DD is totally bored of the food I give her. Can someone help me please? :(

[mumat39]

I've posted here before for help with feeding my DD who has multiple allergies. So apologies if I sound like a stuck record :(

She'll be 5 this week and so far she has lived on the same old meals day in day out and has now got to the stage where she is just bored of them. Mealtimes have become somewhat of a battle as she really doesn't seem to enjoy what she's eating.

She (and DS) won't eat potatoes unless it's a packet of crisps. Even if I've tried cooking a casserole with potatoes in it she won't eat it. My DS is the same. I'm funnt with potatoes so don't force the issue, not that I would know how to really.

In terms of what they eat, I make a basic meat dish with mince lamb, or mince beef cooked with a homemade chicken stock, and they have that with either rice or GF/WF pasta. Occasionally they're happy with burgers made from the mince, but they end up quite dry so they're not so keen on them. Again they'll have these dry with either rice or pasta. Or Helen Brownings sausages with plain rice, which is dry but they like it. I did try these with mccain oven chips but they just didn't eat the chips so I tried them with rice and they ate them. They have a variety of fruit purees, fresh fruit, yeotubes yogurt, GF/WF bread, conrflakes, rice kripies, and some veg but that is about it. I haven't ever tried fish as I have a bad allergy to it and the smell makes me feel unwell :(

I need some help with food ideas. Please.

DD is allergic to Wheat, Eggs, Tree Nuts, Legumes (incl. Peanuts, Soya, ChickPeas, Lentils, Mung Beans, Kidney Beans, Peas so I avoid them all), Sesame, Rapeseed Oil, Kiwi,celery plus some others) It's a long list and no matter how many cookery books or blogs I look through, there is always something in the majority of recipes that she can't have. And I'm not a very good cook so simply replacing the ingredient with a safer alternative, doesn't work for me.

DD has also just started reception and the only 'safe' school meal option was jacket potatoes with cheese. She won't eat this so I'm also having to think about what to send in for her lunch. I must admit I'm worried that the school will think badly of me if I end up sending the same foods everyday but I'm more concerned that DD needs more variety. I can't really make sandwiches as the bread she eats is fine toated but really doesn't work well at all for sandwiches. It's the Ener-G Gluten Free Loaf and is the only one I've found that she can have.

It's also her birthday this week so am also starting to think about her party next weekend and haven't got a clue what to do for a cake. :(

I really am stuck so if anyone can help me again with some ideas, that would be great.

Many Thanks in advance again :)

I bought one of these cake mixes today. Haven't tried it yet, but it might be worth a shot.

Thanks again Trixy. Did you find it in a store or did you have to order it online? Are you based in the US?

It looks good, and so simple so definitely worth a try. :)

Not 100% sure of the ingredients but have a look at 'Sweet Vegan' as they do marshmallows.

I haven't quite got the hang of egg replacer either - the cakes don't rise anywhere near as much. I can do cakes that are gluten, dairy, and egg-free, but I'm not sure that they'd cover all your bases, mumat

Hopefully plenty of food for thought (and food for food!) on this thread now. :)

Thanks again NotGeoff. I'll have a look at those.

Just out of interest, which things do you have to avoid? Re your cakes, DD can have dairy but not wheat and eggs. I'm not sure she's gluten intolerant yet as she's never had wheat. She can eat cornflakes and rice krispies which have Barley in them but doesn't have them all them all the time.

Trixy, just tried to order some and the shipping estimator only seemed to cover Canada and the US. If you are in the UK, am I doing something wrong?

Thanks again lovelys.
xxx

I found it in a whole foods store, but they sell it on amazon

Mumat - I don't have any known allergies but have several friends who are dairy- and/or wheat-free, so if I'm entertaining, I aim to provide food that everyone can eat.

You can get gluten-free flour in several of the supermarkets (my nearest is Waitrose), I buy Doves Farm. My gluten-free friend said she can eat spelt flour as well, just not wheat. That may be worth checking out for your DD.
I used the egg replacer in a cake I made a while ago for a vegan friend. I am sure I can find a recipe which is wheat and egg free (for cake) if you would like.
I also make cornbread (which is a useful standby) with polenta flour and wheat-free flour. Can send you that recipe too.
Apparently in cakes apple puree or banana works well to bulk up the texture in place of eggs, although I haven't tried this.

I have used ener-G but I find the results extremely variable and have had much more success with specifically egg-free/dairy-free recipes. IME egg-free cakes can taste great but have an odd texture. Theres a fantastic fool-proof chocolate cake recipe in the Alice Sherwood book as I swear you wouldn't know it was egg or dairy free.

Hve you tried breadcrumbing chicken using the GF bread. Beat the chicken flat using a rolling pin. Use plain yoghurt to get the breadcrumbs to stick. you then just shallow fry for a few mins on each side.
(you can also make chicken parcels using cocktail sticks to hold them shut - current faves are chicken Kiev and with cheese and ham).

re cake decorations we have bought the printed cake toppers (google or try e-bay) they are usually only rice paper and colours.

