Need food ideas PLEASE...making too many different meals!

[northerngirl]

Anyone help with food ideas? Links? We don't eat gluten, corn, soy, tomatoes. I also don't eat dairy (for nursing little one), coconut, nightshades, onion, not too many egg yolks ^some ok. Is there anything else?...some fruits and peanuts. AND put on top of this dd will not eat meat and I only eat chicken (long time vegtarian).

Now I am thinking dd is reacting to either eggs or oatmeal since those are two things she's been recently eating a lot of AND she now as of this past week has eczema in her arm pit and the crease of her arm.

She will eat some beans, mainly black, doesn't really care for hummus or almond butter, doesn't like avacados, soup....she likes pizza, pasta, peanut butter and jelly, yogurt, cheese, and once a week beans and rice. She will eat celery, carrots and sweet potatoes sometimes, broccoli, snap peas, baby lettuce, sometimes salted almonds or pistachios.

I just can't think anymore about what to cook/eat it's SO frustrating. And almost every night during the week when dh is working I make 2 meals for dinner.

Thoughts? Anyone.

[scsigrl]

:hug  I know how you feel.  I JUST got DH to go back to the "Dark Side"  (AKA eating meat again) because I could not do it another minute.  I am sorry I don't have any practical advice but I was wondering if you are sure you are using gluten free oats?  If not and you are GF she may be getting x-con with gluten.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by scsigrl 

:hug  I know how you feel.  I JUST got DH to go back to the "Dark Side"  (AKA eating meat again) because I could not do it another minute.  I am sorry I don't have any practical advice but I was wondering if you are sure you are using gluten free oats?  If not and you are GF she may be getting x-con with gluten.

Yes, the oats are gf, gluten freeda I think they're called, the instant kind.  I cannot eat gf oats though. Dh does eat gluten bread and occasionally a frozen pizza. He will also only eat chicken.

I've been trying to get her to eat quinoa and she did the other day when I mixed it with 90% brown rice.

I went back to eating meat after finding out I was sensitive to wheat. When I eat rice, chicken, veg for dinner..I feel great. But I am SO tired of eating that SO often. It doesn't help that dd has it ingrained in her head that she doesn't eat meat, so when I offer it to her she declines or says I'll eat it when I'm eight.

Dh is allergic to fish so that is not in the house very much and when I have tried tuna salad she says she doesn't like it. 

Her symptoms from gluten are behavior and sleep related. Tomatoes make her a whining crying mess. Her behavior now is definitely better without gluten or tomatoes. Now this eczema is throwing me for a loop...sorry kinda all over the place...must sleep, thanks for your reply.

[Koalamom]

Northern girl- your allergy list is identical to ours.  But we do have tomato sauce sometimes for a treat on brown rice pasta

I think if I could have eggs and dairy I would be vegetarian again.

Let me share some things from our menu plans from the last few weeks:

smoothie

baked sweet potatoes

oatmeal, and switch it up with different berries and dried fruit

buckwheat pancakes

alfresco chicken sausages (oh so yummy and my dd loves it)

chili

soups- like creamy butternut, spinach chick pea potato, lentil, beet cabbage...

mashed potaties

baked potatoes

we make sure we have a veggies with our bug meals.  Lately we have been having steamed broccoli, collards, swiss chard, peas, or green beans.  I switch it up.

GF DF lasagna made with almond ricotta

chicken and GF dumplings

brown rice pasta with chicken and peas or sauce, or chicken noodle soup.  The possibilities are endless.

stir fry

salad

erwan brown rice crispies

And when all is said and done, it is always nice to have something sweet around like

GF muffins- I use the same basic recipe and add things like blueberries, other berries, apple and walnuts, cranberry walnut, banana, lemon

pumpkin pie with tapioca flour and hemp milk (no eggs or dairy needed)

Or chocolate cake with a dairy free creamy frosting.  We use chia seeds in place of eggs.

