I'm having a challenging time with lunches (M)

[one l michele]

My boys can not eat peanut butter, soy, beans, nuts, dairy, or eggs. I have one that is especially sensitive to not having protein with all snacks and meals. We rarely have left overs and if we do it's only enough for one and there are 4 of us at lunch. This is why I find myself relying on processed foods for lunch and on the run (pepperoni, hot dogs, prepackaged lunch meat, summer sausage, chicken tenders, etc.). I don't like feeding them that stuff, but I have to stay sane juggling everything. Any suggestions?

[Sue G in PA]

Some dairy sensitive people can eat yogurt and cheese. Can your dc stomach that? If so, grilled cheese, yogurt cups as a side. How about turkey sausage, fruit cups (made w/ fresh fruit), fruit smoothies (w or w/out the yogurt depending on their sensitivity). homemade salad w/ salmon, chicken? Sometimes mine just eat an English Muffin w/ juice and fruit on the side.

[melissel]

Stir fries? Chicken/tuna/pasta salad with a non-dairy, non-egg dressing (Italian dressing)? Soups? If it were me, I'd probably spend some time each weekend cooking and freezing something that could be picked on all week.

[one l michele]

No dairy, he's anaphylactic even to contact of dairy. I have never tried fish with them either.

[RoughCollie]

Cooked whole chicken will yield meat for sandwiches and for chicken-rice or chicken-noodle soup. You could make wraps instead of standard sandwiches.

Leftover pot roast can be used for sandwich meat, roast beef hash, hot roast beef sandwiches, or vegetable-beef soup.

Ground beef can be used for hamburgers, taco filling, taco salad, spaghetti, or sloppy Joes.


I don't like using processed foods very much, although we sure do use our share of them.

I've started cooking 2 chickens instead of one when I make dinner, and buying larger roasts so there will be plenty of leftovers for lunches or for another dinner. I will also brown and freeze ground beef so I can use it in recipes later. My family is perfectly happy when I use Ragu for spaghetti sauce.

It must be quite a challenge for you to come up with meals that don't include dairy or eggs. These are all I can think of -- all my other ideas bit the dust because they have dairy or eggs in them.

My boys can not eat peanut butter, soy, beans, nuts, dairy, or eggs. I have one that is especially sensitive to not having protein with all snacks and meals. We rarely have left overs and if we do it's only enough for one and there are 4 of us at lunch. This is why I find myself relying on processed foods for lunch and on the run (pepperoni, hot dogs, prepackaged lunch meat, summer sausage, chicken tenders, etc.). I don't like feeding them that stuff, but I have to stay sane juggling everything. Any suggestions?

[Tammy in Germany]

I would just double the meals at dinner time so there were plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. I do this often and it works beautifully. No extra cooking that way.

[CalicoKat]

My boys can not eat peanut butter, soy, beans, nuts, dairy, or eggs. I have one that is especially sensitive to not having protein with all snacks and meals. We rarely have left overs and if we do it's only enough for one and there are 4 of us at lunch. This is why I find myself relying on processed foods for lunch and on the run (pepperoni, hot dogs, prepackaged lunch meat, summer sausage, chicken tenders, etc.). I don't like feeding them that stuff, but I have to stay sane juggling everything. Any suggestions?

Split Pea - with your leftover ham bones
Chicken Veggie
Beef & Tomato
Whatever is leftover in the refrigerator Soup - interesting & fun!

I make a big pot of whatever and divide it into lunch size proportions--freeze the ones we don't eat and make another pot the next day. After about a week I've usually got about 2-3 weeks of lunches in the freezer and we get to take our pick.

Today I've got a pot of chicken soup in the crockpot.

[abbeyej]

Oh, I so empathize... I know I fed ds that diet (plus no gluten) for over a year, and I honestly can't remember *what* he ate. I just remember the sheer relief when he was able to eat dairy finally, and quesadillas became part of our daily routine... Ugh! It's so hard when you have *all* of those things off-limits though.

Have you ever tried cooking up larger batches of foods and freezing in smaller batches so you can pull out one meal's worth at a time? I'm thinking things like small rolled tortillas (like baked taquitos) with meat you've cooked at home (ground beef or chicken), homemade baked samosas (filled with potatoes, carrots, onions, ground beef), calzone-type things (with no cheese, of course)... Also, I found that frozen chicken breast tenders (just plain, uncooked) could be placed in a pot with brown rice, water and seasoning and the chicken and rice would cook in the same amount of time. I know that was a major staple for us -- I'd just throw in dry brown rice, frozen chicken pieces on top, water or chicken broth and whatever seasonings were safe (herbs and garlic, or salsa), stick the lid on, bring it to a boil then turn to a low simmer for about 40 minutes.

If you haven't tried fish, I'd definitely give it a shot. Since it sounds like there's not much you can do for protein besides meat, the more options you have, the more flexibility you'll have.

Also, how are they for seeds? I was leery of seeds for a long time, but ds does fine now with sunflower butter. If that's a possibility, it could sure make your life easier a couple of days a week.

[melissel]

Also, I googled "dairy-free egg-free soy-free recipes" and came up with a lot more links than I expected. There were too many to list individually, but I saw some yummy suggestions.

I can't even imagine having to cook like that. I've been toying with the idea of cutting back on wheat, and the expected uproar over that alone is enough to make me tired. I hope you can find enough ideas to take some pressure off!

