• Nut-Free Classroom Snack Guide

    These are some great nut-free snack ideas from Hillside parents of children with severe nut allergies.  Please continue to check the labels of your snacks and note that peanuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts/filberts/Brazil nuts and macadamia nuts are all problematic.  Thank you for all of your efforts in keeping your child’s classroom nut-free and safe for all.

    Suggested snacks include:

    Fruit - fresh or dried prunes, apricots, raisins, etc.

    Fresh vegetables – carrot or celery sticks, sliced cucumber, peppers, etc.

    Enjoy Life products

    Pirate’s Booty, pretzels, Goldfish,  popcorn

    Yogurt, Go-Gurt (or something similar)

    Cereal - please check ingredient label

    "Back to Nature" brand has a lot of allergy-safe crackers, including a "Cheez-It" -type cracker and a "Ritz"-type cracker that are nut and seed-free.

    Bread or cracker with soy nut butter - soy nut butter is somewhat misnamed as it contains no nuts. It is made from roasted soybeans and tastes like peanut butter, but is 100% safe for kids with nut allergies. Two brands can be bought at various stores around here including Food for Thought, Foodtown, Whole Foods and Di Cicco's - I.M. Healthy - https://www.soynutbutter.com/ and Wowbutter - http://wowbutter.com/.  Soy nut butter is also great on banana or apple slices. The IM Healthy brand has a version with no sugar.

    Cheese - cheese slices or sticks; cottage cheese, cream cheese on crackers

    Avocado mixed with a little cream cheese spread on crackers or bread

    Healthy-ish cookies using two very ripe bananas, 1 cup of oatmeal, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips (could use raisins, too) - Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. They keep in the fridge for a week or more and make a great filling treat.

     Great sources for nut-free snacks and lunch alternatives include:

    http://snacksafely.com/safe-snack-guide/

    http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/10/07/nut-free-school-lunch-ideas/

    Thank you for your continued support in making Hillside healthy and safe for all students!