One of my grandkids has some serious allergies. He’s still young enough that they bring all his food to family gatherings. We all are careful to wash our hands with soap and water after eating dairy. We also don’t kiss him if we have had dairy. It’s a challenge as his cousins do drink milk. I can see down the line as he is more mobile adjusting the menu to be dairy free. He is also allergic to egg and a few other foods. They are going to start a program where they work on the egg allergy. They have to go to a medical center 2 hours away for the allergy treatment which isn’t the most convenient.
My own daughter has food allergies but isn’t anaphylactic and over her lifetime has learned to ask questions and avoid foods that she is allergic to. No gluten allergies in our family.
We are doing a family trip this summer and one grandchild is allergic to dairy,egg, sesame and mustard. We have three other grandchildren who do drink milk. Not sure how we will handle that.
Looking for ideas on recipes and menus that don’t contain the above allergens.
How severe is the allergy and how old is the child with the allergies? What do the children normally eat?
The easiest menus would be to select a protein and then add vegan versions of your usual sides. Vegan recipes will not include dairy or egg. You would still need to scan the recipe and any prepackaged components for sesame or mustard but those are typically easy to spot.
He is 2 but has other health concerns so not atypical. Other kids are 3 and under. Very allergic to dairy.
All add that I’m not needing ideas to feed the allergic child as the parents prepare all the food for their child. I’m needing ideas to feed the other kids who like Mac and cheese, eggs,yogurt and various other foods that likely have allergens.
Do you think the non-allergic kids can switch to non-dairy foods like cheese substitutes to make mac and cheese, make it with margarine, almond milk, etc? My kid wasn’t allergic but very picky. She wouldn’t eat Mac and Cheese by Kraft, but when we were eating at friends’, they just scooped out a cup of the noodles ‘pre cheese’. She did like butter on it but would have lived with margarine. She ate her cereal dry like crackers but had milk on the side. Would she have noticed the difference if it was almond milk? Probably but if that were the only choice, she probably would have caved after a day or two (she really liked milk) or I would have added chocolate to it (which might have milk in it but maybe some don’t). She ate all her food ‘separate’. I really have no idea how old she was when she first had pizza, but I’m sure she liked bread sticks long before pizza because of the look of pizza with all that sauce touching the other food (cheese and bread, her favorites).
I’d just feed the other kids dairy substitutes, or they can have other things like fruit for breakfast, more protein for lunches, veggie sticks. A friend’s kid would eat veggies if they were on a ‘circle from the store’ (veggie tray) because they were fancy.
I agree with ‘live like a vegan’ You should be able to find a lot of vegan kid snacks at Whole Foods or Sprouts that look just like their regular snacks.
My nephew (who is now 20) was allergic to dairy wheat and eggs, outgrew the dairy. The only concern when we got together were eggs, other people could eat dairy and wheat around him (he still has to carry a bag with an EpiPen and Benadryl). There were 8 cousins in all, his sister also had a tree nut allergy, I just have 2 with celiac (which overlaps with a wheat allergy, but there are some things one can eat that the other can’t, and vise versa). They don’t all have to eat the same things.
A lot of margarine’s contain dairy products. Just be aware. And read the ingredient labels carefully.
We will have a trial run this weekend. The allergic grand is local so it will be a bit easier as we aren’t in same house. I went to Whole Foods today and found some snack items. Also got both oat and almond milk to have the milk drinking grandkid try. Also picked up coconut and cashew nut yogurt. Found a vegan Mac and cheese but it had mustard powder in it.
The issue with dairy is that he is sensitive even if it’s residue left on a toy or on another kids hand.
Easy homemade vegan mac and cheese.
Pancakes or waffles could be premade and frozen. Use vegan milk and your preferred egg substitute.
Pasta and meatballs (just ‘forget’ to buy/bring the parmesan)
Grilled chicken tenders, pasta with olive oil or vegan butter, a steamed vegetable
Homemade chicken nuggets with veggies and a non-dairy dip
Nut butter and jelly sandwiches
Burgers and fries (if serving burgers on buns, check bun ingredients)
Cut up fruit for snacks. Children usually love berries and watermelon.