[Stirsmommy]

I am defrosting a turkey right now and I am going to use part of it shredded up with bbq sauce for something we can throw on baked potatoes. It will also go in soups, pot pies, pasta dishes and on sandwiches. I will just portion it out and freeze it once it is cooked.
I hope you get some great ideas.

[Stirsmommy]

I forgot, a favorite snack around here is hummus. I like to use hummus because I have to maintain my blood sugar with protein. We like to dip toasted pitas, carrots and celery in it.

[one l michele]

Oh, I so empathize... I know I fed ds that diet (plus no gluten) for over a year, and I honestly can't remember *what* he ate. I just remember the sheer relief when he was able to eat dairy finally, and quesadillas became part of our daily routine... Ugh! It's so hard when you have *all* of those things off-limits though.

Have you ever tried cooking up larger batches of foods and freezing in smaller batches so you can pull out one meal's worth at a time? I'm thinking things like small rolled tortillas (like baked taquitos) with meat you've cooked at home (ground beef or chicken), homemade baked samosas (filled with potatoes, carrots, onions, ground beef), calzone-type things (with no cheese, of course)... Also, I found that frozen chicken breast tenders (just plain, uncooked) could be placed in a pot with brown rice, water and seasoning and the chicken and rice would cook in the same amount of time. I know that was a major staple for us -- I'd just throw in dry brown rice, frozen chicken pieces on top, water or chicken broth and whatever seasonings were safe (herbs and garlic, or salsa), stick the lid on, bring it to a boil then turn to a low simmer for about 40 minutes.

If you haven't tried fish, I'd definitely give it a shot. Since it sounds like there's not much you can do for protein besides meat, the more options you have, the more flexibility you'll have.

Also, how are they for seeds? I was leery of seeds for a long time, but ds does fine now with sunflower butter. If that's a possibility, it could sure make your life easier a couple of days a week.

We were given about 10lbs of ground beef at once frozen in one chunk and I was forced to spend a few hours making several meals, it was so nice to have precooked taco meat, meatballs, sloppy joes, etc. on hand. My issue is freezer space, we are a family of 5 still with a basic refridgerator. We did have an outlet installed in the basement for a freezer, but dh doesn't think I'll use one enough to make the cost of running it and buying it worth it. I need to bring that back up into discussions. I think it would help a lot! I do well with dinners and could transform meat into other meals if I had room to store everything, even our refridgerator doesn't have much room after you put food for 5 in it. I haven't tried sunflower butter, but thanks for reminding me, I'll have to try that, I could also add sunflower seeds to salads. I'm still hesitant on trying fish, part of it is me though, I could easily be a vegetarian and refuse to cook anything with bones in it or that is looking at me. I really think just getting a freezer and doing double batches will help tremendously!

[Sue G in PA]

most people have reactions to shell-fish (which aren't good for you anyway!) and not fresh, wild-caught fish w/ scales. Salmon would probably NOT cause a reaction but obviously talk to your dr. first. Tuna *might* b/c of the mercury content in canned tuna as opposed to fresh tuna steaks or filets. I love the other suggestions...can't wait to try some myself!

[CalicoKat]

I forgot, a favorite snack around here is hummus. I like to use hummus because I have to maintain my blood sugar with protein. We like to dip toasted pitas, carrots and celery in it.

I love hummus and I'd love to pass that on to my kids. Store bought hummus usually has sodium benzoate for preseravative which makes one of my kids nutso. So I don't buy it pre-made.

[Jodi-FL]

I did this myself--just starting doubling dinner so we'd have leftovers. the only problem now is, we have 3 teens and *again* don't have many leftovers the next day.

[abbeyej]

I forgot, a favorite snack around here is hummus. I like to use hummus because I have to maintain my blood sugar with protein. We like to dip toasted pitas, carrots and celery in it.

Unfortunately, hummus is made from legumes (garbanzo beans / chickpeas), so it won't work for Michele's kids. :(

[Jean in Newcastle]

I often use ground meat (turkey, beef, even lamb or venison) to make burgers. I will serve them with oven yam fries.

Also it is more expensive but I can get non-processed (no nitrates, soy additives etc.) meats (including hot dogs) at a Whole Foods type store. It helps me to have a few of those kind of foods around for when I can't cook a lunch from scratch.

Otherwise, I have gotten a new routine of making lunch the night before (I have to for dh who packs his lunch and for many things I just make enough for all of us and then re-heat it.)

[RoughCollie]

I just remembered something my kids love for lunch: Rice A Roni. Your kids can't eat the boxed stuff because there are products in it that they can't eat.

It's easy to make, and my kids actually prefer my homemade version.

I just add beef broth (canned or bouillon) and a spice mixture to rice -- the vermicelli isn't all that important to my kids, but sometimes I add it, too (or break up angel hair pasta into tiny pieces). I toss in some spices and herbs, some parsley, and sometimes a bunch of frozen mixed vegetables.

Here's a recipe I found online:

2 c. rice
1 c. angel hair, vermicelli or spaghettini pasta, broken into very small pieces
¼ c. parsley
6 Tbsp. chicken bullion powder
2 tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. thyme

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

http://chefmichele.blogspot.com/2005/11/homemade-rice-roni-mix.html

To prepare: Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a skillet. Add 1 c. of the mix and stir. Add 2 ¼ c. water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.