Are tomatoes OK? or is this a no no too?

Yes, we've had to give cake toppers a miss as I can't find any that don't contain egg white

NotGeoff, you sound like such a lovely friend trying to accomodate all your friends. They must really appreciate all you efforts. I also use Doves GF/WF flours so if you do have any recipes that you're happy to share that would be really kind. Thank you.

I've never made cornbread before. I have had it before in a restaurant though so that's a good idea too.

I have used apple puree in some cakes and they seemed ok, but a bit sticky. I have also tried banana but they've not been such a hit as I think they have quite a strong banana flavour. I do make some cupcakes which are ok and use milk instead of the banana but i'm not sure they work very well. Anyway, thank you for your help. :)

TheWicket, that chocolate cake sounds yummy. Maybe I'll have to get that book. I'm glad it's not just me that has had variable results with the egg replacer. It's quite annoying when you can't rely on ingredients to work although I feel slightly better that it's not just me that this happens too.

It's a shame about cake decorations isn't it :( I have been thinking about making my own but again have no idea where to start.
Thanks for you help again. :)

alison, thanks for your ideas. The chicken in breadcrumbs sounds good. I have tried that before but didn't beat the chicken and used oil instead of yogurt. SO I'll try that again and hopefully it'll work this time. The last couple of time I've tried the breadcrumbs burnt before the chicken had cooked. I also tried cooking them in the oven and the same happened as well as the breadcrumbs falling off. LOL - my cooking attempts are terrible. But I quite like the idea of beating the chicken.

By the way, the kievs sound good too. How do you cook those? Is that in the oven? And do you coat them with breadcrumbs too in the same way?

I'll have a look at the rice paper cake decorations, so thanks for that.

And tomatoes are ok in puree or tinned form.

Thanks for all your help too.

Have you tried genius bread? I haven't checked it for eggs but its the only one my coeliac sister can bear.

Polenta is a magic ingredient. It's nice in slices with tomato sauce, as yorkshire puddings with gf baking powder, as the basis of a slightly heavy/ gooey chocolate or lemon cake.

Check the corn tortillas because most have some wheat. But I need to learn how to make them with cornmeal for when my sister comes over. The family loves them. I put out in separate dishes salad veg, chicken or spicy beef/lamb, yoghourt or sour cream and they eat masses of what's good for them with no complaints.

If you need to thicken a stew, use pureed carrots. On your banana cake, can you use spices? And raisins? And a little vanilla?

Definitely worth a try with the yoghurt for coating the chicken - I've managed with milk before for fish goujons.

The other thing you can substitute for eggs in cake is custard - would Birds custard be ok for you? (it's dairy and egg free and I'm sure it's cornflour so presumable gluten free as well?)

If you'd like the chocolate cake recipe, just PM me and I'll send it to you x

Hello thewhistler, thanks for your reply.

I'm sure Genius has either egg or soya in which is a shame as I keep hearing good things about it. Alot of the stuff sold in supermarkets has one or the other in so I haven't looked for a while but will again next time I go.

Polenta sounds much more versatile than I thought it would be. Definitely will be checking that out as someone upthread mentioned it too.

I've never found corn tortillas that don't have wheat in. I've tried making the equivalent of chappatis but none have worked which is a shame as I think they'd work in the same way I guess. That does sound like a really nice meal - no wonder your family love them. I'm getting hungry now.

I use carrots in the basic mince dish I make to both thicken and to sneak some veg into the meals. Thanks for your help :)

Hello again TheWicket.

I'd never even thought of coating the chicken with yogurt before. Re the custard, we can use the original Birds custard powder which comes in the tub. The others have something in that DD can't have but I can't remember what. I haven't tried it yet as the dietician mentioned it recently but thanks for the tip. Again I'd never even thought of using custard.
Oh and I've PM'd you too. Thanks so much :)

I'm looking just now at the Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne book, and I wonder if that might be more useful for you. The substitution chapters are really helpful. Apparently for 1 egg she suggests 1 tablespoon of custard powder and 290ml of milk + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder added to the flour. Add the custared to flour, fat and sugar and beat together. Mix self-raising flour with the extra baking powder to ensure the cake rises.

Her other recommended egg substitutes for cake are:

apple puree (peel, core and slice 340g dessert apples and cook wiht 4 tblsp water for 15 minutes or so - makes approx 290 ml. Use 50ml per egg)

apricot puree (170g dried apricots cooked with 150ml water for 15 minutes or until v soft - puree. Makes approx 290 ml. Use 50ml per egg)

for banana cakes - 1 extra small banana or 1/2 a large banana, plus 1 extra teaspoon baking powder per 110g/4oz self-raising flour.

Cake toppers- ingedients I think that these look OK.

Also the chicken kievs I cook in the oven - so garlic butter ( chopped galic and butter!) in centre. wrap bashed flat chicken around the blob of butter in the centre of the chicken breast. Pin together with cocktail sticks ( sort of sew them in) yoghurt and breadcrubs. Then cook on a tray for 30-40 mins until cooked.

WicketKeeper - I'd never thought of custard powder - I might try that.
Other alternatives for an egg are oil and baking powder, Ground linseeds and water, silken tofu, vinegar baking powder and oil. It depends on the recipe as to which is better.

Just had a look at my packet of corn flakes from the Co-op and they sound as though they could be 'do-able' - crush up to use as/mix with breadcrumbs or just use as they are for cereal?
They have maize and barley but no wheat in them.

Will dig out my cake and cornbread recipes and PM them to you, mumat :)

My dad eats the Warburtons GF bread. Again I don't know what other ingredients are in it as he is only GF. He said the seeded on is nicest - but again not sure which seeds. They sell it in Tesco and Waitrose around here.

Have you tried things like Spag bol using GF pasta? The sauce is pretty similar to your basic mince but with herbs and tomatoes.

Could you do shepherds pie using mashed swede instead of potato?
Or how about stew with "cobbler" topping which is just flour and butter/marg rubbed in to make a breadcrumb texture and cooked - then you don't have the problem of GF flour not holding together eg like in pastry.

Fruit scones come out OK with GF flour and a basic recipe doesn't have eggs.

Oh, by the way - Asda sell gluten-free tortillas - brand called lovemore.
genius bread contains egg though :(
Can't see whether the warburtons one is egg-free or not.

I have found some recipes online for gluten-free pizza base (uses cauliflower), for cookies and for pastry. Will see if I can find them again if you're interested, mumat

Hello again everyone.

I just wanted to post a bit of an update as DD is now in her 2nd week of school and has actually been having Jacket Potatoes and cheese for her lunch

I've tried for over 4 years (on and off) with potato and she has never really liked it. She started enthusiatically at school but hasn't been happy about it the last few days so I've sent her in with meat and pasta for her lunch. It is amazing though that I had nearly 2 weeks of her not being fed something I had made. :)

I've had bronchitis the last couple of weeks so it's been a real help that I've had slightly less to do.

I've got some chicken in the fridge which I'm looking forward to beating and will try that coated in breadcrumbs.

NotGeoff, thanks so much for that cake recipe that you pm'd me. I made a two layer one sandwiched with buttercream and decorated with buttercream too. It was so lovely to have a ckae that looked like a cake. The only thing was it didn't cook inside, so although it looked lovely it was a bit stodgy. I used an electric hand whisk to mix it together. It did rise in the oven, but when it started to get brown I opened the door and stuck a cocktail stick in to check it. Then when I took it out it went quite flat so I'm not sure what I did wrong. Any ideas? I used butter instead of margerine so would that have been an issue?

Anyway, I just wanted to say a hug thank you to everyone for all your help. There are some really good ideas on here.

take care and hope you all have a lovely weekend.
xxx

Ooh so glad you got a good wheat free cake recipe.

I suspect it sunk because you opened the oven door too early. It also sounds like the oven temp was too high if it was brown on top before it was cooked inside. What temperature did you cook it at? Do you have a fan oven?

What Trixy said - one trick is to cook for a little longer on a lower temperature; also, as soon as it starts to brown off, DON'T take it out of the oven, but slide a sheet/piece of aluminium foil over it.

The thing with G/F cakes is that they don't rise as well as 'regular' cakes. The addition of baking powder to help them rise makes them rather "sensitive", so that when you open the oven door, if they're not as risen/cooked as they need, they will sink. Butter vs margerine is not likely to make any difference -
I have simply found trial & error to be the way to work these. :)

I just made an eggless cake which has risen quite well, but when I took it out of the case, it cracked pretty badly. I'll be icing it so can 'repair' most of the damage that way. Happy to send you the recipe for that one if you like, but without gluten, it won't rise as much.

Don't forget for a treat/party if they can have dairy, the delights of old fashioned milk jelly-

Chill evap milk tin in fridge for ages. Make jelly with half the amount of water, cool it but don't let it get to setting point...

Whisk evap loads ad it will go foamy. Mix cooled jelly into foamed milk and put in fridge.

I know I'm weeks late but................

Meatballs? With tomato or veg sauce.

Rice balls - Japanese style with something int he middle. These can be flavoured with vingar or sugar.

I cook with rice in a 50/50 water and orange juice - simple.

Rissottos - veg or chicken.

For school lunch google bento - don't be scared by the fancy japanese artistry, just look for ingredients/suggestions.

i just got an email from amazon about a book and instantly thought of you
i wonder if this would be helpful? www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1905744285/ref=pe_28511_32041661_pe_vfe_dt1