Suggestions for PreK Lunch

As an alternative to peanut butter, try Sunbutter sunflower seed butter. It's delicious and you can hardly tell the difference between the two.

Hi D.,
Packing lunches you do have to get creative or the kiddos will get bored silly!!

You can try the almond butter in replacement of the peanut butter or my daughter loves the nutella as well. We dont do many sandwiches due to my daughter being wheat and gluten freee in her diet and the non wheat breads leave a lot to be desired.
One of my daughters favorites is to spread cream cheese over lunch meat slices and roll them, we also hae a thermos that we put soups, chili, stews and the like in.
Get the Go-Gerts & freeze them so they will be partially thawed by lunch, its good protien and dairy.
Rice crispy treats always seem to go over big, cracker jacks as a special treat. They have flavored mini rice cakes which are really quite good. String cheese is always a good one to keep on hand too..

If I can help in any way, let me know, we have been doing the creative pack lunches for a few years now & thank goodness, my daughter has not gotten bored yet and always eats better then her friends with hot lunch.

K.

My son is now in 1st grade, so I have been packing him a lunch every day. One of his faves is homemade lunchables. He didn't think it would fly when I first told him about it, but now he likes mine better than store bought. You can buy the Wal-mart brand round crackers for cheap. Get some good block cheese and turkey, ham or chicken. It is really fun to use cookie cutters to make different shapes out of the meat and cheese. I got a huge bucket of plastic cutters at Bed Bath and Beyond. This week I made his name out of the letter cutters. He loved it! It can really be a challenge for us to come up with new, fun and healthy ways for our kids to take a lunch, so thanks for the request. I am also interested to try something new.

You could try sunflower butter. Our Super Target sells it on the top shelf above the peanut butter. If all nuts aren't off limits you could try almond butter.

If your son likes PB & J, there is a peanut butter substitute that is just as good- Sunbutter Creamy. Sunbutter (sunflower butter) also comes in natural and crunchy, but I found that the creamy tastes the most like PB and you don't have to stir it (natural nut butters get a layer of oil on top, the creamy is emulsified). I found it at SuperTarget but you can also get it online (google Sunbutter). Anyways, it is totally safe for kids with allergies; my son is severely allergic to all nuts and he eats sunbutter. So, I don't think your son will know the difference (some kids actually like it better than PB) and he can still eat what he likes for lunch. Good luck!
Oh, you might want to ask the teacher if you decide to try any other nut butters besides sunbutter. Soy is a legume like peanuts, so Soybutter may be a risk to another child with allergies. Likewise, other treenut butters like almond and cashew may be contaminated with peanuts. So, I would stick to what it for sure safe with the sunbutter.

Go to Whole Foods or Sunflower Market and they will have soy butter alternatives by the PButter. They really aren't bad. Your son may not even know he's not eating peanut butter!

You might try cream cheese with jelly (only thing is the cream cheese may be too tart for him at first, so you would have to add sugar, honey, or maple syrup at first and then slowly taper the sugar off until you added none). Almond butter is suppose to be good too. Make sure that is okay with the school.

Also I pack my own lunchables with butterfly shaped crackers, real cheese, and turkey breast from the area near the fully cooked hams....Most groocery stores have half or whole fully cooked turkey breasts next to the fully cooked ham. You could use ham too if he likes it.

You can make your own snack mixes to throw into his lunches too. Like cinnamon toast crunch cereal with pretzels and raisins (or whatever he likes). My kids feel like they are getting a treat with the sugared cereals mixed in (they don't get much of them otherwise). Oh, I read an account saying potato chips aren't that terrible if you only give them a serving size (1/2 handful) (but make sure they are cooked in a healthy oil). Oh target has some great pita chips (if you feel comfortable with him chewing such hard things).

If he likes yogurt, that makes a great addition to a lunch, just make sure you remind him to eat it at lunch and not wait to the end of the day unless you have awesome freezer packs (we are currently in FL and you would need 3 freezer packs to keep yogurt good all day).

Good luck, at least it is only once a week (right now). He'll probably be eating more by next year.

R.

Try different things that are child friendly. It is amazing what kids will like if you try it. I have given the boys cheese and peanut butter. Bananas and peanut butter. I have also done cream cheese and raisins, cream cheese and pepperonis or cream cheese and pineapple. you may try one of my favorite old tricks and make some pepperoni and cheese or just cheese quesadillas. you can take large tortillas and some sliced pepperoni and shredded cheeses and this makes enough for two to four. Dont neccesarilly avoid allergies either just announce them. your child should not have to miss out simply because of others allergies.

