Need Help Desperately!!!

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

I hope some of you with more experience with food allergies can help me out, because I feel like I'm in over my head.

Here's a little bit of history. My oldest son is 7 and has ADHD. We have it relatively under control with supplements, but he still needs to be in a special ed class for his language arts and math due to the smaller teacher to student ratio. In this class he did great with the normal 1st grade curriculum, but still is unable to function well in a regular ed class. So after trying an elimination diet where we really didn't seem to see alot of change (though I don't think we did it long enough!), we had the IgG Standard Food Sensitivity Assay.
Here's what we found out.

+4 Wheat and rye
+3 barley, cheese, eggs,
+2 cows milk,
+1 rice, oats, potatoes, lemon, lime, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, cherry, eggplant, goats milk, peach, pecan, pepper (black and white), green pepper,pineapple, safflower, tomato.

I just have this feeling that this is going to be such a huge link to his ADHD, like we're on the verge of a breakthrough : , but I feel so confused and overwhelmed at the same time : !

I am finding it very difficult to find recipies or premade things that avoid all of these things. I would love a recipe for bread that used some different flour, he misses sandwiches. Maybe a good recipe for corn tortillas. Heck, I'd love a recipe for anything besides meat and fruit and veggies. I just want to be able to offer him some different things, ya know? And I am just feeling overwhelmed thinking about our move on Monday. I will be without a kitchen for 2 days, and I don't know what he can eat out without screwing this up! Yup, as you can tell, I'm a worrier!

Any advice, recipes, support, would be greatly appreciated!

[saratc]

I once read somewhere that you can use sweet potato flour to make bread and muffins and such.

I had found an article about this mother who created it in search of something to feed her children, who were allergic to everything (including regular potatoes). She then later went on to create a company that creates a wide variety of food products and helps highly allergic individuals including autistic children. They sell all sorts of exotic meats including ostrich and if I remember correctly even bear.

Long story short, if you Google it, there's a bunch of specialty places that do carry sweet potato flour, and the recipes are supposedly wheat, egg, and milk free and taste pretty good.

[Annikate]

nak right now
Post over here - you'll find lots of suggestions.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Thank you both so much. I'm going to check both of those out. I'm feeling better about it today, less like I'm drowning, and more like treading water!

[AdoptChina]

I have seen some recipes using alternate flours on www.kidswithfoodallergies.com but havent tried them myself

[talia rose]

It is possible he tested bad to the dairy because of the gluten that goes through. My daughter is so gluten intolerant that if a chicken or cow ate gluten and she eats the egg or drinks the milk, she reacts. But we have (thank goddess) access to gluten free goats milk and eggs (from our kinisiologist allergy tester whose family is also gluten intolerant) It makes it easier for us that she can test to see exactly what works and what doesn't. I saw some water buffalo yogurt I am going to try also. Some of the grass fed dairy works as well.

Instead of focusing on what he can't eat, begin to focus on what he can. Write up a list of foods and another of recipes/meals and tape them to your fridge. It is important that when he gets hungry and you are overwhelmed, you can feed him quickly without having to think about it. A list will help you there. Other flours to play with are sorghum, tapioca, fava, or garfava (garbonzo/fava bean). I also was just told today about a coconut flour. Ground nuts make great flours. Nut butters are great quick protein foods. There are great corn cakes that come out of Australia ( Real Foods is the brand) that are fantastic with nut butter (almond or cashew macadamia are yummy) or avacado. Putting some nutritional yeast on top my daughter loves. There are corn pastas....again, yeast and olive or other oil on top is great. Check your local health food store for Raw Food products. VERY pricey but usually free of the foods he can't eat so worth it. If you find a company that makes them perhaps you can call and buy wholesale by explaining your situation. We have a great raw cereal and many cookie/cracker options raw here. I hope this helps! PS You can make tortillas simply by mixing cornmeal with water till doughy. I add in a little oil, and a bit of another flour (sometimes) Invest in a tortilla press, or I just squash it down with my hands......

