I have two boys. 15 and 11. The oldest has Allergies and Asthma. The youngest will be getting tested soon. Alot of the allergies are food related. I am not Betty Crocker by any means and have a hard time finding wheat free/corn free (the two biggest allergies) foods. Can anyone help with ideas or do I need to become Betty and learn to cook from scratch like our moms/grandmas used to do?
I wanted to give a Great Thank You to everyone and your support. I have gone to the websites provided and have gotten something out of each one. I appreciate all your responses so much. Just found out last Friday we also have strawberry, onion, oats, string bean and cucumber allergy added to all the rest. D. R
This site might be helpful in finding recipes that you can try: http://www.foodallergykitchen.com/
It lets you set up a profile and select which allergies to "weed out" so that the recipes that show when you're logged in are ones you can feel confident in making and eating.
It doesn't cost anything to sign up, or to get recipes.
There are lots of allergies cookbook, the one that I am using is by Alice Sherwood. Check it out. Good luck.
You might check at heath food stores. When we were dealing with severe food allergies, I just cooked a lot from scratch. Thankfully, we have outgrown that problem, so I can't be much help. I do know the health food store we were living near at the time had some packaged food we could use, but the choices were limited. GL!
Yes, you and he are going to have to learn to do some cooking. Think of it as an adventure. The best book I've found for this is Marjorie Hurt Jones', The Allergy Self Help Cookbook. Lots of education and some good recipes. Hit Vitamin Cottage, they offer things like Vans Wheat free waffles
Hi Debbi,
Living Without has great recipes. http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes.html
Also World's Healthiest Foods is a great reference and has great recipes as well.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=disease&dbid...
Whole food supplements are great to add to the diet. Juice Plus is scientifically proven to support the immune system which typically helps with allergies/asthma.
www.DenverJuicePlus.com
I hope that helps!
L.
I don't know if you are interested in trying this, but there is an alternative medicine treatment out there that helps eliminate (or at least decrease) allergies. It is called NAET. You can find a practitioner at the link http://www.naet.com/. I don't believe in a cure-all or that there is a miracle treatment out there that works for everyone, but my son and in-laws have undergone this treatment with good results. My son had a really bad rash on his face that we could not get rid of; the doctor tried everything. Based on a bunch of research on my part I suspected it was a milk and chocolate allergy. the practitioner treated him for milk and I could watch it clear up within hours after the treatment. It did come back after a few days, but it was not nearly so bad. I later had him treated for chocolate and grains (including corn) and it is much better. He still has a very mild version of the rash, but the improvement is incredible.
Just so you know, it is a quick, painless, noninvasive, relatively inexpensive procedure.
You're asking for recipes, but I wanted to let you know of another potential option: treating the allergies. We're doing acupressure for my son's dairy and egg allergies. My husband was allergic to apples, after four treatments, is not anymore. You can find information on it at www.naet.com. Good luck!
there are some great online sources that have a daily gluten-free recipe exchange. most of the time you do have to pay for memebership, but it's worth it...a lot of the people exchaning recipes are moms who need quick recipes too!
Get used to being called Betty. The truth is, the more you cook from scratch and limit the amount of chemicals and preservatives your family is exposed to the lower their histamaine values will be. Looking at some of the other responses, they have given you some great places to start. Consider it a paradyme shift. Make enough for two or three meals and invest in a freezer. After few months, you will never go back to the way it is now.
Hang in there.
E.
Why not try going a little Asian? You can find all-soy soy sauces (as long as nobody is allergic to soy), buy a rice cooker and a wok (available online if you don't have resources locally), and learn to stir-fry. It's really not that hard, and the part that takes the longest is the chopping, which gets faster with practice. The cooking itself is done in 10 minutes or less. If you want to keep your carbs a bit more complex, brown rice is the way to go. It is possible to do this kind of cooking without having a specialty store nearby, as long as you have access to fresh vegetables and good meat.
Hi D.,
My littlest has a severe milk & strawberry allergy. There are alot of great resources for recipies. Chow www.chow.com is one of my favorites. Also if you search vegan recipies so many have allergen free recipes that pop up. If they are allergic to say soy you can substitute with ...If they are allergic to peanuts you can substitute with...etc. So do not let recipes keep you from adding or subtracting an allergen. Simply use them as a guideline. Also for a quick dinner Ian's has great pre-made, allergen free, healthy products. Hope this helps! G.
I have a peanut and tree nut allergy, and the short answer is yes, get used to making things from scratch. There are a couple of sites I'll pass along: https://www.navanfoods.com/ for finding mixes like Miss Roben's and http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/ a brand you can find in some grocery stores (Whole foods, or local specialty shops, sometimes the big national chains).
I would also echo what someone else already posted about beauty/skin products. What you can't eat, you shouldn't put on your body. I use California Baby, for good lotion w/o tree nut oils.
Best of luck!
- A.
There are a few suggestions I have for people dealing with asthma.
1. Intake of good quality water is important. So many people are chronically dehydrated which can make matters worse with an asthmatic.
2. Indoor air quality is often worse than outdoor air pollution. There are so many chemicals emitted from building products, furniture, carpet, paint and cleaning products. Be careful of the air units that give off ozone (very bad for the lungs) as a by product of creating negative ions (which are good).
3. Look at the cleaning products and personal care products that introduce toxins to the body.
More info, articles and resources are available on my website livinghealthiernow.com. Let me know if you have any questions.
4. Look at natural food products. I can send you some info on a young barley grass product that is great for people with allergies. I'm very allergic to cats and when I got home I was miserable. I drank a glass of the Jades and within a few minutes I felt so much better.
One more thing for your boys to keep in mind, my food allergies changed from when I was a kid to when I was an adult.
Good luck,
S.
Hi D.,
I have 2 little ones with severe food allergies. The Food Allergy and Anaphalaxis Network has been a great resource for us. They provide a monthly newsletter, resources and recipes...check them out online.