Hi D., My little guy was the same way they have sandwich cutters in shapes of dino's and hearts etc and he will eat any sandwich when we cut it into a character:). We also pack him left overs from our previous dinner, like pot roast, tortilla and cream cheese sandwich's, egg salad, hope that helps:) take care-jenn

I think it is silly that you can't pack certain things for your kids because someone else hasn't taught their kid not to eat other people's lunches if they have allergies...but with that off my chest. haha. I have to add that there are a lot of other "butter" spreads that are really delicious, like nutella which is pretty healthy as far as spreads go and is like eating a fantastic chocolate on your sandwhich!! I also like the sunflower spread and almond spreads. you could also make up your own lunchable type meals with crackers cheese and meats for him to put together. Plus then he can go shopping with you and pick out his crackers etc. and look at the packages with you to see where the sodium etc. is to help find healthy alternatives, it helps teach him the importance of knowing what he is eating and gives him some power over what he takes for lunches.
if you can keep the food cool for him so bacterias aren't an issue then a meatball sandwhich or a pizza sandwhich (pepperoni and mozzerella cheese on it with a little marinara sauce) are some fun choices as well.
Lunch Box Fun-due
Ingredients:

1/2 cup turkey breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup boiled ham, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup Cheddar, Provolone, American, or Monterey Jack cheese, cut into bite-size cubes
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
2 celery ribs, cut into sticks
3 tablespoons jarred salsa
3 tablespoons ranch dressing
1 slice angel food cake, cut into bite-size pieces
1⁄2 pint strawberries, hulled

Directions:

Pack all the different savory components in separate resealable plastic bags or containers. Mix the salsa and ranch dressing in a small plastic container for savory dipping.

Place the cake cubes in another plastic food-storage bag or container. Puree the strawberries with a splash of water or juice in a blender and pour into a small ¬plastic container for sweet dipping. Pack everything into a lunch box. Lunchtime today will be interactive and dip-licious!

Recipe excerpted from Yum-O! The Family Cookbook by Rachael Ray

I really like this one.

Sunbutter is yummy. My kids ate it at my sister's house and didn't know the difference. It's safe for kiddo's with food allergies. Also cream cheese mixed with some fruit preserves is yummy too. My kids really don't like meat and cheese sandwiches on bread but if I put meat and cheese on a croissant or a mini bagel they gobble it up. We put tubes of yogurt in the freezer and they are like an ice cream snack by the time lunch comes around and keep the insulated lunch box cool too. They also have these great lunch boxes at Fred Meyer that don't use ice packs. Just freeze the whole box overnight and it stays cool all day. Try www.familyfun.com or www.allrecipes.com for some more fun lunch ideas.

Do you think he would eat jelly with some cream cheese? I'm having trouble coming up with anything else off the top of my head, sorry. :(

Try going to Recipezaar.com This is a great site and has so many ideas!! Good luck

take a trip down the deli isle, and other isles. that's how i get ideas for food. also the internet helps

IMO, lunch doesn't have to be sandwiches and chips and stuff. Does he like hard boiled eggs? That's a great protein source and easy to make. My kids aren't really sandwich kids. I'd find other alternatives to that. Give him a healthy breakfast meal or even left overs from the night before. Give him a lot of fruit and that will keep him full and it's not a sandwich. Good luck!!!

How about strawberry and cream cheese? Or just cream cheese (low fat) and jelly. Also, you could try sunflower nut butter (I've never tried it, and I have the pickiest of eaters...I'm sure she wouldn't go for it either (she knows if I switch brands of chicken nugget) - but I've seen it suggested many times as a sub for peanut butter when allergies are an issue in schools)? Might be worth a shot. Also, maybe a 'pizza' sandwich? Try pizza sauce and a slice of mozarella on an english muffin...you can warm it to melt everything and send it cold?

I'm not a perfect healthy feeder - but I am very much against the lunchables - the quality of the food is poor, and, as you note, full of sodium and nitrates. Furthermore, I think they don't encourage healthy habits. If you are so inclined, you can create your own lunchable-type meal - cut the sandwiches up in cool shapes. Or send ritz-type crackers with a little containter of pizza sauce and shredded cheese...cut up nitrate free cold cuts (Hormel naturals are great) and cheese with small snippets of bread?

Hope some of these suggestions help!

We have the same situation, and my daughter really likes sandwiches with whipped cream cheese and jelly. We cut them into fun shapes too. The cream cheese gives her the protien she needs and the jelly makes it more fun. Good luck.

Im excited to see if you get any ideas on sandwhiches, my son is really routine into his peanut butter and jelly and yogurt everyday at the daycare so I will need some ideas if there are any restrictions at his school when he starts kindergarten. You could create your own lunchables if you are concerned with the sodium levels in the packaged ones. That is what we do. I look forward to the responses, I really hope there are some good ones.

Hi D.,
My son is also a peanut butter and jelly boy. It was ok to send peanut butter to his preschool last year, but this year it has been banned. I found that when I pack other lunches for him he won't eat them. I did some research and I found a product called Sun Butter which is a good peanut butter alternative. It is made with sunflower seeds and it does not have any peanuts or tree nuts - it is not even made in a factory that has peanuts or tree nuts. It is supposed to be completely safe for people with nut allergies. My son eats his Sun Butter and jelly sandwich every day and he doesn't know the difference. I had to tell the teachers at his school about the Sun Butter because it looks just like peanut butter. The only place I've found it so far is at Whole Foods. I hope this helps!

D.,

My son attended Ruth Washburn which does not allow peanuts or any other peanut product, but the community there used alternative 'peanut butters' which include almond butter or any other type that can be found at your local health food store! Most kids love the taste of almond butter (it can have a more dessert-type taste anyway).

Hope this helps!
-K. L.