Calling all food allergy experts!

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I'm asking for a friend. She has an 11 month old that was recently diagnosed with the following allergies:

 

milk

wheat

egg

peanut (was told to avoid all nuts)

 

She's really struggling with what to feed him. There are a few issues going on:

 

1. They are very low income and finding affordable substitutes is hard.

2. She is a beginner in terms of cooking skill. She's been known to screw up pancakes :)

3. He is "behind" in being able to chew/swallow due to not experiencing very many textures, etc. He still gags on a lot and JUST figured out a sippy cup this week.

 

She said she feels like she's feeding him snacks all the time. Her go to foods are deli turkey (torn up), sweet potato fries, applesauce, some allergen free waffles she found, and few other fruits. She has 2 other kids and needs to be able to not spend her entire day figuring out how to feed her youngest.

 

Her other question is this - with her son's first birthday QUICKLY approaching, she needs a dairy, egg, wheat, and peanut free cake recipe that actually tastes good! She has egg replacer and a few other things that recipes often call for, but she said she's already tried so many different things only to have them not turn out that she can't keep throwing money away like that. $5 or $10 is a lot to them right now.

 

So, I told her I'd come ask the Hive. All you allergy moms out there.....help?!? :)

[Karen in CO]

I used Super Baby Food as a basis when I was learning to make my own baby food. It has good guidance on texture, ingredients and temperature. I remember it was pretty easy. The library should have several books on making baby and toddler food.

 

I use ground golden flax seeds as an egg replacer in cake mixes (there are directions on the bag). We use Bob's Red Mill GF cake mixes. Rice milk is a good substitute for dairy in baking.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I would suggest that she consider coconut milk ice cream or maybe a pie for a birthday dessert instead of cake. With food restrictions, often it is easier to just choose to eat something not quite traditional than to pay a fortune for an allergen-free substitute.

[MomatHWTK]

There are ways to make a cake, but not for someone who doesn't know how to cook. The pre-made items are $$$$.

 

Meat actually from the deli isn't safe because it may have been contaminated by some other item on the slicer or by the worker's hands. (Scoop some egg salad, grab a slab of turkey meat...) Packaged lunch meat isn't safe for any child under a certain age. I understand the temptation, but seriously- buy some ground beef and fry it. If she doesn't know how, your first step to help should be to teach her to buy ground beef and fry it. :grouphug:

 

I feed my child with those allergies- baked and slow cooked meats. Chicken, beef, and pork can all be cooked in liquid to keep them tender and sliced or shredded. Chicken and pork will be the cheapest- the $1.49 pork butt or chicken thighs on sale are fine. I make bean soups, served canned beans, and use beans with ground beef to make chili.

 

A package of frozen vegetables, large can of tomato juice and some sort of meat in a crock pot all day will give you vegetable soup. Freeze 1-2 cup portions to use later. Do the same with your meat- cook it all, section it and freeze so you have something to food the child. Ball Park regular hot dogs work in a pinch, but again not for a young child.

 

Some Wal-Mart stores carry a small selection of gluten-free cookies that are safe under the brand name "Enjoy Life." They cost about $.30 per cookie. Enjoy Life also makes a safe granola-style bar. Also not cheap.

 

I use potatoes baked in the microwave or instant white rice as my go to starches because they are quick and easy. She may be able to serve him oatmeal. If so, you can make oatmeal porridge using just quick oats and water (no milk needed) and flavored with brown sugar.

 

The simpler the food the better. But if you want to help her, I'd start her with cooking basics- how to boil water, how to heat frozen and fresh veggies, how to cook meats. Then move to some simple crock pot recipes.

 

For the more difficult cooking (i.e. baking without wheat, egg or dairy) when she's ready this website has the best recipes. They also have the best general resources, IMO. Scholarships are available for those who can't afford membership.

