Ok all you parents out there! First day of school is just around the corner and I'm looking for peanut free lunch/snack ideas! My six year old can be picky enough as it is but now that snacks and lunches must be peanut free in our school I need your help. So if you have some great lunch ideas please post what's a hit with your little ones!  
 
Edited by T , 2012-08-13 23:14:15

 
Peanut free lunch and snack ideas:   
carrot and cream cheese sandwich or wrap  
cucumber and cream cheese sandwich or wrap  
cold homemade pizza (cheese or vegetarian are healthy options)  
BBQ chicken salad  
pasta salad  
celery stuffed with cream cheese or humous  
crackers and cheese  
yogourt and fruit parfait  
tuna salad  
cream cheese and jam sandwich  
cream cheese and strawberry sandwich  
rice salad  
couscous salad  
cereal and milk  
pita and hummous  
nut-free granola  
bagel and deli meat  
cold grilled cheese  
cheddar scones  
homemade fruit leather - recipe coming soon!  
mac and cheese  
asian noodle salad  
hard boiled eggs  
cold macaroni salad  
meat ball stuffed pitas  
leftover pancakes and waffles with a side of syrup or jam  
baked beans  
 
 
Great substitution ideas for regular bread:  
Bagels or rolls  
Naan  
English muffins  
Bread sticks  
Flat bread  
Pita bread  
Rice cakes  
Buttermilk biscuits  
Melba toast  
Homemade muffins  
Crackers  
 
 
Cheese sticks/string cheese/cheese slices and crackers  
Bagel sandwiches i.e. bagels and cream cheese with jelly and/or meats cheeses  
Cottage cheese with or with out fresh fruit mixed in  
Rolled up slices of turkey, ham, tofurkey, etc…  
Quesadillas or tortillas rolled up with pickles and cream cheese etc.  
Hard-boiled eggs (especially when an egg slicer is included)  
Burritos  
Leftovers in a thermos, i.e. pastas, chili, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets  
Bacon  
Refried beans with cheese  
Sunflower butter or soy butter as long as they are produced in a peanut/ tree nut free environment  
Cucumber slices with cream cheese sandwiches  
Sides  
 
Vegetable slices  
Fruit slices, chunks  
Popcorn  
Tortilla chips…  
Sunflower seeds  
Pickles  
Dried fruit  
Nutra-grain bars  
Olives  
Dips  
Ranch  
Salsa  
Hummus  
Ketchup  
Mustard  
Guacamole  
Sour cream  
Nutra-grain bars  
Chili con queso  
Bean dip  
Desserts (Please no suckers or gum)  
Apple slices with caramel sauce or any fruit with a fruit dip  
(Yogurt covered) Raisins  
Honey stix  
Muffins  
Tootsie rolls  
Cold cereal w/o milk (i.e. frosted flakes, yogurt covered cheerios, etc.)  
Fruit  

Linden lanes posted SOme snack ideas on their site as well  
 
http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/lanes/safesnack.htm

Tnis is a very comprehensive list but be sure to double check products as this is a US based site :  
 
http://snacksafely.com/snacklist.pdf

If it's not peanuts and doesn't contain peanuts, it's likely okay. If your kid is a nut addict, there are many other very tasty nuts.  
Fruits and vegetables are good. An insulated lunch kit with a freezer pack allows all kinds of other options, too. I used to make sandwiches and cut them in quarters (on the diagonal- they don't want to be seen as ''squares), and pack dried fruit from the bulk/health food store.  
Keep it safe as requested and let your kids tell you what they need.

just_thinkin said " If it's not peanuts and doesn't contain peanuts, it's likely okay. If your kid is a nut addict, there are many other very tasty nuts.   Fruits and vegetables are good. An insulated lunch kit with a freezer pack allows all kinds of other options, too. I used to make sandwiches and cut them in quarters (on the diagonal- they don't want to be seen as ''squares), and pack dried fruit from the bulk/health food store.   Keep it safe as requested and let your kids tell you what they need. "

I know our is free of all nuts and possible nut oils. I've learned to avoid any home baking as it was not allowed last year in her class - it was "too risky" and could have come into contact with nuts. I was not the only one who had problems with this, and the "safe foods" list they sent home to help us was only things bought pre-packaged with the "nut free symbol" so there was less of a possibility of cross-contamination. It SUCKED! and that was only for kindergarden "snack" I'm glad she didn't stay for lunch!  
 
