I have reached the end of my meal-planning rope: food allergies and intolerances

[Luckymama]

So dd15 and dd20 will be home, overlapping, for 7 days---the perfect storm of food allergies, suspected food allergies, food intolerances, and the FODMAP diet for IBS.

 

I need to plan dinners (main and sides, but I have veggies covered) that take these needs into consideration:

 

• no soy

• no dairy

• no gluten

• no rice

• no fish

• no shellfish

• no tree nuts

• no legumes like yummy fresh peas and black beans

• no coconut

• no onions (!)

• no garlic (!!)

• no beef (this is a preference)

• only pork from ham and bacon (sausage is now out due to the onion/garlic issue)

• only dh will eat lamb

 

:eek:

 

I weep. No, seriously, I cry about feeding people a couple times a week. I was used to the soy/nuts/some-other-random-things gig because we've been living with that for eight years. The past two months have been very challenging. Losing rice this week was such a blow.

 

Everyone is on their own for breakfasts and lunches, which means some can have dairy at thise times, some can have gluten, some can have rice, and so on. I buy items that fit the girls' and dh's needs. We all like to sit down to dinner together, since that doesn't happen as much anymore.

 

We all like spiced and seasoned food----Mexican, Middle Eastern, African. I like to grill in the summer.

 

Help!

[Eagle]

Is corn ok? Corn tortillas can be used in Mexican dishes or as sandwich wraps. You can also use collard greens or lettuce as a sandwich wrap.

 

Use quinoa where you would otherwise use rice in Middle Eastern and African dishes.

 

Use ground turkey in place of ground beef, but add more seasoning for added flavour. This would be good for tacos (make your own seasoning to avoid onion/garlic powder in the mix).

 

It sounds like chicken is ok, so you can make chicken fajitas, stir fries, other chicken dishes.

 

Quinoa pasta is delicious. We use GoGo Quinoa brand.

 

Sometimes it helps to list for yourself all the things you CAN use to prepare dishes. I used to find that it helped me match items together for meals, rather than me just aimlessly thinking of all the things I couldn't use.

 

:grouphug: Hugs. It's hard. I understand.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

So dd15 and dd20 will be home, overlapping, for 7 days---the perfect storm of food allergies, suspected food allergies, food intolerances, and the FODMAP diet for IBS.

 

I need to plan dinners (main and sides, but I have veggies covered) that take these needs into consideration:

 

• no soy

• no dairy

• no gluten

• no rice

• no fish

• no shellfish

• no tree nuts

• no legumes like yummy fresh peas and black beans

• no coconut

• no onions (!)

• no garlic (!!)

• no beef (this is a preference)

• only pork from ham and bacon (sausage is now out due to the onion/garlic issue)

• only dh will eat lamb

 

:eek:

 

I weep. No, seriously, I cry about feeding people a couple times a week. I was used to the soy/nuts/some-other-random-things gig because we've been living with that for eight years. The past two months have been very challenging. Losing rice this week was such a blow.

 

Everyone is on their own for breakfasts and lunches, which means some can have dairy at thise times, some can have gluten, some can have rice, and so on. I buy items that fit the girls' and dh's needs. We all like to sit down to dinner together, since that doesn't happen as much anymore.

 

We all like spiced and seasoned food----Mexican, Middle Eastern, African. I like to grill in the summer.

 

Help!

 

That is so much. I'm sorry. :( I see a few (very few) possibilities - hope some of this helps!

 

-- Buckwheat pancakes (make sure it's GF buckwheat - I buy from Barry's Farm) made with banana milk (this is homemade - blend two very ripe bananas with a little water and chill)

 

-- breakfast - GF oatmeal or baked oatmeal made with sesame milk

 

-- Taquitos made with GF corn tortillas and shredded chicken

 

-- try the paleo methods for sides to go with roasted chicken or stir-fried chicken and veg, like "zoodles" (zucchini, spiralized) and cauliflower rice. Also, it looks like you can have carrots, turnips, parsnips, and all kinds of potatoes.

 

-- scrambled eggs, roasted diced red potatoes

[Spryte]

:grouphug: I'm sorry.  Our list is similar, though not exactly the same allergens - the length is as long.  It's hard.  I don't have any great ideas, just wanted to say you're not alone.

 

What helps me most is to make a list of what we can all eat.  It looks like you can do potatoes and corn?  (I'd be tempted by popcorn dinner, but haven't done that since college days!)  ...Do you have a good substitute for butter?  Will Earth Balance work, or does it have another allergen in it?  It works for my allergic-to-everything boy.

 

Can you cook some things separately, so if someone can't have one item, they can have another?  Or is cross-contamination an insurmountable hurtle?  (For example, we keep our house free of all allergens that can cause anyone in our home anaphylaxis, but some items stay in-house and the allergic person just doesn't consume them.  So I could theoretically serve pasta to some people, but not give it to our wheat-allergic boy, as it has never caused ana for him.)

 

I hope you get great ideas here!

[snickerplum]

Ok, you can do this. :-)

This may sound silly, but focus on what you can use rather than what you cannot.

Going off of your list, it sounds like you can use quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, chicken, turkey, oats(gf), eggs (score), olive oil, most veggies (sans garlic/onions), minimally processed pork, and fruits. My daughter drinks hemp milk since she cannot have dairy, nut, coconut or rice milk (like your daughters). From there I can think of...

* turkey or chicken meatballs w/ tomato sauce (homemade to avoid garlic and onion) and spaghetti squash.

*roast pork with potatoes/carrots or other veggies.

I have a great balsamic chicken recipe that you can add any sides to.

Basically, start with your meat (pork or poultry) and add in sides (veggies, fruit). Breads are hard, but not out of the question. Soups will be good.

I'm sure you do, but do not forget to read labels. Companies put random things in unsuspecting food.

There are some cold cereals that meet your requirements if you're interested. Eggs are a biggie - I wish dd7 could have eggs.

I've been dealing with our daughter's insanely long list of allergies for years and years. Every time something is removed from her diet I cry a little - I totally get that. And meal planning, even if you like it, can have the fun quickly sucked out from having to be so conscientious. But, again - you can do this!

Ooh - and take their opinion into account. There's nothing like going out of your way to make something fabulous from seemingly nothing to be told "No thanks, I don't want to eat that..."

[Slache]

Make them do it.

[Barbara H]

It sounds like you are a contestant on a new impossible cooking competition show on the Food Network. It is like Chopped but a lot more difficult.

[aaplank]

I'm very sorry. I understand what it means to cry about meal planning. I frequently break down weeping in the middle of the grocery store because In the midst of plenty, the options for my daughter are so few. I second the suggestion of writing down all the food they can eat and build meals from there. Also, take a deep breath, and just focus on one meal at a time. You can do this.

[Tammyla]

:grouphug: Make a list of every single thing that can be eaten; include everything from drinks to spices.  Then, I would try to cook ahead as much as possible for the week.

 

Another hug of sympathy, from someone who regularly cooks three different meals and tries to blend them into dinner.

[Gentlemommy]

Pasta can be replaced with spaghetti squash and rice can be replaced with 'riced' cauliflower. Is ghee ok to use as butter? Is has the milk solids removed, furthermore, traditional ghee is usually made with buffalo milk, which may not cause the same reactions as cow milk.

[prairiewindmomma]

Chicken salad with apples and grapes in a lettuce wrap

 

Chicken soft tacos

 

Turkey burgers (no bun)

[Soror]

Ok, you've got this, it stinks but you've got it. I've done similarly here.

 

- anything that you would do with ground beef you could do with turkey- you can make homemade breakfast sausage as well with ground turkey- I don't buy commercial anyway due to MSG and I never use onion or garlic in my breakfast sausage- per 1 lb- 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp ground mustard, 2 tsp+ sage, pinch of cloves and a 1/2 tsp of chili flakes if you like a bit of spice

 

On the plus side you aren't restricted with spices except onion and garlic. You can have chicken, turkey, ham, eggs and bacon. 

 

- meatloaf

-spaghetti (whip up some sauce from tomato puree to omit garlic and onions)

- whole roast chicken

- roasted chicken pieces with variety of spices- like Moroccan, Greek, Italian

-bbq ribs or other things- using a dry rub or making some but subbing out tomato paste + extra sugar for the ketchup (to omit onions)

 

I'd look for suitable milk substitutes for cream sauces if you have a big health food store that is, at mine the options are pretty limited, otherwise any creamy dish will be out as all the major substitutes are on your off list. Really you might be doing a lot of Protein+ veggies, which is great for the summer and bbq'ing. You can do tomato based Indian dishes. 

