Gluten-Free School Lunches

It can be very disheartening and frustrating to open up your child’s packed lunch box at the end of the day to find that nothing has been touched, not only because it means that they’ve gone the whole day without any proper food but also the waste which is the result. To help reduce this from happening, include your child in the menu planning of what they’d like in their lunch box and if time allows in the morning, or the evening before, get them to help out.

As with an adult’s diet, it’s important to include good quality proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Here are some ideas to help you plan.

Healthy Protein Ideas

- High quality gluten-free cooked meats such as chicken breast and ham
- Left-overs (roast chicken from the Sunday roast, gluten-free macaroni and cheese, homemade fried rice with eggs, etc.)
- Peanut butters and jam sandwiches on Genius gluten free
- Hard boiled eggs
- Homemade gluten-free mini sausages
- Cheese & grape kebabs

Tip: You can pack the hot foods in thermos to keep warm.

Healthy complex carbohydrates

- Fresh vegetables and fruits (fruit salads, salsas, kababs and crudités to dip into cream cheese)
- Genius white, multi-seed or brown bread for tasty sandwiches
- Hummus on rice cakes
- Tomato Soup
- Homemade gluten-free pasta salads such as pesto and chicken

Healthy essential fatty acids

- Mix small stripes of smoked salmon with cream cheese for a tasty dip or spread
- Tuna sandwiches on Genius bread
- Fruit and nut mix

Gluten-Free Treats

- Genius gluten-free teacake with jam
- Genius gluten-free fruit loaf
- Home made gluten-free banana bread
- Dried fruit mix
- Fruit salad

We asked our Facebook fans for some tips for gluten-free packed lunches, here's what they had to say:

"Rice cakes and houmous, or gf pasta salad!"

"My wee man loves genius seeded bread with pure spread. Also apple, soy pudding, yogurt raisins and cold roast chicken and a cup of juice."

"My top tip is to use Genuis bread! All other types of gf bread I have tried to make sandwiches for school visits have been a disappointing pile of crumbs. Not so with Genius though! Love it."

"My girl's favourite: Tortilla chips & carrot sticks ~ both to dip in hummus, celery 'boats' filled with almond butter and topped with raisins, apple slices, and sesame snaps for a sweet ending/biccy alternative."

"In the winter I like to fill a flask with soup normally homemade cream of tomato and pop in a seeded genius roll to dip in!"