Packing raw lunches in a nut free environment?

[kissum]

I am trying to transition my toddler (she's two) to being raw with me, as it's much easier (and healthier, of course) to have the same meals.

She's in daycare full time, and I pack her lunches. Daycare is a nut free environment, and I'm at a loss as to what to pack for her that is toddler friendly, quick for me to pack, and nut free.

I have to pack my own lunches for work, so I can pack us the same things, but the nut thing is throwing me. Pre-raw, we were mostly veggie, so I often packed her california rolls, pasta, or veggie wraps. But anything similiar raw is going to have nuts, right? :confused:

I always pack her some sort of raw veggie, and I can do dip (again, nut free), but I don't want to do just that every day.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

[Rawkincake]

I don't have any ideas but why is it a nut free daycare? Who are they to tell you want your child can eat for lunch? I'm sorry im just curious.

[kissum]

I think most child care places are nut free these days, due to the large amounts of children with nut allergies. With toddlers, it's easy for the other kids to be grabbing each other's lunches.
I even know at the local elementary school they make children with nut allergies sit apart from everyone else at lunch.
I think it's all very extreme, but if my daughter had a serious nut allergy I'd likely feel different.
It's always been really tough for me to figure out what to pack her. I can't even pack animal crackers that have been processed in the same plant as nuts, which tells you how serious they are about it. Not that I'd be packing them anymore now though.

[Clare]

One I am sure you have already had: nori rolls with avocado. Anything with avocado...

Buckwheat "porridge" from Alissa's book and you can mix up the fruit flavors. My toddlers love this.

What about raw breads/crackers from sprouted grains? Are all seeds off limits, too? If not, then you have loads more options, since nut recipes can be done with pumpkin seeds/sunflower/sesame/etc. But if seeds are out Essene breads are extremely filling and you can smear raw mayonnaise on them and sliced cukes, tomatoes, whatever she likes.

Of course there are also other day care places... :-)

[lafsalot]

I don't have any ideas but why is it a nut free daycare? Who are they to tell you want your child can eat for lunch? I'm sorry im just curious.

Since children have a tendency to share lunches, the school is probably worried about those w nut allergies.

Kissum - a lot of the nut pates can also be made with seeds. What about smoothies? Raw soups? Broccoli salad with raisins and sunflower seeds (my gc love it)? I am sure you will find plenty more in the recipe threads.

Kudos to you for getting your little one off to a healthy start ~ Cathy

[Vegan Princess]

I'd love to see some responses as my sister went raw but gave it up due to her toddler's nut allergy - she just can't have nuts in the house or eat things with nuts around her. She was at a loss for what to make for herself and the rest of the family.

Nut allergies can be fatal. I'm not sure about her daycare, but I do know the school she will be attending has nut free tables.

Thanks!

Cindy

[StephC]

I don't have any ideas but why is it a nut free daycare? Who are they to tell you want your child can eat for lunch? I'm sorry im just curious.

Yes nut allergies are becoming very common in children these days. One of my friends daughters has severe peanut allergy (they do avoid all nuts because it could be any tree nut) but serious enough that a reaction could put her in anaphactic (sp?) shock...enough so she wears a belt with her epi-pen attached everyday at school. It is not so easy just to seperate children when they eat, peanuts for instance are very strong and my little friend can have a reaction from someone who has eaten peanuts and breaths on her. Remember the story about the girl in Canada not too long ago, who kissed her boyfriend after he had eaten peanut butter and she died. So nothing to scoff at (not that you were)

As for food, I would just do lots of fruits and veggies and you can do the nut based dishes at home at night.

[coco]

the school my son goes to is peanut free but other nuts and seeds are allowed. it may be worth it to talk to the admin of your little one's daycare and request that she be allowed to bring alternate nut or seed based foods. sunflower and pumpkin seeds should be allowed anyhow.

as for the "why", a nut allergy is generally a deadly one and i would prefer not to be responsible for the hospitalization or death of a child.

[jules88]

You could try some of the puddings. Choc or lemon. The lemon one is in Alissa's book and chocolate one I use (I got if from this site so it's not my creation) we LOVE. It only has 4 ingredients

1 lg avocado
1/2 cup sweetner (we use agave)
1/4 cup cocoa
and water to get it mixing


I make a batch every day and there is only my son and I eating it.
Just one suggestion, I know you will need lots
Check out eachpeachpearplum's posts in the children section she has lots of ideas

Hope this helps and good luck

[coco]

i've been thinking about this a bit and have some ideas.

do you have a spiralizer for zucchini "noodles"? if you don't you can use a regular grater and just try to get very long strips of zucchini by rubbing it the long way across the grater. a fine grater will yeild thinner "noodles". i remove the peel so there is no green and no one can even tell the difference between these and regular pasta usually. you can prepare a red sauce with soaked sundried tomatoes blended with a little water, oil, and/or orange juice and whatever spices you'd like. pretty terrific pasta actually.

a sprouted quinoa salad is nice too, mixed with some finely chopped celery, add lemon, oil, something salty, dill or fresh parsley. nice. makes good tabouli too. if you can find sproutable millet that is good as well. amranth can be tricky to sprout as it's very teeny but it tastes nice. kids love to sprout things and eat what they grew themselves too, it's fun.

fresh salsa with veggie "chips" (just sliced cucumber, celery sticks are good too).

there are a few great hummus recipes that are zucchini based too (sesame seeds and tahini might be ok at the school).

we've been making wraps with baby romaine leaves. mix sprouts and chopped veg and spoon into the leaf, carefully wrap the edges over and voila! maybe this would hold up in a packed lunch with a toothpick inserted to keep the leaves closed. maybe not though, it's kinda messy.

you can sprout lentils very easily and they are nice mixed with chopped tomato, red pepper, celery, etc.

a blended soup with some lentil sprouts thrown in might be ok.

good luck. i find school lunches for my little man to be impossible. he goes with a sandwich, the rest is fresh but replacing that sandwich with something he will actually eat is tricky.

[carolg]

I was thinking avocado sandwich:
avoc
tomato
sprouts or dried lettuce...

I can understand the nut free environment as kids do share...

buckwheat...just sprouted and then dehydrated for cereal or treat as my grandbaby 3 loves it dry....

pasta on the sandwich perhaps with a marinara sauce or olive oil in it's place...

Just trying to help here...

carolg

[coco]

i know people still eat them but sprouted chickpeas are very hard on the body, difficult to digest and taxing to the system. not toxic enough to make you sick but that kind of food has an accumulative effect on the body. if i sprout chickpeas i always steam them too, but i will often substitute another legume entirely. i only use the small ones though, larger legumes are all pretty tough to digest raw/sprouted. and kidney beans are toxic raw, very much so. i avoid soybeans sprouted as well, they are also mildly toxic.

[carolg]

Coco,
Flashback....yes garbanzo are hard for me to digest and erased that suggestion..

carolg

[Raw Angel Mom]

You can make nice smoothies (greens and fruits). Also, you could you seeds versus nuts such sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc...

This is great that your child is eating well, mine is on smoothies still and my milk.

Best wishes