[northerngirl]

Thanks for the ideas. bluebirdmama1. The only thing is that dd will not eat chicken. And only likes sweet potatoes if they're cooked in olive oil on the stove or as fries, but then now she can't have the ketchup to dip them in. I can eat small amounts of the sw potoato, but not white potato. Like I saw a recipe for black bean sweet potato burittos, which sounds good, and my body would probably be ok with. I ate a couple of dh potato chips the other day, and then felt like crap the next day with headache, nausea and fatigue. I would love chili but cannot have tomatoes or chili powder, nightshades. I cannot do buckwheat either. Do you know of any millet recipes? I can have that, quinoa and brown rice/wild rice, those are my grains.

Oh, we did make a pumpkin pie for thanksgiving gf and df (almond milk), it was very good.

[deditus]

Personally, I would avoid making multiple meals.I follow Ellyn Satter's division of responsibility as far as feeding goes. I make dinner and dd and dh are free to eat as much as they want of what I have made but that is it. We are gluten, dairy, soy, and egg free. We mainly avoid grains.

For more food ideas, I really like the menu planners offered here:

http://allergyfreemenuplanners.com/our-menu-planners/allergy-free-menu-planners/

I believe there is a nightshade free one.

[crunchy_mommy]

Roasted veggies (squash, garlic, artichokes, carrots, brussel sprouts, whatever combo you can manage, I often add pecans or white beans as well) served over rice or quinoa

GF pizza with a pesto-type sauce and veggies

GF cereal with almond or hemp milk

Chili using vegetable stock or pureed root veggie rather than tomatoes, and cumin instead of chili powder

Avocado pudding (just avocados, cocoa, & sugar or maple syrup, process 'til smooth)

Black bean brownies (I like these & leave out the oats: http://happyherbivore.com/2009/05/vegan-blackbean-brownies/)

GF pasta with 'cheeze' sauce made from nutritional yeast & spices (plus broccoli or peas tossed in)

Falafel (you'd have to modify a bit without the onion, maybe add extra garlic if you can have that?) with tahini sauce & a salad

Curried chickpeas & veggies over rice (if you can have curry? make your own?)

Peanut noodles (try subbing sunflower butter for the PB & whatever milk you drink for the coconut milk)

Tacos/burritos on brown rice tortillas (black/refried beans, grilled veggies, Daiya cheeze) - we sometimes stuff & grill the tortillas to make them crunchy, kind of like a quesadilla

GF muffins

Pasta with bean cream sauce (I use white beans, a little nutritional yeast, garlic, and spices)

[deditus]

Oh, I also wanted to mention that enzymes and zinc help my dd's appetite and she eats much better if she takes them.

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

Roasted veggies (squash, garlic, artichokes, carrots, brussel sprouts, whatever combo you can manage, I often add pecans or white beans as well) served over rice or quinoa

GF pizza with a pesto-type sauce and veggies

GF cereal with almond or hemp milk

Chili using vegetable stock or pureed root veggie rather than tomatoes, and cumin instead of chili powder

Avocado pudding (just avocados, cocoa, & sugar or maple syrup, process 'til smooth)

Black bean brownies (I like these & leave out the oats: http://happyherbivore.com/2009/05/vegan-blackbean-brownies/)

GF pasta with 'cheeze' sauce made from nutritional yeast & spices (plus broccoli or peas tossed in)

Falafel (you'd have to modify a bit without the onion, maybe add extra garlic if you can have that?) with tahini sauce & a salad

Curried chickpeas & veggies over rice (if you can have curry? make your own?)

Peanut noodles (try subbing sunflower butter for the PB & whatever milk you drink for the coconut milk)

Tacos/burritos on brown rice tortillas (black/refried beans, grilled veggies, Daiya cheeze) - we sometimes stuff & grill the tortillas to make them crunchy, kind of like a quesadilla

GF muffins

Pasta with bean cream sauce (I use white beans, a little nutritional yeast, garlic, and spices)

Thanks for some ideas crunchymommy. Some of those dd would maybe go for. She HATES the brown rice tortillas for some reason and I like them now. Their definitely not like the gluten ones we use to get (and dh still eats). I have tried some nutritional yeast and she did not like it....I don't think I can have that either. I love curry and can have it although dd thinks it's spicy, even when I just put a bit in there.

