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Hello,
I'm having problems of thinking of alternatives to Tofu or soya cheese for my girls packed lunch. I like to get some protein in her lunch time, and was doing well with alternating tofu with nuts and seeds until a child started at the school with severe nut allergy and all nuts were banned! I don't give her houmus at school because of garlic breath, I don't want to go down the route of too much processed food and she's not keen on straight beans.:confused:
Anyone got any ideas please???
hey janet!
tried making hummous without the garlic?
also try different beans madeinto hummous..whatever you have in a tin whizzed up in the blender to make a pate..serve it up with carrotty sticks..little tomatoes..all that nibbly stuff kids like.
what about making pasta and a sauce the night before and saving some for her lunchbox the next day. ooh where's that link to that place where there are load of ace lunchbox ideas.??
come over to the recipes thread..cookbooks and teh bento thread for more ideas.
alternatively type some key words into google and see where the wonderful world of the internet takes you!!
i'd pm poison ivy..she'll have some ace ideas no doubt..and i'm sure some more forumers will be along v soon to offer ace suggestions :)
If they do not have a problem with gluten then you could add seitan to your repertoire.
Michael.
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ :D happy clicking!
Dear Janet,Quote:
Janet
are you saying that children aren't allowed to have eg. hazelnut butter or in the personal packed lunch boxes their parents make for them? That sounds kind of strange - I've never heard of anyone refusing kids at school to drink eg. milk because some of the children at their school have a milk allergy.
My 7-year old's current favorite is sliced bread with tahini (and cucumber) with a few drops of soy sauce, and he also likes strawberry/raspberry/blueberry jam or various vegan spreads like Tartex, sandwich cream, Streich and so on. He also like lentils a lot, which can be made into a bread spread easily (there are also commercial lentil patés available). These are processed foods, but probably not more processed than tofu or soy cheese...
Regarding protein, we have a poll here listing various kind of vegan food with circa 10% or more protein (which is higher than eg. human mother's milk), and several of these plant can be used/bought as bread spreads (almond butter, sunflower spread, peanut butter...).
Here are some threads/sites that may trigger some new ideas:
Favourite vegan sandwich filling/bread spread?
Vegan margarine / dairy free spread
Butterbean Spread / Kidney Bean Spread
Vegan lunch ideas
Packed / School & College lunches / Dorm food
Vegan Children: School (and Work!) Lunch Ideas
In a Vegetarian kitchen: School Lunch Recipes and Tips<- some vegan ideas here too
What about a chickpea salad or a mixed bean salad with a nice dressing?Quote:
Janet
It happens around here too. At certain schools kids aren't allowed to bring in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because there could be kids that have THAT BAD of an allergy. I think it is completely ridiculous, I blame it on hand sanitizer and kids not playing outside anymore, kids nowadays aren't building up the proper immunities.
It makes me so mad!
Nut allergies can be so severe that an attack can be triggered by catching the breath of somebody who has just eaten nuts.
Like we see with Emzy and her fish allergy too.
[QUOTE=missbettie;438218 I think it is completely ridiculous, I blame it on hand sanitizer and kids not playing outside anymore, kids nowadays aren't building up the proper immunities.[/QUOTE]
my daughter has a nut allergy, though only through actually eating them. she played out lots and had lots of friends, play groups etc during her formative years, yet none of us were prepared for her eating a brazil nut and having to be rushed to hospital.
Quote:
Sluggie
yes, thats true sluggie.
it's a preventative measure by schools to stop cross-sharing of lunches too, which may contain allergens in them - saying that what about dairy intollerances though??
back on topic.
janet, have you tried a vegan tzaziki dip with things to dip in it? also lunches don't necessarily have to be savoury if your daughter eats a cooked veg meal in the evenings. how about yogs, mixed fruits, dried fruits. left over fruit pies, crumbles with pot of creme, or tortillas, mini pittas stuffed? or even mini bridge/long rolls with cold vegan frankfurters in? cold veggie sausages with ketchup? fruit spread, choc spread sandwiches? banana sandwich? would she eat cold baked beans with chopped up sausage in or cold roast potatoes?
:eek: Allergies are complicated things, especially food allergies. Like Cedarblue's daughter, I definitely spent the early part of my childhood playing in the country and getting covered in mud, but I'm very allergic to animals and dust and pollen and things. It's just one of those genetic things - no point getting mad about it. I think every precaution should be taken when there's a child with a severe food allergy and I'm glad that some schools are 'nut free zones'. It must make the parents and children much less stressed.Quote:
missbettie
Agreed, there does seem to be a good medical case for banning nuts altogether if there's an extremely allergic person present.
I second emma's suggestion of home-made hummus variants with no garlic - you can flavour them with lemon juice, herbs, spices and so on. Then the lunchbox can sometimes contain raw vegetables with a bean dip, which is a nourishing meal, and not weird enough to embarrass anyone ;)
okay, sorry for being a jerk guys I definately don't mean anything against anyones babies!
But why do you think they are becoming so prominent?
