Allergy free Menu Planning - perfect for Elimination diets

Menu planning used to be a bit of a foreign concept to me - I enjoyed going to the shops to see what was on special or what took my fancy. At home, I would spend time creating some new dish or adding all sorts of spices and sauces... well... that's how I like to remember my pre-allergy life. Perhaps I'm remembering them with rose-coloured glasses - I'll have to ask my husband. My pantry still has a full spice rack that we no longer use, jar upon jar of curry sauce that I bought on special once... note to self... must clear out pantry!

Since our second son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, my diet is so restricted that nearly all joy from cooking has disappeared. The restrictions on our food list are beyond ridiculous, and now just ensuring all bellies are full is an achievement in itself (especially my belly since I'm breasfeeding a ravenous monster of a 5 month old).

I realised not long ago, that actually the stress of cooking dinner each week has been reduced by having a few easy meals that can be rotated or by having a mix and match system. I'm not sure if you remember, but there used to be children's picture books where you could pick a head, flip through another set of pages for the body, then flip through for the legs of your choice. Our dinners follow this simple idea, and makes each dinner plate unique.

The meals aren't necessarily fancy, but they are nutritious and yummy. And with kids, an empty plate is a good plate. I don't plan each meal exactly, but provided my pantry and fridge are well stocked, I can choose my options based on how I feel that day, or how much time I have to prepare dinner. Typically I spend about 30 mins actually cooking dinner each day - doesn't sound much, but by keeping meals simple, I get to keep my sanity :-)

These meals are easily adaptable to be free from milk, egg, soy, all nuts, wheat, oats, seafood and sesame. If you're not sure how to substitute, or you haven't had success at substitutions, just let me know.

Meat options
Pan fried beef steak - served with a side of mustard for my husband.
Pan fried lamb chops - marinated with maple syrup, salt and oil.
Sausages - we use a gluten free range from our local supermarket.
Pan fried salmon steaks
Beef rissoles/meatballs
Sliced meat covered in crushed Red Rock Deli chips. You can also cover a whole roast chicken with the crushed chips and it keeps the chicken very moist and tasty.

Carbohydrate options
Penne pasta (wheat, corn or rice pasta) -  10 mins boiling time
Rice - 30 mins cooking time
Spaghetti (rice/corn varieties) - 10 mins boiling time
Bread rolls warmed in the oven- this one takes 5 mins from freezer, to oven, to plate.
Mashed potato - if my hubbie is home, he can mash it for me.
Udon noodles or other asian style noodle - 3 mins in the fry pan to heat through.
Frozen chips or hash browns - takes 30 mins in the oven, so needs more planning.

Vegetable options
Frozen/fresh peas or corn
Carrot - our son just has raw carrot sticks, while I microwave the adult portions
Aspsaragus/beans/snow peas/spinach/asian leafy vegetable - any vegetable that can be tossed into the fry pan and cooked in the meat juices to add flavour.
Grated raw carrot and grated raw apple - a yuumy combination actually!
Salad - our son loves raw tomatoe, so a few of those on his plate and he's super happy.

Complete meals
Lamb Roast with roasted potato, pumpkin, sweet potato and carrot.
Oven roasted chicken wings and vegetables, served with rice.
Spaghetti Bolognese.
Slow cooked chicken with apple cider.
Slow cooker - Lamb shanks/lamb chops/osso bucco, carrots, onion, potatoes etc with a tomatoe base. If you can't use tomatoes, a large tin of cherries and cherry juice works a treat!
Chicken one pot soup - chicken pieces, vegetables... and boil! Add rice noodles or pasta at the end.

For added flavour
Never underestimate the impact of a sprinkling of salt!
Tamari/Soy sauce - if you can use soy.
We can't use store bought stock, so we either make our own, or you can add grapes/plums/cherries to add some depth to the dish. These can be added to the fry pan, or to the slow cooker/pot. Think of it as a substitute for wine.


What are your family favourites? Click here to find some of the detailed recipes. If you would like more specific recipes, please do let me know. I am always happy to help :-)

Allergy free Family meal #1 - Oven baked chicken

After a week of coming to grips with my new restricted diet, this was our first family meal - one that I am quite proud of. Nothing too fancy, but given all the limitations, this is still quite tasty!

Milk free
Egg free
Wheat free
Soy free
Peanut free
Tree Nut free
Seafood free
Sesame free
Tomato, mushroom, onion, citrus and coconut free too.

That's right, and it's even free from traces of any of these nasties! We actually eat this once a week at the moment, and there is always extra for a few hot lunches.

