Food Allergy-Friendly Back-to-School Lunches

Planning school lunches can be challenging, but it can be particularly daunting when your child has one or more food allergies. Putting lunches together with allergy-friendly foods that your child will eat can turn into a time-consuming task. Fortunately, you don’t have to leave this up to guesswork. Here are some safe, healthy ideas for allergy-friendly back-to-school lunches and some tips for finding the items you need in stores. 

Ideas for Allergy-Friendly Back-to-School Lunches

It’s not uncommon for a child to have different food allergies to things like dairy, gluten, peanuts, and tree nuts. If your child has one of these allergies, you are probably dealing with it at home. But what do you do about school lunches? 

Allergy-Friendly Main Dishes

• Sunbutter Sandwiches — A favorite sandwich for children with nut allergies is one made with SunButter, which is dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan. You can make delicious sandwiches using your choice of bread. 
• Gluten-Free Lunchables — Your child can build their own mini pizzas with a lunchable-like kit that is entirely gluten-free. Use ingredients like gluten-free flatbread, milk-free cheese, and homemade pizza sauce. 
• Chicken Pasta Boats – One of the great things about these yummy pasta boats is that you can customize the filling to meet your child’s wants and needs. You start out with several large, cooked pasta shells and fill them with chicken salad or something else delicious. 

Allergy-Friendly Salads

• Rainbow Scoops — The fun salad is packed with flavor and plenty of nutritional value. It’s free of peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, soy, fish, gluten, and sesame. You can also adapt it to your child’s tastes. 
• Spinach Apple Salad — This salad includes important leafy greens and the apples of your choice to add some additional flavor and crunch. Pair it with your child’s favorite allergy-free dressing. 
• Creamy Potato Salad — This potato salad is made with dairy-free sour cream and can be made with other dairy-free products to create a delicious and filling option for your child. 

Allergy-Friendly Snacks

• Fruits & veggies — Buy seasonal fruits and veggies as snacks. If berries or peppers are in season, you can include those as munchable snacks. And, because they rotate throughout the year, it keeps the meal interesting. 
• Yogurt — If your child is dairy-free, you can include a snack like vegan-free yogurt. However, this won’t work if your child has tree nut allergies. Plain Greek Yogurt is gluten-free, but there is the possibility of nut cross-contamination depending on where it is produced. 
• Muffins — Muffins are an excellent source of protein. Depending on your child’s allergies, choose a recipe that appeals to them. A few examples are pumpkin protein muffins and veggie-loaded chocolate protein muffins. 

Tips for Allergy-Friendly Food Shopping and Preparation

Creating allergy-friendly lunches doesn’t have to be stressful. Here are a few other tips to make your process a success: 

Read Labels Carefully

When your child has food allergies, you learn how to read food labels carefully and thoroughly. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) has made it easier for consumers to identify ingredients in packaged foods and make more informed decisions. 

Find Some Favorite Items

When you and your child find some favorite brands and lunch items, put them into your regular rotation. By doing this, you won’t have to come up with seven new ideas each week. You might want to add one new item per week to keep things interesting. 

Avoid Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination is a serious issue when it comes to food allergies. It refers to traces of unwanted ingredients, like nuts or grains, ending up in a recipe that claims not to have them due to shared preparation surfaces, utensils, or bowls. This is something you need to be aware of at home and when purchasing products from outside sources. 

Pre-Make Lunches

Even with some yummy recipes and ideas on hand, putting lunches together daily can be a chore. Another tip for minimizing the stress of preparing these meals is to pre-make a week’s worth of lunches at a time. Then, if you have any leftovers, you can use them for snacks or dinners. 

Visit Nick’s of Clinton for Your Allergy-Friendly Shopping Needs

These delicious recipes will keep your kids happy and productive in the classroom this year. Fortunately, putting them together doesn’t need to seem like a major project for parents. When you visit Nick’s of Clinton, you can find all of the allergy-friendly ingredients you need. We offer high-quality and affordable items in our Maryland family grocery store. Visit us today or give us a call at 301-843-4825 with any questions.