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May 18, 2020

30 Comments

My journey of allergy aware cooking started way back in 2008 when my son was about six months old and having issues with solid food. Anything we gave him to eat, he threw up – picture projectile vomit all day, every day!

We saw several medical professionals and they told me that I was overreacting and being a worried mum, but by mid-2009 my little one and a half year old had dark circles under his eyes and you could count his ribs and vertebrae.

As a mum of three and an early childhood educator, I knew that I wasn’t just being a ‘worried mum’. So, I sought help at the RPA Allergy Clinic in Camperdown. They were incredible and made me feel understood immediately.

‘If he is going to eat it, you have to have made it’

It’s there that Riley was diagnosed with failure to thrive, EoE and gastritis as well as food allergies and intolerances. It was a minefield to navigate so we were prescribed an elemental formula as the basis of his nutritional intake. They told us he needed to avoid all artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. The exact words were ‘if he is going to eat it, you have to have made it’.

I felt like I’d regained some of the control around helping Riley get better. So, we totally shifted how our family ate. Of course, we hadn’t been consciously eating additives and preservatives previously but the more I read the labels of some of the products we’d been buying and the more I learned, the more I realised how little control we’d had over what we were eating.

Good Side Effect Of Allergy-Friendly Food

I started cooking everything from scratch, and while I was baking allergy-friendly food for my son, my two older girls also ate the same foods. I noticed the benefits in them too. They were calmer, had better attention spans and were generally being nicer kids!

My biggest struggle with allergy friendly cooking was time and money, because there are no shortcuts – anything packaged is full of additives. For instance, I could make dairy-free custard using rice milk, but when made with custard powder it has additives and no nutritional value. The time required was enormous, not only in actually making the food but in finding easy substitutes that ensured the recipes still had great flavour and texture while being allergy-friendly. This was so hard because I had a part-time job and three children.

The Turning Point for Me

You’ll laugh, but a turning point for me was when I bought my Thermomix. It was my mum who first suggested it because she had heard about it through a friend. I wasn’t keen on the idea but I reluctantly attended a Cooking Experience – this was back in 2013 – and the first thing they made was strawberry sorbet with no additives. Not only was it allergy-friendly, but it only cost two dollars. I had bought dairy free, preservative free sorbet for my son earlier that day which cost a fortune. Making it myself, I could control the sugar content too.

The consultant then whipped up a pizza dough that also cost two dollars and only took two minutes to prepare. This is when the cost benefit began to really set in for me – we had family pizza night every couple of weeks which cost us $65 from the one local place that made bases with no additives and making my own was so time intensive. Making it in the Thermomix would save us a fortune in time and money.

That was the other thing which totally convinced me to make the investment – it was the time-saving which I think that often, we don’t put enough value on. The idea I could make delicious, additive and preservative-free food for our family affordably while also saving myself hours was too good! I was suddenly able to create allergy-friendly and nutrient-dense food in no time at all, and that the kids loved. I remember when I first made a cake for my son’s birthday – it was so quick and easy to whip up and he was so excited that he could actually eat it!

Inspiration

An added bonus for the whole family was that while cooking to meet my son’s nutritional needs, I  also discovered new dishes I wouldn’t have tried to make previously. We could eat butter chicken, chilli con carne, hidden veggie pasta sauce and bechamel sauce all from scratch. I was roasting and grinding spices for Mexican and Indian meals that tasted so much better than the takeaway versions.

Preparing meals from scratch is the secret sauce when you’re allergy aware. Allergies and intolerances require time and effort to pinpoint the culprit or culprits, and cooking from scratch allows you to be in total control of the ingredients so you can regulate your elimination diet or food cycle properly.

The Culprits

I was fortunate to work out early that gluten wasn’t a problem for Riley, so we could have fresh bread and scrolls. However, dairy, soy, certain proteins and fruit and vegetables were foods that we needed to avoid for a long time.

Artificial colours were a particular problem as the preservatives built up in his system and made him sick after a few days.

Luckily, there are so many great resources and websites that have recipes for homemade alternatives which can be made so quickly and inexpensively.

My advice to other mums is to do your research and don’t be afraid to make changes which will help you and your family. Also, don’t be afraid to seek help from medical professionals – I can’t speak highly enough about the team at the RPA for their understanding, experience and advice.

