How would you handle this food situation - Page 2

[karne]

Applegate also makes organic turkey dogs, which aren't too bad. And Coleman has a pretty widely available natural beef hotdog that has a decent taste. You can definitely find ww hot dog buns as well. This is what I tend to bring/serve.

My ds however, can scarf down several hotdogs made of "who knows what" on white smushy rolls (super soft) before you can say Boo! I just breath deeply and know that it isn't the end of the world when it happens.

[lilyka]

find a good meat or meat free hot dog without nitrates and other crap. Send them along in a cooler. Foind out what else they are having. decide what you can send that is still yummy and fun and much like the other kids. She will not feel or look out of place. Kids have allergies and sensitivities. You gotta do what you gotta do but there is no reason for her to be sitting in a corner while everyone else has fun. there are tons of good products and any good sized grocery store should offer you a selection.

[Peacemamalove]

I think if you can find something that will work use it if not maybe you could come up with something else? Applegate is one I was thinking of too or maybe a local organic nitrate free one?

[SquishyKitty]

FWIW, I love the squishy white bread most hotdog buns are made out of. It's part of the experience--burnt hot dogs and squishy white bread lol.

[RiverTam]

My local grocery store has a butcher counter that has sausages and brats and hot dogs that they make themselves and which have no preservatives.

I've seen the same thing in more than one store.

[columbusmomma]

Your Kroger may have Coleman hotdogs, they are all natural without the yucky stuff! I go for those if I'm not driving to Whole Foods.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by velochic

Thanks! I didn't know these other things existed. I just don't have a reason to look, I guess. Can you buy these at the regular grocery store (we have a Kroger with a refrigerated organic section), or do I need to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's?

Our regular grocery carries several brands of nitrate free hot dogs (applegate coming to mind)--they're with the brats and the fresh sausages, not the regular hot dogs.

Although, Trader Joe's nitrate free hot dogs are a lot cheaper.

[mama2mygirl]

Originally Posted by velochic

Dd will be going to a fall gathering for one day coming up soon. It will be all day, into the evening. They bring a sack lunch, but dinner will be around the campfire. They will be roasting hot dogs.

Dd has some pretty severe food intolerances. She is on an all-natural diet. We do allow exceptions, but are careful that if she "indulges" that it is spaced out and she doesn't eat a lot of trigger ingredients close together. Also, she knows well what the result will be when she eats her trigger foods. She is beginning to take some responsibility for it. For example, she can eat some candy with artificial flavoring on the weekend, but the rest of the week, we are careful that she doesn't get any more. Artificial colors and preservatives result in more severe reactions... mainly horrible itchy eczema, night terrors (restless sleep), headaches and lethargy. She never eats fast food and we don't eat things like hot dogs and bologna at home, as we pointedly avoid nitrites and nitrates.

For starters, if she has the hot dogs, she is going to be miserable that night. I don't want her to be miserable. I don't want her to associate this fun event with being miserable. Secondly, she has never eaten hot dogs and I don't want her to even taste them. Yeah, I know they taste good, I ate them as a kid. Dd actually likes pretty sophisticated foods for her age (7.5) because we've been traveling all over the world with her since she was 5 months old. She loves mussels, shrimp, ethnic foods, gourmet cheeses, exotic fruits and vegetables. I don't *want* her to eat hot dogs and start to ask for them, even with consequences. However, I realize that roasting hot dogs around a campfire is a cultural experience that is part of growing up in rural America. I don't want her to feel left out. I am going to talk to her about it, as she has a lot of common sense. In the meantime, what are other people's thoughts? Let her have the hot dog and deal with a sleepless night helping her through the misery of nightmares and itching or send something separate and risk her feeling left out?

Why don't you provide nitrate free hot dogs?
For what it's worth, my dd is only 6 and she loves mussels and shrimp and Chinese and Indian food. Sushi is one of her favorite foods. AND she's had hot dogs. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

[sapphire_chan]

: to the above suggestions of finding safe hot dogs for her.

Funnily, although they always had a veggie option, it was one of the vegetarian girls in my church youth group who was best at roasting hot dogs for everyone. All the people who ate hot dogs would ask her to do the roasting.