Peanut-free meal ideas (part deux)

Might as well make it cute!

Alright, back to my peanut free meal ideas.  This time I, hopefully (Lord willing, if naptime works out), will have the time to devote to the ideas that I have.  And....as I type this, I hear my dear daughter starting to fuss. Probably related to accidentally leaving my son's monitor on in my bedroom.  Whoops!  I'll start and pick up later, if need be.

• Bento Boxes!  My son loves when I do something similar to a Lunchable but with our regular items from home.  Too tell you the truth, I find Lunchables a little gastly.  But then, I don't like processed cheese.  Give me the real stuff any day!  So, I will either cut my son little cubes or slices of cheese and send those with rolled slices of ham or turkey.  I'll add some whole wheat crackers on the side and then include a couple of items like Annie's prebagged bunny grahams or (one of my favorites) Brother's freeze-dried fruit slices. You can find both at Costco, and I find  they make lunch packing a breeze!  Shelled, hard-boiled eggs are great, too.  Lots of protein and easy to make ahead at the beginning of the week.  I've also included a vegetable of some sort: carrots, steamed broccoli or steamed cauliflower.  Children LOVE dips, so I try to include something along those lines, too.  My son adores hummus- he will eat it with a spoon!  That is a common staple in our house, but if that's not the case for you, there are many options, depending on what you are serving:

• vinaigrette/ranch dressing
• applesauce
• alfredo
• pesto
• soy sauce
• mustard
• ketchup
• yogurt (With herbs, spices or honey)
• oils and herbs
• marinara
• curry sauces
• salsa
• guacamole
• sour cream (plain or with herbs mixed in)
• cream cheese (with honey and milk to thin it out a bit)

Baby calls!  I'll try to get back....

Other ideas:

• Obvious option: leftovers!  I just pack some in a Thermos and send him on his way.  His favorites tend to be pasta related. The nice thing about Thermos is that it regulates the temperature so I don't have to worry about food safety issues, since his school can't heat the meals.  
• Skewers would be a safety issue, but you can use a few pretzel sticks to "skewer" some meat and cheese.  
• Tuna salad made with olive oil, lemon juice and thawed frozen peas.  You can have them put it on crackers or cucumber slices, depending on whether your child likes tuna or cucumbers.  I think this sounds delicious, and I may have to make it for myself one of these days.  (Especially the cucumber option!)
• I like to send at least a veggie or a fruit with the meal, if not both.  I have been known to send plain black beans as a side.  I also like sliced apples, segmented oranges, melon chunks, halved grapes and strawberries.  For veggies, it's hard b/c he really only likes a few things that are easy to send, however, I have been known to mix them in with part of the meal.  I always try to add carrots and peas to rice, couscous, or quinoa.  I've found that rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken makes a great addition to the rice to turn it into a meal.  (Any other cooked meat works well, too.)
• Wraps: two ways, savory or sweet.  The nice thing about this option is that you have many options for wrappers as you do for fillings.  You can use tortillas, flatbread, lettuce, wonton wrappers or naan bread.  (Whole Foods has a fantastic whole wheat naan.  Makes my mouth water!)  I like to make it on top of waxed paper and then wrap it up so that you can slowly peel it down as you eat.  It keep everything from exploding out of the bottom of your wrap.  
• Savory- I love the usual sandwiches, made into a wrap.  There are as many options for this as there are for sandwiches.  You can go the veggie route, with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumber, spinach, hummus and cheese.  I like to use pesto as a spread with turkey or salami and fresh mozzarella cheese, and some veggies and fresh basil.  Mmm!  You could drizzle that with balsamic, too!  (Now, granted, some kids won't be that adventurous, so mayo, turkey/ham, cheese.  The end.)  Include pasta sauce or taco meat and make burritos or "sloppy wraps."  I did the "Sloppy Wrap" one day when desperate for a meal while we were all sick.  It's just leftover meat sauce, shredded mozz, rolled in flatbread, and then heated.  The cheese will melt and make it seem like pizza in a wrap.  Taco meat is obvious for fillings.  Just add your usual taco toppings and make it into a burrito....or just make a burrito!  haha  By that, I mean, people don't usually add rice and beans to tacos, so you can go either way.  
• Sweet:  At home, when I don't have to worry about nut allergies, I like to do my riff on a crepe. I take a whole wheat tortilla, smear it with nutella and peanut butter, then top it with banana slices and small chunks of chocolate.  Microwave.  Yum!  Now, I know this won't work at school, but I believe that you can transform it into a fun dessert (and maybe get in some more fruit) by using sunbutter, bananas and possibly chocolate sauce or chunks.  I'd microwave it at home, then send it to school.  Then you don't have to worry about burn injuries, and they get the fun of a "crepe".  I've also done something similar with butter, nectarine slices and a small amount of sugar.  You need to microwave this longer, or microwave the fruit first so that it becomes pretty soft.  Either way that you go, just fold the tortilla into quarters so that it resembles a triangle.  Then they can nibble away, while keep the mess to a (slight) minimum.  Other ideas: sweetened cream cheese with strawberries, cherries, kiwi, mango and/or chocolate.  Fruit salad mixed with some cream cheese or yogurt, then wrapped in a tortilla, burrito-style.  
• Baked potatoes: This sounds complicated, but it's almost the easiest.  It's kind of extends from the leftovers above. If you make baked potatoes for dinner, throw in a couple extra.  Then, you can send your child with the potato, and possibly leftover chili, soup or taco toppings.  Then there is the ubiquitous broccoli and cheese.  Just send all of the leftover toppings in a Thermos.  Your child can dump it on the potato (whole or half depending on appetites) when lunchtime arrives. They'll have hot toppings for their food, and a well-rounded meal!
• Pizza: Again, leftovers.  Or, make your own using naan or flatbread, jarred sauce and cheese.  Include your child's favorite toppings, if they extend beyond cheese pizza.  Cook the night before, slice, then pack and refrigerate.  Who doesn't like cold pizza?
• Breakfast!:  Who says that breakfast needs to be first thing in the morning?  Remember those hard boiled-eggs?  Include them whole, but shelled.  Add in french toast strips, pancakes, or waffle strips.  In our house, we dip more often with applesauce than syrup.  Include either (though I imagine that the lunch staff would appreciate applesauce over icky, sticky syrup.  Then again, send it on the same day the school lunch has syrup and then it won't be just your child that is the "troublemaker!"  Just kidding.  Or am I? *sly smile*)  You may also be able to manage breakfast meats in a thermos, but I admit that I haven't tried that one yet.  
• Sides for lunch:
• crackers
• pretzels
• cut fruit
• cut veggies
• Desserts:
• chocolate- esp. a few small pieces of dark...if they'll eat dark choc.  It's worth it for the antioxidants, though!
• graham crackers or bunnies
• freeze-dried fruit 
• tortilla "crepes" (mentioned above)
• pudding cups 
• jello 
• fruit mashups/smoothies
• "fruit crisp" 
• candy 
• cookies  
• A word on the "fruit crisp".  I figured this one out when I was living on my own after graduating from college.  I've always loved fruit and granola.  One day I heated the fruit in the microwave.  You need to do this until it bubbles and starts to soften the fruit.  Then I just top it with granola.  It comes out very similar to a fruit crisp, with less fat and sugar.  When you heat frozen fruit to this extent, the sugar in the juice seems to reduce into a syrup.  The granola has a similar texture to a crisp, minus the flour.  It's already somewhat sweetened, enough to add some sweetness to the fruit, and you don't have to add butter.  This seems to work best with peaches and raspberries.  
• The fruit "mashups" are those awesome little packets that come with a lid/straw combo.  The child unscrews the top, sucks it out of the straw, and then if there is any left, they pop the lid back on to save it.  Usually, we don't have any leftover, but I still think they are nice because they don't take up much space but add some fruit.  (Albeit, less fiber than a whole piece of fruit.)

I hope this helps you out!  If I come up with some other ideas, I'll try to add them in later.  Good luck and God bless in this new school year!  May it be safe and fun for everyone!