Food Allergies: Allergy-Friendly Meals

allergy-friendly meals

Allergy-Friendly Meals & Snacks

allergy-friendly snacks

Inevitably, as you begin to sort through all that is entailed in safely managing food allergies, your child will tell you he or she is hungry… now.  Here are some tips, snack ideas and allergy-friendly meals that will get you off to a confident start.

 

A Different Approach

It’s easy to get bogged down with checking ingredient lists and manufacturing practices when you’re first learning about food allergies.  One of the best ways to take the complications out of food allergies is to think of food in simple terms.  Fruit, vegetables, beans, lean, grass-fed meat, and seeds are top-8 allergen friendly and do not contain hidden ingredients.  Fish or nuts could be added to that list as well, depending on the allergies you’re managing.

 

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

When you start to think of meals in these simple terms, it takes the stress out of meal planning and grocery shopping.  Here are some lists of common fruits, vegetables, proteins and fats that can be mixed and matched to create simple, wholesome family meals:

 

Vegetables (starchy)VegetablesProteinsFatsGrainsFruit
sweet potatoesdark, leafy greensblack beansolive oilbuckwheatberries
squashcarrotsnavy beanscoconut oilmilletcitrus
cornbroccolipinto beansflaxseed oiloatsgrapes
white/red potatoesasparaguschick peasavocadobrown/black riceapples
beetsgreen beansgrass-fed beefflax seedsquinoapeaches
parsnipBrussels sproutsfree-range poultrychia seedsamaranthpears
yamartichokelambolivesbulgurcherries
bell peppersbisonchocolategritsraisins
radishesadzuki bean misococonut milkbananas

Table Reference: The Institute for Functional Medicine (2014).  The Core Food Plan. Retrieved from functionalmedicine.org

Quick Bites

  • allergy-friendly mealscut vegetables with homemade hummus from Weelicious
  • fruit (apples, bananas, pears, berries, etc.)
  • avocado on wheat/egg-free toast from the Allergy Friendly Kitchen
  • apple slices dipped in SunButter (sunflower seed butter)
  • fruit salad sprinkled with chia seeds
  • Oh She Glows seed crackers with guacamole or SunButter
  • homemade granola from the Conscious Eatery
  • rice cakes with apple butter and sunflower seeds
  • Wellness Mama’s chia seed pudding (with non-dairy milk)
  • smoothie with fruit, vegetables, greens, hemp/pea protein powder, water or non-dairy milk and a dab of coconut oil

Remember, it’s personal…

What might be allergy-friendly for you may not be right for me. It’s important to remember that this term is thrown around a lot in the world of food production. Labels like “allergy-free” are unreliable for most of the food-allergic population. Nothing really beats reading food labels closely, asking questions of food manufacturers or chefs, and holding a lot of compassion for each other as we navigate this way of life.

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