What Can You Feed Your Kid?
This is the question I hear the most when I have to explain to people about my son's allergies. I feed him lots of things!! Like, cheese, rice, chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, grapes, carrots, broccoli, Hershey's chocolate, Life cereal, rice crispy treats, hamburgers... Pretty much anything that a normal child can eat, so can my son... Let me explain.. My son is currently allergic to peanuts, soy, salmon, cashews, and almonds.. In addition to that, I try to keep him away artificial ingredients, preservatives, and colors in his food. I also like to keep much of his diet organic as I can, and as long as it is convenient. I do a lot of my shopping at Target, Trader Joe's, and Fresh & Easy, so it's not hard to find organic versions of pretty much anything I need. Now, I'm not a perfect parent. Not by a long shot. I get lazy, and tired, and I admit, we eat out way more often than I'd like to admit. But, that is life. I'm putting a stop to it now, because it's getting out of control. But when your spouse gets a limited amount of time to spend with family, sometimes it's much nicer to go out and eat somewhere where the food is already created for you, and you have no mess to clean up after. That being said, I'm well versed in all of the ingredients of the local restaurants out here. I know that the fries at McDonald's contain no peanut oil. I also know that Chick Fil A uses peanut oil to fry both their chicken and their fries I believe, but in addition to that, I also know that the traces of peanuts are non-existent after the pressing process in cheap peanut oil... which generally is what fast food places use.. But you cannot always let that be your deciding factor in choosing whether or not to trust a restaurant... Ironically, Chick Fil A happened to be one of the first places my son ate solid foods... But any way, knowing what is in these foods is what decides where I go to eat with my son. But when I'm at home, his meals look like this:
These are applesauce pouches. Nut free. All natural. Yum!
Applegate lunch meat, organic, non-GMO popcorn, sliced grapes, whole wheat quesadilla, and sour cream.
This is Applegate lunch meat, grapes, organic strawberries, mini organic carrots, and Annie's organic Mac & Cheese.
This is Cheeze itz, grapes, organic mozzarella cheese stick, organic corn, home made ranch dressing, and chicken nuggets from non-antibiotic and growth hormone chicken, and breaded in whole grains. They are made by Earth's Best, and my son loves them.
Here's some more things made by Earth's Best. It's nice to have a much healthier alternative for convenient meals.
This is grapes, organic corn, organic colby-jack cheese stick, half a halo mandarin orange, home made ranch, Earth's Best chicken nuggets, and organic brown rice.
This is just an example of the things that I make for my son at home. I try and hit every food group per meal, and keep as much whole, clean foods and organic. What's nice about eating whole, raw foods, I know exactly what is in it and that it doesn't contain anything that my son is allergic to. Whenever you eat out, you're putting yourself and your loved ones in the hands of absolute strangers. Strangers aren't going to really care if there is any traces of peanut in the food they are making or serving or not. We are the only ones that care. And because of this, I like to make my son food as much as possible. I used to feed my child whatever I bought or was on sale. But with research, you can see what the food industry is trying to feed you... So now I stay away from artificial colors and GMOs, as well as a ton of other stuff. Again, I'm not perfect. But, I am going to try and stay away from so much fast food and eating out from now on.
