It finally happened. The day I've been dreading, the day my son Lennon developed consciousness about his food allergies. I don't mean the first time he realized he had them; he's known that since he was old enough to talk and had to learn by rote what he's not allowed to eat. I mean consciousness as in, "This makes me different from other kids."

It went down something like this: A friend was eating a Clif bar, and my son Lennon wanted a bite. When I told him he couldn't eat something with peanuts and dairy, he asked, "But WHY can't I eat that?" When I reminded him of his food allergies, his face contorted into tears. "Well, I wish I didn't!" he said, and stormed off in a huff.

And so begins the ongoing battle to make him feel just like everyone else, even though he's different. Granted, my son is not alone. 12 million Americans have food allergies, and the numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate. The rate of peanut allergy in children has doubled in the last five years, and at least 8% of children under 3 years old now have food allergies. But the status quo is the norm in childhood, with every child wanting to "fit in" and be just like all the other kids-same clothes, same toys, same cell phones, same food.

My challenge as the caregiver of a food-allergic child is to make my son foods that are allergen-free (i.e. different), but that look the same as everyone else's. So how can one make a traditional kid's bagged lunch without the top 8 food allergens-dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree-nuts, fish, and shellfish? If your child is allergic to wheat (bread), eggs (mayo, egg salad), peanuts (peanut butter), dairy (cheese, and present in many deli meats), soy (present in many prepackaged foods as filler, soy oil, or soy protein), or fish (tuna salad), it may seem like your choices are extremely limited. But I'm here to tell you, the options are plentiful if you just think outside the box.

Here are some of my favorite allergen-free lunch standards to help get you started. First, the backbone of a sandwich: bread. Food for Life makes great wheat-free, gluten-free breads. Their brown rice tortillas are super for roll-ups and their brown rice bread is great for traditional sandwich making. Ener G recently came out with the fabulous Seattle Brown Loaf, which is the closest thing to actual wheat bread I've found so far. It's made with Montina flour (a gluten-free grain), which is milled from the seed of a wild grass first used by native Americans thousands of years ago. It is flavorful, high protein, and full of fiber. There are many other brands of wheat-free, gluten-free breads on the market now, so surf your local health food stores or whole foods markets to see what's available.

For sandwich filling, I prefer the readily available Applegate Farms organic and antibiotic-free deli meats, such as organic roasted chicken breast. They're not overly salty, have great flavor and variety, and don't contain dairy, as many sliced deli meats do. Try making sandwiches with their lunch meats using mustard, or combine turkey breast with cranberry sauce and sliced apples for a little New England flavor. If you want to replicate mayo, but are avoiding eggs and/or soy, you can try making my recipe for avocado mayonnaise by combining 1 ripe avocado with 1 Tbsp. rice milk, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, a pinch of paprika and salt to taste. I particularly like it in chicken salad.

My # 1 favorite allergen-free kid food is sunflower seed butter, which is a great substitute for peanut butter. Try it or with a little jam or sliced bananas. My sons never grow tired of this lovely spread, and neither do I! Sungold makes fantastic sunbutter, which is manufactured in a dedicated peanut-free facility, while Trader Joe's and Kettle brand also offer their own varieties.

For other vegetarian sandwich options, try making bean spread roll-ups, using hummus, black bean, or lentil spread, with shredded lettuce, carrots, avocado, and purple cabbage. Once you start thinking of options, you'll realize there are many sandwiches out there that don't involve wheat bread, peanut butter, tuna fish, or cheese.

Next, move on to allergen-free lunch accessories, or in plain English, chips. In addition to good old potato chips (check to be sure they're not cooked in peanut oil or soy oil), Terra makes snack-pack-sized Terra Chips, and Garden of Eaten' makes snack-pack-sized Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. Another brand of kid-friendly allergen-free chips are Robert's American Gourmet (makers of Pirate's Booty and Veggie Booty, among others). My son's favorite are Tings, which are just like cheese doodles but without the cheese, so dairy and wheat allergic kids can enjoy. Robert's American Gourmet also makes Potato Flyers, which are a fun crunchy snack shaped like pork rinds, but a much, much times better for you. And speaking of "better for you," try switching out English peas, mini carrots, or sugar snap peas for the chips on occasion. When they're in season, there's nothing more fun than shelling your own peas. It's a cool food to bring to school, trust me.

For a drink, try juice boxes or rice milk, now available in lunch-box-size from Rice Dream. And for dessert-well there's always fruit, small boxes of raisins, fruit roll-ups, individually sized portions of applesauce. In place of yogurt squeezies, try Walnut Acres Organic Fruit Squeezies. For something slightly more decadent, but still healthy and allergen-free, try Enjoy Life cookies, or snack bars. If your local health food store or grocer doesn't carry these foods, ask for them. Demand increases supply!

To finish it all off, pack your child's lunch in the really "cool" neon green lunch bag from AllergyKids. This bag is a perfect metaphor-while it looks like a normal lunch bag, it's specifically made for those with food allergies, and sports the bold new universal food allergy symbol from AllergyKids on the front, giving a simple but special warning to teachers and other kids that your child has food allergies.

For more tips and information on managing food allergies at school, look to FAAN, FAI, Kids with Food Allergies, AAAAI, AllergyKids, or Living Without magazine.