What's for lunch?

If you have food allergies, traditional lunch items are not an option. Since my daughter can't have dairy, eggs, nuts, or wheat, I felt like I had to come up with a creative way to pack her lunch.  The bento-box idea appealed to me, and I came across this fabulous version, The Laptop Lunch, at my local Whole Foods:
Laptop Lunchbox
Their website is full of great lunch ideas as well as a variety of box colors and insulated containers.  What I like about this system is the fact that I am motivated to fill each cup with a variety of colorful, healthy foods.  Plus, the plastic is BPA-free and very durable.  I can just pop the compartments into the dishwasher, and they clean up beautifully! 

Over the past two weeks, I took pictures of five different allergy-free lunches I packed for my daughter.  I tried to include as much variety as possible.   


Lunch #1: Chicken bratwurst (from Whole Foods), Glutino pretzel sticks: Glutino 38842 Glutino Pretzel Sticks Family Size- 12x8 OZ (Google Affiliate Ad), grapes, and grape tomatoes/cucumber slices.


Lunch #2: Chicken salad, veggie straws, blueberries, and carrots/cucumber slices


The chicken salad is a simple recipe of cooked chicken (I like to use rotisserie), celery, green onions, salt/pepper, egg-free mayonnaise, and a dash of dried ginger.  My daughter loves it!:


Lunch #3: Cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, blackberries, red peppers/cucumbers, and Glutino pretzel sticks


Lunch #4: Black Forest Ham roll-ups, sliced apples, carrot sticks, and Allergy-free fudge brownies


The ham roll-ups are a big hit with my daughter and are easily made by thinly slicing carrots, red peppers, and avocado.  I then lay the slices on the ham and roll it up!:


Lunch #5: Chicken/Avocado/Black bean salad, blackberries, carrots/sugar-snap peas, Plentils chips


There you have it - five allergy-free, healthy lunch ideas.  I hope you've been inspired!  What are your allergy-free lunch options?  Please share below!



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10 comments:

  1. This is great regardless of allergies. It's so nice to see other healthy lunches and get new ideas. My kids frequently report they have the healthiest lunch in the room, now I have more ideas to add to their mix.

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    1. I agree! I frequently have these items for lunch, and I have no food allergies. We could all use a bit more color in our meals!

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  2. Angie- I still remember your chicken salad from at least 10 years ago! Yummo! The ginger in it is incredible!

    My kids would love all of these lunches, too! Great ideas! Love following your blog!

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    1. Kim! It's so great to hear from you! You certainly have a good memory - I miss our get-togethers. :)

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  3. These are great!! Would love some similar ideas for quick and easy dinners!! Love your blog!

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    1. Thank you! I'm working on some quick and not-so-quick dinner options. Stay tuned! If you subscribe to my feed on the home page, you won't miss a recipe!

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  4. These lunches look amazing! Thanks for the great ideas. My daughter is about to start pre-k and I need to pack her 2 snacks and lunch every day, and I have to admit I'm kind of anxious about it! Nice to have some inspiration, though my picky kid won't eat chicken, shrimp, or ham these days, sigh. But I can use turkey for the roll ups!
    -Dana

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  5. These lunches look wonderful! I would happily eat them all.

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  6. Love the lunches! We have a laptop lunch as well! I was happy to try them out! As another allergy mom I get the need for packing lunches everywhere you go!! ;) Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays recipe party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :) We are building a great set of gluten free recipes so far! Its making my meal planning easy :) How about yours? See you next Friday! Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

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