Is it really possible to follow a truely GF-CF diet.....

[catski]

without preparing absolutely everything yourself at home?

We travelled to the UK in january over 3 days (car and ferry) and it was incredibly difficult to stick to this diet. Mainly I took meals I had frozen, but by the end of the three days the remaining spag bol was starting to look a little off....

How do you cope on a two week holiday? We've been away for this long before, but usually staying with friends where I find I have to source a supermarket and take over their kitchen for the first day.

Same thing with nursery - one of the ones I've looked at has said they will cater to children with allergies, but how do you know there's not cross contamination in the kitchen? (I'm thinking wooden chopping boards and utentensils, especially seives which are hard to get really clean).

Same deal with restaurants - particularly those which don't specifically provide GF-CF food. There's a lovely spanish restaurant in town and I'd love for us to have a family meal there. What a treat it would be, but even if I made sure DS just had patatas bravas (minus the bravas) there's no way of knowing if there's been cross contamination.

I know some coeliacs say they can cope with a certain amount of gluten, or certain types of gluten, but my son is following the diet because of autism and my understanding is that he can't have one jot of gluten or casein. Not even the tinest, microscopic speck.

well, this is the world of many people on this thread.........

my son has a pretty long list of allergies (shorter then some, longer than others), and this is his life.

and we aim to not make a mistake, because the reactions are life threatening.

we carry on, have been on hols, have had days out, and thought around the problem and planned in advance.

its difficult, but there is no choice in the matter.

You're quite right of course bridewolf. We're still at the beginning stages and I suppose I haven't quite adjusted myself to it and how it affects day to day living and lifestyle in general.

yeah, sorry, it is difficult,.......the begining is a very steep learning /adjustment stage.
grim really.

Ds is allergic to eggs and nuts and food colouring and some other quite weird stuff. I am coeliac.

We tend to take a snack box and also we stay in self catering places for holidays and eat simply.

Ds has recently expressed an interest in having meals out - this is a huge treat for him even though it only consists of me having sushi and him having McDonalds on a park bench. So I am making the effort to do that more.

Foreign travel is not really for us any more, unless it's self catering. Dh spent 4 days in Singapore eating biscuits for breakfast and McDonalds for lunch and dinner because it was the only thing we could guarantee would not have seen a peanut or an egg.

its bloodyhard that i'll give ya!

ds4 is gf cf, ds1 cf reduced gf (only way we can do it or hebinges, also has poss. anorexia so we cant risk more issues, helps though)
ds3 is cf
alsop asd related

with the baby its hardest I think...... we camp soself cater but end up doing purees when oput with baby (and worry about the blw bunch ), or we have to give lots of snacks until home / base. He loves rganix carrot sticks but asthey look likewotsits I annoy dh all the time waving the bag at peoplepointing out they're not

lots of things you can use, preparedness is the key; M&S orasda fruit bags, organix or hipp rice cakes(even dh and I eat them LOL), keep a pack of suitable stuff in the car / handbag. Check free from foods as many are only GF, not CF. Mini cartons of rice or soya milok in the car and bag (long llife).

Its a PITA but you'll get used to it.

yep, it is really hard, but it does eventually become second nature.

dd1 is gf/cf (and dd2 as well - partly due to caution on our part, but also so that they eat the same thing which makes life a lot easier)

we ALWAYS go self catering. We only stay with people if for a short time (ie overnight) as can then arrive with food made, not take over kitchens etc (well, only to heat food) and breakfast is easy - cereal and long life rice milk.

we have just returned form a 10 day trip to the wilds of Scotland

it was a nightmare in the planning, as had to take enough food for 10 days for both dds (things like cereal and milk, bread as didn't want to have to make it, snacks etc) - their food took up most of the packing room (we have a Viano, so no small car, but it was still a struggle)

we recently bought the bus as it suits us - it has a table so we can sit around and eat together on days out, we have bought a fridge so that car trips are easier, and in the process of getting a 12v cooker - I kid you not! - so that Ican heat up the girls' meals. simpler froma ross contamination issue, and also due to fussiness on dd1's part - even if I were to find something she could eat when out, then she prob wouldn't touch it!

As Peachy said, take a snack bag wherever you go - rice cakes, larabars are great as packed with nutrition and filling, fruits always an option (assuming willing child!). I also use some frezze dried fruits from a company called Just tomatoes - fantastic, and the girls love them - a whole range of crunchy dried fruits and veg - dd1 loves anything crunchy, so they work for her, and are real food! Bonus!