It seems doubly hard for me when dh is not home until after bedtime during the week and I've been at work part of the day, and pulling it all together while babe needs me and 4 year old is saying I'm hungry and then we decide what she wants/is going to eat for dinner. There is usually no plan, which I hate, and is frustrating.

Originally Posted by deditus 

Personally, I would avoid making multiple meals.I follow Ellyn Satter's division of responsibility as far as feeding goes. I make dinner and dd and dh are free to eat as much as they want of what I have made but that is it. We are gluten, dairy, soy, and egg free. We mainly avoid grains.

For more food ideas, I really like the menu planners offered here:

http://allergyfreemenuplanners.com/our-menu-planners/allergy-free-menu-planners/

I believe there is a nightshade free one.

Yes, I would like to read that book at some point. Other books are ahead of it though... Have you actually ordered those menus? It sounds good but, would we eat those recipes is what I'm wondering. What enzymes does your daughter take? And how much zinc and what's that for?
 

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by northerngirl 

It seems doubly hard for me when dh is not home until after bedtime during the week and I've been at work part of the day, and pulling it all together while babe needs me and 4 year old is saying I'm hungry and then we decide what she wants/is going to eat for dinner. There is usually no plan, which I hate, and is frustrating.

Could you try cooking meals ahead of time (either over the weekend or in the morning in the crockpot)? That sounds really stressful. Or make lunch the more elaborate meal & stick to easy things for dinner.

Brown rice tortillas are kind of gross IMO but I actually really like them made into quesadillas, they taste better crispy.

Another few ideas:

vegan shepherd's pie with peas/carrots & beans, with mashed sweet potatoes on top

veggie sushi (easy to customize the fillings for each person, I like avocado, cucumber & carrots)

spring rolls with different dipping sauces (maybe a carrot-ginger & a sweet & sour sauce)

white lasagna (I made a really great one once with a sauce made of pureed pine nuts & almonds & spices, GF noodles, zucchini & mushrooms, & Daiya cheeze)
 

Oh and keep trying the nutritional yeast, it's an acquired taste (DH will eat almost anything but wouldn't touch nutritional yeast the first few times I tried it, but now he loves it!!)

[northerngirl]

Yes, I would like to make stuff ahead of time, but somehow that never happens. The weekends are crazy usually and dh does school work all weekend, and I'm with the girls, I'm lucky if I get to take a shower. This is after I work on Saturday mornings. Do you have any crockpot recipes? Links maybe? I would need to get/borrow on though.... Also, the vegan shepherds pie sounds good, do you have that recipe? I have thoughts of making the sushi and actually bought the nori today. We have made white lasagne and dd loved it. We ended up making her a pizza with udis crust and the alfredo, spinach, garlic, olives. I don't want to over do the alfredo and have her get sick of it. Actually, I was going to make her rice noodles with alfredo and spinach for supper, and rice and lentils for me again. I will have to pick up some more nutritional yeast and just keep trying, with tiny amts at first. Thanks again.

[deditus]

My dd is taking Klaire Labs chewable enzymes right now. Houston Labs are good, too, but she didn't tolerate them well. I think they caused too much die-off for her and made her very constipated.

I use a liquid zinc from Kirkman Labs. I give about 5 mg day because I am fairly conservative with that kind of thing. Low zinc can cause poor stomach acid production leading to tummy aches, and is necessary for smell and taste so often helps in treating anorexia and FTT.

I do like the menus from Heart of Cooking. I don't really follow her menus to the letter because we have a set of usuals that we have every week and thus I only add say 2 "free" days a week where I try something new or make a meal that has more expensive ingredients. I have found some of her subs to be unique and really fabulous and I have a few recipes that I make like every.single.week. from her, so I think it is worth it. There are a few things she has come up with that I can use in many other recipes, like her fake cream sauce is awesome. I can use it in chicken shepard's pie, pasta (which I make with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles), green bean casserole, etc. I have purchased 4 of her menus and I think I am going to get the GAPS with no eggs because that one is new since last time I checked her site.

[crunchy_mommy]

We use a variation of this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-shepherds-pie-336777 with a few changes (alternate milk for the soy milk, black beans for the Boca meatless ground burger, we aren't tomato-free but we leave out the tomato paste anyway). I don't have any crockpot recipes on hand unfortunately, I tend to kind of just throw in veggies/beans/spices & liquid...

