Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Gluten Free Lunch Ideas for Kids

One question that I get asked all the time is: What do you take in your lunch?  

One thing about being a Gluten Free Kid, as you know, is that you pack a lot of lunches for school. I have never had anything from the school cafeteria! This means what I like to take for lunch goes in cycles. I get bored with some thing, try new things, and of course new cool products come out all the time in the gluten free world. {See a list here of Gluten Free products}

This last year, some things I like to take include Cheetos, a sandwich on gluten free bread (Rudis or Udis), gluten free chips, Stagg chili in a thermos, a Tillamook yogurt, Motts applesauce, an apple or banana, and a couple of Glutino cookies. 


But there are many more products, like pretzels, soup, crackers, and other things you could take. You could take frozen yogurt, Gogurt, soup or chili in a thermos, make your own gluten-free lunchables, pack some carrots and other vegetables/fruits, leftovers...there's tons of things you could take...here's a list of categories with examples of food you could take in a lunch.



Note: Remember to always check ingredients, even if you've bought it before, because sometimes ingredients change. Also, if it says “produced in a plant that also produces wheat” or something along those lines, it is not guaranteed to be gluten-free, unless it says something like “product contains less that 500 ppm of gluten,” meaning that 1 particle in every 2,000 can be a gluten particle, which is safe. Some things are also never gluten-free unless you buy gluten-free varieties. For example, only gluten-free labeled soy sauce is actually gluten-free, and for some reason, blue cheese is also not on the Celiac approved list.



Dairy (keep cold with an ice pack)


  • Yogurt
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Frozen Yogurt
  • Cottage Cheese
  • String cheese
  • Sliced cheese



Chips, Crackers, and Stuff


  • Pretzels (Glutino ones are good)
  • Cheetos
  • Chips like Lays
  • Crackers
  • Cracker “Sandwiches” with peanut butter, or meats/cheese
  • Cookies (Pamelas, Glutino, Mi-Del)



Hot (In A Thermos)


  • Soup
  • Chili:
  • Baked beans



Cold (Can Be In A Thermos or other container with an ice pack)


  • Enchiladas (See the recipe here)
  • Other leftovers


Gluten-free “Cheats”

  • Lunchables” made with gluten free crackers, meat, cheeses and add a Glutino oreo-like cookie



Produce


  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Salad with the dressing in a separate container


I hope this gives you some ideas to start packing your own gluten free lunch. There are so many more options than the ones I list here, so these are just a few to get you started. They work for camp or school. Having Celiac does not mean you have to miss out on great, yummy lunches.




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