We have been at 2 schools (1 for pre-school) and the other was not as restrictive about the nuts. You'll find out within the 1st week what their policies are and how strictly they monitor nuts or the possibility of nuts.

If your kid is a peanut freak, go to two farm kids and buy "pea butter". It looks and tastes like peanut butter, but is made from yellow peas. It is made in canada and was invented to accomodate kids and classrooms. I just informed the school what i was going to be sending and sent the label from the pea butter so they could verify it before i sent the product. The school gave an okay and my daughter could enjoy peabutter and honey sanwiches ( which were her favorite) all through kindergarden. She knew it wasn't peanut butter, as she said " it's the identical twin. Looks the same and tastes the same, but it is still completely different."

another option is "WOW Butter". My son is a pbj monster, so this allergy-free peanut butter is perfect!

They make more "snacks" that are peanut free these days....sandwiches, chicken, vegitables, hamburger, lazagna, kubassa, cheeses, crackers...healthy choices don't usually have nuts in them btw

Love the list of ideas above - I will be adding those to my list!  
 
A couple of tips that I have got from other parents is to put boiling water in a thermos and then dump it out just before putting in soup or leftovers - stays warmer longer. Also, freeze juice boxes and they can act a a cold pack and are thawed by lunchtime, but nice and cool too.  
 
Wowbutter is great - my kids can't even tell the difference!

Byron and Crystal said "   Peanut free lunch and snack ideas:    carrot and cream cheese sandwich or wrap   cucumber and cream cheese sandwich or wrap   cold homemade pizza (cheese or vegetarian are healthy options)   BBQ chicken salad   pasta salad   celery stuffed with cream cheese or humous   crackers and cheese   yogourt and fruit parfait   tuna salad   cream cheese and jam sandwich   cream cheese and strawberry sandwich   rice salad   couscous salad   cereal and milk   pita and hummous   nut-free granola   bagel and deli meat   cold grilled cheese   cheddar scones   homemade fruit leather - recipe coming soon!   mac and cheese   asian noodle salad   hard boiled eggs   cold macaroni salad   meat ball stuffed pitas   leftover pancakes and waffles with a side of syrup or jam   baked beans       Great substitution ideas for regular bread:   Bagels or rolls   Naan   English muffins   Bread sticks   Flat bread   Pita bread   Rice cakes   Buttermilk biscuits   Melba toast   Homemade muffins   Crackers       Cheese sticks/string cheese/cheese slices and crackers   Bagel sandwiches i.e. bagels and cream cheese with jelly and/or meats cheeses   Cottage cheese with or with out fresh fruit mixed in   Rolled up slices of turkey, ham, tofurkey, etc…   Quesadillas or tortillas rolled up with pickles and cream cheese etc.   Hard-boiled eggs (especially when an egg slicer is included)   Burritos   Leftovers in a thermos, i.e. pastas, chili, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets   Bacon   Refried beans with cheese   Sunflower butter or soy butter as long as they are produced in a peanut/ tree nut free environment   Cucumber slices with cream cheese sandwiches   Sides     Vegetable slices   Fruit slices, chunks   Popcorn   Tortilla chips…   Sunflower seeds   Pickles   Dried fruit   Nutra-grain bars   Olives   Dips   Ranch   Salsa   Hummus   Ketchup   Mustard   Guacamole   Sour cream   Nutra-grain bars   Chili con queso   Bean dip   Desserts (Please no suckers or gum)   Apple slices with caramel sauce or any fruit with a fruit dip   (Yogurt covered) Raisins   Honey stix   Muffins   Tootsie rolls   Cold cereal w/o milk (i.e. frosted flakes, yogurt covered cheerios, etc.)   Fruit   "

those ideas are awesome! Can you be my mom??! lol jk Thanks!! I will be adding these to my list as well!