They taught me so much about allergy-sensitive cooking and showed me how to work through an elimination protocol which allowed Riley’s body to have a rest from foods that created issues. The dietitians also gave me the confidence to make healthier alternatives at home. For instance, they told me that slushies contain antifreeze, artificial colour and flavour, and suggested the cleanest lemonade for me to purchase. This blended with ice in my Thermomix became a ‘slushie’ for my family.

You are not alone!

Whoever is reading this and experiencing something similar, know that you are not alone. I discovered early that there are other mums like me out there, struggling to feed their kids allergy-friendly food, or simply wanting to avoid nasty additives to support their children’s learning and behaviour. There is so much support out there which you can tap into.

I found websites and cookbooks with allergy-friendly food and over the years, I’ve adapted recipes to suit my son’s needs and shared these with other mums. Food has become something that nourishes us and helps us thrive, instead of something that was causing us such difficulties and pain.

Kerri-Ann shared this story for Food Allergy Week - an Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia initiative which was launched in May in 2003.  

What are your best tips to cope with a child with an allergy? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • I am thankful that none of my kids had any issues like this other then when my eldest was very little and we found she couldnt handle chocolate. Wasnt an issue…we just didnt allow her to eat chocolate but once she got a little older she was fine.

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  • My thermomix has helped me a lot with my kids. I have a son who struggles with artificial colours and preservatives. Cooking from scratch made a huge difference to his behaviour.

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  • It’s always nice to cook from scratch but it does get very time consuming and expensive with all of the different ingredients you have to buy but it’s the best way to ensure you know exactly what is going into the meals you have.

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  • Yes cooking from scratch is the way to go here as well. We’ve 3 kids on gluten free from which 1 is also on diary free and 4 of the 6 of us are also vegetarian. You get used to it and pure healthy food is not only better but really yum & enjoyable !

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  • Great article. I have to cook from scratch also, not due to allergies but to illnesses so understand fully the time problems involved. Thanks so much for sharing your post – at times you do feel as though you are the only person in the universe who doesn’t go out to restaurants or have take-aways, but you just can’t afford the problems it causes.

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  • a good article and good reminder

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  • A great article. I agree that cooking from scratch is the best way to ensure their are no hidden ‘dangers’ in your food.

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  • Wow what a journey. My daughter has a peanut allergy and if I’m buying something new I always read the label first

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  • Nice article yes we don’t realize how many additives food has

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  • I don’t have a thermomix but think homemade foods is the key indeed together with reading labels of all store bought food. I don’t think it’s so hard at all. We have gluten and diary intolerances in our family and 4 out of 6 are vegetarian as well.

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  • Thank you for sharing this is very helpful.

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  • wow! who would have though a thermomix would help so much! They’re now on sale too with the click frenzy!

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  • A great article for mums who are also going through the same thing. I agree that support is very important for them and it is a long learning process.

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  • I’ve never explored this fully, but know that my son has allergy issues – but it’s a bit trial and error for us, and certainly not as serious as this story. My son also has ASD, so much of his issues have been put down to that due to his many sensitivities to food, environment etc. A very interesting article though and one which I wish I’d read 19 years ago.

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  • What a great article and a “good feel” story of success.
    I can’t afford a thermomix but I have always cooked most of our meals at home using a pressure cooker.
    You can’t beat food cooked from scratch for taste, affordability and for the sheer pleasure of discovering how easy it really is without the added preservatives…..

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  • I know some mums having lots of pressure on this topic.Great article for mums who struggling to feed their kids allergy-friendly food,

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  • Thankfully none of my kids have allergies

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  • Having allergies in the family is hard. My child has a dairy allergy and we carry zertec and a epipen everywhere we go. We have to read every food label before buying anything. Also hard with play dates trying to explain to other parents what your child cant eat.

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  • I was and still am the only person in our family to have an allergy. My allergy is to citrus so I just avoid anything that has citrus in it. I feel for all the Mum’s who have had to care for children with allergies as it’s always been hard to find any information to help set you in the right direction.

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  • The hardest thing is ensuring friends and family take the severity of the allergies into account. The number of times my son has had a near-fatal reaction because someone hasn’t taken his allergy seriously is shocking. Anaphylaxis can kill and very quickly. It has made him and myself become very anti-social.


    • The lack of understanding by some people is indeed disturbing whether it is because of lack of knowledge or because they feel it is unfair to be denied particular foods in community environments. I counteract it with conversations about how horrendous it is to have a child in hospital due to exposure to allergens. Also the reason for epipens and vigilance for everyone in the community. Imagine if is was your child often gives people pause for thought!

    Reply

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