Sunday, August 29, 2010

Meal plan for children with food allergies

In my endless hours of looking for recipes and meal plans for my daughter I come to one realization. They are just to far and few between. So in the interest of anyone looking to feed a child allergy free foods I offer up my meal plan for my daughter. I realize the difficulty of finding “safe foods” and just wished I could find a list of products and foods that I could either buy or make to have on hand. So for anyone interested what I feed my daughter here we go…….

egg, wheat, milk, soy, peanut FREE food

Breakfast

rolled oats, Oatmeal with or without vanilla rice milk and sugar or for a treat you can add a few chocolate chips from Enjoy life,

fruit, bananas, applesauce, grapes, peaches-Del Monte has fruit cups with no sugar added, any fruit really

oatmeal muffins, banana bread, zucchini bread, cranberry bread, pumpkin bread, oatmeal pancakes with or without blueberries, apple bread or muffins all recipes from Sofie safe cookbook from Emily Hendrix

to drink juice water or milk

Snack

Gerber offers freeze dried fruit in apple and strawberry banana. I don’t usually buy Gerber products because they are not allergy aware but they don’t seem to mess up fruit so I find them great snacks. Store brand is sometimes better anyway. Also Trader Joes has freeze dried strawberries that are yummy and melt in your mouth.

Baby MUM MUM and Toddler MUM MUM products are wonderful! they are rice crackers that are allergy free and really yummy! My daughter loves them we eat them everyday! its her favorite snack! they offer two types of crackers one baby friendly and one for toddlers for teeth! also have different flavors vegetable, banana, strawberry and now caramel they also offer organic products!

smoothies are always a hit with my daughter just blend up some fresh or frozen fruit and to make it a bit creamy add banana and rice milk to sweeten add juice instead of sugar. pour any remaining into a pop-cycle mold and they make a yummy ice cream later on, I also do this with juice and make my own pop-cycles

Frozen bananas in a baby feeder is a really good snack on a hot day and it was perfect for teething.

Good health Natural foods offers a wonderful variety of snacks. they are a very allergy aware company and offer a variety of chips safe for any child. My daughter loves the veggie chips and i feel confident giving them to her. When ever I shop I buy a few bags at a time because they are hard to find.

cookies are always a yummy snack and I have a few options for that as well. Enjoy life also offers cookies, and Nana’s cookie co offers yummy cookies but so far the best is always fresh from the oven. The best recipe I have found is this one so far, the search is always on!

Lunch

lunch at my house is usually leftovers from the night before but sometimes something fresh.

My daughter tolerates deli meats and I am sure to check the ingredients but she loves them. I give her Ham, Turkey, Or chicken.

always a fruit is good with lunch, usually grapes.

veggie chips are a treat she like to dip them im humus. be sure to check your brand some have soy.

sweet potato fries are a hit. simply cut your sweet potato into fry strips place them in a bag and shake with olive oil and salt until they are covered. Place on parchment paper in your oven at 400degree and bake for 30+45 min flip every 15 min. they will not get golden brown or crispy but remove when soft. they are a sweet and fiber filled treat!

cut up fresh veggies and steamed veggies are always on the menu.

as always you can check your Sophie safe cookbook for lots of wonderful recipes!

Dinner

My daughter loves to see that she is eating the same things that her daddy and mommy are eating. I think its important that she not feel left out or different because of what she eats or cant eat. I simply keep in mind her allergies and adjust the recipe for her. Example, if I make mashed potatoes is always fresh and I put a bit of rice milk in hers to whip it and leave out the butter. I make her gravy with organic stock or drippings and just add corn starch to thicken any dish. She eats what we eat and everything i make is home-made. I find that processed food just has too many ingredients and the only way Im gonna know whats in it is to make it myself. I don’t use boxed food and rarely use caned.

A perfect pasta sub for my daughter is to use rice noodles. You can find them in the oriental section of your store they are really good made with only rice and take on the flavor of the dish. I use them to make spaghetti, bean Alfredo, chicken noodle and such.

Be creative and learn about food and the options become endless. just because she has to do without certain foods does not mean she has to live with less!

1 comment:

  1. THANK YOU! I am so happy to have found your site today. We haven't *confirmed* any allergies with my baby but I am pretty sure (as is the dr we've been seeing) that they exist. I've been so frustrated because I'm terrified to feed him anything worrying that he might have a reaction to it. I've cut dairy and chocolate out of my diet and have cut back on wheat since I am still nursing him. It is especially hard for me because I'm also vegetarian so I've basically had no energy for the past five months due to a lack of protein! Anyway, thank you again and I can't wait to get a routine down so we can have a "normal" meal schedule around here =)

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