Food Ideas for Children with Multiple Food Allergies

 

I have been helping some parents of children with multiple food allergies on what to eat and how to prepare foods differently. Sometimes the child is allergic to eggs, milk, soy, nuts and wheat. It gets complicated but with the help of an RD, it is easy to introduce new foods in the family’s diet and know the products available to use when cooking.  

So, I thought of passing on a few ideas of some other foods and Hispanic dishes that might come in handy when there are multiple food allergies in the family. I know that new foods or some of these foods in this list might seem daunting for you to introduce. My children eat all of these foods because they have been introduced at an early age. This makes it easier. Be patient with little ones and keep trying.

1. Potatoes: Add in soups and when mashed, add in corn burritos. Have you made frittatas? You can use an egg replacer or add broth and add any vegetable you like in the mixture.  
2. Yuca: It looks like a tree root or branch, it is brown and white inside, also known as cassava. You cut ends, peel and cut into 3 inch pieces. You can boil in salt water until tender. Discard the water and serve the yuca with some salt and cilantro. It has the flavor of a strong starchy potato. Another suggestion is to cut it like big fries and fry it. In some Hispanic markets you can find yuca already peeled for you in the frozen section.
3. Plantain: If they are firm, peel and cut in thin slices or lengthwise diagonal and fry. Find the recipe for “tostones” or “patacones”. Here is another dish, “plátanos maduros”. If they are tender, then peel and use milk free margarine to sauté, then add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lime juice, water and a small amount of vanilla, cover and simmer until tender.
4. Eggplant: Make eggplant lasagna. Peel the eggplant and cut lengthwise thick slices, steam the slices or boil 4 minutes in water and use instead of pasta.
5. Beans: Boiled beans, refried beans, black bean soup, bean dip with corn tortilla chips for snacks. For breakfast make burritos with corn tortillas and beans and salsa. Here is another dish “Gallo pinto” a Costa Rican dish that is eaten for breakfast. It has white rice, beans, red pepper, onions.
6. Lentils: White rice and lentils, with a lean protein. Mmm, the best dish. Lentils are so easy to make, and fast too.
7. Hominy: It is a large kernel corn, find “posole soup” and make it with pork or chicken.
8. Cornmeal: I like to use masa “P.A.N” found in the Hispanic markets. It is cornmeal, just add water and you have the cornmeal dough, add annatto seasoning to the dough for flavor. You can make empanadas with lean ground beef, “arepas” a Venezuelan dish that looks like corn cakes and you can fill it with anything you like, meat, chicken.
9. Rice: Think of chicken and rice or “arroz con pollo”, chicken paella, fried rice, black beans and rice, rice cakes (potatoes and rice mix with egg substitute and fried). A dessert made with rice milk could be “arroz con leche”. You can use rice milk and coconut milk.
10. Soups: Don’t forget chicken soup, gazpacho (tomato based soup), avocado soup made with chicken stock, and the fabulous black bean soups.

Let me know if I missed a good one to add to this list. Buena suerte.

 

Comments

[ENT doctor]

Having a multiple allergies is so annoying, especially for a child. Thanks for helping the children on what to eat and how to prepare foods differently, keep it up.

-Luke