Allergy friendly budget meals?

rewardsinlife

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Aug 17, 2012
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Ok here is the deal. Our family has quite a lot of allergies..specifically food allergies. This means it makes it almost impossible to buy cohesive meals we all can eat. Usually, everyone has their own list for the grocery store, and we all end up eating four separate meals at the dinner table. Kind of a pain with dishes...let alone quite expensive as well.

Member 1: allergic to eggs, cheese, milk, lactose, msg. Also can not eat anything greasy or too spicy at all.
Member 2: allergic to citrus foods, and tomato sauce based dishes.
Member 3: allergic to eggs, strawberries, MSG.
Member 4: Tomato allergy as well..but still eats it. Spicy foods don't agree.

So...is it crazy to think that we might find at least a weeks worth of meals that we all could eat without worrying about allergies? The grocery budget is out of control...but thinking it might be something we will just have to live with. :confused3 :confused::confused3
 
Ok here is the deal. Our family has quite a lot of allergies..specifically food allergies. This means it makes it almost impossible to buy cohesive meals we all can eat. Usually, everyone has their own list for the grocery store, and we all end up eating four separate meals at the dinner table. Kind of a pain with dishes...let alone quite expensive as well.

Member 1: allergic to eggs, cheese, milk, lactose, msg. Also can not eat anything greasy or too spicy at all.
Member 2: allergic to citrus foods, and tomato sauce based dishes.
Member 3: allergic to eggs, strawberries, MSG.
Member 4: Tomato allergy as well..but still eats it. Spicy foods don't agree.

So...is it crazy to think that we might find at least a weeks worth of meals that we all could eat without worrying about allergies? The grocery budget is out of control...but thinking it might be something we will just have to live with. :confused3 :confused::confused3


I came up with a couple of ideas - however, I don't know what MSG is in without checking.

Day 1 - Turkey Burgers, Mashed potatoes, green beans. - Burgers - ground turkey, salt & pepper, chopped up crackers (to help hold) make in frying pan. Mashed potatoes - potatoes, lactiad, salt & pepper, butter. Green beans - frozon

Day 2 - Baked Chicken, corn, lima beans - Self explanatory

Day 3 - Spaghetti & Salad - Use a white sauce, or green sauce instead of red sauce and make a salad to go along with

Day 4 - Meatballs and veges - Meatballs - ground beef or turkey, crackers, mild sausage (Neeses says no MSG) egg substitute (there are some that have no egg in them) bake until golden brown. Also made a couple of veges on the side (eggplant would be really good)

Day 5 - pork chops, mixed veges and rice - self explanatory.

I hope this helps.

Just think about the foods each person likes, and find a way to make it without all the allergy ingredients. Most if not everything on your list has a substitute (I think)
 
Sounds like a simpler version of my family's allergies. It really isn't hard to come up with meals that are safe for everybody. You just need a protein, starch and vegetable and cook as desired. Cook using olive or canola oil instead of cooking spray (though I believe that Pam is safe for your list).

Using fresh ingredients, it's actually very easy to do meals for the whole family and keep it rather inexpensive. Buy proteins when they're on sale. Buy seasonal vegetables. Learn how to cook legumes (beans, lentils). Learn how to combine seasonings and make your own marinades and sauces.

FYI: Tofutti brand of soy products is MSG free. I've made some nice cream sauces using the cream cheese along with plain, unsweetened rice milk, garlic powder and onion powder. The cheese slices are pretty good too for grilled cheese or even melting with some margarine for mac & cheese.
 
DS is allergic to all dairy, eggs, soy and nuts. When he was first diagnosed, I tried to make us seperate meals but it too was outrageoulsy priced and stressful.

Once I realized that I should go back to basics--and not buy a bunch of processed foods, our life became much simpler.

A typical meal at our house consists of something like chicken breast marinated in something safe, mix of greens for salads with cut up veggies, a side of fresh fruit and dinner rolls. In reality, we skip the bread often and load up fruits/veggies.

There are times that I still try to make "fancy" meals, but DH and the kids love the basics. We actually eat much healthier now because our foods are not processed.

Also--when making baked goods, use 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce to substitute for each egg. You won't even be able to tell the difference.
 

