Vegan snacks for school?

[Spring Lily]

I need some help with snack ideas. My DD's class at school is fed one snack for everyone, and it includes a grain (like crackers or rice cakes), a protein (like cheese, yogurt, or meat), and 1 or 2 fruits or veggies. If your kid has any special dietary restrictions, you bring your own substitutes for any of those, like gluten-free crackers or whatever.

My DD does not eat meat or dairy, and I am having a really hard time finding anything to bring to school for her. She likes soy yogurt, but usually only eats a few bites of it and the rest of the container gets thrown out. I'm sick of wasting so much food and money if she's not going to eat it. I was thinking maybe getting some small tupperware containers and dividing up a container of the soy yogurt so she wouldn't eat much at a time, but I guess that would go bad in the school fridge pretty quickly...?

I just need something small for her to substitute for the protein part of her meal when they serve cheese with crackers, because that is often the snack.

The hard part:
1. she hates soy cheese
2. it can't contain any nuts or seeds (so hummus won't work)
3. it can't be homemade (state law)

Any ideas for me? Thanks!

[Owen'nZoe]

Wow, the "it can't be homemade" rule really ties your hands. Are you sure that is state law, or is the school just saying that? I'm having a really hard time believing that a state would be able pass a law that would bar children from bringing a sack lunch to school! Seriously, I'd research that further and then work to change the rule if it turns out that it is just the school saying that.

If it turns out you can bring homemade food, hummus is easy to make without the tahini (just sub in a few tablespoons of plain soy yogurt for the tahini), and these honeybee "cookies" are a favorite of my son's for snack (you'd just have to find something else to use for the wings, and use soynutbutter instead of almond butter) http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/04/honeybee-no-bakes.html. I'm sure the Vegan Lunch Box blog would have plenty of other ideas, too. As for your yogurt idea, I always buy quarts, and split them up into small tupperware containers at the beginning of the week, so it is always ready for packing lunches during the week. I've never had a problem with it going bad.

[Spring Lily]

It's definitely not just the school, and since it is every district that I know of, I am assuming it's state law. You can't make anything at home, but you can make it at the school.

If I can't come up with any better ideas, I might go ahead and bring my ingredients to the school and make a batch there. I did find a recipe online for hummus with no sesame, so I can use that. Otherwise I'm just stumped!

Yogurts: I've never seen any plain soy yogurt or quarts of it. I don't know why that is. They're always the individual sized containers and fruit flavored. I've been to small health food stores and bigger markets like Trader Joe's & Whole Foods, with no luck. I haven't looked recently though, if it's a newer product.

[Owen'nZoe]

I don't know which state you are in, but I was curious and did a little googling - there are tons of stories about parents who were told it is illegal to bring homemade food in by the school, only to find out that it was not against the law. I'm feeling especially skeptical about this because my sister was just telling me that the public school she works for does not allow children to come to school without vaxes - even though our state allows for religious and philosophical objections. Schools are not always well informed of the law.

As for quarts of soy yogurt, I've only seen Nancy's brand in plain: http://www.nancysyogurt.com/nancys_products/soy.php

[catnip]

I've never heard of a school where the kids bringing homemade food for their own consumption was against the rules, only ones where stuff to share with the class had to be storebought. That is a messed up rule. And then you wonder - is a soy yogurt split in half and put in a container "home-made?" Where do they draw their line on that? Does it have to be in a sealed package or something?

It's not the healthiest choice, but what about veggie dogs? I'd hate to feed those every day, though. What about canned beans, drained, rinsed and split into tupperware containers?

[junipermuse]

what about black bean dip? I saw some at Trader Joe's that's prepackaged. Does she have to have a protein? When I taught preschool, one of the schools I worked at always had a snack tray that included two grain items (usually cereal and crackers, one veggie, and two fruits) For a snack they're only required to serve 2 out of the four food groups. So even if they're serving just cheese and crackers, they could give her crackers and fruit or crackers and veg. They don't have to give her a direct substitute. Also they could serve her a cup of milk beverage substitute as a protein as well. Does your daughter drink soymilk. What about a container of bean salad from a deli? Would your daughter eat that? If you and the school feel that your daughter absolutely needs a protein as part of her snack to make it through the day at school, I would consider challenging the no nuts or seeds rule. I'm not sure I understand why it extends to seeds anyway, I don't think sunflower seeds or tahini carry the same risk as peanuts, tree nuts or  peanutbutter. If no one at the school currently has an allergy, to say almonds for example, than there is really no reason not to allow your child to have it as a source of protein. I would ask them what vegan protein they recommend since they have seemingly eliminated every option.

[Spring Lily]

I'm back with good news!

That part from the post above

Originally Posted by catnip 

I've never heard of a school where the kids bringing homemade food for their own consumption was against the rules, only ones where stuff to share with the class had to be storebought.

really made me think. I went in on Friday to talk to the teacher and get more clarification about the rule, and she said that if it is a snack for a child with a special diet and it won't be served to the whole school, it can be homemade!

So I'm going to make some of the hummus to start with.

junipermuse, love the idea of a black bean dip, too! That would be easy. She would never snack on some whole beans, but if it was a spread or dip then she'd consider it!