Food Avoidance Misery

[Spryte]

Is there an app for this? My grocery store visits are crazy-making.

 

I am having the worst time keeping up with all of our family members' food requirements.

 

DS8 has been allergic to peanuts, lentils, tree nuts, coconut, sesame, and banana most of his life. Even trace amounts, so those have to stay out of the house completely. I've got that one down due to lots of practice. Now he's developed a wheat allergy. True allergy to wheat, not a Celiac issue - so for him, it's actual wheat not gluten. But we still have to watch for cross contamination with his other allergens. Okay, working on that one, learning. He also has Oral Allergy Syndrome to many raw fruits and veggies, but we can have them in the house, he just can't eat them.

 

Now I have developed allergies to spinach and egg yolk. Ugh. Okay, we can work with that. I am also gluten free, as gluten makes me have terrible stomach cramping though I have not tested positive for Celiac. For me it's not just wheat, but seems to be any gluten at all. I am still learning on this one, so know very little other than how very sick I feel after the tiniest bit of gluten. Now... Doc wants me very low fat, less than 15 gms per day, and vegan if at all possible (to help with inflammation). Of course, since kiddo is anaphylactic to nuts and seeds - those have to stay out the house. Aaaaaahhhhhh!

 

Baby is, at doc's request, avoiding milk products to see if helps the eczema that popped up as soon as we introduced cow's milk.

 

Oh. My. Goodness. The label reading is nuts, excuse my pun, and I find that if I remember one person's requirements, I forget another's!

 

How on earth do you moms who have kids with multiple different food allergies do it???

 

 

 

 

 

(I think this was just a rant, but if you have tips, I would welcome them!)

[Spryte]

Wow. That sounds really tough!

 

Thanks. :) There aren't any answers, I guess I just have to power through it.

 

I think I'm kicking myself now because I went to the store hungry, and was delighted to find pre-made potstickers that I could bring into the house (no actual allergens for DS, but I wouldn't feed them to him) as a treat for myself... I checked for every ingredient for everyone else, but forgot about wheat. Oops. I ate them last night and spent the night with cramping and feeling ill, and am still feeling the effects.

 

:banghead:

[LittleIzumi]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Can you start with making a list of all the foods that everyone can eat? I realize that might only be half a dozen things, but it would still be worthwhile. You need a go-to list, a cheat sheet for when you're too busy to sort it out. You need to know you can always fall back on a simple menu.

 

Categorize them simply:

 

Protein Foods (meat, fish, fowl, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds)

 

Carbohydrates (grains, starchy veg like corn, potato, yam)

 

Produce (fruits and vegetables)

 

Convenience foods (canned, dried, and frozen ready-to-use)

 

Then formulate one day's menu from the above list. Call it the EASY DAY MENU. You can use this anytime you're overwhelmed, even if it's three days per week at first.

 

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Snacks:

Supper:

 

Write down the shopping list for the EASY DAY MENU. Keep your fridge and pantry stocked with those items at all times.

 

Work your way up to one week's menu that you can all eat. Write down the menu and the shopping list for that one week, and keep your fridge and pantry stocked with those items at all times.

 

Then begin to tackle other foods that various family members need or want to eat that someone else can't have. Start to schedule those things in.

 

Step 1 in these situations is to know what you can eat and get a handle on it, even if it's very, very simple, bland, or boring.

 

Step 2 is to begin to work with the variations.

 

I hope this has helped somewhat.

[Spryte]

I avoid going to the store hungry. I spend 2x as much. LOL

 

Good plan. I don't know what I was thinking.

[Spryte]

Can you start with making a list of all the foods that everyone can eat? I realize that might only be half a dozen things, but it would still be worthwhile. You need a go-to list, a cheat sheet for when you're too busy to sort it out. You need to know you can always fall back on a simple menu.

 

Categorize them simply:

 

Protein Foods (meat, fish, fowl, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds)

 

Carbohydrates (grains, starchy veg like corn, potato, yam)

 

Produce (fruits and vegetables)

 

Convenience foods (canned, dried, and frozen ready-to-use)

 

Then formulate one day's menu from the above list. Call it the EASY DAY MENU. You can use this anytime you're overwhelmed, even if it's three days per week at first.

 

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Snacks:

Supper:

 

Write down the shopping list for the EASY DAY MENU. Keep your fridge and pantry stocked with those items at all times.

 

Work your way up to one week's menu that you can all eat. Write down the menu and the shopping list for that one week, and keep your fridge and pantry stocked with those items at all times.

 

Then begin to tackle other foods that various family members need or want to eat that someone else can't have. Start to schedule those things in.

 

Step 1 in these situations is to know what you can eat and get a handle on it, even if it's very, very simple, bland, or boring.

 

Step 2 is to begin to work with the variations.

 

I hope this has helped somewhat.

 

 

Oh - thank you! I needed someone to break this down into simple steps for me, I was so overwhelmed I could not get to that point. Whew. I am going to work on this right now, and my DH will thank you also. He gets as confused as I do now, and that's unusual.

 

Thanks for the support on this! ... and thank you, LittleIzumi, for the hugs, as I need those too.

[Slipper]

We don't have as rough a time as you, but when I first started cooking gluten free it was very difficult for me. What I ended up doing was making note cards of the recipes we could ALL eat (or if small modifications were needed for one person).

 

I shopped daily and made sure I had that meal ready. Then I worked on the next day. I literally could only survive one day at a time at first, it was so overwhelming. Eventually, I have a week's worth of meals and that's all we ate for about a month. Once I realized that nobody would starve to death, I started branching out and experimenting.

 

BIG IMPORTANT - If you decide to experiment on a new recipe, start early and have a back up for dinner. :)

 

It will get easier. Just do one day at a time.

[Spryte]

What I ended up doing was making note cards of the recipes we could ALL eat (or if small modifications were needed for one person).

 

I shopped daily and made sure I had that meal ready. Then I worked on the next day. I literally could only survive one day at a time at first, it was so overwhelming. Eventually, I have a week's worth of meals and that's all we ate for about a month.

 

I am happy to know I'm not alone in being overwhelmed. These are wonderful tips, and you give me so much hope. Thank you!

[Annie Laurie]

I did a gluten and dairy elimination diet for myself and the baby for a couple of months and that was hard enough, I can't imagine sorting all of that out. :grouphug:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

That's a lot to handle! :grouphug: