Vivi Eats: Life with Food Allergies

At a year old, Vivi is beginning to eat more like a real human being and less like a kooky celebrity on a faux-milk cleanse. 

She's taking a bottle much less frequently. (Twice a day.) The purees have been replaced with solids. She can even feed herself.  Only about half of the food on her tray makes it to her mouth, and half of that gets spit back out.  Still, I call that good odds.  

But since Vivi is allergic to peanuts, eggs, and dairy, we're still figuring out what to feed her.  As a typical toddler,  she also has strong opinions about what she will and won't eat. She loves fruit and carbs, but not much else.  

I will say that avoiding her allergens has been easier than I anticipated.  It's surprising how many common foods contain these ingredients (especially eggs and dairy), but it's been just as surprising to discover how many other options we have.

Below, I'm sharing what a typical day's worth of meals looks like for Vivienne. 

Note: I did not go out of my way to feed her anything special or out of the ordinary to make it look like we're culinary wizards.  Nor did I style the food to make it look pretty.  Some of it looks kinda gross, actually, for which I apologize.  The meals I'm showing aren't perfectly nutritionally balanced either.  I struggle to get protein in this girl for example. Tomorrow she may have more vegetables or grains or meat, and I like to think that her needs are met over the course of a week. This is just a sample of one single day, and I wanted it to be a realistic depiction of what she eats.    

Pre-Breakfast:

Cheerios (dry)

Apple Juice/ Water mix

The girls wake up slowly as Maddie watches cartoons.  They snack on Cheerios every morning until we sit down for a real breakfast around 8 am.  

Breakfast:

Whole wheat toast with blueberry preserves.

I use this recipe from King Arthur Flour in my bread machine.  It's dairy free.  The loaf lasts about three hours before my family eats it up.  Most of the bread I find in the grocery store has milk and/or eggs in it.  I find it easier just to make our own.  Although Thomas' Plain Mini Bagels are vegan, and Vivi loves them.  

Pre-Nap:

8 oz bottle of Nutramigen formula

Lunch:

Sliced banana topped with SunButter 

Raisins

Blueberries 

Almond Milk (Which she didn't drink.)

SunButter is amazing stuff.  It looks and tastes a lot like peanut butter, but it's made from sunflower seeds.  

Snack:

Whole Grain Wheat Thins (vegan) 

Almond Milk (Which she barely drank.) 

Dinner:

Pasta with tomato sauce

Peas (which she didn't eat)

Almond Milk (which she didn't drink)

I've found that most brands of pasta are egg free but will include warnings that they share equpiment that processes eggs. (Those darn egg noodles.)  I buy Market Basket brand pasta.  There is no warning stating that they share equipment, but manufactors are not required to include that information on their labels at this time, so I'm not 100% sure that they don't.  We've had success with this brand, but if you're dealing with severe, life-threatening allergies, obviously don't take my word for it.  Just sayin'.  Same goes for the tomato sauce.  Even traditional, plain tomato sauce often contains milk.  Market Basket's does not, but I always read the labels.  Always.  

Bedtime:

8 oz bottle of Nutramigen formula