[Lizzie in Ma]

I feel your pain.  I love this website.http://detoxinista.com/

[regentrude]

It looks like potatoes, most vegetables, eggs, and chicken are OK? That does not seem too bad to me.

 

If you want a meat main dish:

Roasted chicken, grilled chicken breast, drumsticks,  chicken curry (check curry sauce to find one that has no garlic. ETA: not Thai curry, since you can't have coconut - overlooked that earlier)

turkey breast/turkey breast cutlets

(ETA: I am not sure I understand the pork restriction: ham &bacon are OK, but unprocessed pork chops are not??? Why?)

 

Or an egg based main dish:

Omelettes, scrambled eggs, souffles

 

Or soups from the permitted ingredients.

 

Side dishes:

quinoa instead of rice

baked potatoes

roasted potato wedges

sweet potatos

vegetable casseroles with potato layer on top

 

If it is hot, salads!

quinoa tabuleh with parsley, cucumber, tomato and lemon

cucumber, tomato, pepper, vinaigrette

potato salad (lots of herbs, oil and vinegar for a dairy free dressing)

 

Young potatoes cooked with skin on, scrambled eggs, tomato salad is one of my favorite summer dinners.

 

 

 

[JFSinIL]

I would cook up and have a roast chicken or turkey in the fridge, lots of allowed veggies and sides like Quinoa pasta, and let the family "graze", each person taking on their plate what they can eat.  You can still gather at the table, you just may not be eating the same things.  Outside of not having obvious dangers like nuts or shellfish in the house, folks who can not eat rice can just not eat it. The kids are old enough to be in charge of their intake, it is just up to you to fill the fridge and pantry, and roast or boil or grill up some allowable protein. 

 

I tend to saute onions in a separate pan from any burrito meat etc. so folks who do not eat onion can avoid it, those who like it can add it to their food. 

[greenvneck]

I feel your pain! When my daughters are home, it feels like that...except they are also vegetarian. One daughter has Crohn's, the other has IBS and is on a low FODMAP diet, both sons have Celiac Disease, dh is allergic to dairy, and they're all vegetarian. At this point I try to accommodate as many people as I can (always GF, veg, dairy-free) and make sure there is at least one thing low FODMAP. They cook for themselves in their apartments, they can cook for themselves here if they need to.

 

BTW, if you find you're really missing the garlic flavor, try using garlic-infused olive oil. It is safe for IBS.

[Farrar]

I think you can totally do it. If it were me, it would be every night is chicken + vegetable + starch (potatoes, quinoa, etc.). The chicken could be grilled chicken, homemade bbq chicken (you'd have to make your own sauce to avoid the onion and garlic), sweet and sour chicken, chicken meatballs (with spices and gf bread crumbs), roast chicken... I mean, I know chicken gets old - we eat a lot of chicken, so I know... - but it's a decent base. Then with that you put salad or asparagus or green beans or broccoli or whatever and a starch like a gf bread, some quinoa, or potatoes done a number of different ways.

[J-rap]

That's hard.  We've had very restricted diets over periods of time;  it has lightened up a bit, but still no gluten, dairy, potatoes, and many fruits for some of us.  For awhile it was no tomatoes, which I found hardest of all on a restricted diet, because tomatoes/sauces can add good flavor to nearly anything.

 

What helped me was to make hearty stews that had everyone could eat.  I'd make big batches and divide it up and freeze into big zip-lock bags.  Then on days when I just didn't feel like thinking about it, or if I had to make a quick meal, I could pull out one of our stew bags.  My kids are mostly on their own now (college-aged), but they still are home often enough that I try and keep meals like this on hand.

 

 

[ElizabethB]

http://www.dartagnan.com

 

Duck, goose, quail, buffalo.

 

weird grains: taro root from an asian store, boil and then fry. Spaghetti squash. Quinoa, teff flour. Sweet potatoes.

 

Enjoy life chocolate chips, free of all 8 of the most common allergins, of which I am allergic to 7. I just eat them straight, it is too much work to try to make cookies with limited food choices.

 

I would do some buffet like add your own things if some people can eat some things. Tutkey tacos, add your own stuff, taco meat also mixes with rice if some can't do corn. Potato bar, different toppings. Duck as meat, several different sides that various people can eat, etc.