The Lunch Dilemma

Celiac.com 04/21/2022 - If you work, there is little time in the morning to dawdle in the kitchen to prepare a homemade bag lunch. If you have celiac children, the problem is compounded because many children are picky eaters. But with a little pre-planning and unlimited ingenuity, there are always viable alternatives.

First, if you have children, ‘set the stage’ at the onset of the school year by taking these steps (as they apply to your situation):

1. Speak to the dietician or the person in charge of the kitchen at the school. Have a copy of the gluten-free diet requirements with you. Bring a note from your doctor stating that your child cannot eat foods that may contain or be contaminated with gluten.
2. If your child has been diagnosed with celiac disease, and if the school is receiving funding through the National School Lunch Program, it must provide a gluten-free lunch to your child Read the USDA’s Guidelines for the National School Lunch Program and print anything you think may help. Write down the site’s address and provide it to your school district’s food services coordinator and school’s cafeteria manager.
3. Ask for permission for your child to warm his/her lunch in the school microwave.
4. Ask if you may bring items to keep in the school cafeteria freezer, marked expressly for your child—items such as condiments, bread, pizza slices, cupcakes, ice cream cups, etc.
5. Teach your child about the diet restrictions—children can comprehend much more than you think!
6. Ingrain in your child the importance of never trading foods with friends.

So What’s For Lunch???

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
Lunch variation is limited only by your initiative and imagination.

For The Microwave

If you or your child has a microwave available to you at lunchtime, make your own ‘lunchables’ from dinner leftovers. There are divided, plastic, lidded containers that are ideal for this purpose. To prevent spoilage, freeze your ‘lunchable’ container so you take a frozen package with you in the morning; by noon, it will be thawed and ready to heat. Other foods conducive to being warmed in a microwave include pizza, lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, crustless quiche, and twice-baked potatoes. If you are making mashed potatoes for dinner, bake the potatoes (instead of boiling them); remove most of the inside to make the mashed potatoes, leaving the skins intact. Then make your own potato skins topped with cheddar cheese, sliced green onions and crumbled bacon. Potato skins make a ‘fun’ lunch for both kids and adults. Other ‘fun’ microwavable lunches are ‘Hot Pockets’ made from Chebe bread or a hot dog topped with American cheese and wrapped in a corn tortilla (wrap in waxed paper to heat in the microwave). Gluten-free tamales, Quesadillas and Chinese stir-fry add variety to your lunch and warm easily in the microwave.

Pack in a Thermos

A thermos isn’t just for soup anymore. Perhaps you’ve been brave enough to spoon chili or stew into a thermos. Now think outside the box…be daring! Pack a gluten-free bun and spoon sloppy Joe mix into the insulated container. Or fill the thermos with boiling water and add corn on the cob, or 1 or 2 hot dogs. A thermos is great for taco meat (spoon on top of a salad at lunch time), pork and beans or hot dog slices and beans, or sausage in barbecue sauce. Rice dishes and gluten-free pasta entrees hold well in a thermos, everything from Spanish rice and beans, to pasta marinara, to fettuccini alfredo, to macaroni and cheese.

Cold Lunches

To keep foods from spoiling, add an ice pack to the lunchbox. The variety of cold lunches is endless. For entrees, take baked or fried chicken or chicken wings, cold poached salmon spread with mayonnaise, shrimp with gluten-free cocktail sauce, cold sliced steak, sushi, or a tomato stuffed with tuna fish. If you prefer sandwiches made on gluten-free bread, break the routine of deli lunchmeats with meatloaf, egg salad, or Rueben sandwiches. If you don’t want the bread—no problem—wrap lunchmeat around a piece of string cheese; if you are daring, add a piece or two of marinated asparagus before wrapping. Make toothpick kabobs of cubes of lunchmeat, cheese, pickles and olives.