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by deditus 

My dd is taking Klaire Labs chewable enzymes right now. Houston Labs are good, too, but she didn't tolerate them well. I think they caused too much die-off for her and made her very constipated.

I use a liquid zinc from Kirkman Labs. I give about 5 mg day because I am fairly conservative with that kind of thing. Low zinc can cause poor stomach acid production leading to tummy aches, and is necessary for smell and taste so often helps in treating anorexia and FTT.

I do like the menus from Heart of Cooking. I don't really follow her menus to the letter because we have a set of usuals that we have every week and thus I only add say 2 "free" days a week where I try something new or make a meal that has more expensive ingredients. I have found some of her subs to be unique and really fabulous and I have a few recipes that I make like every.single.week. from her, so I think it is worth it. There are a few things she has come up with that I can use in many other recipes, like her fake cream sauce is awesome. I can use it in chicken shepard's pie, pasta (which I make with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles), green bean casserole, etc. I have purchased 4 of her menus and I think I am going to get the GAPS with no eggs because that one is new since last time I checked her site.

Great, thanks! Can I ask why you started giving your dd the zinc and digestive enzymes? What symptoms was she having? Sorry if I'm being too nosey.

Maybe after the holidays I can get one of heart of cooking menus. I'm really a recipe kinda gal, I cannot just throw things together and still have it be edible.

Also, being nosey again, what are your weekly usuals? Thank you so much.
 

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

We use a variation of this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-shepherds-pie-336777 with a few changes (alternate milk for the soy milk, black beans for the Boca meatless ground burger, we aren't tomato-free but we leave out the tomato paste anyway). I don't have any crockpot recipes on hand unfortunately, I tend to kind of just throw in veggies/beans/spices & liquid...

Awesome. Thanks for the link. This would be good with sweet potato instead of the white? I cannot have the white, and dd doen't like it.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by northerngirl 

Originally Posted by deditus 

My dd is taking Klaire Labs chewable enzymes right now. Houston Labs are good, too, but she didn't tolerate them well. I think they caused too much die-off for her and made her very constipated.

I use a liquid zinc from Kirkman Labs. I give about 5 mg day because I am fairly conservative with that kind of thing. Low zinc can cause poor stomach acid production leading to tummy aches, and is necessary for smell and taste so often helps in treating anorexia and FTT.

I do like the menus from Heart of Cooking. I don't really follow her menus to the letter because we have a set of usuals that we have every week and thus I only add say 2 "free" days a week where I try something new or make a meal that has more expensive ingredients. I have found some of her subs to be unique and really fabulous and I have a few recipes that I make like every.single.week. from her, so I think it is worth it. There are a few things she has come up with that I can use in many other recipes, like her fake cream sauce is awesome. I can use it in chicken shepard's pie, pasta (which I make with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles), green bean casserole, etc. I have purchased 4 of her menus and I think I am going to get the GAPS with no eggs because that one is new since last time I checked her site.

Great, thanks! Can I ask why you started giving your dd the zinc and digestive enzymes? What symptoms was she having? Sorry if I'm being too nosey.

Maybe after the holidays I can get one of heart of cooking menus. I'm really a recipe kinda gal, I cannot just throw things together and still have it be edible.

Also, being nosey again, what are your weekly usuals? Thank you so much.
 

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

We use a variation of this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-shepherds-pie-336777 with a few changes (alternate milk for the soy milk, black beans for the Boca meatless ground burger, we aren't tomato-free but we leave out the tomato paste anyway). I don't have any crockpot recipes on hand unfortunately, I tend to kind of just throw in veggies/beans/spices & liquid...

Awesome. Thanks for the link. This would be good with sweet potato instead of the white? I cannot have the white, and dd doen't like it.

Yes, it should be good, I usually do half & half but I see no reason why you can't do just sweet potato! You could also mix some steamed cauliflower in, that mashes well & will break up the taste of the sweet potato.

[deminc]

northern girl,

"she now as of this past week has eczema in her arm pit and the crease of her arm."

