Anyone experienced with low-carb diets? Need packable lunch ideas with a lot of protien for my son's school lunches. There is no ability to heat/reheat at his school either. I do have a thermos, so we might try some soups/stews, etc.
Please no debates on our diet selections, just looking for ideas. Thanks!
Ok, I think before you do the NO carbs No sugars diet you need to learn what good carbs are (they are needed) and what good sugars are (again needed) and discuss this with a pediatric nutritionist.
http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/List_of_Good_Carbs_and_Ba...
http://www.alive.com/152a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=7
I hope some of this helps and I hope you are successful with whatever goals you have with the diet change.
cold chicken, cheese, hard boiled eggs, fresh veggies, soup, cold cuts, low carb pasta, salads...
instead of a sandwhich with bread, we use tortillas and wrap the sandwhich, its a lot less carbs then two slices of bread.
My family follows the Primal Blueprint dietary recommendations, which is no grains, limited sugars (getting sugars from natural sources like fruits and honey, etc.), basically a very whole foods based diet. My kids always have filling and healthy lunches. I use bento boxes and silicone cups (most are like small or mini muffin size) so that I can keep things separated.
We do meat and cheese lettuce wraps. I send leftover dinners (chicken, steak, hamburger patties, meatballs) that don't need to be reheated; most things taste fine at a room temp, especially to children. I've sent no-bean chili in a thermos as well as homemade chicken soup with no noodles. I've sent chicken sausages with a side of baby spinach with very small miniature dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I also include one half to one whole piece of fruit and sometimes include a small amount of honey-sweetened yogurt with sprinkled cinnamon that my kids love. My kids are also seafood fans, so I've sent tuna salad with celery or cucumbers to use to eat the salad with. They've also taken just plain tuna as well. Another of their favorites is smoked salmon (home made). Hard-boiled eggs are another great idea, and I recently got some cute shapers for these (to make them into fish, heart, star, etc.), but I haven't done them yet. Feel free to ask if you need more ideas. I'm sure I can come up with more.
Let me start by telling you, you know what is best for your daughter and this situation. I only want to mention this because no one has and I was a kid once too, but how are you going to handle three situations (good to figure out your response before they sneak up on you!):
1) All the food trading that goes on at lunch (i.e. trade you my string cheese for your fruit roll-up, my tuna wrap for your pb&j)
2) Birthday parties at school or certain holidays where people are bringing sweets in for everyone else (my brother had tons of food allergies and so my mom just packed things he was safe to eat and gave it to the teacher to keep in the cupboards for situations, but your situation is a little different-and what if the teacher isn't on board or "feels sorry" and gives her some anyway).
3) Her own birthdays
Those were just a few scenarios I thought of as I was reading your question because if your daughter isn't on board with this decision, she may sneak a lot behind your back (I know I did...let me explain briefly-we weren't allowed to eat candy/sweets except very rarely so I would sneak up to the cupboards in the middle of the night looking for the sweetest thing I could find or I would go to school with $1 so I could buy not 1, but 2 things of candy that I would promptly scarf down-I had never learned to eat candy in moderation when I had a sweet tooth because I was denied it-my DH on the other hand was allowed a mini candy bar after dinner or two cookies or Nilla wafers and guess what? When he gets a reg size bag of candy, it'll last him 3-4 days, not 5 minutes like for me) so personally we are attempting to teach our boys moderation, enjoying sugar free and alternative desserts (like jello, yogurt, peaches with some low fat/no fat whipping cream) and not letting the sweet tooth get out of hand! Certainly not doggin your ways, just thinking of some things that you might want to consider how you will handle that may come up in the future and some ladies who already answered may have some ideas for you too! Good luck!
Yogart with granola and raisins, Trader Joes Tomato Soup w/ whole wheat crackers, Baby Bel cheese, cold bean dip with thin layer of reduced fat cream cheese and grated cheddar cheese served with wedges of whole wheat pita, celery and peanut butter, apple slices and peanut butter, ham rollups (spread with cream cheese, roll up and slice into bite size), apple slices with caramel dip (mix a little dip with Cool Whip to make more with less carbs), carrot zucchini oatmeal muffins, zucchini chips, oatmeal fruit crisps, cornbread or polenta fritters, spicy hummus quesadillas
why don't you go to the low/no carb diets and get some ideas. Not like it is going to be "diet" food-just options that are carb-free. Try South Beach Diet, ATkins(the original no carb diet-VERY strict with carbs), the Zone, Sugarbusters. These diets will give you a lot of guidance on how to restrict carbs. Just so you know-your son will probably lose weight with the elimination of all carbs. If you don't want this then I would figure out how many calories he should have per day and make sure he hits it.
What about lettuce wraps-lettuce/ turkey/cheese. I love these when I am low carbing it. Cold chicken breast-sliced or in a chicken salad. Natural peanut butter and celery. String cheese.
Tuna salad (by itself or on a few whole grain crackers)
Chicken soup (minus the noodles)
Quiche (I make mine without the pastry, just eggs and veggies)
Egg salad
Frtitta
Fruits/veggies (unsure if you are eliminating natural sugars as well)
As others have mentioned, you can spice up just about anything with sauces but be careful of the amount of sugar in them (aka ketchup, honey mustard, etc)
Good luck!
peanut butter and apple slices, chicken or tuna salad with carrots or celery, hummus with raw veggies, 15 bean soup, chili, hard boiled eggs.
First, please make sure that you have discussed your child's diet with the pediatrician before making drastic changes. If this is under the guidence of your pediatrician; you should be able to make an appointment with a registered dietician who can really help you with this.
some ideas:
lunchmeat and cheese rolls (you can put a little mustard in if you like)
Peanut butter and celery
Chicken (cold after baked or boiled) can dip in mustard, BBQ or ranch.
nutritiondata.com has tools where you can find out what each food item has in it in both micro and macro nutrients...and you can search for foods based on needs, like protien, vitamins, minerals, and such. It is free.
