My kids are lucky. They have no known food allergies, but of course going to school, they must be considerate of others who aren’t as lucky. All the class snacks and my soon-to-be kindergartner’s lunches must be nut-free. Sometimes they have to be free of dairy, soy, egg, and seafood, depending on the classroom. We get a list of nut-free foods that are safe to serve from the school nurse, but I always find so much junk on it. So I create my own list, which you can find some of below and in full here.
I find that fresh fruits (squeeze a little lemon juice in some cool water to keep the brown away) and vegetables are easy and safe. My middle son loves to dip his peppers, celery and carrots in organic ranch dressing. Whereas my youngest son loves hummus for dipping in carrots and pita chips… or even his fingers.
I often make popcorn at home either on the stove using canola, olive or grapeseed oils or in the microwave using a brown paper bag and oils. I’ll season with real melted butter and salt or my own spice mixture.
Here are more snack ideas for school:
More Nut-Free Snacks*
FRESH FRUITS & VEGGIES
Black Beans, Pinto Beans, etc.
Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans- plain or roasted with Moroccan spices
Broccoli
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Green Beans
Sweet Potato
Sliced Bell Peppers
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Roasted Beets or Trader Joe’s Ready to Eat Beets
Lentils – Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils
Raw/Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas)
Sunflower Seeds
Mandarin segments in juice (not syrup)
DAIRY & EGG SNACKS & MEATS
Cheeses- TJ’s mini brie, mini goat cheese, sliced cheddar, organic cheese sticks, sliced muenster
Kafir milk or Lassi
All natural yogurts without hormones like Stoneyfield or Trader Joe’s, Brown Cow, Whole Foods, Horizon
Trader Joe’s yoyo squeezers Stoneyfield or Horizon tube yogurt (freeze to keep cold or as frozen morning snack)
Hard-Boiled Eggs with sea salt
Devilled Eggs
Applegate Farm salami, ham, chicken or turkey
Applegate Farm sliced cheeses
WHOLE-GRAIN SNACKS
Brown Rice
Couscous
Quinoa
Tabouli
Pasta (whole wheat, brown rice, etc) served cold or in thermos warm
Triscuits or Trader Joe’s Woven Wheat Wafers
Popcorn (can pop on stove or in brown bag in microwave)
Oatmeal (served warm in thermos)
Kashi Shredded Wheat (vanilla, cinnamon)
Finn Crisp Thin Rye Crispbread
Lundberg Brown Rice or Wild Rice Cakes
Wasa Rye Cripsbread Varieties
Ryvita Rye Varieties
Kashi Heart to Heart Whole Grain Crackers (Original & Roast Garlic)
Trader Joe’s Rice & Bean Chips
Trader Joe’s Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips
Happy Herbert’s Sesame Snack Sticks
Canned/Dried Fruits & Sauces
Organic Raisins, curents
Dried Plums
Dates
Mission Figs
Organic Dried Cranberries, Blueberries, Cherries, apple Rings, or Mangoes
Dried Unsulfured Apricots
Vermont Village Applesauce
GoGo Squeez Applesauces
Nature’s Child Grape or Berry Squeezers
Trader Joe’s Crushers
Trader Joe’s Fruit Leathers
Archer Farms Organic Fruit Strips, Bars or Pull Apart Peels
Fruitabü Organic Smooshed Fruitrolls
Trader Joe’s Fruit Flakes
Trader Joe’s Fiberful Fruit Bars
Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit Rope
Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Mangos, Bananas, Grapes or Strawberries
Roasted Seaweed Snack (TJ’s or Costco)
Also homemade nut-free Leftovers!
*I need to update this list, as many new items that are gluten-free and/or nut-free are available since I wrote this.