On the restaurant fron, if we do go, i take dd1's food in a thermos, and serve her with that (plus her usual range of snacks) - we hardly ever have to explain, but I am quite happy to explain the allergies issue to staff if they ask. I have found as long as we are eating as well, no one minds.

Once you are into the swing of it, it does become easier, but it still takes a lot of planning. We are off to Australia for our holiday this summer, and i am trying t get my head around enough food for 24 hours without cooking facilities, and which I can get through security, and that dd1 will eat!

Thank you for the support and advice - some great tips there.

I do find snacks quite troublesome - can't get him to take to larabars or the gf/cf breakfast bars I found in tesco when I was last back there so we tend to stick to rice cakes and fruit. I've even found some suitable biscuits in the supermarket but he doesn't seem to have much of a sweet tooth. I've also found some gf/cf sorbet and got some gf/cf ice cream cones from dietary needs direct but am wondering if I should bother introducing this sort of treat when it's quite difficult to get hold of. At the moment he's fairly content to stick to his own food and not that interested in other peoples, but I imagine this might change as he gets older. What do you do when it comes to other children's birthday parties - take your own grub with you I suppose. What if they are going to mcdonalds or some other place? Do they just not go?

Driving holidays and a mini fridge in the car is a great idea. The logistics of a 24 hour journey through various airport securities has just made my head explode.

Actually it does not necessarily change as children get older - it can get better. My DS is 12 - has been gfcf since 3 and will now refuse other peoples food and will sniff strange food before announcing it will hurt his tummy and pushing it away.

To be honest if I were start8ng afain I would stick to fresh meat fish and veggies plus fresh fruit and steer wekk away from trying to replace biscuits, pastas etc.

We have just come back from a three week holiday in USA and St Lucia and I was able to get DS2 fresh plain chicken or fish plus fresh veggies or plain cooked chips everywhere.

As everyone else has said it becomes second nature

( and be happy. DS2 now can't have soya, rice, almonds or egges either. Life can be worse )

chips are def good - dd1 has just started tentatively eating them, but need to check they are plain cooked.

popcorn works well as a snack.

I would definitely second the sticking to "normal" plain foods - eg plain meats and veg etc, as it is impossible to find alternative meals otherwise (eg on a plane)

I wish I'd been able to do that - we are working on ti now, and dd1 is doing well, but all her foods had to be "wet" foods when she was younger, as she refused to drink, and now she is stuck in her routine

pagwatch - how are you doing with your baking on new restricted diet? I'm sure I read somewhere you can use bananas (if acceptable) as a replacement for eggs in eg muffins etc

Hi Silver

We have just taken the decision to work at pulling one problem at a time so at the moment I am taking eggs out of his diet and have started to withdraw all soya. I am cutting down on rice gradually but will not fully replace until a) he has settled down a bit and b) I am feeling much braver . Fortunatly this has co-incided with his interest in apples, grapes and melon appearing from virtually no where.

So I have cut his consumption of cakes and biscuits down by replacing them with fruit and sometimes home made corn based pancakes.

I am still just trying not to freak out if the truth be told

Fun isn't it
How are you doing?

Oh, i'm not messing with anyhting

dd1 has just come on leaps and bounds, and is now reliably toilet trained for wees, and she has also started a new interest in fruit (apples, bananas, pears and grapes back on the menu)

There are things I should be doing, but right now (after a pretty bad winter behaviour wise - will be looking into Seasonl Affective disorder before next winter) I'm just enjoying the good weather and my smiley girl

I suspect corn may be an issue for her, but am buryign my head in the sand ofr a bit longer...

I must book an appointment with her nutritionist, though, as something is not agreeing with her in quite a big way

hats off to you for not collapsing in sheer terror at the list of things you now have to exclude - not an easy task at all!

This is a great thread. Ds1 is cf and I know that I need to try gf but have just not been mentally up to it as yet. Will be lurking with interest

We have an appt at the dietician tomorrow actually about diets

After over a year in school, his SNU sent a message yesterday that they werent able to feed him as he wasnt signed off

Luckily after calling round they did agree (as the meal wasnt containing dairy anyway LOL) but have a meeting tomorrow with head of School Meals and class teacher / dietician; we will see if we can sign ds1 off bt he's sooooo much more complex ( GF CF but with susopected anorexia also) that I am tempted to say scrap the GF if he will eat BUT he's been a Nightmare lately (massive meltdown on the ROOF at weekend!)

LOL