This may seem overly obvious and I apologise if it is. But just in case, the areas you describe are common rashy areas for children. Maybe check if it may be due to dampness in the skin fold? My ds1 gets it sometimes and it's totally related to sweating at night and is easily resolved by powdering him once in the middle of the night, and followed up with a mild anti-fungal body wash from the doctor (it was actually for ds2). It will look red and rashy, but he doesn't break the skin from scratching.

My ds2 who does have eczema often with secondary infections, also gets flare ups in the crease of his arm, knees and ankles. In his case he will break the skin from his scratching and requires antiseptic wash and when bad, antibiotic cream. Once the skin closes up, we switch to antifungal wash. There are certain rashy areas in the skin folds that never recurred once he was treated with antifungals and the doctor showed us how to guard against secondary infections (not allowed to put emollients until the patches are resolved as it will bring the secondary fungal infection back). We have been able to limit the flare-ups to the actual sites since. So if you haven't, it may be worth trying the simple treatments first and see if that helps resolve the issue.

[deditus]

Zinc deficiency symptoms my dd had: poor appetite and growth, delayed skin healing, rashes, white spots of fingernails and peeling toenails, chewing on things (shirt, fingers), undigested food in poop, over-sensitivity to sunlight. I started enzymes due to her clear dysbiosis, it helps by reducing the undigested food that feeds the unhelpful bacteria in the intestines - stinky poop (fermented to ammonia like), bloating, constipation, rashes, undigested food in poop were the symptoms I was hoping to address with enzymes. There is lots of research

I kind of limit our menu purposefully so that I can easily purchase meat in bulk. We are very meat centered since we are paleo/primal eaters. Obviously, this won't help you too much if you won't eat meat besides chicken (and your other restrictions), but gives you an example of a rotation that is fairly simple. We do also eat TONS of veggies, more than anyone else I have ever met including vegetarians. Each dinner includes 2 vegetable sides and my go to selection is one green & one orange. So for brat night, we will have collard greens cooked in chicken bone broth and baked sweet potatoes with coconut oil. Or brussels sprouts and winter squash for sides.

Day 1 ground beef (chili, meatloaf, shepard's pie, burgers, taco lettuce wraps)

Day 2 roast chicken

Day 3 beef - other (stew meat, roast, steak)

Day 4 brats

Day 5 ground beef

Day 6 pork roast in salsa verde or bbq sauce

Day 7 free night - leftovers, vegetarian, or seafood

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by deminc 

northern girl,

"she now as of this past week has eczema in her arm pit and the crease of her arm."

This may seem overly obvious and I apologise if it is. But just in case, the areas you describe are common rashy areas for children. Maybe check if it may be due to dampness in the skin fold? My ds1 gets it sometimes and it's totally related to sweating at night and is easily resolved by powdering him once in the middle of the night, and followed up with a mild anti-fungal body wash from the doctor (it was actually for ds2). It will look red and rashy, but he doesn't break the skin from scratching.

My ds2 who does have eczema often with secondary infections, also gets flare ups in the crease of his arm, knees and ankles. In his case he will break the skin from his scratching and requires antiseptic wash and when bad, antibiotic cream. Once the skin closes up, we switch to antifungal wash. There are certain rashy areas in the skin folds that never recurred once he was treated with antifungals and the doctor showed us how to guard against secondary infections (not allowed to put emollients until the patches are resolved as it will bring the secondary fungal infection back). We have been able to limit the flare-ups to the actual sites since. So if you haven't, it may be worth trying the simple treatments first and see if that helps resolve the issue.

Well, no, I didn't think about that. BUT she does have the hottest room in the house and usually wears short sleeve nightgown to bed, even though it is 20 degrees here now. I will check with dh if she wakes up sweating, bc he cosleeps with her. We have been doing the steriod topically for the past 5 days...and it maybe looks a little better?? Although she had been saying it itched, I've never seen her itch either place. Eczema is always itchy, I have no idea. Thanks for you input.