haha i agree!! can you be my mom too?? awesome ideas. you must go through a lot of cream cheese tho lol.  
 
i dont really have much to add but just some tips as well.  
 
freeze yogurt tubes or even yogurt cups and they will act as a cold pack and be ready to eat by lunch. if you send water bottles to school with your kids you can put the yogurt tubes in it to keep the water cold and then they eat the yogurt. can also do with freezies. tuna and salmon are great but unless you send a cold pack, i wouldnt send too often. thermos's are great for soup and like another poster said, put boiling water in it first or make the soup super, super hot before putting it in.  
 
and if you're a pinterest fan, they have a ton of cool lunch ideas on there!!

I googled that list lol can't take the credit except for posting it. It's given me a lot of ideas and having to pack 4 lunches I will be coming back to this thread often.

I agree that was a great list, and I too will come back to check on it come school time. However there was one item on the list that we can't send either and that was tuna salad. We can't have ANY fish products at our school as well as nuts. At one point even pizza pops were off due to allergies. So that means no tuna or salmon and no nut products. Just keep that in mind and check with your individual school for the listings.  
We do a lot of wraps for lunches, lol.  

not sure if this was mentioned but cut up fruit dipped in chocolate pudding is a big hit with my daycare kids.

Our daughters school does not allow eggs, fish and some fruits due to allergies!  
We have recently discovered WOW Butter! Our whole family LOVES it!  
Great list Byron & Crystal!  
We recently purchased the new Rubbermaid sandwhich & Salad containers and LOVE being able to seperate everything!  
I've been finding some cute lunch / snack ideas on Pineterest! Have fun!

where can you buy wow butter just talked to a friend of mine who's son has peanut problems and this is what she said about pea butter and wow butter.  
 
wow butter. Soooo much better then pea butter. Also sun butter is awesome! It's made from sunflower seeds. Some kids with nut allergies can still react to pea butter. It's a legume. Some (not all) are also allergic to the entire legume family. Wow butter is made from sun flower seeds. It is sooooo good  
 
The pea butter tastes like well peas. It's not as good. Sun butter is harder to find. Two farm kids may have it. I used to order it online. Then I fell in love with wow butter (soy based) and I can find it way easier lol. So I switched to wow butter. That's probably the one I would recommend !  
 

sherrik said "where can you buy wow butter just talked to a friend of mine who's son has peanut problems and this is what she said about pea butter and wow butter.     wow butter. Soooo much better then pea butter. Also sun butter is awesome! It's made from sunflower seeds. Some kids with nut allergies can still react to pea butter. It's a legume. Some (not all) are also allergic to the entire legume family. Wow butter is made from sun flower seeds. It is sooooo good     The pea butter tastes like well peas. It's not as good. Sun butter is harder to find. Two farm kids may have it. I used to order it online. Then I fell in love with wow butter (soy based) and I can find it way easier lol. So I switched to wow butter. That's probably the one I would recommend !     "

i saw samples at the pharmacy on 6th and princess.

Thanks you cmore will pop in there on wed just want to try it before I buy some you know how picky kids are lol

Have you tried that? It's made from yellow peas and tastes like peanut butter! I'm  
Not sure where you can get it tho :S. a kid I used to do respite for was allergic to peanuts, so his parents bought this instead!

I have heard of pea butter, but never tried it. That sounds awesome!!!! Will have to go and pick some up today. Our younger son sooo much loves peanut butter too and would love to take a peanut butter sandwich to school!!!!!  
Thank-you

i believe superstore sells wow butter.

We buy our WOW Butter at Superstore. Believe it is in the aisle with the organic items.

Also has WOW butter. We tried Peabutter and it was a tough sell at our house! Not ever the dog would eat it!!! Lol WOW butter is our peanut substitute of choice!!! Had to believe we have to start the head scratching over lunch making again already!!!

I think I'll pick up some Wow butter at Co-op and try too, before heading out to lake tomorrow!!!