ideas for gf/cf food to take on aeroplane

[silverfrog]

have posted in SN too, but thought i would ask here as well.

dd1 is gf/cf.

she eats a reasonable range of foods, but lets face it, she's ASD, and not really likely to eat whatever is plonked in fron tof her on the flight (and that's if we can book her a GF meal anyway - currently not available )

we are off to Australia

so, 21 hours on a plane, with not much that dd1 will want to eat.

dd1 will not eat snadwiches (or any form of bread - not even home made) so out of luck on the easy option.

so, what do you reckon?

we take off at lunchtime, so can take that meal with us. then have tea, and breakfast, lunch and tea the next day to pack for.

I am stumped. breakfast will be ok - can pack cornflakes easy enough, and take rice milk. I can prob manage tea the first day too, in a thermos, but the others?

any ideas gratefully recieved.

[tatt]

who are you flying with that don't do GF meals? We flew with qantas and the GF food is pretty bad. It was supposed to be nut free and had some sort of potato cake (I forget exactly what it was as I took it away rapidly) that had almonds in it. Also a dish of slightly dried up fruit. BA was better, at least the fruit was fresher. Did get some potatoes and meat for one meal that was fine.

How about making some cake to take with you and packing some jelly pots. Also dried fruit and chocolate, Will she eat cold rice salad or potato salad? Will you have to get off at a refuelling stop and be able to restock? Sorry not many ideas but on the plus side when you get to Australia there are gluten free foods in two of the large supermarket chains - Woolies and Coles (maybe others, those are ones we went in).

Have you tried peptizyde as an alerntavive to GF if she is not actually coeliac?

[silverfrog]

Thanks - we are flying qantas! Their meal system is under review hence not being able to book... They say all will be ok by end of this week (we fly next week) but I am not holding my breath...

We are hoping not to have to get off at refuelling - can't see that it would go down well, and only stopping for an hour.

Could def make some cake to take (just hate the fact that any uneaten will have to be thrown away!)

she won't eat rice/potato salad sadly, and can't have jelly - she is not coeliac but is on an ASD gf/cf diet which means no gluten, casein, flavourings (even natural) preservatives sweetnersor MSG so gelatine is out too!

I know there is little chance of getting all that catered for on an airline, hence the planning!

Will try scouring recipe books again and see if anything lurks untried... I wod happily provide the lot, it's just the necessary keeping hot/cold that is the problem!

[tatt]

I'm afraid on our flight everyone got off at the refuelling stop while they cleaned the plane. Don't know if you would be allowed to stay on with special needs but we found qantas staff generally unhelpful. However the first part of the flight (from London to Singapore) did have a few nice staff so you may get lucky.

You won't necessarily have to throw everything away if you're worried about Australian import restrictions. We were allowed "confectionery" and crisps but you will have to throw away fruit. You can't take bananas even between some bits of Australia. They were also quite keen we shouldn't have anything wooden on us (??)

I learnt about Peptizyde (digestive enzymes used as alternative to GF/CF) from the special needs board so might be worth you considering. A good site to look at is www.mandimart.co.uk/ They are worth having for helping with contamination even if you don't want to use them as an alternative to the diet.

Staff can heat food for you but as I said qantas staff aren't often helpful. We really noticed the difference on Jetstar and BA.

[silverfrog]

that's funny - our worst staff experiences have been with BA! we were supposed to by flying BA one way (actually booked BA, flying Qantas on codeshare) but the schedule has changed and now it's Qantas both ways.

Qantas have been very helpful so far on the phone (which may well translate to nothing on arrival at airport ) and all we can do now is wait and see!

we are waiting on confirmation that we can stay on board at refuelling - again not holding out hopes, but it would certainly be a LOT easier.

enzymes are supposed to be good, and it is somehting I have thought of before, but having never tried them, i am not sure I want to start with something new on an already overwhelming trip... rock and hard place really. will talk to dh tonight and see what he reckons (we used to have dd1 on a range of supplements, inc digestive ones, but found they weren't fdoing her much good, and her bowel health appears better now we have stopped them (sorry if TMI))

I did get an assurance on the phone that staff would heat for us, but again, I don't like relying on it - it only takes an unhelpful staff member, and it means dd1 has nothing to eat... we are flying business class (and there are 6 of us, so a good propertion of the cabin tbh!) and staff do tend to be a little more helpful (we managed to get our P&T buggy on board last year, for eg, rather than having to get it at baggage reclaim - that was BA though).

[tatt]

funny how experiences differ. We'd booked with qantas but got BA on one leg and would not go with qantas again. We were in cattle class.

Have a look at the website anyway. I wouldn't want to start something new on holiday either but some people think they are better for ASD than the diet. They would be back-up if you were stuck and she was hungry. I eat GF just because I feel better on that sort of diet and they are better than the other digestive enzymes I've tried (also much more expensive).

[sadjack]

For anyone going on holiday etc when booking inform the travel agent that you require foods as medical supplies and arrangements should be made for an extra baggage allowance. If booking on line you need to contact the carrier (airline) direct for the same facility, most are obliging. It is worth asking about in flight allowances as long haul is not fun for someone with food restrictions. Hope that helps.

[tatt]

Was in Sainsburys today and noticed pouches of GF/DF soup and also small tins of GF/CF spaghetti. If you could get them through security they might be useful. There was also GF/DF chocolate cake and some biscuits.

sadjack we informed the travel agent we had food problems and they never mentioned an extra baggage allowance. Both they and qantas assured us (more than once) our need for special meals were recorded - but they didn't reach Jetstar! You're right long haul is not much fun when you're worried about food.

[silverfrog]

thank you

we don't need an extra baggage allowance (we are strict minimal packers, and there are 6 of us going) but that is useful to know.

we are already well practiced at explaing to security why we are taking fish pie is a thermos on board...

if only dd1 would eat sandwiches, thena good part of the flight would be easily catered for.

we have trialled dried goat's milk with success this morning (for on her cereal), and finally after amny phone calls and being passed back and forth between Qantas and BA she allegedly has a GF meal booked.

Enzymes are on order as a back-up.

so, with a couple of meals brought form home, bits raided form her Gf meals, and extra snacks as packed by us plus fruit she should be ok hopefully.

thank you for all your help.