Cold lunch ideas

My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor appetite. He
usually only eats peanut butter and jelly/nutella/marshmellow
sandwiches for lunch at school. His favorite is peanut butter and
nutella.

Today he came home from school with a request that he not bring
anything for lunch that has nuts in it because one of his classmates
has serious nut allergies.

Now I am at a loss as to what to make him. He likes very little in the
way of cold lunches.

He does not like the hot lunches and usually tosses them rather than
eat them. (Can't really blame him, they are pretty awful) He does not
like luncheon meat or cheese sandwiches. He likes hot food to be hot
(like pizza, spag. etc) and he cannot heat these up at school.

I am concerned about what I can give him that he will eat.

What cold lunch ideas can you kind readers suggest?

Thanks in advance

Debbie

wrote in message
oups.com...
My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor appetite. He
usually only eats peanut butter and jelly/nutella/marshmellow
sandwiches for lunch at school. His favorite is peanut butter and
nutella.

Peanut butter and Nutella, that's DS! I thought we were the only ones who
did that.

wrote in message
oups.com...

He does not like the hot lunches and usually tosses them rather than
eat them. (Can't really blame him, they are pretty awful) He does not
like luncheon meat or cheese sandwiches. He likes hot food to be hot
(like pizza, spag. etc) and he cannot heat these up at school.

I am concerned about what I can give him that he will eat.

What cold lunch ideas can you kind readers suggest?

Does he have any suggesitions? I usually ask my 4yo what he wants. He is
very picky. If the suggestion is reasonable, I try to include it.

wrote:
My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor appetite. He
usually only eats peanut butter and jelly/nutella/marshmellow
sandwiches for lunch at school. His favorite is peanut butter and
nutella.

Does he get a dose of his meds mid-day in school?

If so, you might want to discuss with his doctor about going to a
sustained-release form, so he's taking it in the morning, nothing at
noontime (and if he 'rebounds' before dinnertime, you could do what our
doctor had our son do, which was take a reduced dose of
non-sustained-released meds around 4pm -- this got us through homework,
dinnertime and karate lesson nights (2x weekly) yet still allowed him
to settle down to bed)

Using a sustained-release form of his meds might reduce the poor
appetite at lunchtime issue, so he might be willing to eat more...and
try a wider variety of foods, too.

Lacking that, would he be willing to switch to cream cheese and jelly?
I know giving up Nutella at lunch stinks (it's a big favorite in our
house, too -- yum!). At that age, my ADHDer (who is now 20 and getting
ready to start his Junior year in university!) liked raw veggies that
he could dip in ranch dressing for lunch. I'd give him a good supply
along with some cheese cubes, rolled up sliced turkey or ham, or half a
cheese sandwich. I just had to keep reminding him that the little
plastic container that I'd put the dressing in was not supposed to be
thrown away.

Leah

wrote:
My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor appetite. He
usually only eats peanut butter and jelly/nutella/marshmellow
sandwiches for lunch at school. His favorite is peanut butter and
nutella.

Today he came home from school with a request that he not bring
anything for lunch that has nuts in it because one of his classmates
has serious nut allergies.

Now I am at a loss as to what to make him. He likes very little in the
way of cold lunches.

He does not like the hot lunches and us

ually tosses them rather than
eat them. (Can't really blame him, they are pretty awful) He does not
like luncheon meat or cheese sandwiches. He likes hot food to be hot
(like pizza, spag. etc) and he cannot heat these up at school.

I am concerned about what I can give him that he will eat.

What cold lunch ideas can you kind readers suggest?

Try switching from peanut butter to another
nut butter, if the schoolmate isn't also terribly
allergic to tree nuts. You might have to put notes
on the sandwich to assure the teachers that it is not
peanut butter. That would be an easy switch.

Have you tried "real meat" instead of luncheon
meat? Either good deli meat, or leftovers from dinner?
Sometimes kids who won't eat luncheon meat will eat
either better deli meat or something like leftover
roast chicken or turkey. You could even roast a turkey
breast periodically and slice it up for sandwiches.

You could also pack a hot lunch that doesn't
need to be reheated. Just get small Thermos containers
for leftovers and warm them up in the morning and they'll
still be hot by lunch.

Best wishes,
Ericka

hi --

At our school there are several kids with severe nut allergy, too.
Since so many foods have nuts in them (peanut butter is the EASY one to
detect) the school decided that it would be a better idea to simply have
a "nut free" table at meals. (Our school district's meals are
guaranteed nut-free, so this can work pretty easily.)

The policy was enacted at the suggstion of the allergic children's
parents, and it works well. Anyone can sit at the nut-free table,
regardless of other restrictions placed on children (ie, sit by class)
provided that they eat the school lunch OR have nut allergy themselves.
The nut-free table is therefore a very popular place to be!

This policy has the advantage that it lets all children eat what they
please, keeps the allergic children safe, and educates everyone about
severe nut allergy.

If I were you I'd push back at the school. Unless you can easily come
up with a healthy alternative lunch that your own son will eat, reply to
the school that you're sorry, but you've got a conflicting medical issue
and peanut butter is a dietary staple for your son. Go in with this or
some other reasonable alternative.

Frankly, as a parent of an allergic child, I don't like restricting what
other kids eat. It doesn't educate my own child about how to be safe
in a situation where food is around, and it can also give my child a
false sense of security. Nuts are all over the place! They can be in
breads, in candies, in granola-type bars, in chili ... all over the
place. If the child is that severely allergic, then none of those other
foods are safe near him either

That said, perhaps your son would go for soy butter?

