WFMW: Sandwich Ideas for Peanut Allergies

When my son was in daycare, there was a child who was deathly allergic to tree nuts, so we were not able to send any peanut butter sandwiches, trail mixes, granola bars, or anything containing nuts.

As you can imagine, that makes packing lunches less than ideal, as most kids love peanut butter and jelly! Fortunately, I only had to pack his lunch one time each week. I fell back on a good old standard: cream cheese and jam sandwiches.

As a result, to this day, Hunter does not like peanut butter. And while he loves peanuts and nuts of all kinds, I haven't been able to figure out if it is the texture or the flavor that turns him off. He just wont eat it. He does love tuna, hard boiled eggs, ham, turkey and other standards, but now that Hunter is going to pre-school and I'll have to pack lunch every day, I wanted to find some new cream cheese based sandwiches for him.

Here are nine recipes I'll be using this school year. Hopefully, I'll be developing more as the year goes on. If your child has peanut allergies, you might enjoy mixing these sandwich ideas up! Measurements are strictly for an idea. You know the consistency that your child would like, so use these recipes as a guide.

Cream-Cheese Banana Sandwiches

4 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)
1/2 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. raisins
2 slices canned pineapple, chopped

Combine cream cheese, banana, lemon juice, raisins, and pineapple. Spread on raisin bread.


Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwiches

4 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)
1/3 med. cucumber, grated and well drained
1/4 small onion, grated
Pinch of salt
Mayonnaise (enough to make mixture spreadable)

Mix all together. Spread on bread.


Cream Cheese Veggie Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
1/4 carrot, shredded
1 green onions (chopped fine)
2 Tbsp green and red bell pepper (chopped fine)
Pinch of celery seed
Pinch of chopped dill
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix ingredients together in bowl. Spread on bread.


Fruity Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
3/4 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
2 medium strawberries, sliced, diced or slightly mashed (more or less, depending on how much fruit you want in the sandwich)

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Add diced strawberries (or blueberries, diced apple, raspberries, crushed pineapple, etc.). Spread on bread.


Thanksgiving Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
2 Tbsp whole-berry Cranberry Sauce
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
Turkey or ham slices leftover from Thanksgiving dinner

Combine cream cheese, cranberry sauce and orange zest in a bowl. Spread on bread. Add leftover turkey or ham slices.


Pumpkin Bread Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
chopped dried cranberries (optional)
chopped pecans nuts (optional)
1/8 tsp. pumpkin-pie spice
1/8 tsp. orange zest
orange juice (enough to make it spreadable)

Mix all together. Use thinly sliced pumpkin bread for sandwiches.


Peach Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
1 peach, diced
A few drops of milk if necessary

Mix ingredients together in bowl. Spread on bread.


Mexican Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
Salsa (add enough for desired consistency)
Shredded cheddar cheese (enough for desired consistency)

Mix ingredients together in bowl. Spread on bread.


Mandarin Orange Cream Cheese Sandwiches

4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
Mandarin oranges, juice drained (save juice to make a smooth consistency)

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Add Mandarin oranges. Spread on bread.