Dairy free Soya free meal ideas

[Hamnvik]

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this in allergies but I am struggling with coming up with meal ideas for my 8 month old DS. He is dairy and soya free, he also can't have tomatoes,carrots,apple and pear as they make his reflux worse. I'm not a very good cook so it needs to be simple, inspiration please!

You could make a white sauce using dairy-free spread and salt-free stock instead of milk then you could add parsley or tarragon, or even chopped up mushrooms to give it a bit of taste. Then that could go over meat or veg. Very easy - 1tbsp of spread in a pan, heat until melted, then add 1tbsp flour and stir for about a minute, then add the stock gradually until sauce thickens to a sort of yoghurt consistency. Then add the herbs or mushrooms.

Risotto rice is good as it's nice and gloopy - again, make it with stock instead of water so it's got a bit more taste, then just add whatever veg or meat you like. Heat oil in a pan, add the rice and stir to coat it in the oil, then gradually add the stock every few minutes, stirring each time, until it's nice and gloopy (about 20 mins). You don't have to keep stirring it if you don't want so could just pour in all the stock at once, but it does go nice and sticky if you can be bothered to stand there and stir it!

Spinach puree is another good 'sauce' for things and if you put it together with lamb or beef that will help the absorption of the iron in the meat. Just steam the spinach for 3-4 mins then puree it. You could add nutmeg or cumin as well for a bit of warmth.

Pasta spirals are good as they can grasp them and dip them in whatever mash you've done with them. I cook it for about 10-12 mins so it's really soft. Sweet potato mash (chop into small bits then steam until really soft and mash with fork) mixed with courgette puree (steam until soft then puree) is a good alternative for tomato sauce (the courgette helps to make the sweet potato less dry).

Rather than trying to emulate the foods he is missing (he doesn't actually need foods resembling milk in his diet if he's getting milk, anyhow and a lot of fake dairy products are full of additives), stick to simple stews or meat in gravy (low salt), or tender roast meat or fish. Nothing needs to be fancy. He can have simply cooked potatoes or veg. Just give him pretty much what you're having, within the confines of what he can eat.

Vitalite is great for cooking and spreading. Holland and Barrett do yoghurts made from pea protein that DS loves. There is also a soya/dairy free cheese that they do. DS loves fish stirred into risotto or pasta. He has a prescription formula that he has on cereal and to make creamy sauces but oatly also works. Baked beans with potato is also a favourite.