--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

In article .com,
wrote:
My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor appetite. He
usually only eats peanut butter and jelly/nutella/marshmellow
sandwiches for lunch at school. His favorite is peanut butter and
nutella.

Today he came home from school with a request that he not bring
anything for lunch that has nuts in it because one of his classmates
has serious nut allergies.

snip
I am concerned about what I can give him that he will eat.

What cold lunch ideas can you kind readers suggest?

Try soy butter instead of peanut butter. Looks similar, combine
with jelly and it tastes much the same. Include a note to the
teacher that it is *not* peanut butter.

(Marty Billingsley) wrote in
:

In article
.com,
wrote:
My 8 year old son is on ADD medicine and thus has a poor
appetite. He usually only eats peanut butter and
jelly/nutella/marshmellow sandwiches for lunch at school.
His favorite is peanut butter and nutella.

Today he came home from school with a request that he not
bring anything for lunch that has nuts in it because one of
his classmates has serious nut allergies.

snip
I am concerned about what I can give him that he will eat.

What cold lunch ideas can you kind readers suggest?

Try soy butter instead of peanut butter. Looks similar,
combine with jelly and it tastes much the same. Include a
note to the teacher that it is *not* peanut butter.

it does not taste at all like peanut butter, even when heavily
disguised with jam.
i bought some, based on many people here saying how much it
tasted like peanut butter & what a great substitute it was...
i ate one bite of a soy butter & jam sandwich. i tried to give
the rest to my peanutbutter fiend dog. he wouldn't touch it.
the *chickens* wouldn't eat it. it was vile. i threw the jar
away.
if you are considering trying another nut butter or soy
butter, see if you can sample some someplace first (maybe a
health food store) before you waste money buying it. if the
kid is picky already, soy butter could put him off peanut
butter too.
i ate a lot of lettuce & mayo sandwiches as a kid. my son
only wants a thermos of hot soup for his school lunches,
preferably chicken noodle.
lee
--
Question with boldness even the existence of god; because if
there be
one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of
blindfolded
fear. - Thomas Jefferson

Beth Kevles wrote:
hi --

At our school there are several kids with severe nut allergy, too.
Since so many foods have nuts in them (peanut butter is the EASY one to
detect) the school decided that it would be a better idea to simply have
a "nut free" table at meals. (Our school district's meals are
guaranteed nut-free, so this can work pretty easily.)

The policy was enacted at the suggstion of the allergic children's
parents, and it works well. Anyone can sit at the nut-free table,
regardless of other restrictions placed on children (ie, sit by class)
provided that they eat the school lunch OR have nut allergy themselves.
The nut-free table is therefore a very popular place to be!

My son is allegedly nut allergic and I'd totally support this way of
handling the issue. I have never been a fan of nut bans, rather, all
I ask is that I can get the info I need from individuals or
organizations to keep my child safe.


This policy has the advantage that it lets all children eat what they
please, keeps the allergic children safe, and educates everyone about
severe nut allergy.

If I were you I'd push back at the school. Unless you can easily come
up with a healthy alternative lunch that your own son will eat, reply to
the school that you're sorry, but you've got a conflicting medical issue
and peanut butter is a dietary staple for your son. Go in with this or
some other reasonable alternative.

Frankly, as a parent of an allergic child, I don't like restricting what
other kids eat. It doesn't educate my own child about how to be safe
in a situation where food is around, and it can also give my child a
false sense of security. Nuts are all over the place! They can be in
breads, in candies, in granola-type bars, in chili ... all over the
place. If the child is that severely allergic, then none of those other
foods are safe near him either

How old was your child when you discovered the extent of his/her
allergy? We are pretty sure DS (2.5) is nut allergic - he had two
episodes with peanuts and one with cashews where he cried, scratched
his mouth and broke out in hives (but not badly). We had another
episode where he developed hives on a plane (where I was told they
didn't serve nuts - and they did!) We can't have him tested until he's
older, and of course we can't challenge him. Did you have your child
tested, and if so, at what age?

-L.

wrote:


Now I am at a loss as to what to make him. He likes very little in the
way of cold lunches.

He does not like the hot lunches and usually tosses them rather than
eat them. (Can't really blame him, they are pretty awful) He does not
like luncheon meat or cheese sandwiches. He likes hot food to be hot
(like pizza, spag. etc) and he cannot heat these up at school.

I know you say he likes hot food to be hot (and so do I, mostly) but
what about stuff that can be served hot or cold, like little cocktail
sausages, sausage rolls, squares of quiche, chicken legs, pasta salads,
etc? Could he face any of those? Also, I'm not a huge fan of sandwich
spreads and pates myself now but I did like some of them as a child -
maybe you could get a few little jars and try them out at home first?

Another possibility is to make up a new sandwich filling yourself,
based on trial and error. One that I used to eat a lot was a
combination of mashed up chickpeas mixed with grated carrot and
branston pickle - it sounds foul I know but it's actually pretty tasty.
The only reason I mention it is because mashed chickpeas are a little
bit like peanut butter in consistency - hey, now I think about it, what
about hummus itself? I often put hummus in sandwiches either in place
of butter/mayonnaise or just on its own. Or does it really have to be
sweet things?

Alternatively, would he accept plain nutella sandwiches, with something
else on the side to provide some protein - cheese or meat, as others
have suggested? And how about oatcakes with cream cheese, with some
grapes or raisins to bulk it up a bit?

Cheers

Helen