Gluten Free & Dairy Free Lunches
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| Graphic by: Feeling a Little Lunchy |
I consider myself pretty lucky to have
a child that has no known allergies. I see many bloggers have
children with very serious food allergies and have to be very aware
what they are packing and hope that their allergies are taken
seriously when they go to school and other places. I'll admit I was
pretty ignorant overall to what these types of diets would look like
and what planning lunches for food allergies would be like. When a
friend of mine on Facebook commented, “You
wanna make my lunches???” While I won't be making her lunch after a
brief chat with her I learned something new about her, she has
allergies to gluten and dairy! While I can't be certain if these
lunches would be anything she'd love to pack, I wanted to learn a
little more about these allergies and do an exercise of planning out
lunches for Monkey as if she had these allergies.
First
I decided to learn about Gluten. What IS Gluten? According to WebMD,
“Gluten
is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten also shows up in
many whole grain foods related to wheat, including bulgur, farro,
kamut, spelt, and triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye). Some celiac
disease experts warn patients to steer clear of oats, as well.”
Phew! That was a lot and at first seemed a bit daunting. I make a
real effort to pack my daughter whole wheat breads and other whole
wheat options as much as possible! So it took me a little poking
around to figure out what I COULD pack. According to the Mayo Clinic
Amaranth, Arrowroot, Buckwheat, Corn/Cornmeal, Flax, Gluten Free
Flours (rice, soy, corn, potato, bean), Hominy (corn), Millet,
Quinoa, Rice, Sorghum, Soy, Tapioca, and Teff are all A-Ok for
consumption! This helps!
Then
I had to consider the Dairy-Free option. This was also really hard
for me. I pack a lot of cheeses,
yogurt, milk based smoothies, Kefir,
and
even pudding on occasion! Since
we already drink Almond Milk at home, packing a drink alternative for
her individual organic milks wouldn't be any trouble at all . While
my grocery store seems to not always have the individual almond milks
in stock, I can easily pour some into her Funtainer or another
container and pack it. So
here is what a week of Gluten Free Dairy Free lunches would look like
from Monkey Munchables!
Monday: GF Pumpkin Pancakes¹
w/ syrup, Orange Segments, and coconut milk yogurt w/ 100% Juice
Pouch
|
Tuesday:
Corn Tortilla Chips, Black Bean
Salad²,
Leftover chicken or turkey, Mango w/ Almond Milk |
Wednesday: Rice Pasta w/ Garlic & Oil sauce³
w/ wilted spinach and
salad shrimp.
Small Side Salad w/ dressing. 100% Juice Pouch |
Thursday: Hummas w/ baby carrots, celery, broccoli. Hard
Boiled Egg, Apple Slices, & Popcorn w/ Almond Milk |
Friday: ''Treat Day''
Bacon/Lettuce/Turkey Meat Roll Ups,
Peas/Carrots
Applesauce w/ cinnamon
Peach Raspberry Smoothie |
2.
Black
Bean Salad:
Corn, Black Beans, Cut Tomatoes, Avocado, Parsley, Lime Juice.
OTHER
GREAT IDEAS:
Use
mushroom tops to make pizza! Can use soy cheese or even go
cheeseless!
More
Recipe Ideas:
I
found that a lot of Paleo Recipes are very friendly for gluten free
dairy free diets! Since the Paleo diet eliminates those foods anyway.
Try google or pinterest ''Paleo Recipes'' and you'll be amazed how
many delicious fantastic ideas you can find.
ALLERGY
FRIENDLY BLOGS:
Below there are some common food allergies so you can easily find and locate blogs that might write about your specific allergy.
Dye-Free:
Peanut-Free:
Tree
Nut Free:
Gluten
Free:
Dairy
Free:
Soy-Free:
Egg-Free:
