What would you do/cook

[athomeagain]

Hi we are going to west midlands safari next week end and are thinking we would book a holiday inn express overnight.

Our 4 year old is allergic to eggs,peanuts,treenuts and sesame.

Breakast is included but it is buffet style and last time the yogurts where not veggie.

The room would obviously not have a microwave or a fridge.

has anyone done this what can we eat apart from tinned vine leaves and cous cous?

[athomeagain]

Bumping i really do need advice!

[Mumcentreplus]

Fruit,cereals?

[athomeagain]

Thanks fruit is great yes and flapjacks from bakin boys ,lots of cereals we can't have but yes we can take our own any more inspiration.

[athomeagain]

Also west midlands safari has said that their food isn't safe so what do we do (we are going as we have comlimentary tickets and passes).

[tatt]

We rely a lot on Nutri-grain elevenses for nut free snack foods - have checked box (Raisin bakes) and doesn't mention egg in the allergen list. They are a possibility for breakfast.

For hotel breakfasts our nut allergic child often has a cooked breakfast - hash browns, bacon and baked beans. You might have a contamination risk from the eggs but they probably grill or bake the bacon and may be able to cook to order for you, especially if you phone in advance.

Usually they can have toast and jam. We do sometimes take a small tupperware type container with cereal and use the hotel milk.

McDonalds are very good about listing allergens so are a fairly safe place to eat when away. Wagamamas have been said elsewhere to be good with allergies. Most restaurants can do a baked potato with whatever topping your child will eat.

[tatt]

McDonald allergen list to check for egg/sesame - although I see they now have a nut allergen disclaimer we would still eat there when away from home as contamination risks are lower in places that don't include nuts as an ingredient.

www.mcdonalds.co.uk/food/nutrition/our-ingredients.mcd?dnPos=0&dnPos=-181

[athomeagain]

Thanks we did try her with the macdonalds chips when we were away and stck last time but she would eat them as she is only used to fresh food and didn't like them!

[athomeagain]

Thanks we did try her with the macdonalds chips when we were away and stck last time but she would eat them as she is only used to fresh food and didn't like them!

[tatt]

mcdonalds do salads now as well as the junk food. Some have eggs but I'd hae a thought a garden side salad and fruit bag would suit you.

I'm afraid with a nut allergic child you'll need to teach them how to manage risk, including eating out. Otherwise they will have no friends and no fun later in life.

[athomeagain]

Thank you tatt we have to deal with this then tackle school.

[madrehayunasola]

Tatt,
was reading your advice on teaching to manage risk and have fun etc..., I fully agree, where else do yoo go when eating out? We do macdonalds, and would like to try something else...Pizza places? nandos?

[tatt]

We've eaten in quite a few places, although not usually national chains so it's hard to generalise. We had a good experience in the Barcelo hotel chain - waitress didn't speak much English but knew it was a problem and went to check with the chef. The chef couldn't be sure about some bought in desserts but we were told which he'd made and was confident about.

If possible we phone and speak to restaurants before we go. Otherwise we look for places that don't have many nuts on the menus. If the waiter/waitress goes off to speak to the chef and check we're usually happy. A good chef can usually cope. We've walked out of several places with blanket nut disclaimers on the menu. We tend to favour English or Italian food.

www.peanutallergyuk.co.uk has a food board wehre people share experience with restaurants and you can certainly find comments on pizza places.