Son with food allergies

[bearbear]

Hi girls,
I just wanted to see if anyone here could help a sister out. DS1 has major food allergies. Milk, Soy, Wheat, Egg, Peanut, Rice, Apple and Banana. I am at a loss for what to feed this kid. We are still giving him a lot of baby food veggies and fruits. If anyone has any recipes or suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. This is such a challenge.
Thanks in advance
Cindy

 

[MazdaUK]

Check out the gluten-free foods - some of them have spelt or other stuff which does not contain gluten. How about oatmeal (porridge) made with water and honey instead of milk? Is he allergic to all dairy? I had a friend who was allergic to cows milk but OK with sheep and goat, which would give some cheese options. How about houmous?

 

[rlovew]

I know substitutes for milk (I was allergic to milk until I was 16ish) but ZI am not sure any of them don't have soy or wheat in them. According to the list of ingredents on my box of Honey Nut Chex in the cabinet it does not contain any of those items (or a different form of milk- which I recognize) so you could look at the corn or rice chex and see which he could have.

Rich's NonDairy Creamer is what my mom used for milk in many recipes but I don't know if it contains soy or not (as that wasn't a problem for me).

Another thing I can offer is to watch things over the next 6 months or so- many babies outgrow allergies by about 1 1/2- my sister also had a milk allergy until then. I had mine until 16 (your stomach lining changes ever 14-18 years and it completely changes what foods you can tolerate and what you can't).

 

[rlovew]

Thought of another thing- have you looked at our disablitities forum- I would post there as there may be people with these allergies that can point you in a good direction as well.

Rebecca

 

[mycutiepatooties]

My youngest dd (who is now 7) was diagnosed with food allergies at 12 mos. old. At that time she had milk, egg, wheat, peanut, tree nuts. She has since outgrown milk and peanuts with passing oral food challenges in the Dr. office. I would be happy to call and talk to you. I know it is so hard and you just need a lot of support and someone to ask questions to. Trying to think through the groceries I have on hand...but a lot of the allergy safe products are made with rice flour. That's tricky. I do make quite a bit homemade in our house and we could talk about recipes/substitutions. Just pm me if you think that might help.

Allergy testing on babies isn't always that accurate. Did they do a blood test and skin prick test?

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Cindy -- I know how overwhelming this can be! My daughter was diagnosed with a pile of food intollerences last October and it is quite the learning experience.

I would also suggest checking Amazon out for cookbooks -- I like being able to read the comments to get a good book. Pretty much you are going to need a baking book - most use a mix of rice flour/tapioca flour/potato starch with xanthan gum. I have Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts and love it. Her book also talks about using substitutes for egg and milk. I have also wanted to try baking books that use almond flour and coconut flour -- they are suppose to be awesome!

I'll be honest the egg substitute will probably be harder to deal with than the milk. I know they have them at the grocery but they sometimes don't work as well in baking. I don't know much about that.

When my daughter had to go dairy free we bought Almond Milk for all the baking and cooking stuff -- it's a little pricy but lasts longer than regular milk. I also used coconut milk - nice because it comes in cans and I could have some in reserve. In addition she loves her Rice Dream Ice Cream (made with rice milk) and the ice sorbets.

I know of two brands that cater to children having a more than one allergy. Your grocery store should have a GF section - check out the Enjoy Life brand (http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/ ALL of the Enjoy Life foods are specially made to be free of the eight most common allergens. That means they contain NO wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish. Also look into Ian's (http://www.iansnaturalfoods.com/) Ian’s allergen-free (WF/GF Recipe) specialty food products are designed for kids with special dietary needs. These nutritious and tasty products are made without wheat, gluten, casein, milk, eggs or nuts. Ultimately you will want to do more "home" cooking but it is good to have these items in reserve and when you get started.

Cereal -- Again you will find expensive items in the GF section, but many of the major brands are starting to make GF options at reasonable costs. Chex has 5 cereals (our favs are Cinnamon and Chocolate) and Rice Krispies just came out with a GF option.

Blogs -- I follow a few that have great info and recipes. The main message is just go to eating more natural foods and it becomes easier. The site (http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/ is from a mom raising a GF/egg free/dairy free kid. Gluten Free Diva also has recipes which are GF and Dairy Free (http://www.glutenfreediva.com/) And to keep up to date I am Facebook friends with Gluten Freeville.

But I see you are heading to Disney soon - congrats! You should send an email to specialdiets@disneyworld.com and they will send you listings of all their food options and where you can get them. They have an allergin free chicken strips that my daughter raved about! In addition I made a "cheat sheet" about the size of an index card to take in that I could send to you via e-mail if you wanted to PM me. It was catered to my daughter so you would still want the info from Disney as well. At Disney as soon as you tell them you have a food allergy you are taken care of with white gloves. At counter service you are given to a specialist and at buffets and sit down the chef will come out and talk to you directly. It was a wonderful environment!

Also, please PM me if you need any other help. Good luck! It will get easier!!

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Ooops -- missed the rice part. Just disregard the cook book and look for almond flour or coconut flour books!

 

[bearbear]

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. I will be sending PM's soon. On to the grocery store and Target to return some unopened food we just bought. Also he is starting on Atarax for the itching. Thanks again
Cindy

 

[MazdaUK]

Stephanie O'Dea's blog (also known as crockpot lady) does gluten free - some of the other allergens are in there but you might find some inspiration (and they are all quick and easy - generally throw in and wait til cooked)