I need some ideas for things to send for lunches for my kids for school. We can't have any nut / peanut butter because of allergies in the school. Anyone have any good yet frugal ideas? (Last year I bought too many granola bars, fruit leathers, etc and I am cutting way back this year. )

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Maybe muffins, crackers and cheese (dd2s favorite when she was little). Apples with carmel dip. I'll try and remember what else we have sent and post again later

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Karen

You can't send peanut butter at all???? My son has allergies in his class, but they just can't bring class treats with peanut products. I would be in trouble without sending p-butter, it is the only kind of sandwich my kids will eat.

I send go-gurts all the time. I buy the big boxes at Sam's for a very reasonable price. I freeze them and by lunch time they are defrosted.
I use alot of crackers of different types that I get from Family Dollar for $1 a box.
I put cheese on left over tortillas and roll them up.
You can make Jello or pudding and put in little Rubbermaid containers instead of buying the premade ones.
Buy large cans of fruit cocktail, etc and put in the Rubbermaid containers
Send cereal in a little bowl and let your kids pour some milk on it at school.

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~Happiness is a large family~

~ Air popped pop-corn (huge bag is so inexpensive...)
~ Bananas
~ Apple slices (sprinkle w/cinnamon to keep fresh - tastes yummy too)
~ Raisins
~ Pretzels
~ Hard-boiled eggs (ds loves these)
~ Chicken strips
~ Cheese sticks / chunks of cheese (inexpensive at Costco...)
~ Applesauce (we buy organic at Costco, then put in our own containers...)
~ Apple juice from home (put into small plastic bottles, re-use)
~ Cereal in baggies (store brand cheerios mixed with raisins, etc...)
~ Carrot sticks
~ Leftovers of all sorts (chunk of ham frozen after Christmas, pizza slice, scrambled eggs from breakfast, pancakes, salmon cakes, bbq chicken leg...}

Luckily, my 7 yo is pretty easy to please. I will sometimes toss in the granola bars / kids Clif bars, left over Halloween candy or gummy treats for a nice surprise. But not always, or he comes to expect it.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

I also send go-gurt, I freeze them so they stay cool. Is this for your children- or for a "snack" st school? My oldest dd- can't stand the smell of regular bread (only italian or pumpernickel) so I had to change up what she took for lunches. She usually gets wither an apple or orange, carrots or celery, right now she is taking 1/2 a bagel and a little packet of jelly (sometimes it's crackers, cheese and pepperoni), a tortilla roll up (cheese, salsa and chicken) and juice. She will take a "sweet"- either a cookie, brownie, pudding or a fruit by the foot (she loves those!). My youngest- when she has to take a snack to school it is either frozen go-gurt, animal crackers or home made fruit salad- she has to take healthy snacks to school- they can only take "sweet" things in if they are celebrating their birthday!

I don't buy anything prepacked except gogurt, I put jello, mixed fruit and pudding in small bowls, chips, crackers and cookies in snack size ziploc bags.

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DS-16
DD-12
DD-5
DS-2

I don't have any suggestions, but just wanted to say our school is peanut free also, no peanuts at all! I think alot of schools are going that way, or so I hear from friends.

Yes, our whole school is nut free. It seems to be more and more common as more people have serious allergies.

These are for packed lunches which include all they need to eat in a day, (one lunch, two small snacks).

Great ideas ... keep them coming ... I love that we can all learn from each other.

Thanks!

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Our school isn't nuts free or anything, and they do have their own menu for the kids. My son doesn't like it, he tried it and he said I'd like to take my own lunch with me!!

I find Pita Wraps to be the BEST sandwish to pack with the kids. I always send with him a little bottle of water or juice. And it's always the option of fruit or vegetable. So it's either apples, pears, even slices of watermelon, grapes... Or Carrots, broccoli flowerettes, slices of cucumbers...
And the Sandwich is either Ham and Cheese, Turkey, Mortadella, Egg Sandwish... He enjoys the simple sandwich and it's easy to hold and eat.

My kids love canned fruit,(manderin oranges, pineapple) and raisens in thier lunch box. I insist my first grader take her lunch every day rather than buy it. She always takes a ham sandwich, or a jelly sandwich. For her drinks, she chooses between a 100% apple juice, a water drink pouch, a yogurt drink, or she can buy milk. For her snacks, she chooses either a granolo bar, fruit, raisens. a yogurt, carrot sticks, celery sticks, or an applesauce.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4