- Baked chicken tenders (either slathered with eggless mayo and dipped in bread crumbs or just without breading) with a honey mustard sauce, choice of veggies and starch

- Roast beef roasted with potatoes and carrots, with asparagus

- Tacos with homemade taco seasoning (not too spicy, make a big batch and keep on hand) on ground meat of some kind; hard or soft shells or tortilla chips; regular taco fixings (everyone take what they can have)

I can think of a ton more off the top of my head, and I'm sure you'll think of things you like too. I think most any basic meat, veggie, and starch will work with your list. If there are things that certain kids want that others can't have (like macaroni and cheese), you can make a big batch every week or two and freeze individual portions to be eaten as desired by those who can eat it.

I also wouldn't want to make separate meals.
 
We are an allergy family. What works for us, may not work for you but here it goes.I simply do not fix meals that contain any of the allergic items. It's really not too hard. No meats on your list so grilled or broiled chicken or beef or fish or pork should work fine. Any type of dried beans looks to be fine. Salad with a oil and vinegar dressing. Any Veggie steamed. Any fresh fruit except strawberries. Much healthier and easier for you! We don't allow any of DS allergic foods in our house so it's a no brainer for us.
 
Ok here is the deal. Our family has quite a lot of allergies..specifically food allergies. This means it makes it almost impossible to buy cohesive meals we all can eat. Usually, everyone has their own list for the grocery store, and we all end up eating four separate meals at the dinner table. Kind of a pain with dishes...let alone quite expensive as well.

Member 1: allergic to eggs, cheese, milk, lactose, msg. Also can not eat anything greasy or too spicy at all.
Member 2: allergic to citrus foods, and tomato sauce based dishes.
Member 3: allergic to eggs, strawberries, MSG.
Member 4: Tomato allergy as well..but still eats it. Spicy foods don't agree.

So...is it crazy to think that we might find at least a weeks worth of meals that we all could eat without worrying about allergies? The grocery budget is out of control...but thinking it might be something we will just have to live with. :confused3 :confused::confused3

I can empathize - we're vegetarians, with some food allergies , and a couple of sensitive stomachs and a picky eater thrown in for good measure!
I think you need to spend a little time coming up with a list of meals you could do in simple rotation that work for everyone. Given your list I would look into a some paleo diet info too. May have some recipes that would work well.

Chicken, potatoes and veg
Rice and beans
Fish and a nice salad
Burgers and beans/slaw (not mayo one, obviously)
Quinoa is a nice substitute for a paste type night, olive oil and soy cheese.
etc.
White pizza can be made with soy cheese as well, we use 1/2 whole wheat in the crust and making ourselves means everyone get's the toppings they like.
10 -12 planned out meals normally gets us through 2 weeks.

Once you have that down then I would start planning meals around the good sales like loss leader meats etc. in your grocery store for that week. Stock up when you can and when times get too busy for too much pre-planning than just go back to the old rotation. Stick to simple homemade foods nothing premade and you'll know what is in it and that it is safe for your whole family. Plus you'll save time in the long run over getting four meals to the table, and a ton of money!
 
We are an allergy family. What works for us, may not work for you but here it goes.I simply do not fix meals that contain any of the allergic items. It's really not too hard. No meats on your list so grilled or broiled chicken or beef or fish or pork should work fine. Any type of dried beans looks to be fine. Salad with a oil and vinegar dressing. Any Veggie steamed. Any fresh fruit except strawberries. Much healthier and easier for you! We don't allow any of DS allergic foods in our house so it's a no brainer for us.

Haha I wish I could say guess what guys...no more cheese in this house! I think I would be shunned. :lmao::rotfl2:
 
Thank you all very much. I was thinking too much of what we couldn't have instead of all the things that we can have! And it was all your suggestions that made me realize just how unhealthy we all were in eating some meals. Last week one of the members of the house ate a plate full of cheese nachos for every dinner meal! Yikes! Another ate cereal, the other had a quesadilla, and one just skipped dinner all together. We definitely need to be getting home cooked meals back not this house for the sake of all of our health! :eek:
 
Sounds like a simpler version of my family's allergies. It really isn't hard to come up with meals that are safe for everybody. You just need a protein, starch and vegetable and cook as desired. Cook using olive or canola oil instead of cooking spray (though I believe that Pam is safe for your list).

I would be careful with Canola Oil. Have you read up on that stuff!?! I

t makes my son very sick. Made us miss MVMCP because Pollo Campero uses Canola Oil to fry their chicken and we didn't know at the time that Canola Oil made him sick or we would have asked. Chick-fil-a now fries their fries in it and they make him sick. You would think he had the stomach flu or food poisoning. We now ask everywhere!

