No Dairy, No Eggs, No Nuts, No Shellfish. Hmm…That cuts out a lot for a growing toddler. If you are in the same boat as me, you may be frustrated with the idea of discontinuing all use of your favorite ingredients. I anticipate having to bring food from home for every social occasion my son attends from here on out. I am conflicted when I think about things like Easter Egg Hunts and trick-or-treating. Do I allow him to enjoy these favorite childhood pastimes? Or am I welcoming disappointment by having him collect foods that I’ll have to take back from him when we get home. As a parent of a child with allergies, I’ve got lots to think about. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some of the information & great products I’ve discovered over the past few months…Awesome Storebought Alternatives:
Earth Balance (Butter Alternative)
Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise (Mayo Alternative)
Tofutti (Sour Cream Alternative)
Ener-G (Egg Alternative for baking)
Alternative Baking Company’s Vegan Cookies - great sweets
Van’s Waffles (egg, dairy free)
Ian’s Chicken Nuggets (the wheat, nut, soy, egg, dairy free ones)
Plum Organics Super Greens baby food - a healthy little spinich puree
Enjoy Life Foods - more great sweets
Ezekial Bread - Cinnamon Raisin is Yummy.
o’Soy or Silk yogurt.
Here are some tips on avoiding milk. And since E’s missing his traditional calcium & protein sources, we work hard to make get his calcium and protein in other ways. And here’s some great basic infoabout how to get any toddler the nutrients he needs. If you'd like to read some more info just about allergies, click here.
Lastly, I am conflicted about our Milk Alternatives. Here’s an article about milk & kids. Right now, Ethan drinks Rice Milk because of the questions I have about too much soy in a child’s diet. We definitely do some soy, but I’m trying to balance out how much he gets.
Man, I wish we lived close to BabyCakes. Never been there, but it just sounds brilliant.
PS. If you are looking for some safe junk food, Moon Pies are egg & dairy-free. Who knew? Guess I know what I’ll be buying for Easter, Halloween & Christmas from here-on-out!
Hope this is helpful to others. I have taken quite a bit of time in research on this issue. If you have anything to add, please do!
4 comments:
Holidays with other kids will be harder for you than for him because you know what he is missing. But he won't know the difference. As long as he knows that there are certain things that his body doesn't like, then he can help you sort those things out of the pile and maybe give away to friends or cousins. You could make it into a game; "what can we give away?"
My kids aren't allergic to much, but I limit their candy more than some other moms, and because my kids know that sugar isn't good for them, they always ask me first and they are usually content with the one piece that they get, even if they have to watch other kids have more.
I just discovered Van's waffles last week. I was shocked how cheap they were (compar. speaking) to the rest of the organic products on the market. We also love that Annie's Organic now has mac & cheese in the box just like Kraft....my little girl loves it but I know there is dairy so your little man couldn't eat it.... I also wanted to tell you your idea for the cook book is brilliant. i would love to buy a copy. I have been thinking about writing a cookbook myself for a long time and you may have just inspired me to do it!
I know you have posted about Ethan's allergies for a while so when did you know he had them? Sophie doesn't tolerate dairy well so we drink soy milk and limit her cheese intake. She has eaten nuts a few times and done fine and she loves eggs! I just wondered how you knew about his allergies and when you discovered them....
I have the same questions Amy does. Will isn't even on solids yet, but I am the allergy queen (not foods really, but everything that blooms!)so I am curious. Did you ever make your own baby food?
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