Oven baked chicken

Marinate chicken pieces (I use 2kg of chicken wings) in 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup (for gluten free, choose the pure Maple Syrup).
Add 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder and a sprinkle of salt to suit your tastes.
For an added twist, add 1/2 Cup of pureed apple sauce (I bought mine in a jar).
Place in an glass/ceramic oven dish and allow it to marinate for a couple of hours if possible (or just 15 mins if you're in a rush like me).

Place the chicken in the oven for about 20minutes, at 200 degrees Celsius.

Add some vegetables (I used zuchinni pieces as well as sugar snap peas) and toss with the chicken pieces in the tray. Try and get some of the juice in and around the veggies to make them deliciously sweet.

Cook for a further 20 minutes in the oven, and serve with rice. Yum!

If you want to use carrots sticks, add them with the chicken right at the start since they take longer to cook up.
If you are using chicken legs, it will probably take a bit longer to cook - maybe need to add another 20 minutes to the cooking time.


Do you have a child with multiple food allergies?

YES! I would like to find out more ways to educate them about their allergies.

No, but I'm interested in more recipes.

3 month old allergy result

Well, it's been 4 weeks since we saw our allergy specialist with our 3 month old baby boy. The good news was that he didn't react to any of the skin prick tests. However, the bad news is that apparently babies who don't react at 3 months can still show very serious results later on. So a retest is recommended at 6 months. So far so good... afterall, our first son was only tested at 9 months.

Then... Yes, our son does have allergies based on the rashes all over his body. Steroid creams perscribed.
Then... Mum, you need to eliminate milk, egg, wheat, soy, oats, seafood, peanuts and all tree nuts. Also, no more tomatoes, mushrooms, onions or citrus. What the?!?!?!

That's right folks, not even soy sauce is allowed since the manufacturing process somehow intensifies the soy content that is passed through breast milk. At first I had a brainstorming session with a friend on facebook, trying to figure out what takeaway foods I could still eat... we came up with a few, albeit bland... but then, as we've progressed in this crazy elimiation diet, and I have indulged in the occasional chicken and chips, or store-bought sushi... I've realised that actually, I can no longer eat out, except for eating plain rice and MacDonald's fries. That's right folks... no more KFC, no more icecream, no more chocolate, no more easy takeaway dinners... ever!

Ignorant bliss - that was certainly the world I was living in but a month ago. So what do I eat?? Well, for the first 2 weeks, I was basically hungry. Our son is exclusively breastfed, weighs nearly 8kg (he is a whopper) and so drinks over 1 litre of milk a day. Anything I ate didn't seem enough, and my day time naps were gone, since I wouldn't be able to sleep because of the hunger. At night, I was waking not just to feed bubs, but waking at other times due to hunger. Soooooo frustrating, I cannot begin to tell you!

The purpose of this diet is to identify exactly what causes the allergic reaction in our son. Once his skin is completely clear, I can try adding one serve of a new food a day, for 3 days in a row, and watch for a reaction. If there is a reaction, then I have to go off that food again. So far, we know soy products cause a rash. I'm currently testing dairy, but expecting a bad result. The main reason I even bother to test it is so that we can legitimately get a perscription for hypoallergenic formula. Along the way, I accidentally ate cous cous (wheat) and that caused a reaction. While trying to find alternative foods to eat, I've also tried lentils and mung bean noodles - both of which I think have caused reactions.

At the moment, so many of the things we've tried have led to a bad reaction. One positive is that Roast Lamb with Roast Veg is still on the weekly menu. I've eaten so many tins of tinned corn, chickpeas and butter beans, I think I should buy shares in the company. On one day, I can open 4 tins! Oh, for flavour, I open another tin of corned beef... (looks more and more like cat food the more I look at it).

The upside??

Well, our son does have gloriously beautiful skin actually - once all the rashes went away. He gives the most gorgeous of smiles and laughs - this is the only thing that keeps me going on this wretched diet. So many times I think about stopping breastfeeding and giving up. But then I also know that testing foods through breastmilk is probably the safest way of testing. He's unlikely to die... that's got to be a good thing! As we approach the age of eating solids, it is a comfort to me that he probably won't react to rice cereal, given how much rice I have in my diet. I'm pretty confident about potato, pumpkin, carrot and sweet potato when the time comes, so that is already a good start.

We have another appointment with our allergy specialist in two weeks as a follow up. I have no idea what to expect from this next appointment... surely it can't be worse than this.