Popsicles or fruit ices instead of ice cream.
I have a dairy allergy, so am familiar with all of these products. Kids seem to like Ripple the best for milk. I’m told it tastes the closest to real milk. I like almond and soy.
Daiya now makes a shredded cheese that actually melts like real cheese. It will say “made with oatmilk” on the label. This is the only non-dairy cheese I would sub in a recipe. The others are a waste of money and the results are awful. Your best bet is to make your own mac and cheese and replace the milk with oat/soy/ or almond milk and use the new version of the Daiya cheese. For butter, I like the Country Crock plant based the best. If you can’t find that, use Earth Balance.
Stock up on the cheese as you can make nachos and quesadillas as well.
If you can find some safe buns, sliders are always a hit. You can do burgers or pulled pork (just throw a pork butt in the crock pot with BBQ sauce thinned with water)
There are lots of dairy free pasta sauces.
If you read labels, you should be able to find some frozen chicken nuggets.
Check labels on hot dogs! Surprisingly, some contain dairy. IF they are kosher hot dogs, you know dairy won’t be an issue.
Mashed potatoes are easy to make by subbing butter and milk for plant based butter and milk. No one will know the difference.
If the kids like smoothies, just make with a plant milk and they will be happy. You can also freeze in popsicle molds.
For ice cream, Ben and Jerry’s, Jenny’s, Hagen-Daz, So Delicious, and Oatly are all good. The Breyer’s is excellent if you can find it, but make sure you buy the one that says Oat Milk and not Lactose Reduced.
Baked goods that are dairy and egg-free are hard to find. Your best bet is to look for something marked vegan.
For chips (including potato chips), make sure to read labels. Many flavors contain milk.
Feel free to PM me with questions.
Edited: None of the dairy free yogurts are good.
When my GK were toddlers, this was a huge problem for the allergic GD as the other GD was a huge milk and cheese eater. When we were all together, we attempted all dairy free items, but the GD without allergies usually rejected due to taste. As the girls got older, the non allergic GD knows she has to wash her hands and face before they can play again.
Now there is another toddler, but he is not a dairy focus as his sister! If he is drinking milk, it has to be in a no spill cup, and only at the table. Again, hands and face are cleaned before playing. I swear, if my son’s kids were on a desert island and all they could have was milk and cheese, they would be happy; oh, and fruit!
There are so many daily free options now, it is easier if the kids will eat them. The hard part is watching the little ones; making sure the allergic child doesn’t pick up the wrong cup, or toddlers putting toys and hands in their months while playing. My daughter was a nervous wreck when the 2 girls would play together; now they are both 6, so much easier.
My DIL is a nervous wreck which is understandable. The three year old understands the importance of washing his face and hands for his cousin.
@vwlizard thank you for the brand specifics. I saw the Ripple milk and I’ll try it if the ones I bought don’t work.
Ripple is very popular, and also has a chocolate variety. It was a treat for the girls to have the chocolate milk.
A good rule is everyone only eats at the table. Have them sit down with a placemat so it feels like a real meal/snack and not just grazing throughout the day. Everyone washes up after a meal/snack. Since it’s vacation, you can go disposable, but if not, also a “special” place setting. When washing the table after eating, don’t use a reusable sponge. I use dish clothes, a new cloth each round of cleaning up. If hand washing dishes, start with the place setting used by the kid with allergies, either a new clothes or a sponge used just for those dishes.
(Because I take allergies seriously, I’ve become the “go to” teacher to come up with safe systems for the classroom).
I love the placemat idea to make mealtime fun. I bet you can find some fun/entertaining ones on Amazon or similar.
Would it help to bring extra hand wipes to have in different areas of the house??
I have been buying the Ben & Jerry non dairy frozen desserts and love them! Cherry Garcia tastes great and you don’t miss the dairy! Sorbets are also dairy free (but check labels).
They have been told that hand wipes don’t get rid of the milk residue. The Dr said it just moves it around.
I’m getting lots of great suggestions and I appreciate everyone sharing ideas. It’s a challenge for us all.
I wondered about that but thought I’d throw it out there!
Looking for snack foods for the other toddlers and wondering if there are hidden ingredients I need to watch out for.