milk addict boy + milk allergic girl=stuck for ideas

[milkmamamerina]

Please move this to the meal planning forumif better suited for it

Does anyone know of some good dinner plans that would allow me to accomodate both my children's tastes and needs? My son (3.5) is pretty picky but loves cheese, milk, yogurt. Dairy is a mainstay of his diet. My daughter is 12 months and highly allergic to milk, banannas, oats, and possibly eggs and corn.

I can't keep buying out, but I don't know how to plan meals for with these two in mind. I'm thinking a lot of meals I might need to pull out items for the baby before adding allergic foods for the rest of the fam, but what?! I'm in a major rut!

specific recipes or general meal plans are both appreciated!

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by milkmamamerina

Does anyone know of some good dinner plans that would allow me to accomodate both my children's tastes and needs? My son (3.5) is pretty picky but loves cheese, milk, yogurt. Dairy is a mainstay of his diet. My daughter is 12 months and highly allergic to milk, bananas, oats, and possibly eggs and corn.

If she's highly allergic and your son is only 3.5, I'd remove it from the house as much as you can, because at 12 months, she'll be mobile soon if she isn't already, and picking up stuff off the floor and getting into smears of stuff left on the counter. By highly allergic, I'm assuming IgE -- anaphylactic as well?

Milk/dairy does not need to be in every meal. We eat plenty of meals without dairy (since DD2, DS, and I can't have it, among other things).

Dinner:
Roast chicken, with rice or potatoes, and gravy, plus vegetables (we've always eaten our veggies plain, but your DS could have butter on his or ketchup to dip it in).
Hamburgers, hot dogs
Pasta with meatsauce or meatballs (again, no dairy required)
chicken marsala
chicken mirabella
pork roast
pot roast
stew
chicken soup

Breakfast:
pancakes/waffles (don't need egg and dairy, and if your DS doesn't know then he probably won't notice)
Cream of Wheat or cream of rice cereal
bacon, sausage
home fries with or without veggies (peppers, onions, etc.)
cereal (w/ alternative milk for you DD)

there's tons of non-dairy stuff (that also has no oats, bananas, corn, and eggs). If he's a dairy-addict, are you sure that he's not sensitive to it as well (since many people crave the things that they're intolerant of)?

I make coconut milk yogurt and use that in dips and things, if you leave the dairy around and she wants whatever her big brother is having.

If you want recipes, they're on my blog: www.kathysrecipebox.com

[milkmamamerina]

thankfully she is not anaphylactic, I'm not sure aht IgE is. She vomited in moments when she found and took a sip of her brother's sippy cup of milk one day. She has had red bumps around her mouth and all over her face (respectively) from yogurt drops and a couple of cheezits(separate occasions). Those lasted about 1-2 hours. She had a similar reaction to goat's milk. I gave her what I thought was vegan cheese but it actually had cassien as the second ingredient and she sneezed a lot and had a lot of clear mucus for the rest of the evening but no bumps.

Sorry for so much detail, now I'm thinking maybe I should have posted in the allergy forum.

thanks for the meal ideas, hopefully my son will approve!
I welcome more ideas if anyone has them

[milkmamamerina]

I just checked out your blog. I think it will be very helpful. Thanks so much!!

[kjbrown92]

The vomiting and rash could be either an IgE allergy or an IgG intolerance (both parts of the allergy spectrum). Personally, I'd get her tested for an allergy just in case, since if it is an allergy, it could become anaphylactic and then you'd want an emegerncy plan (benadryl, epipen, etc.).

My DS vomited when I ingested milk, through breastmilk, at 2 weeks of age. I had him tested for IgE just to make sure I was "only" dealing with an intolerance. He's now 9yo, and still intolerant to milk.

While you're eliminating the foods, work on gut healing with things like fermented foods, bone broth, and probiotics. Also, consider that you might have an issue with it as well (since a lot of times the child gets it through your leaky gut, but not always).

And I don't get WHO the vegan cheeses are for... they contain casein, which is a milk protein, so if you can have milk, why wouldn't you just eat dairy-based cheese. It makes no sense to me!

[milkmamamerina]

we are actually scheduled for an allergist tomorrow. So that's covered. I'm interested in the gut healing you mentioned. How can I get more info on that?

I'm familiar with probiotics although I don't know how much acidophilous to give an baby or how to get it down her. But I don't really know anything about fermented foods (except yogurt, and I want to try the coconut milk yogurt asap) or bone broth, much less how to get them. Also, do you think this gut healing might help my 3 year old? He doesn't have any obvious reactions, but he just finished his 3rd round of vomiting in the last month! I think they were all virus related since others in the house also got sick, but I've heard probiotics can help your immunities?

[JessicaS]

The coconut milk yogurt is really good.

They also now have coconut milk in a box right by the other milk. I really like using it. I have used it in bread, tortillas, corn bread, cupcakes and all sorts of things and they turned out fine.

Even if she just gets snotty that could be a reaction. I am glad you are seeing an allergist I think it is better to have a firm diagnoses than over restrict the diet unnecessarily.

[milkmamamerina]

Originally Posted by abimommy

Even if she just gets snotty that could be a reaction.

Oh I assumed it was. I just thought it was strange that she reacted differently to the cassien than to dairy cheese/yogurt.

[Ruthla]

I would plan dairy-free meals for the whole family, but allow DS to have cheese and yogurt as snacks, possibly add cheese to just his portion, a glass of milk with meals/snacks, etc. I think it would be much simpler to have cheese on the table as a "topping" non-allergic family members can add to their own portions, rather than pulling some out for the baby and then making the main serving dish unsafe for her. What happens if she has a "hungry day" and wants more food than you've put aside for her?

Also, if you're nursing her, you should avoid her allergens as well.

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by milkmamamerina

we are actually scheduled for an allergist tomorrow. So that's covered. I'm interested in the gut healing you mentioned. How can I get more info on that?

I'm familiar with probiotics although I don't know how much acidophilous to give an baby or how to get it down her. But I don't really know anything about fermented foods (except yogurt, and I want to try the coconut milk yogurt asap) or bone broth, much less how to get them. Also, do you think this gut healing might help my 3 year old? He doesn't have any obvious reactions, but he just finished his 3rd round of vomiting in the last month! I think they were all virus related since others in the house also got sick, but I've heard probiotics can help your immunities?

WuWei/Pat, usually on the allergy forum, is the best one for these.
Bone Broth: Using roasted bones (chicken or beef). Put them in the crockpot. Cover with water. And simmer for 24-36 hours for chicken, 36-48 hours for beef. I put a clove of garlic, a peeled carrot, and a stalk of celery in there too. Strain out the veggies/bones, and use or freeze the bone broth. It's full of calcium and nutrients, and also helps heal the gut.
Fermented foods are things like saurkraut (Bubbie's makes a great one). It's got to have just cabbage and salt as the ingredients, and it's in the refrigerated section. Or you can make it yourself. Others do things like kimchi. There's also fermented pickles. Look in the Traditional Foods subforum. Probiotics are in yogurt. I also use the GIProhealth.com probiotics. For DS, he just takes them in capsules, for my daughter, I take the capsule apart, and put the powder in a smoothie.