Daughter with aspergers/egg allergy

[LisaLulu]

My husband and I are paleo and the kids eat paleo at dinner and gluten free at breakfast and lunch. I want to transition the kids over to paleo in the next while. Should be fine for the youngest one, but our oldest has several roadblocks. 

 

1. She's allergic to eggs (as am I) so that rules out a lot of recipes for the whole family as we do not keep eggs in our house.

 

2. Her school has a very strict no nuts policy so any nuts or nut butters are completely out when it comes to lunches.

 

3. It's hot out and her lunch can only stay cool for a very short time with an ice pack where it's kept on a shelf in a hot classroom. Her school doesn't have lunch but does 2 'nutrition breaks' one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Being as she's 4 years old I can't trust that she will eat meat at the first one when it's still cool enough to be safe rather than eating it at 230 in the afternoon when it's been sitting in her bag for 7 hours.

 

4. She has Aspergers and is very sensitive to certain foods/textures to the point where they make her retch. This includes leafy greens, which rules out a lot of calcium from non dairy sources. I tried giving her bone broth and she found it repulsive. She will not eat fish bones.

 

Despite her condition she already eats better than most kids we know, but only because everyone we know feeds their kids SAD garbage and she does her picky eating within the realm of fairly clean food choices (so lots of fruit, nuts, meat, potatoes and cheese). 

 

Any suggestions would be helpful. I have considered just pulling the plug on certain foods, but my kids are also pretty skinny and active already so I worry because a lot of her calcium and calories comes from cheese.

[MrsStick]

Will she eat jerky? That might be an idea for meat...she's probably too young to have a pouch of tuna or chicken to eat.

 

For broth, will she eat soups? I can't stand drinking broth/stock, but I'll eat chicken and veggie soup or pureed veggie soups, like the zucchini one that Melissa Joulwan makes (cut the ground coriander way back for her if she doesn't like spicy, since it was too spicy for my hubby who usually is good with spice). I've also done sweet potato soups, carrot soup, butternut squash soup, broccoli soup...it's a really easy way to consume broth.

[GoJo09]

And what about sardine fritters, using the entire sardine crushed up, so she's getting the bones and everything without ever knowing?

[LisaLulu]

What would the fritters be made of though? She's allergic to eggs. She will most certainly not eat soup! Or jerky... She will mostly just eat plain foods- roast chicken, baked fish, roast beef, baked potatoes, a couple types of steamed or raw veggies, any fruit that hasn't been frozen, nuts and nut butters, dried fruits (but not cranberries). She used to eat everything but has slowly weeded out many foods in the past year for texture reasons, including non paleo foods too.

 

It's also hard to know if it's the right thing because what's right for my own 36 year old body might not be what's best for her 4 year old one with different genetic make up and the inability to tell me exactly how she feels (due to both age and autism) when she eats certain foods. We took gluten out of her diet because it made her sick every time she eats it and she projectile vomits whenever she eats eggs but as for other foods I just don't know. 

[GoJo09]

You could make the fritters with a vegan substitute for the egg - chia seeds and water, I think?

 

It seems like it's only firm foods that she'll eat - have you tried roasted cauliflower and broccoli? If you're worried about sending meats to school, maybe just don't have a protein component for those meals - you can make it up at breakfast and dinner.

[LisaLulu]

She won't eat roasted broccoli or cauliflower but will eat them raw or steamed (I know it's weird!). I think what I'm going to do is transition her over the summer holidays so that when school starts again she will be used to eating this way. I am not going to buy any more grain products and once what we have is gone I'll have to figure it out! 

[AllyB]

Have you experimented with eggs from free range chickens?  Or eggs from chickens that aren't fed soy?  We have chickens and have had some kids who 'can't eat eggs' able to eat our eggs.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm guessing it's the difference in the feed.  Our chickens eat some 'chicken feed', but mostly they eat bugs, grass and table scraps.

[Nightingale]

Sounds like an fpies type allergy. Have you researched gaps diet? It is similar to whole9/whole30 but adds in foods a few at a time. I feel like whole9 is great for most people but some people with severe allergies/neorological problems something longer and more structured might be needed.

[drtracyb]

My son has fetal alcohol syndrome and autism and adhd.  My daughter has FAS and ADHD.  We have been paleo since September.  The first month was hard but it has gotten easier.  They are not 100% paleo as I let them have rice chex with almond milk for breakfast.  I make salmon cakes with mashed sweet potato and coconut flour as the binder.  I also make chocolate chili with lots of added veggies.  My son does get to eat rice.  He very much craves that mouth feel.  I am trying to see if rice triggers his behaviors as there are times when we have been very strictly paleo that he is almost "normal" and "conscious" mentally.  Other times his behaviors are so off the wall that I rack my brain trying to figure out what he has eaten to alter him mentally.  I did find a correlation between dairy and his altered behavior, so I have no problems keeping dairy out of his diet.  I hide a lot of veggies in his food as purees or mix-ins.  I also do give vitamin supplements.  And they get a break from paleo from time to time - I'd say we are about 80% paleo, the rest gluten free, and always artificial food dye free.

[jennor]

Wow, I am shocked at the condition at which the kids are supposed to eat in that school! Is that the norm where you live? How on earth can the kids eat real food in school if their food is to be stored at room temp and no access to heating it? And no proper lunch break, just two snack breaks? It sounds designed to eat only shelf stable snack foods all day long! What a terrible way of teaching the little ones about proper meals.

[Iseeblindpeople]

I am also allergic to chicken eggs, but I can eat duck eggs. I buy them from a local farmer. You might want to look into it. They are made up of a different protein than chicken ones.

[HannahP]

This may not be the case for you guys, but my toddler is only allergic to the egg white, not the yolk. I read that this is the case for a lot of children.  If you aren't sure about this, it might be worth a very careful try? My son is still allergic to organic eggs.

[Munkers]

In regards to the fish cake idea, google "aip salmon cakes" or "autoimmune paleo salmon cakes." Of course you sub fish other than salmon. Different recipes use different binders like plantains, sweet potato, coconut milk and coconut flour. There are LOTS of egg-free options. Autoimmune recipes are already free of egg and nuts so you wouldn't have the allergy issues to worry about.

 

Does her school allow seed butters? I've seen several that forbid nuts, but will allow sunbutter.

 

You might also consider an insulated lunch bag for her or even a mini-cooler. Lunch bags have come a long way and there are some on the market that are pretty great insulators. You may have to spend some time going over reviews, but it should be worth it to find something reliable. What are the other parents using for their kids? I'm sure you're not the only family that sends their kids to school with real food. In the minority, sure, but surely not the only ones.