 

There may be easier things out there, but my child is also a very picky eater so the above are the things I've ended up using. :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: Sorry I sound so cranky. I've had a rough allergy-mom week myself. Cake is the least of the worries for an allergy mom. But, I did have a thought. If she can come up with a safe icing she could just put it on a plate. We all know the icing is the best part anyway. (I think there are some canned icing that are safe for DS and he is dairy, egg, peanut and treenut free.)

Edited June 12, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[MomatHWTK]

Forgot to add, when my Ds had texture issues we relied heavily on Alimentum as a dietary supplement (though it is $) and used a hand grinder to puree all his food. In the beginning we had to send it through twice to get it smooth enough for him- we worked up from that over time. The baby should develop less food aversions as the things he is given stop making him sick. Ds had LOTS of food issues as a result of eating things that made him feel bad before being diagnosed.

[Annie]

I'll start with the cake question. :) Skip cake in favor of a different treat. I would do apple crisp with GF oats and a butter substitute. Much harder to mess up than a wheat, egg, and dairy free cake. I'm a good baker, but when I had to go wheat and egg free, I had *very* little success. One or the other? It usually works out, but when you sub both (not to mention dairy), it gets tricky. I know some people have success, but I think it takes a lot of trial and error.

 

As for toddler food, I recommend she makes friends with rice. :) I'm only kind of kidding. GF pasta subs are expensive, but if she's only using them for the toddler, a bag should stretch pretty far. GF pasta or rice with some olive oil, garlic powder, and cooked veggies was usually well recieved here. Smoothies aren't cheap, but they are yummy, easy to make allergen free, and easy to pack full of nutrition. You can make them less expensive by sticking to cheaper and seasonal fruits. I add in some greens and coconut oil to ours. Coconut milk and avocado aren't cheap, but they have good fats that he needs for brain growth at his age. My LO loves it when I quarter cherry tomatoes. Many soups and stews are free of his allergens.

 

I don't have the link right now, but Google Crockpot365. It's a blog full of crockpot recipes that are GF. They aren't all free of her other allergens, but many of them are.

 

The first couple months are by far the hardest.:grouphug:

[gingersmom]

I would have her look into early intervention services for the feeding issues ( its free) before it becomes a much bigger problem later on.

[LittleIzumi]

1 TBSP ground flax seed to 3 TBSP water, soaking for 10-15 min, per egg. It works perfectly. All my other egg replacers bombed. Mine has similar allergies & we do a lot of fruit and veggies cut-up (or not, if he swipes it), plus the deli meat, potatoes, rice, etc. Indian food is often free of all of those ingredients. Maybe she could try a few Indian cookbooks for beginners?? We make a lot of Indian food for the same reason.

 

She could try this with gluten-free flour:

 

 

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

6 Tbl. cocoa

1 tsp salt

10 Tbl veg oil

2 Tbl vinegar

2 cups cold water

 

Put all ingred. in large bowl and mix very well. Dump into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake on 350 for 25-35 mins.

[Beth.]

My food allergy kiddo's first birthday cake was Jello. She had the same restrictions as your friend's lo at that time and was very behind in the "chewing/swallowing without gagging" department as well.

 

:grouphug: for your friend. Food allergies with babies are soooo tough. At one, my dd ate only a few foods. At two, she had a real birthday cake and real, from-the-bakery cookies! We are hoping for ice cream cake for her third birthday.

[BatmansWife]

milk

wheat

egg

peanut (was told to avoid all nuts)

 

 

Boy do I feel her pain. These were the exact same foods my ds was found allergic to when he was 9 months old. Thankfully he "outgrew" the wheat allergy. Milk he can now have in certain forms (like cheese, milk in baked items, ice cream). It's not an easy thing. This ds just turned 17 this week, so I feel like it's just normal now. But, back then...I learned a lot from the Food Allergy Network website. They had a newsletter type thing they used to mail to you with recipes....not sure if they still do. That might be a nice gift to subscribe her to, since funds are tight. But, perhaps this is all online now anyway. Also peanutallergy.com had a lot of recipes. We used a *lot* of soy back then (soy milk, soy butter), but overtime we switched to rice milk and sunbutter. I'm not sure what egg replacer she has...but we use EnerG egg replacer for anything he eats baked that requires eggs. It usually works pretty well.

