with dd though i worry she may make too much of a mess..

and as for yogurt, they do love it. i have been packing Danimals smoothies some days (which is basically like drinkable yogurt) so there's less mess and it's easier for them to eat. but maybe yogurts might be better/healthier? once i get my Mabel's Labels i might start sending in spoons with yogurt (i have to label everything!)

and i will have to check out soynut butter.

[rin]

DD usually gets leftovers in her packed lunch, 9 days out of 10. It's super easy to just toss some dinner into her lunch container when I'm packing up the leftovers after dinner. I use the Easy Lunchbox divided containers, then add usually a fruit or some applesauce for "dessert". Easy Lunchbox also has some really nice little leak-proof containers that are great for sauces, etc and fit inside the bigger divided containers. If we don't have any good leftovers, my go-to options are:

*"lunchable": small containers of crackers, turkey, cheese, and then cucumber slices and fruit.
*cheese & tomato sandwich
*Mediterranean dipping plate: hummus, crackers, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, pepper slices, then I'll usually pack some yogurt for on the side, and fruit
*wraps. She loves cream cheese & tortillas, and I'll usually add stuff like cucumber bits, pumpkin puree, red pepper slices, etc (not all in the same one, but you know)

[mikala]

The 100 days of Real Food FB page has a lot of pictures of her daughter's school lunches and many of them are nut free. I've gotten several good ideas that way.

[MontrealMum]

My DS attends a nut free school and I pack his lunch/snack everyday. Although he's picky about some things, he's got a fairly wide range for a 5 y.o. Here's our list:

-Main dish is a sandwich - DS prefers whole wheat and jam, but you could also do cheese, turkey, or another cold cut. My DS is not a big meat eater so this complicates things somewhat.
-some sort of cheese stick/string cheese
-fruit/veg: I try to follow the seasons. Right now I'm doing pears/apples daily. I also have the two-sided Lunchbot container and will do a veg on one side and a fruit on the other. For veg, DS is partial to: peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, cucumbers and for fruit: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, and peaches.
-For snack I often do a Bearpaw (do they have these in the US?), homemade mini muffins, or other homemade sweet bread, oatcake thingy. The muffins I make are usually zucchini, pumpkin or blueberry, and are whole wheat.

Occasionally I go off-script and send: yogurt/cottage cheese/sugar free apple sauce for snack
OR meatballs or smoked salmon in a thermos for the main dish.

Once I sent in roasted pumpkin seeds but they were sent back. I think that someone didn't know what they were and mistook them for nuts. My own mom sent pumpkin seeds in my lunch all the time so it seemed very natural to me. I'd send carrots and hummus but apparently there's a child in DS' class that's allergic to chickpeas.

There were some recipes posted on here awhile back for mini-fritattas/quiche made in mini muffin containers. My own crazy picky DS wouldn't eat them (though DH and I did!) but they'd be a great source of protein and are super easy to make and package. I think they came from SnuggleBuggles.

A lot of the kids at DS schools do a thermos with hot food - like pasta - like ett suggested. I don't do that because DS won't eat it, but it's a good idea.

I just wanted to add, my DS LIKES having pretty much the same thing every day. You may be over thinking the need for variety. If your kids aren't asking for it, maybe it's OK the way it is? I send a balanced lunch, and then try to base my dinner options off what was provided at lunch, for a balanced day overall.

[Philly Mom]

I send plain yogurt (Greek) every day. She is guaranteed to eat it and loves to feed it to herself. I always send a couple small containers of fruit. Normally berries, melon or pineapple. I otherwise often do leftovers. Sometimes she doesn't eat it. She will be fine even if she only eats a small lunch.


Are you sure your daycare does not provide spoons?

[elbenn]

String Cheese
Greek Yogurt
Hummus with something to dip in it

[Clarity]

My girls get main dish rotations of:

Soups or pasta in a thermos

Leftovers in a thermos

Vegetarian refried beans/cheese in quesadilla

Black beans/cheese quesadilla (we heat it to melt the cheese at home and girls eat cold at school.) One of their favorite lunches.

Hummus spread on rolled in a tortilla

They get a sandwich once a week. Either turkey and cheese or sunbutter and jelly.

Leftover slice of pizza (dh orders or makes pizza on the night I have class - the girls get a slice in their lunch the next day.)

Salad, veggies, cheese, black beans and ranch dressing. Protein and veggies!

Yogurt - we buy the Stonyfield squeeze tubes and freeze them. They're thawed out and ready for lunch. (Ice packs are always in their lunches)

Pancakes with yogurt to dip, serve with fruit. We use these when packing this lunch: http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/720627-ziploc-divided-rectangle-food-containers.html?utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&gclid=CI7ey6qs9LMCFQpgMgodCGoAeg)

**All lunches get something like above and ALWAYS have a fruit and veggie too. So, they'll have soup, a few crackers, grapes and sliced cucumbers. Our daycare requires we pack balanced meals but it also makes it easier to plan, I think. Every day, what fruit and veggie are they getting and then you just add the main feature.** HTH!

[MSWR0319]

DS has a peanut allergy and we do jelly/cream cheese sandwiches or soy butter. He's had the allergy for over 2 years and I just got the courage to try soy butter. It's wonderful! Tastes almost just like peanut butter. We had tried sunbutter and DH wouldn't even eat it, soI was afraid to try soy butter!

[Clarity]

This reminds me that my girls actually like cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches or cream cheese and sliced banana sandwiches. One day dd1 wanted a half a sandwich w/cream cheese and banana and the other half cream cheese and cucumber! I think she was about 4yo then and it was the funniest request. We made it for her.