Second only to the daily grind of figuring out what to make for dinner is the “what to pack for school lunch” dilemma.
With all of my son’s food sensitivities, our choices are limited these days. While I understand the lure of pre-made packages like Lunchables, where you get crackers, Velveeta, and lunch meats in a plastic clamshell, I would rather recreate the idea myself and use quality ingredients that I feel good about (and he can eat!) rather than the processed cheese, high-fat and trans-fat filled crackers, and low-quality made-with-corn-syrup lunch meats those convenience packages offer.
One of our current favorite build-your-own-lunch concepts uses Justin’s Nut Butter Natural Classic Almond Butter Squeeze Packs.
I pack two slices of bread (for him it is Spelt bread), a packet of almond butter, a little container of jam, and a plastic knife for spreading. I’ve been saving those little plastic condiment containers that come with take-out for this purpose, though pictured here is a larger plastic tub I had. The bread and butter packet are nestled inside a non-toxic stainless steel container that I place in his lunchbox.
My first grader is empowered by the idea of making his own food this way and he will eat more of a lunch like this than when I pack it already constructed.
Justin’s has other yummy flavors of single serving nut butters like Honey Almond Butter
My kids both like to simply suck the nut butter directly out of the packet as a great snack-on-the-run. It’s a convenient, sugar-free dose of high-quality protein for their active, growing bodies that can be grabbed and eaten in the car or on a plane. I confess: I get my share of them, too! I like to snack on nut butter smeared on bananas or apples, or with chocolate sauce. Yum!
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Funny you should say that, Tilly. In fact, while our preschool had a no-peanut policy, we have yet to encounter a similar ban on tree nuts, particularly for an individual lunch as opposed to a group snack.
There is a no-sharing-food rule, I believe!
Besides, every first grader I’ve met knows exactly what they are able to safely eat and asks questions when in doubt. 🙂
Are there really schools out there that still allow you to send in nut products?
Great idea! I tend to forget about celery because I’m not a big fan of it myself — I like the flavor but hate the strings!
Sounds great. What about eating them with sticks of celery and squeeze the butter on them as well. Maybe even put raisins or m&ms in the snack to decorate with for fun.