If a Jewish family observes Passover dietary rules, buying lunch at school is out of the question during the eight-day holiday. This is because foods containing traditional leavening, such as yeast and baking powder, are forbidden, as are regularly processed wheat, oats, rye, barley and spelt.
Many observant Jews also skip peanuts, rice, peas, beans and corn. In addition, virtually all processed foods must have a special "kosher for Passover" designation.
What's left for school lunch? Plenty!
Pack Fun, Creative Meals for Passover
Colorful foods are always more appetizing to children. Fruits, vegetables and yellow cheeses will naturally brighten a packed lunch. Deviled eggs can get perked up with a dusting of paprika.
A clear, airtight plastic bottle that's filled with deep purple grape juice will be appreciated as a tasty reminder of the "wine" that children drink during the Passover seder. A parent might even add some colorful paper napkins to the lunchbox, as a reminder that Passover lunches are special.
Add Sprinkles and Garnishes
Passover week is a great time to get fancy with lunch, and it's easier now than ever, thanks to a growing array of kosher-for-Passover foods. Children will have fun mixing chocolate chips into yogurt, sprinkling freshly grated cheese onto a salad, or making "sandwiches" by tucking chicken salad into lettuce leaves. All of these ideas can be compatible with Passover dietary restrictions.
Ideas for Lunch Boxes
The following suggestions will make popular lunches for children during Passover:
- Tuna or salmon salad with acceptable Passover crackers.
- Cheese chunks and fruit on mini skewers (cut the sharp ends off skewers).
- Egg salad with large lettuce leaves for wrapping.
- Homemade almond butter swirled with jelly, with Passover crackers for dipping.
- Chicken matzo ball soup, with added chicken, served in a Thermos.
- Leftover, thinly sliced roast beef or turkey breast tightly wrapped around slices of dill pickles.
- Yogurt and sliced fruit, with small containers of chocolate chips and almonds.
- Almond butter mixed with honey, with broken matzos or Passover crackers for dipping.
- Cream cheese swirled with jelly, with Passover crackers for dipping.
- Sliced chicken on romaine lettuce, with mandarin oranges, sliced almonds and a mini-container of homemade oil and vinegar dressing.
- Homemade mashed potatoes packed in a Thermos, with shredded cheese.
Great Passover Lunchbox Sweets
Although many parents minimize sweets for school lunches, Passover might be the time to make an exception, especially since other children are likely to bring in Easter jellybeans and chocolates.
Children adore the traditional Passover candy fruit slices made by Manischewitz.. Another popular dessert is Caramel Matzo Crunch, which is reminiscent of a Heath Bar. Both sweets are easy to pack. If allowed by the school, the child can pack extra Passover sweets to share with friends.
Passover is loaded with food restrictions, but that doesn't mean that school lunches need to be boring or worse, make a child feel self conscious among his or her peers. Jewish children will look forward to special Passover lunches when they are made with creativity, attention to color and, of course, a healthy dollop of love.
Plan Ahead
For a better Passover next year, take a post-holiday inventory
Katherine Spitz - I'm a former newspaper reporter who focused on the "practical stuff" of life, as it relates to health/mental health, aging and food. ...