As for my suggestion, the laptop lunch boxes are really neat and very kid friendly. You can always do leftovers or cute little snacks that your daughter might like. And she will probably get a kick out of it because it will be arranged so cute like. Thats what I do for my boyfriend...and he is kinda like a big kid...heh...
Sorry again guys :( I think I just get more frusterated because when I was younger it was nothing like that, and I know I will never be able to pack a pb and j sandwich in my kids lunch (once I have them) and that was one of my favorite things when I was younger...although of course I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt...
Quote:
missbettie
janet, missbettie just reminded me of the 'japanese bento box' thread - maybe you get one of the kid ones for your daughter and she would like to pack it up with you with yummy things? a nibbles lunch with healthy stuff would be a good lunch, you don't always need sandwich, roll etc...what about cold pizza slices? get some of those shaped cutters too for carrots, even iceberg lettuce?
absolutely! i have had grief about what my daughter eats for her school lunches..as it seems to be that the only 'normal' lunch a child could possibly have *sigh* is something in a white bread roll, a yogurt and something like a penguin bar. my daughters school has now banned 'bad' foods..though homemade stuff is fine, chocolate is not, chocolate biscuits are not, but a homemade chocolate biscuit is..i have no idea where they get their logic from.
anna mainly has little snacky bits..grapes, baby tomatoes, a box of raisins and a bun or something. i've tried sending a sandwich numerous times and they generally come back uneaten..she's a slow eater and they get something like half an hour..sometimes less if they have prefect/library duties etc.
definately cute nicely presented non overpowering amounts of food is best for lunchtime kiddy nibbling!
try homemade block of margarine wrapped in homemade white bread, sprinkled in salt.
See if they allow it.
Quote:
bryzee86
home produced from salt flats in garden i presume! LOL
Hi,
Cheers for all the ideas, I'll be able to vary her lunches a bit more now! She usually has a tortillia wrap and is fine about whatever she has in it but was quite bored with tofu. I think I'll try the slab of salty margerine tomorrow....! Is that quite high in protein?? I did go to the head when the note came home to see if Jade could just be sat away from the child, but they are vunerable to even smelling peanuts on the breath. The Head offered to take her to her office and brush her teeth after lunch. Not good for the "cool" look in the playground I thought. Also the Head is very scary and I think J wouldn't be very impressed at being taken to her office.
cheers Janet
Hi, the garlicless huomas ( I can't spell) didn't go down so well, fussy britches!! but cous cous in mushroom stock cube seems popular. So the currant choices are:-tofu-couscous-cheese slices-sos mix. Although she wouldn't contempalte eating raw carrot slices grated carrot in tortillia wrap is a favourate.I usually put in a yogurt or soya dessert so that should make a good meal shouldn't it?.........Please say yes
Yes :)
^^^ Forgot her packed lunch today
Janet you are doing really well, i wish i could get my son to eat a balanced meal even once a day.........
Hi
Here's a site with some great lunch box ideas.Just work your way down the archives
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/20...1_archive.html
My daughter just wants pbj all day. I can`t send her with anything that needs to be refrigerated , So I`m limited.carrots and barries are her norm. Angie
Cheers, we've just been to Bristol vegan fest and took her around the stalls to try different things. The creamy scheese spread went down well and so did Frys slicing sausage. I think we are finaly reaching a point where there is a bit of variety in her meals. Hurrah! My boy is like your daughter though Angimom, he only wants pbj and anything sweet. He's into currant buns as well at the moment and crys if we don't have any. I can see him being a "challenge" in the future to feed!
What about SEED butters? They make sunflower butter, and probably others!
And you could also sneak hemp seeds into everything. They don't have too much taste, but are pretty protein-packed. That is, if you don't object to your child taking hemp to school (my parents don't like the idea for me :lol:).
I blog about my kids school lunches and snacks if it would help you: http://disposableaardvarksinc.blogspot.com/ - Krista
quinoa is great. I make veggie burgers or nuggets with them too by binding with chickpea flour batter (besan). buckwheat noodles are fun for variety. I never fuss with protein/carb/fat distinctions I just try to give a variety of food that together is filling.
My girl could eat avocado everyday
I pack my children's lunches, for obvious reasons. I like to keep their food interesting, so they are not eating the same things all the time. They tend to be picky sometimes so my options have become sort of limited. Anyone have any ideas for feeding picky vegan children lunch at school?
Have you ever looked at the archives of the vegan lunchbox blog? I think it's just veganlinchbox.blogsopt.com, there are some great ideas for kids lunches there. What type of things do your kids like?Quote:
BellaTanie
I just did and got tons of ideas! They likes and dislikes change all the time. For instance my daughter Cadence who is 7 used to love broccoli, now she says she detests it..... ): My latest idea is vanilla coconut milk yogurt and I mix peaches or any other fruit they are in the mood for and pack some homemade granola on the side for them to add at school. They seem to love it!
Kids are like that though, I doubt you're alone! Vanilla coconut yoghurt w/fruit & granola sounds divine! You've lucky kids!Quote:
BellaTanie