Edited June 12, 2012 by ~AprilMay~

[wapiti]

Here's a cookbook that might help get her started - very basic, but good for a beginner. I found it very useful when I was avoiding the top allergens for a time.

 

Sophie-Safe Cooking: A Collection of Family Friendly Recipes that are Free of Milk, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish and Shellfish

[almondbutterandjelly]

I have not tasted these (I have a milk, egg, peanut allergic child but no wheat), but these recipes are from The Food Allergy News Cookbook Volume 1 by The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network.

 

Orange Cupcakes

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons rice flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup orange juice

 

Preheat ovento 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside. In large bowl, cream (that means mix) together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and orange juice to shortening-sugar mixtures. Beat on low speed 30 seconds after last addition. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bakes 20 to 30 minutes. Note: These cupcakes hold together better if you let them cool a few hours or overnight.

[Occasionally]

 

She could try this with gluten-free flour:

 

 

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

6 Tbl. cocoa

1 tsp salt

10 Tbl veg oil

2 Tbl vinegar

2 cups cold water

 

Put all ingred. in large bowl and mix very well. Dump into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake on 350 for 25-35 mins.

 

This is the recipe I thought of immediately, but I've never tried it with a wheat-free flour. Even though my DS6 has outgrown his egg allergy (yay!) we still use this cake recipe.

Edited June 12, 2012 by larastheme
wrote "gluten" instead of "wheat"

[almondbutterandjelly]

Here's the other recipe from The Food Allergy News Cookbook:

 

Carrot Cake

1/4 cup molasses

1 1/2 cups oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

4 cups grated carrots

4 cups barley flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 Tablespoons baking powder

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Set aside. In large bowl, blend first 7 ingredients well; set aside. Sift together dry ingredients. Combine with wet mixture. Pour into pan. Bake 50 minutes. Cool.

 

HTH! The other treat for birthdays that might work (again, I don't deal with the wheat allergy myself) is Rice Krispy Treats. Use Earth balance or other safe margarine, and regular marshmallows (not marshmallow creme).

[LillyMama]

I would suggest that she consider coconut milk ice cream or maybe a pie for a birthday dessert instead of cake. With food restrictions, often it is easier to just choose to eat something not quite traditional than to pay a fortune for an allergen-free substitute.

 

Coconut has recently been verified as a tree nut, so if she's going to avoid all nuts, this may not be a good option. My son is tree-nut allergic, and we don't do coconut.

 

Here's my two cents, as having kids with severe food allergies- forget about variety and all the "shoulds." The texture issue is common with kids with allergies, as tongue-tingling is usually the first sign of an allergic reaction. These kids often don't trust food and it takes a lot longer to build variety for them. Honestly, she already has more variety than my kids did at twice that age, so I think feeding him those things over and over are fine. He needs to develop a confidence in his food and repetition is not bad here.

 

For a good protein, I recommend beans. My daughter lived on refried beans for a long time. The cans are cheap, and Mexican food is very popular here, so we can almost always find it at a restaurant. My son loved edamame, but too much soy isn't good for young boys, so if you're doing soy milk, I personally wouldn't do too much of that. Bean soups were a big stand-by here when we first got our nut diagnosis and were struggling for protein.

 

As for desserts- go for pie. I never liked cake anyway, I always asked for pie for my birthdays when I was little. Most pies you can do without egg or milk, I think. Just stick to non-pitted fruits- cherries, peaches, mangoes, etc are all related to tree nuts.

[LittleIzumi]

Coconut has recently been verified as a tree nut, so if she's going to avoid all nuts, this may not be a good option. My son is tree-nut allergic, and we don't do coconut.

 

There's still debate on that. My tree-nut-allergic kid seems 100% fine with coconut, and cannot have ANY classic tree nut.