What's to Munch for Lunch? Food Allergies At School

It's a toss up! Even kids who won't eat a green salad will happily gobble down a rice pasta salad with their favorite dressing. Consider tossing in some leftovers (chicken, beans, cheese cubes) with some fresh veggies and you have a healthy, easy meal.

Let's Roll! If your child is frustrated with gluten-free breads or just looking for something new, try a wrap. There are gluten-free varieties including corn tortillas. You can simply roll a piece of turkey or ham with safe cream cheese. Wrap a bundle of four or five in one of these brown wax paper bags and you've got the protein portion of lunch all wrapped up!

Just Desserts. Since our children want to look like all of the other kids, they're often tickled to have prepackaged goodies like the other kids. Enjoy Life individual cookie packs and chocolate bars are available at most grocery stores. NoNuttin Bars are a delicious and healthy treat that the whole family will love. I bake and frost CherryBrook Kitchen cookies (we use the gluten-free variety) and store them in the freezer. I pull out one or two to add to my son's lunch for a sweet home baked treat.

The Wrap-Up. These are just a few ideas for innovating on the "same old lunch" that your child will quickly become accustomed to this school year. Once you have a few new tools and tricks up your apron sleeve, it shouldn't take much effort to put together an appealing lunch to keep the allergic crowd smiling. Knowing how important it is for our kids to have the proper fuel to keep them alert and attentive, it's worth every minute of the time it takes to keep our "packers" going.