You can always try rice salads. Instead of cooking the rice in plain water, try cooking it in stock or broth. Then add some veggies through for some colour.

We are having a gluten and dairy free household at the moment while we are waiting to see a specialist. I’ve found stove popped, popcorn to be a cheap and easy lunchbox filler. I think it’s great because you can have the popcorn by itself or you can turn it into a slice. I do this by heating on the stove on a low heat, 1/2 Cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of honey, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and a pinch of salt. Melt it all together until the sugar dissolves then combine it with a big bowl of popcorn. Then place it into a baking paper lined tray and set in the fridge. You have to be careful not to burn yourself though the sugar mixture gets extremely hot. Definitely not one the kids can help with. We also love falafels made from dried chickpeas because they can be eaten hot or cold. I’ve found you can adapt almost any recipe for fritters or savoury slices by switching to a gluten free flour like buckwheat or rice flour and switching to a gluten free rice milk or almond milk. I’ve found googling gluten free vegan recipes as a big help as well. Hope this helps

I’d do lots of salads in attractive little containers with spoons for easy eating….combine things like roasted sweet potatoe, chickpeas, pumpkin, beetroot, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet corn, red peppers, brocolli etc. making sure you always have some protein (chickpeas, salmon/fish, lentil balls,tofu pieces, home made spicy bean burgers, nuts etc.) tossed in with the salad vegetables. Also I’d check whether you really need to skip the gluten too… lots of great vitamins etc. in it that we really need. There are plenty of vegan substitutes for dairy too should you want to give a milk/youghart like option without using cow milk.

Investing in some specific recipe books make be a good idea and give you lots of inspiration for snacks, lunch and other meals.

It is not my intention to be rude or upset you but I am wondering why your children need to go gluten and dairy free? If indeed they have been diagnosed with coeliac disease and intolerance’s they should be under the care of the doctor and be seeing a dietitian both who can supply you with foods that are suitable. The dietitian should be able to supply you with a list of foods, give you meal ideas and even recipes and sites for you to explore. A dietitian will eliminate harmful foods from a diet and replace them with other nutritious foods that supply the same nutrient value.

Oh! Give a look at this website https://wholefoodsimply.com/
I am sure you will find a lot of inspiration in there!!

Have you ever tried roasted chickpeas? Coconut chips are very nice too. You could add rice or corn cakes, nuts.. In Internet you will find a lot of inspiration. Coconut yogurt is delicious. You will have to make some adjustments, but it won’t be that difficult, you’ll see.

I found a dietician really helpful when we were trying to work out meals and snacks for my daughters intolerances.

2 of my kids are on a glutenfree diet, so not diary free. It’s not so hard to get beautiful seeded glutenfree breads and bread rolls these days. What we do for lunchboxes is: Seeded bread roll with tempeh and lettuce, gf sweet potato / quinoa wraps from Woolworths with homemade sunflower butter, homemade sweet potato waffles (sweet potato, apple, egg, gf baking powder, raw vanilla powder, almond milk, lentil flour), homemade gluten free diary free banana bread slices, homemade vegetable muffins, zucchini pancakes, coconut yoghurt with glutenfree muesli, etc. You could replace normal cheese with soy cheese or tofu slices. You can add meats to their lunch boxes if they like. Also pasta, soups, fried rice, gf crackers with tuna, falafels, vegetables, and fruits are beautiful lunchbox fillers. My kids also get a pot with coconut flakes and a pot with roasted flava (or broad) beans or roasted chick peas at the side. They also get a homemade glutenfree cookie or brownie aside.

I’d definitely go and see a dietitian with your kids and find out if there is any real reason they need to skip any foods. Kids need a big variety of food and that incudes dairy and grains that have gluten. If there is no medically diagnosed allergy to these things then excluding them from their diet could do a lot more harm than good.

First, Id see a doctor to see if this is really necessary. Second, take to google. There are loadrs of gluten and dairy free recipes out there.