Originally Posted by deditus 

Zinc deficiency symptoms my dd had: poor appetite and growth, delayed skin healing, rashes, white spots of fingernails and peeling toenails, chewing on things (shirt, fingers), undigested food in poop, over-sensitivity to sunlight. I started enzymes due to her clear dysbiosis, it helps by reducing the undigested food that feeds the unhelpful bacteria in the intestines - stinky poop (fermented to ammonia like), bloating, constipation, rashes, undigested food in poop were the symptoms I was hoping to address with enzymes. There is lots of research

I kind of limit our menu purposefully so that I can easily purchase meat in bulk. We are very meat centered since we are paleo/primal eaters. Obviously, this won't help you too much if you won't eat meat besides chicken (and your other restrictions), but gives you an example of a rotation that is fairly simple. We do also eat TONS of veggies, more than anyone else I have ever met including vegetarians. Each dinner includes 2 vegetable sides and my go to selection is one green & one orange. So for brat night, we will have collard greens cooked in chicken bone broth and baked sweet potatoes with coconut oil. Or brussels sprouts and winter squash for sides.

Day 1 ground beef (chili, meatloaf, shepard's pie, burgers, taco lettuce wraps)

Day 2 roast chicken

Day 3 beef - other (stew meat, roast, steak)

Day 4 brats

Day 5 ground beef

Day 6 pork roast in salsa verde or bbq sauce

Day 7 free night - leftovers, vegetarian, or seafood

You do eat a lot of meat. I should, according to the muscle testing I've had done, be eating mostly paleo. And I'm O negative, and I think that's a paleo blood type?

When I had dd muscle tested, she did not need zinc. I am not 100% that that is !00%. Her poop seems normal, with occasional undigested food. She does chew on things (her hair recently, baby toys, shirt). She does not have white marks on her nails, but did as a baby have horrible peeling toenails. These have actually gotten better over the years, and now that I have her on a calcium supp. they're actually somewhat firm, where as before they were soft.

I would like to make up some sort of rotation menu, even if it were just a few days that are predetermined. dd waking...
 

[flightgoddess]

You could make 'soft flour' tortillas with a mix of sourgum and rice flour or potato starch, shortening or lard, salt and water. Toast them in a skillet on both sides.

Have you delved into other poultry? Cornish hen? Turkey?

Make a nourishing bone broth from the carcasses (Try the Traditional Foods Forum for more info....)

Make one meal for the family, its easier!

Try different varieties of rice: sushi rice, also great for risottos and rice pudding, jasmine/basmati rice for its great fragance, nutty wild rice of course

Have you considered soaking your grains to improve digestability? (Traditional foods Forum again...)

If she doesn't want meat, still offer it of course, it will take time to change, but don't push her. My nephew only eats meat, butter, yogurt and fruit. Maybe once a week he'll taste a veggie or new thing (he's three)

Does she like smoothies? Hide some protien powder in there?

[northerngirl]

Originally Posted by flightgoddess 

You could make 'soft flour' tortillas with a mix of sourgum and rice flour or potato starch, shortening or lard, salt and water. Toast them in a skillet on both sides.

Have you delved into other poultry? Cornish hen? Turkey?

Make a nourishing bone broth from the carcasses (Try the Traditional Foods Forum for more info....)

Make one meal for the family, its easier!

Try different varieties of rice: sushi rice, also great for risottos and rice pudding, jasmine/basmati rice for its great fragance, nutty wild rice of course

Have you considered soaking your grains to improve digestability? (Traditional foods Forum again...)

If she doesn't want meat, still offer it of course, it will take time to change, but don't push her. My nephew only eats meat, butter, yogurt and fruit. Maybe once a week he'll taste a veggie or new thing (he's three)

Does she like smoothies? Hide some protien powder in there?

I would like to make homemade tortillas, if I had time. I cannot have sorghum...or turkey. I have not tried cornish hen though.

I just bought sweet brown rice for the first time to make sushi....maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling up to it.

I do not soak my rice, although I have thought about it. But it seems when I don't have a plan, I just decide oh I'll make some rice, and then there's no time to soak. Does the soaked rice become real mushy? or is it still fluffy?

DD1 loves smoothies. We don't have protein powder, do you have a rec for one?

thanks for your reply!