Just swap out the gluten-ee bread with non-glutenee bread and send her with a sandwich I thought. That would have been easy if my daughter didn't completely despise gluten-free breads of all kinds in the entire universe.
It left me having to get creative with ideas on what to send with her to eat for lunch. I can't exactly cook her a gluten-free meal every morning.
I decided to invest in a thermos and start sending her to school with leftovers for lunch every day. I wasn't sure how well that would pan out. Would they stay hot? Would they be weird after being reheated and then sitting in a thermos for hours? So far, so good. Here are the lunches I've sent with her so far, but beware, you will see the word "rice" a lot.
It left me having to get creative with ideas on what to send with her to eat for lunch. I can't exactly cook her a gluten-free meal every morning.
I decided to invest in a thermos and start sending her to school with leftovers for lunch every day. I wasn't sure how well that would pan out. Would they stay hot? Would they be weird after being reheated and then sitting in a thermos for hours? So far, so good. Here are the lunches I've sent with her so far, but beware, you will see the word "rice" a lot.
TRIED AND TRUE
We use this to top taco salads with and the kids love it! I put the heated chicken in her thermos and sent her with a bag of tortilla chips and the toppings she likes (with an ice pack to keep them cold).
She's a ham&cheese girl! I try to up the quantity of her sides (more fruit/veggies) since her calorie intake ends up being lower with just ham and cheese sticks.
We make some rice for her to eat this with instead of a tortilla wrap. So, I send her with some rice with it to school as well.
Same here. She doesn't use a tortilla. However, she prefers this with tortilla chips instead of rice.
or, if you want to be the "cool" Mom
This is her favorite. She absolutely loves this! And, it fills her up fast.
I've said it before and I will say it again. It doesn't look like that big of a deal or that yummy, but oh my goodness! Your neighbors will be knocking on your door when you cook this asking what smells so good. My daughter actually requested this on her birthday.
Sounds a little strange. But I decided to give it a try. There were none left in her lunch bag when she got home and she said he loved it.
ON THE MENU
These are meals I have coming up on the menu but have yet to try them out-
She really loves it for dinner so I can't see how it could go wrong for lunch. We'll see!
This is packed with so much flavor there's not a chance of it turning out badly the next day!
Chicken and potatoes is hard to beat!
SIDES
Funyuns
Strawberries
Grapes
Apples
(I buy the little baby apples. My kids never finish a whole apple anyway and for some reason the whole "cuteness" factor of the little ones makes them excited to eat them)
Banana
Gushers
Carrot sticks
String Cheese
Tortilla chips
Celery sticks w/ peanut butter
Sugar snap peas
Fruity Pebbles/Cocoa Pebbles treats
Yogurt
Fruit cups
Yogurt Raisins
AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS
These are fun to have around in case you want to toss a little surprise in with their lunch. Unlike the Funyuns, Gushers and Fruity Pebbles treats, these have the Mama's-Homemade-Treat feel to it. I try to make a treat twice a week. All of these require little to zero baking. :)
Probably best not to try and send this one in a lunch :)
THESE ARE SO GOOD! Not just "good for a gluten free cookie." They are good! Period.
Make sure you read up on the cornflakes you have. Kellogg's has malt flavoring in it which contains a bit of gluten.
DRINKS
I mean it's not that it's usually troublesome to think of a gluten-free drink. But, I did find this huge case of 32 organic pure fruit juice packs at Costco for $8. I throw one in the freezer the night before and toss it in her bag in the morning. It acts as an ice pack and thaws out in time for lunch but is still nice and cold.
All in all, I find myself spending less time packing these lunches than I would if I were making a sandwich. I also like knowing that if I make a gluten-free dinner that I know won't transfer well in a lunch bag the next day, I will always have the sandwich on a stick option to fall back on. It's the PB&J of the gluten-free lunches :).
Basically, nearly any gluten-free meal you make, you can transform it into lunch bag-friendly. Just make sure you trust your thermos/ice packs to keep things safely hot/cold.
So helpful...just found out that my daughter has Celiac's Disease. She is 11 so it's not so easy changing her whole diet when she's already used to eating whatever she wants pretty much. Thanks :)
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