Packing Egg and Nut Free Lunches for “Play Days”

A couple of months ago, Skye began going to a Family Day Care 1 day a week to give her a chance to play with other kids around the same age, help her develop skills in a way that I am not capable of teaching her and of course to give me a day to do all those things that can be a little tricky with a little assistant in tow. You know, all those indulgent flights of fancy like seeing the dentist and meetings with the accountant. Because of the Family Day Care, structure Skye is required to bring her own lunch with her, which suits me just fine because I know exactly what she is eating. Like many child care facilities, Skye’s FDC is an egg and nut free zone so what to pack her for lunch takes a little more consideration that I am used to. 

Skye has quite a healthy appetite so exactly how much I would need to pack for her caused me more stress than how I could avoid eggs and nuts because she doesn’t eat a lot of things that make this a problem. Her current breakfast consists of half a cup of porridge topped with yoghurt, after which I usually have to share mine, so she certainly loves her food. My current solution is to pack her 2 sandwiches, a cup of sultanas, fresh apple/banana/pear slices depending on price, some cubes of cheese and a snap lock bag of grapes (she thinks these are lollies and devours them on sight).

I also try to make a batch of these egg free pikelets and freeze them into portions for her to take. I found this recipe on www.bestrecipes.com.au I got around 18 toddler size pikelets out of this recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter

Method
1. Combine dry ingredients and mix slightly. Add milk, oil, water and vanilla.
2. Whisk together until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
3. The mixture should still be slightly lumpy. Set aside to rest for a few minutes.
4. heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot.
5. While pan is heating, add butter.
6. As soon as the butter is melted, add melted butter to batter.
7. Return pan to stove and stir butter into batter.
8. When pan is hot, pour small portions of batter into the skillet for each pikelet.
9. Cook until bubbles form on the surface, flip pikelets and cook until golden brown.