How to Feed for Food Allergic Son on the Go?

When my daughter's food allergies were at their worst (when she was <3yo) I focused on what she COULD eat rather than what she couldn't eat. She was allergic to all high Vitamin-C fruits (citrus, kiwi, cantaloupe, pineapple), milk, soy, eggs and MSG...anyway, I always had applesauce and apples around. I provided her with cups of allergen-free cereal, made lots of muffins to take on trips, cut up veggies, rice and almond milk, etc... Egg Replacer was a huge help when I baked. I made my own gravies. But again, I had to change the way I looked at it, not focus on what she *couldn't have* but what she *could* and made up my grocery list to include mostly fresh foods (not processed) and most of the family ate the way she ate (with a few exceptions).
With all that your kid can't eat, I would stay away from processed food as much as you can.

eta:
Her reactions were not life-threatening, she has eczema, and we were told her allergies would subside when she got older and they did. But I treated them very seriously and avoided those foods as if she would have had anaphylactic-type reactions.

We don't have so many allergies (just nuts and some non-food allergies), but we do a lot of cheese (if it's lactose intolerance, your son might be able to tolerate some cheeses, bec. the lactose is used up by the microorganisms that change it from milk to cheese).

Fruit is usually pretty portable. We do fruit, pre-sliced & in baggies in a cooler, and applesauce cups (Musselmans and Motts both make no-sugar-added varieties that are a blend of apple & other fruits). We do granola (try making homemade--you can change it up with whatever ingredients you want, and you can "up" the nutritional content by adding nutritional yeast, wheat germ).

You can try buying the Quorn - it is a non-soy, non-meat protein source. I've seen it at Whole Foods. But you might want to research it first and read the label really well and talk to your pediatrician/allergist first, just to be safe (I believe that it's actually based on a fungus). They sell it at Whole Foods, and you can get nuggets (like chicken nuggets).

You can make your own black bean burgers for on the go; we use this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Black-Bean-Veggie-B...# or this one http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bean-Rice-Burgers/Deta..., depending on what we have & what we feel like -- these freeze well. You'll have to use egg substitute for the eggs, to bind the stuff together. Our LO loves black beans & rice, so he likes these burgers. :)

Good luck--I know dealing with allergies is a constant pain in the butt....

I would go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and get their allergen list at the customer service counter - then troll through that print-out for ideas.

My son is sensitive to 40+ foods . . . the first time I went to Whole Foods I spent 3+ hours there.

I always suggest finding local or online support groups with parents of kids with the same allergies.it is amazing how helpful others in the same boat are! places to find safe food (Canada seperates peanuts and other food processing so you can buy food made no where near nuts online there)
You need to let the school know how serious it is and that you child should not be rudely excluded too. Explain to your child's friends parents what is OK and what is not and when it comes ot class parties always make sure some fruit is supplied so your child is not left out. Look online for yahoo groups for allergy groups..really it is helpful

My son is allergic to dairy, eggs & nuts - we avoid all of these 100%. He does eat soy though, so I can't guarantee that the suggestions below are soy free. That said, we do lunch on the go ALL the time. I usually bring three different things for him to eat. Here is what I usually do:

1. A sandwich (usually turkey and ham) or occasionally I'll give him a tupperware full of leftover meat (chicken, steak, hamburger) that he doesn't mind eating cold. If we're going to be somewhere with a microwave, I might bring a hot dog or chicken nuggets. Lately, it's almost always a sandwich since that is so easy. Sunflower Butter & Jelly is a good sandwich option for his allergies, but he doesn't like it.
2. Fruit - he loves all fruit, so I always bring fruit - grapes, berries, apple, plum, peach, nectarine, etc.
3. Some sort of cracker or snack food, such as pretzels, Wheat Thins, potato chips, veggie sticks, graham crackers, animal crackers, or Annie's brand bunny crackers

I hope that helps!
K.
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K. D. My son has similar allergies. what Kashi cereal bar do you give your son? I cant find a safe one.

My son eats a ton of fruit, Rold Gold pretzels, jam and matza.

My son is allergic to Milk, soy, nuts, eggs, sesame, turkey, peas, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, fish and shellfish and probably more! I struggle feeding him, but one of my staples is sunflower butter. He also will eat lots of fruit. I give him Enjoy Life bars; They come in different flavors. He can have corn chips, kidney beans, green beans, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks. These are foods that I pack him. Sometimes I pack cooked chicken and heat it up wherever I am visiting. I also precook nitrite free bacon and put it in toast with avocado. That is something I can only make if I have access to kitchen (toaster), but if we are going to a park or beach I just make a sunflower butter and banana sandwich or sunflower and jelly. I also pack him cereal for school with Rice milk and Casgadian Farms Raisin Bran. Oh, I almost forgot about So delicious Coconut 'yogurt'. It is not from nuts! NO dairy, NO soy. There is also Ricera 'yogurt' which is made from brown rice. You'll have to go to Whole Foods to find this. I think the coconut yogurt is much tastier. I hope this helps!

Why not use lots of fresh fruit and veggies? My grandson loves baby carrots, grapes, bananas, apple slices, avocado,raisins. Or precook some chicken breasts and cut it into bite sized pieces and keep it in a cooler for him. He also enjoys the braided pretzel sticks ( I am not sure if that is something that your son could eat or not!!). You say he is allergic to milk, but can he eat yogurt? Maybe you could keep other dry cereal for him to eat...cheerios ...some of the other Kashi Cereals.

Cut up fruits and veggies, raisins, allergen free crackers(sam's club sells a great one , go to a food store that specialty is allergies. You can usually not only find alot but also get alot of ideas. Whole foods also have allergy/food intolerance support groups and cooking demo to give ideas. Celiac, soy are our issues(milk/eggs used to be but no longer after her intestines healed).

My son doesn't have allergies but peanut butter is banned from school...i substitute sunflower butter which is so yummy and is not a nut!
Another allergy friendly easy to pack favorite of mine is the apple sauce in squeezable containers (expensive so I just usually use them during travel) THey have all sorts of flavors at whole foods or even at Babies R us!

No allergies here, but we just discovered applesauce pouches (called "Crushers") at trader joes. They are highly portable and less messy than the cups, no spoon required.
I also carry a lot of cut up fruit and veggies (e/g carrot chips) and sometimes even cold cut up leftover chicken (cooked of course) in a tupperware box. To keep them cold I have them in a small insulated bag and freeze some juice packs to use as ice packs (saves space and weight - when they thaw you drink them).
Good luck!