Salads make a perfect cold lunch, whether it is a gluten-free pasta salad, shrimp or crab salad, chicken Caesar salad, or chicken pineapple salad. There is traditional potato salad made with mayonnaise and a hint of mustard, or Greek potato salad made with green pepper, onion, olive oil and cider vinegar. A chef salad is an excellent way to use up leftovers in the refrigerator. And let’s not forget healthy bean salad. Cottage cheese with fruit is always refreshing. If you want something small to have with your sandwich, try cole slaw or marinated vegetables. If the salad is your main dish, treat yourself to an antipasto of marinated cubes of pepperoni, cheese, olives, tomato wedges, artichoke hearts and pepperoncini.

Variety is the key—switch foods and alter combinations to make lunch an event of anticipation. One day add deviled or hard-boiled eggs; the next day add salsa and gluten-free tortilla chips. Include veggies as often as possible, whether it is carrot sticks with a dip or celery stuffed with peanut butter. If time is a factor, add ‘no-fuss’ items like applesauce, gelatin cups or flavored yogurt; or pack a few gluten-free crackers to have with cheese slices or to spread with hummus. For a treat, take a ‘sandwich’ made from gluten-free sweet bread slices spread with cream cheese.

Sandwich ‘Wraps’

If you can’t find a pre-made loaf of gluten-free bread to your liking and you haven’t had time to bake your own bread, don’t despair. There are other viable sandwich ‘containers’. Purchase gluten-free corn tortillas made from either yellow or white corn. Gluten-free corn tacos are a crisp, fun holder for a multitude of fillings. Pancakes and crepes make wonderful ‘wraps,’ and lettuce leaves are the ideal holders for lunchmeat and cheese. If you feel like living life on the edge, use Belgium lettuce leaves; they are shaped like boats and make a neat ‘container’ for tuna and chicken salads. Or avoid the ‘wrap’ altogether and take gluten-free muffins instead. Gluten-free crackers are also an alternative and they are now available in so many different flavors and textures.

Miscellaneous Lunch Foods

When you are looking for that something ‘extra’ to include in your lunch, add beef or turkey jerky. If your place of employment or your child’s school has boiling water available, drop a packet of gluten-free instant soup into your lunch bag (don’t forget to pack a spoon and a bowl or mug). Then there are the old standbys: Chips, nuts, popcorn, rice cakes and marshmallows. If you have time to create treats, one week make a trail mix using a variety of gluten-free cereals, dried fruits, chocolate chips and/or nuts. The next week, stir up a gluten-free ‘Chex’ mix or make a homemade granola.

Desserts

Sure, you could pack fruit cups or a piece of fresh fruit, or gluten-free cookies or cupcakes, but dessert can be more ingenious than that. Cut up fruit and toss it with pineapple juice (to prevent browning), then take some caramel topping or cream cheese mixed with gluten-free nondairy whipped topping for dipping. Bake meringue cookies in the shape of bread sticks, then take a container of pudding for dipping. Mandarin Orange Salad or Waldorf Salad makes a refreshing dessert. Or take stacked apple slices (dipped in pineapple juice) filled with layers of peanut butter and honey. But if it is time to leave for work and you haven’t had time to prepare a dessert, fruit rolls, gluten-free protein bars or a good, old-fashioned candy bar will do the trick

Connie Sarros’ Homemade Granolas

Version 1 Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3 cups gluten-free corn or rice 
• flakes cereal 
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1⁄2 cup sliced almonds
• 1⁄2 cup shredded coconut
• 14 ounce can sweetened 
• condensed milk

Version 1 Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan in the oven. Sprinkle cereal over melted butter and bake five minutes. Remove pan from oven; sprinkle chocolate chips, then  almonds, then coconut over the cereal. Pour condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares.

Version 2 Ingredients:

• 3 cups gluten-free corn puff 
• cereal
• 1 cup peanuts
• 1 cup banana chips, dried
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1⁄2 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup gluten-free pancake syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Version 2 Directions:
Preheat oven to 300F. In a large bowl, combine cereal, peanuts, banana chips, raisins, and cranberries. In a small saucepan, heat margarine, brown sugar, pancake syrup, cinnamon and salt until melted; pour over cereal mixture, tossing till evenly coated. Spread on a baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in coconut and bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.