Food Allergy Peeps

[kona]

I could use some help managing food in my house. 

The back story is I was dx with Celiac about a week before O was born nearly 3 years ago.  At that point, M and I agreed to make the house gluten free as it seemed like the lowest risk option.  Fast foward and now we have a pre schooler and a baby.  It is getting really expensive to buy all gf stuff. Additionally it's harder to prevent the gluten products in as the pre schooler gets things out of the house that she wants to eat.  

At this point I think it might make sense for me to figure out how to let the rest of the family eat regularly and have me be the only one eating gf.  How do you all manage food allergies of different family members?  Open to any and all suggestions.

[rugger]

For main meals that everyone shares, we make it allergy-friendly. Now that A is old enough to understand sound things aren't safe for her, we have started buying cheese for R to snack on and safe stuff for A. Most, if not all, of the shareable snacks are all safe.

We went GF for a while after we realized we were relying on it for much of A's diet. We replaced pasta with rice and spaghetti squash. The kids got fruit and veggies and rice cakes for snacks. We didn't eat bread for a long time and just did roll-ups or lettuce wraps.
BTW, if you have an Aldi near you, their GF pretzels are actually really tasty and Aldi prices are hard to beat

[kona]

rugger, do you worry about cross contamination at all?

[rugger]

Apr 21, 2017 13:35:46 GMT -5 kona said:

rugger, do you worry about cross contamination at all?

I guess that's where we're lucky. A is ok with things "from the same facility" so at home, if we're doing pizza, for example, I make her a personal pizza and I assemble it first before touching the real cheese for our pizza. And her pizza is on its own stone, above the other pizza. Or it cooks first. Same basic rule for other things. I make sure I wash my hands after handling cheese and I use different prep surfaces for her things (though, not in a kosher type way where she has her own separate space and pans), I just make sure I wash it really well.

SAK how do you handle M's allergies at home in regards to cross-contamination risks?

[SAK]

We have peanut, milk, and egg allergies in our house. We did the same as you at first--kept none of any of those things in the house. Now that there are so many more people, it doesn't work.

We still do not allow any peanut products in our home as 2 of the 4 kids have anaphylactic reactions if they even come in contact with the residue. Not worth the risk.

For dairy and egg, my 8 year old is still has ANA reactions, but not to touch, only if consumed. If I buy anything that he is not able to eat I mark the packaging several places in huge lettering with a sharpie that says "not for M". Now that he's able to read labels our worry has gone down considerably as well.

When cooking shared meals, I almost always just make the dairy, egg, peanut free version for the whole family and then if those who can eat dairy or whatever want to add a little cheese to theirs they do so after serving themselves. For things like pizza or lasagnas or whatever where the allergen would be cooked in, I prepare two totally separate pans of the meal. Because I'm preparing it myself and understand cross contamination we've never had issues. If it's a meal where the majority of the dish is an allergen (quiche for example) we just eliminate those items completely from our household menu.

[SAK]

If it's for you, I would think it would be easier since you will be aware of what you can and cannot eat unlike a child who might not understand or could be given something by an unknowing caretaker

[kona]

I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it actually will be. Thanks for the input.

[SAK]

Apr 21, 2017 13:50:47 GMT -5 kona said:

I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it actually will be. Thanks for the input.

No, I totally get it. Allergies are so stressful.

[TJ]

Apr 21, 2017 13:50:47 GMT -5 kona said:

I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it actually will be. Thanks for the input.

I don't think so. I know some celiacs are extremely sensitive to even the tiniest bit of gluten. I know some who have a separate toaster for gf and regular foods. And separate butter, jelly, and pb containers to prevent cross contamination. Some people don't have to be that careful. Some do.

I will tell you though, it gets easier. It is intimidating at first. And you might make mistakes and find things that don't work. But it will become second nature before you know it.

I agree with the labeling. Even though you are grown and know what you can and can't eat, you probably need to label certain things, like maybe have your own knife, your own skillet, things like that, that you can label as gf, and no one else is allowed to use for gluten things.

I'm pretty sure the dishwasher will be your best friend though. I know with most allergens, it is the best way to ensure that things are really clean and safe to use.

SAK, what was that book you recommended about food allergies? Was it Feeding Eden? I highly recommend that book for both you and your SO. I think it does an amazing job of talking about life with food allergies.

[SAK]

Apr 21, 2017 14:04:35 GMT -5 TJ said:

Apr 21, 2017 13:50:47 GMT -5 kona said:

I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than it actually will be. Thanks for the input.

I don't think so. I know some celiacs are extremely sensitive to even the tiniest bit of gluten. I know some who have a separate toaster for gf and regular foods. And separate butter, jelly, and pb containers to prevent cross contamination. Some people don't have to be that careful. Some do.

I will tell you though, it gets easier. It is intimidating at first. And you might make mistakes and find things that don't work. But it will become second nature before you know it.

I agree with the labeling. Even though you are grown and know what you can and can't eat, you probably need to label certain things, like maybe have your own knife, your own skillet, things like that, that you can label as gf, and no one else is allowed to use for gluten things.

I'm pretty sure the dishwasher will be your best friend though. I know with most allergens, it is the best way to ensure that things are really clean and safe to use.

SAK, what was that book you recommended about food allergies? Was it Feeding Eden? I highly recommend that book for both you and your SO. I think it does an amazing job of talking about life with food allergies.

It was Feeding Eden. And thanks for reminding me that I never finished the last few chapters. I'm going to pull that back out tonight.

[kona]

TJ, thanks for the response and the validation. That is what I was thinking, separate pans, utensils etc. It seems like a lot of work but might be better overall for my family. And thanks for the book recommendation I will check it out of the library.

[grumpycakes]

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I was just revisiting Fresh 20 this afternoon. It's a menu planning service that gives you a 20 ingredient grocery list to make 5 dinners. It uses whole foods and calls for seasonally available produce. They have a gluten free option. It might be worth checking out to see if the meals are cheaper because it's specifically created to lessen food waste and make meals from scratch.