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.