Gluten Free Lunch Ideas

Do you need gluten free lunch ideas?

If you are a working person and really don't have time to make every-thing from scratch then this is the post for you.  I have been a little bit panicky this year about lunch for my two gluten free children.  Why, because I too am going back to school.  I seriously needed to start putting some thought into streamlining my morning routine.  What I have decided is that every lunch that the kids and I discussed and agreed upon will be made up or packed up a ahead of time and stored in bulk.

Also changed this year.....my kids will be in charge of packing their own lunch out of my made ahead options.  I will have around at all times the following items and they are free to select one fruit, one veggie, one pantry/carb item and one entree.  I of course will be there to supervise but I wanted them to be more involved in their packing.  This list below is not complete, it is only a start.

As a side note: I pre packaged up the snacks in snack sized baggies and used 2 ounce containers to fill the sauces, dips and cheese (etc). 

Made Pizza Bagel's using Udi's Bagels

Corn Dogs made with my handy dandy Corn Dog Maker.  

Use either my copycat Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix or your favorite 

pancake batter works nicely too.

(This is not an affiliate link, State laws prohibit Amazon 

Affiliate program participation where I live.)

Cheese Sticks and snack baggies full of Celery, Carrots,

 Grapes and eventually Strawberries, Oranges and Apples.

2 oz. cups of ranch, caramel & chocolate sauce will be available too.

Apples will be sliced and soaked in Pineapple Juice to prevent browning.

Pamela's Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies and Extreme Chocolate Cookies

Mi-Del Pecan Cookies on the other side (my daughter's favorite)

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzels (with Fritos Mild Cheddar Dip)

Schar Cheese Bites

Funyuns Spicy Nacho Doritos and Cheetos

This little Nachos Lunchable is Gluten Free

Can you believe that this item above 

and Amy's Rice Mac & Cheese 

are my kid's favorite?  

Ore-Ida French Fries that can be quickly cooked in the microwave.

probably will send in a hamburger with this.

And last buy not least, my kids favorite

Chicken Nuggets

Other Options not pictured

Sandwiches (cheese and meat on frozen bread and placed back in the freezer)

Bagel's and Cream Cheese

Salad with Lunchmeat Roll-ups sliced and placed on top

Extra saucy Macaroni and Cheese (which I did make up and freeze but not photographed)

Other Snacks include:

Raisins

Fruit Snacks

EnviroKids Cereal Bars

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PlanetBox Lunch Box Review

PlanetBox Lunch Box:

Are you looking for lunch box options that are NOT plastic? Well, you just have to see this lunch box! It is made of food grade Stainless Steel and looks almost like a lunch tray that folds in half. The design is simply genius.

The first thing I thought of when I saw this box, was eating out of the mess kits as a Girl Scout while at camp. I get a serious case of the warm fuzzies at the very concept. I could not wait to show my Cub Scout son this new lunch box and get his reaction.

When son first saw his new lunch box it was love at first sight.  He thought it was the coolest lunch box he ever laid eyes on.  He immediately wanted to pack his lunch in it. The unit has 4 nice sized compartments. One main section large enough to fit a sandwich, a fruit compartment, a veggie compartment, and a longer section suitable for snacks such as fruit leathers, cheese sticks, napkin, fork, etc.  Everything you need is built right in.  Just open up and eat right out of the tray.

The complete kit includes containers that are liquid proof and ideal for ketchup, dressing or wet foods.  Just tuck them in the front pocket for safe transport.  The lunch box is not a perfect liquid proof seal so I highly recommend you use the additional leak proof containers for any wet items you may pack.

A note of caution.  Do not overstuff it to where the unit does not seal properly.  I made this mistake on our first use and it resulted in Cheetos in every compartment.  You know how kids hate to have their food touching!  :-)

My son is the kind of kid who likes to eat the same lunch every day, chicken nuggets.  You can not heat these containers up in the microwave so we had to come up with another "green" solution.  We used a small cup sized glass container with lid.  This glass container will also fit nicely in the front pocket.   Just take it out and heat it up. Don't worry about keeping perishables cold.  This unit and lunch bag does an awesome job of conducting the cold and keeping everything safe.

My son had a lot of fun decorating it with the magnetic designs. His choice was the "Under the Sea" design.  Being able to design the box sends the coolness factor though the roof.   It is noteworthy to mention that their magnets are not made out of PVC/vinyl.  Even the magnets are non-toxic!

Junior picked the Green lunch bag to go along with his aquatic theme. They have lots of other lovely colors to choose from, including: Rocket Red, Ever Green, Purple Power, Starry Blue, Awesomely Aqua and Perfectly Pink.

Planet Lunch box is a small family owned business and the brain child of Caroline and Robert Miros.  With small children of their own, they share our passion for promoting the health of our children and our planet. Are you interested in learning more?  Here is some helpful information I found over at PlanetBox.com:

• Designed to Eliminate Garbage
• Designed for both Kids and Parents
• Safe and Non Toxic
• Encourages Healthy Eating Habits
• Lunch Box Measures 10 x 7 ½ x 1 ½

The Verdict:

Junior is in love with this bag.  Seriously.  I'm taking my child's health back and packing his lunch now.  Anything that encourages him to prefer packed lunch over school lunch is worth the price.  I personally consider this a top contender in the compartmental lunch box arena.

Check them out on Facebook.  You can find all sorts of lunch ideas on there.  If you are anything like me, you appreciate lunch ideas.

This review is the truth, the whole truth so help me...!  The Extraordinary Life blog received no monetary compensation for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.  I did receive a free selection of products in exchange for my HONEST opinions.  

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The Lunch Box Experiment

Last year when my son was in school he would occasionally pack his lunch.  When that happened he would always want me to include a paper plate to eat off of.  This year my youngest child with allergies will start school so I plan to pack every day for the both of them.  I started to think about a better solution to the paper plate issue.  A greener solution.

I really like the looks of some of those "other" 3 compartment lunch box systems.  The first thing I do with any purchase is try to source items locally.  I want to keep my business in my local community.  So I typed in the Google search engine, "3 compartment container".

Did you know that Ziploc is also BPA and Dioxin free?  I did not realize that at first. I also did not know that they too offer a 3 compartment container.  Both containers have a #5 recycle number on them. I would love to know how Ziploc containers compare thickness wise to that other lunchbox system.  I would also like to know if the other containers are as liquid secure as the Ziploc snap to lock containers. But that will have to wait until another time.  How sturdy will Ziploc be?  I myself have had some of those Ziploc throw away/keep containers for years so I'm not too worried about that.

I set out to find a good sale at our local store and along with my Ziploc coupons found on the Right at Home web site for $1.50 off 2 products (I printed THIS coupon).  The 2 pack of containers were $4 at Walmart.  $8 for two packs minus the $1.50 coupon.  $6.50 for 4 or $1.62 each.

See the fit in there perfectly without turning them sideways.
Plust there is still plenty of room for drinks and snacks.

Kmart : 

Arctic Zone on sale for $5.00

Target:
Embart on sale for $7.00

Total Spent: $18.50.


Stick around and watch me compare the two products in detail.  I will also be hosting a lunchbox related giveaway.



I will be posting this to:

• Frugal Friday
• Frugal Friday

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