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First make a list comprised of 3 columns - one for meat/protein, one for starches (rice, pasta, potatoes etc) and one for veggies. List items in each column that everyone in the family eat and start you menu planning with those listed items. Keep it simple.
 
I would be careful with Canola Oil. Have you read up on that stuff!?! I

t makes my son very sick. Made us miss MVMCP because Pollo Campero uses Canola Oil to fry their chicken and we didn't know at the time that Canola Oil made him sick or we would have asked. Chick-fil-a now fries their fries in it and they make him sick. You would think he had the stomach flu or food poisoning. We now ask everywhere!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Is your son by any chance allergic to mustard or any vegetables? The plant from which canola oil is made (rapeseed) is closely related to mustard and many who react to one seem to also react to the other. I suspect he's got an allergy or intollerance (it doesn't have any proteins in it so supposedly it shouldn't be called an allergy but it's still a nasty reaction whatever it's called) to the rapeseed plant/canola oil. This is not a common reaction to canola oil.

Last I checked, Chick-fil-a used peanut oil. We don't eat fries there because of it (we actually don't eat there at all due to other allergies but we don't even stop at an airport for fries because of the peanut oil).
 
Ok here is the deal. Our family has quite a lot of allergies..specifically food allergies. This means it makes it almost impossible to buy cohesive meals we all can eat. Usually, everyone has their own list for the grocery store, and we all end up eating four separate meals at the dinner table. Kind of a pain with dishes...let alone quite expensive as well.

Member 1: allergic to eggs, cheese, milk, lactose, msg. Also can not eat anything greasy or too spicy at all.
Member 2: allergic to citrus foods, and tomato sauce based dishes.
Member 3: allergic to eggs, strawberries, MSG.
Member 4: Tomato allergy as well..but still eats it. Spicy foods don't agree.

So...is it crazy to think that we might find at least a weeks worth of meals that we all could eat without worrying about allergies? The grocery budget is out of control...but thinking it might be something we will just have to live with. :confused3 :confused::confused3

I'm not understanding the issue. You need to make dinner that doesn't have dairy, tomato products, citrus, eggs or is too greasy/spicy.

You can grill, sautee or broiling any kind of protein, include a grain and a vegetable.
 
Haha I wish I could say guess what guys...no more cheese in this house! I think I would be shunned. :lmao::rotfl2:

Daiya makes this incredible cheese. My daughter was dairy free for a while, but now she can have it, and I still buy the stuff. Melts like real cheese. Great on homemade pizza.

It sounds like there is a ton you can do that you're just not thinking of. I think the previous poster had a great idea, just make 3 columns and add things you like in each column and go from there.
 
My son's egg and dairy allergies became much easier when I started planning meals around vegan items with meat added. It is sort of backwards, but takes away all of the needing to substitute for those. We stock up on various milks while they are on sale A lot of unsweetened almond, rice, coconut and you could do soy as well. It is shelf stable. Then we use coconut or olive oil butter substitutes. There are a TON of soy ones.

We make a lot of baked products, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, coffee cake type dishes- I actually prefer using mashed bananas or apple sauce for the eggs now.

You can easily make cream sauces with substitute milks and corn starch. If my kids liked noodles more I would do pasta dishes for them with a light cream sauce, mild pesto or even just (fake) buttered. Then you can complement it with one or two chicken breasts- they spread much further then sliced to go with something. Or shrimp, shrimp would be awesome.
Fries are really easy, just chop a potato lengthwise, lightly use an oil of choice and it sits in the oven for 20 minutes.

As a PP said, the daiya cheese is really good- but you need to use to sparingly. If you heap it on it tastes like tapioca, but lightly on top of something it's great.

I have to laugh at myself, I always wonder what people eat who have more allergies than my son, I read your list and was thinking "soy and wheat- the possibilities are endless!"
 
we are an allergy family too. One DD cant have dairy at all, I cannot have gluten.

Cooking is really not that hard.

As mentioned above, stick to the basics, protien, some type of grain, and veggies.

Example today I made a roasted chicken with sweet potatoes, & salad.

London broil in a a safe marinade, veggies, etc.

If I made a non safe grain for me, I will just eat the meat and veggies (which is much healthier anyways).

If I bake I will use gluten free flour.

Unproccessed foods are much healthier for you anyways. And to the posters above, just as an FYI Canola oil is gmo.

We really try to avoid ANY GMO food!
 















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