Food Allergies on a Budget – Part 3

It’s time for part 3 of the Food Allergies on a Budget series! 

In case you missed the previous posts, here they are:

• Part 1
• Part 2

This time we’ll be taking a closer look at the practical things that need to happen in your kitchen when you have to start eliminating foods from your diet.

Practical Approaches for Food Allergies

Cross-contamination

An important factor when cooking with allergy free foods is cross contamination.  This is especially important for those with anaphylactic type reactions to foods.  

If you plan to cook separate foods for an allergy free individual, you will need to be sure that you haven’t contaminated the cooking space at all with the wrong ingredients.  A simple example to illustrate would be with pastas.  Say you have one individual in your family who has a gluten allergy or intolerance and you want to prepare rice pasta for them and regular pasta for the rest of the family. (This is certainly the cheaper way to go in the situation.)

You will need to be sure not to use the same pasta server in both pots as you cook the two types of pastas.  You will want to use 2 different colanders, or drain the rice pasta first, as to not contaminate the colander with the wheat pasta. You will want to use clean pots and pans and not just “rinse and reuse” from wheat pasta to rice pasta.

Cook from Scratch

Unless you want to buy all the overpriced allergy free products that are out there, you are going to have to get on the “slow food bandwagon” and start cooking from scratch.  It’s just easier doing it yourself and knowing that your food is safe for you or your family member to eat and won’t send them to the hospital or into terrible stomach cramps or pain!

Just Avoid It All Together

As I mentioned before, it may just be that you have to eliminate nuts, dairy, turkey…whatever it may be…permanently, just for peace of mind.  Figure out the work arounds and start exploring and cooking with those new ingredients.

Create The Shelf

If you find yourself in a situation where just one member of the family is eliminating a food for allergy or intolerance reasons, then create a shelf in the pantry and a shelf/section in the freezer for the allergy free foods that they need.  Talk to your family and tell them that these products are only for such family member and that they are a little more expensive, so please don’t eat them.  For your pocketbooks sake!

Going out to Dinner

Dealing with food allergies when out on the town can be extremely difficult, as you have no idea what specific ingredients that are used in preparing the foods.  If you have a soy allergy, you wonder if the restaurant uses soybean or vegetable oil to fry or saute.  If you have a dairy allergy, you wonder if the bagels or muffins are made with bread.

Don’t be afraid to ask to see the ingredient list.  Don’t be afraid to take your own food into the restaurant with you. Just politely explain that it’s for your child or yourself, as you have a severe allergy, but still want to be able to enjoy eating out without worrying. Most will understand.

Check out sites like “Food Allergies To Go” and “Gluten Free Restaurants” to help you find restaurants in your area that are allergy free friendly.

Kids Parties

What on earth do you bring to a kid’s birthday party?! If you are gluten free or nuts free, try this chocolate mug cake. Can be made in just a few minutes, as everyone is scurrying about to get out the door to the party.  If you are dairy free, take along some sorbet that your child can eat as the other kids enjoy their ice cream.

What other tips or tricks do you have to share with us when it comes to dealing with food allergies practically in the kitchen?!

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