My DDIL makes little brown lunch bags of cheddar popcorn for school snacks. Just make regular popped corn (NOT microwave) using a bit of oil. When popped, sprinkle on Cabot Powdered Cheddar Cheese. She has the kids help decorate the brown bags with fun, colorful stamps, etc.

If you don't have Cabot Cheese products available in your area, you can purchase direct from Cabot.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabot Cheddar Cheese Powder

My Granddaughter loves to take her homemade "trail mix", and she gets to choose what she likes in it. It's usually Cheerios, although she's now leaning toward those chocolate mini wheat cereals, some raisins, dried cranberries or other dried fruit, M&Ms, sunflower seeds. Sometimes she adds little bear shaped graham crackers or goldfish, and that determines other ingredients.

The sky's the limit with trail mix, and she packages it up into little individual bags.

She also likes to take muffins, those can be relatively healthy and the kids will still eat them, and she really likes rice krispie treats, but that's kind of junk food....

Oh, and yogurt covered raisins have been a big hit, mixed with those graham bears or bugs.

Annie

Are cupcakes passé?

not passe, bumblebeez, just messy and banned at my grandson's school

The only thing I can think of is oatmeal cookies with chopped dried cherries, dried blueberries and golden raisins to make them more colorful.

There's fruit kabobs, but fruit is pretty expensive.

I really like the popcorn idea.

perfectpets, my kids both have severe peanut allergy. First I have to caution against any M&M's. Even the plain M&M's are made on the same equipment with peanut M&M's, and I myself have found a peanut M&M in a packet of plain M&M's. You have to watch out for many cereals, too. Lots of 'shared equipment,' 'same equipment' on labels.

Cherrybrook Kitchen makes a phenomenal line of nut free, egg free, dairy free baking mixes. I know you can't do cupcakes, so their cake mixes are probably out, but they also make a great chocolate chip cookie mix. Their stuff is usually available at Whole Foods. I have to personally recommend the chocolate cake mix with the chocolate chips in it (to die for!).

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? Their new Pita Puff crackers are nice (and safe for peanut allergic kids), as are their fruit leathers. (Unlike 'Fruit Roll-Ups', Trader Joe's fruit leathers don't have added sugar...they're just dried fruit, so they're a healthy snack.)

Herr's pretzels are safe last I checked (it's important to read every label every time, though, so read before you buy).

I have heard that the plain Teddy Grahams are safe, but I can't attest to that from personal experience because I've never bought them. Again, read labels.

Just an aside...as a mom of peanut allergic kids, anything brought from someone's house in plastic zip-lock baggies scares me to death...i.e., home-made trail mix or 'friendship cereals.' This is how we found out my son is allergic. They did the cereal project at school where each kid brings in a zip-lock baggie of their favorite cereal and the kids mix it all together. Anaphylactic reaction on the spot. And no one knew what he ate because there were no food labels to read.

I would highly recommend you bring the original packaging of whatever you're bringing to the school. The teachers will greatly appreciate being able to read the food label. Even if you know you're not bringing anything that can make someone sick, having the evidence of that there is nice.

I hope this was helpful, and I'm happy to answer any further questions. The following web site (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) has great information (as well as recipes, too, I think!):
http://www.foodallergy.org/

Here is a link that might be useful: FAAN

Is there an actual peanut allergy in the class or just a general schoolwide peanut ban? If there isn't an actual peanut allergy in the class you'd probably be OK with the "same equipment" stuff.

How about shortbread? It's got what--3, maybe 4 ingredients, very easy, and you could throw in chocolate chips (although I prefer pecans).

There are some good ideas here, but perhaps targeted to a younger audience:

Here is a link that might be useful: a few nutfree kid food ideas

Rice Krispie treats seem safe and kids love them. Heck, I love them.

What Barnmom said. It's best not to mess with the "same equipment" if you are not sure. I am allergic to peanuts but I only get headaches when I eat them. I'm lucky. One of my coworkers is highly allergic to peanuts and she swells up like a poisioned dog, eyes watering, choaking, coughing. It is very disconcerting to see. And very scary.

Jell-o jigglers, rolled in powdered sugar.
Linda C

I'm with Linda on the Jell-O jigglers. I recently posted some ideas for ones I made at Easter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jigglers

Well, my DD knows where to come for help! Welcome to the Cooking Forum, Amber!!! She is miserable with tree pollen allergies today, and I'm sure 6 y/o Damien is taking full advantage of it!

She is really good at reading labels, due to my garlic allergy. She had already thought about cross contamination in the production plants, and was going to make a special trip to the grocery store to read labels and buy new, as what she has is in containers, not in packaging.

Damien loves fruit and veggies, but she knows most kids don't. She makes her grandmother's pumpkin cream roll, and has had a few mishaps with it, and has discovered they like the "cake" even without the icing. She doesn't like nuts, so it doesn't go in anything she makes. Which takes care of cross contamination in equipment.

thank you all for your help. I know she appreciates it.
Mandogirl, your help will be invaluable to her!

She will probably check in after Damien goes to school in the morning. Hopefully able to breath and talk!

Tami

Tami, I was wondering if she was related to you as soon as she mentioned the garlic allergy.

Annie

The "peanut residue" thing is such a drag! But I know someone who died from eating a candy bar with peanut residue in it. No one knew what was wrong with him, since he hadn't eaten anything with peanuts directly in it. Such a tragedy, which I why I've been paranoid about peanuts ever since.

Homemade treats for parties are banned in my school district. Treats must be individually packaged, without peanuts, and opened in the classroom. No more cupcakes or Rice krispie treats. Better check with your district to be sure...or maybe you did. Just thought I'd throw it out.

Yep, I have to claim her, Annie!

LOL, Tami, you don't seem TOO upset about claiming her. (grin)

Here the schools still allow homemade treats without any problem but as has been mentioned before, the kids really like things like Snickers bars and Twinkies.

BTW, rice krispie treats now are commercially available, but I don't know about the manufacturing process and peanut issues. Yup, rice krispie treats in a box, all individually wrapped. Who da thunk it?

Annie

Annie, those boxed rice krispie treats are yucky.

Yeah, I figured they would be, plus they are so easy to make at home, but if the school doesn't allow homemade treats...

Annie

They are stale tasting to me, and hard. They are fine if one is truly desperate for a rice crispy treat but homemade ones with butter are so much better.

Our school still allows homemade treats to be brought in. It is policy that any student with ANY known food allergies may not partake of ANY food treat brought in from anywhere other than their own home. Parents of children with allergies are encouraged to supply the classroom teacher with a treat box for their own child that they have bought and contains "safe" items. When a classroom snack is given out, the children with allergies get to pick something from their own box. Students are strongly encouraged not to bring any items containing tree nuts to school at any time.

My DD usually brings in Philly pretzels (we have a franchise store in the neighborhood). We've even brought in Italian ices at the end of the day after getting the teacher's approval.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their advise and suggestions. I've been really busy this week so I haven't been able to respond yet.

We are allowed to bring homemade treats to school we just have to be carefull as to what is in it. I ended up sending in string cheese and whole grain club crackers. We individually wrapped everything and sent the treats in little party bages with a gold medal to go with it (DS wanted to to do race cars as his show and tell so we sent in medals for all the kids). I sent the lables in also so that the teacher coiuld double check everything.

The kids liked the little bags and DS was happy to be able to give his friends "presents" as he put it. And I was happy to have found a healthy snack to send in.

So many parents send in junk food and I hate it. I try to feed my family healthy stuff as often as I can and junk food is an no no in my house.

Thank's again you everyone I really appreceiated all you r help.
Pets

HI Mom!
:D