[talia rose]

just another note that if you can't find the corn cakes i order them wholesale by the case and could ship to you.....

[JenniferKSwan]

My son also has multiple allergies, though not nearly as many as your son It is very rough at first, but I can tell you are doing better already because you feel like it is providing you with some answers. My son's allergy diagnosis helped us to understand why he was not thriving as well as his eczema. So even though it's a smack in the face at first, it's somewhat of a blessing.

Anyway www.foodyoucaneat.com is a great site for finding recipes. When you register, you eliminate foods from your profile that you cannot eat and then it allows you to search through recipes that are appropriate. They also have a great message board with lots of parents and people with extensive lists of multiple allergies.

As far as bread goes, check out www.ener-g.com They have white and brown rice bread, but also tapioca bread which might be of interest to you. This is the only bread I have been able to find so far for my son because he is also nut allergic (why they insist on making gluten free bread in a non-dedicated facility...well you don't need to hear me cussing about that ) It is expensive about $4-6 loaf, but it stays in the refrigerator for up to 6 months (I don't want to know how, but it does and the ingredients seem to be "natural")

Good luck!

[wendy1221]

I have "The Food Allergy Survival Guide" and it is a great cookbook. It does use rice flour, but I'm trying to think of what you could sub... Maybe a mix of millet, quinoa, and more bean flour? Check and see if your library has it.

Don't bother w/ the ener-G breads, they all have rice, afaik. I don't think I've ever seen a gluten free bread that is also rice and rye free. Honestly, I have been wheat free for about 7 mos now and I have bread maybe 1 or 2 times a week. You get used to not having it and you don't even miss it after a while. I make pancakes when I feel like something bready. I made pancakes yesterday w/out rice flour. I think I used half garbanzo and half quinoa flours. 1/2 cup of each, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1Tbs oil, 1/4 tsp salt and enough milk sub or water to make a realy thick batter. Make small pancakes and cook over a slightly lower heat than regular so that the bean flour gets cooked well and loses its taste.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Thank you all so much! I keep kicking myself for not getting ds1 tested sooner! I thought I was cooking so healthy for the family with whole grains! But I am really hoping that we will see a change in ds1, so knowing is definately better than wondering!

talia rose-
I love the idea of a list on things that he can eat, because he is getting sick of fruit and veggies for every snack! Could you let me know the ingredients of the corn cakes. Everything I've seen so far has something he can't have in it.

wendy1221-
I am going to get the fours I need for the pancakes! It is hard to find things for breakfast, though I guess you really don't need to have "breakfast foods" for breakfast, but they sure are good! It's the rice flour that's driving me nuts! But I did make a good apple bread, but I've got to tweek it a bit.


I am definately going to check out the books too.

I feel a little less overwhelmed in the last few days. We've had buckwheat hot cereal for breakfast that was good with fruit, and found a soy yogurt and pudding we can have. I am going to make some almond milk, because we aren't supposed to have anything two days in a row. I tried the corn pasta, and it was really good with a little olive oil, garlic and broccoli. I made it for lunch and they loved it, and I made a berry pie with an almond crust that was really yummy.

So slowly we are adjusting, each day is a little easier, though I seem to be craving things more than anyone else in the family. We are all doing the diet, to make it easier for ds1 and because if he has these allergies, it wouldn't shock us if we do too! The boys seem the least aggravated by the lack of foods that they are used to. Probably because they aren't the ones having to figure out what to cook!

[talia rose]

the corn cakes are just corn....depending on the flavor. sesame has a bit of sesame. These are just like rice cakes but a bit thinner. kids love them. I'm glad things are going better and keep in mind it will get easier as you find the food replacements and things that work.....

[foreversunshyne]

I found it quite overwhelming at the start too when I first found out how many allergies/sensitivities my son has. At first I thought, wow, is there anything left, what am I going to feed this kid, lol! I literally had to sit down and brainstorm with my husband and mother about what kind of foods that we could feed him that weren't on the list. Than after a while you kind of get used to it and it becomes second nature, it's just the getting there!

When we first did the elimination diet I saw a dramatic improvement in his behaviour. I am currently in the midst of researching the Feingold diet as I've heard that some children have done really well on it.

[Pauli]

Wow, that's quite a list...I thought we had a big list, but you win! The pp's have given you some good ideas but I had to mention quinoa.
Quinoa is a grain and it's really old but it's making a comeback. You can read about here www.quinoa.net
You cook it and use it like rice but I actually like it way better than rice. I make veggie stir-fry and serve with quinoa and sometimes put it in soup. You can also get quinoa pasta and quinoa flour and quinoa flakes (like hot cereal...I don't like it at all but if you doctored it up it might be ok.....)
I get whole quinoa at the regular grocery store here but you might have to go to a health food store depending on where you live. (BTW, you say it KEEN-WA). It's a complete protein also. I can't say enough good things about it. My daughter will eat it with basalmic vinegar and olive oil salad dressing on it. And sometimes we eat the leftovers cold on top of salad...

I also didn't see soy on your list...whoo hoo! That will make your life easier. I've found it easiest to stick to simple one ingredient kind of things as much as possible. You won't find much pre-made stuff without any of those allergens in, but if you read read read labels you might come up with a few things...for instance I think DeliMex chicken taquitos might be ok (they are for us but our list is different and I don't have the box handy...they're in the freezer section).
Just a couple ideas, I hope they help. Like everyone said, it gets SO much easier. You change your habits and find new things to eat. The transition sucks pretty bad though, but hang in there!

[Pauli]

Oh, one more thing...Chocolate Silk Soymilk is the best one! It's actually as good as regular chocolate milk!

[cdahlgrd]

I will make baking easy for you all. . .

For gluten free flours (quinoa, garbonzo, rice, etc.) make your normal muffin recipes, tortillas, and bisquit recipes. They will be crumbly, but will rise and taste good (a little different and might need a little tweaking, but doable).

For gluten flours (spelt, kamut, and sometimes oat, barley, etc.) make your yeast bread recipes.


It takes a little more time to make your own bread, but with a bread machine and some practice, it is do able (and tastes much better!!)

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

cdahlgrd-
I am getting the hang of the none gluten flours, but miss so much making yeast breads! I used to make them all the time. My family even got me a stand mixer to help with it. Is it possible to make yeast risen breads without gluten flours?

[cdahlgrd]

Yes, buZt it takes a lot of special ingredients and the texture just is never the same. (Stuff like guar gum, tapioca flour, etc.) You basically need to replace the glutton with other binders.

Oh, and if someone has an egg AND soy allergy you can substitute Flax meal in baking recipes. (1 tablespoon flax 2 tbsp. cold water, mix and let sit a few minutes.) Works great.

[wendy1221]

I made this into yeast bread and it was decent. I doubled the recipe and poured into bread pan. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/232993

I've since found that yeast gives me gas, so I try to stick to quick breads.

[wendy1221]

P.S. I bet bean flour would be a good sub for 100% of the rice in this recipe.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Wendy1221-

I just made the pizza dough with quinoa flour and buckwheat flour (who knew buckwheat wasn't really a wheat! ). It came out really well. Ds1+2 have a pizza party at camp and I was struggling on how to subsitute for them. So I made one crust with bacon and garlic and olive oil on top, with garlic powder, oregano, and basil in the crust, and a desert pizza with non-dairy chocolate sause cherries and blueberries! They look really good, and taste even better (I stole a piece of each!) Thank you so much for the recipe. I think I'll try it as a bread as well, and I have bean flour too, so I'll try that!


talia rose-
I'm going to pm you about the popcorn cakes. They sound great!