Do You Have Any Diet Air?
July 13, 2016 4:39 PM Subscribe
Baby Kitty has a sad tummy, where if I eat any form of dairy, nuts, soy, or eggs - his diapers look like a Tarantino film. I need recipes that avoid these ingredients.
However, as always, there are complications. I will be traveling in two weeks and will not have a fully stocked kitchen.
I have to follow this diet while i am on the road, as the proteins stay in my system for quite some time.
The good news is that I will be staying in a Residence Inn, so I will have a full kitchen at my disposal - but will not have staples like vinegar, flour, sugar, etc etc.
I will not be buying/eating any processed food. So whole food recipes only please.
I will have access to a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and a Costco. I like lots of different types of food. I will be making all my meals, so breakfast , lunch, and dinner recipes are all welcome. I will have the basic kitchen pots/pans and was assured that I would have a blender at my disposal. I am happy to buy something that I will use in every dish (like soy free, dairy free Earth Balance butter) but would prefer not to buy a bottle of vinegar for just one meal.
So hit me with your simplest, soy/dairy/egg/nut free recipes that don't require a lot of assumed home cooking items!
I have to follow this diet while i am on the road, as the proteins stay in my system for quite some time.
The good news is that I will be staying in a Residence Inn, so I will have a full kitchen at my disposal - but will not have staples like vinegar, flour, sugar, etc etc.
I will not be buying/eating any processed food. So whole food recipes only please.
I will have access to a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and a Costco. I like lots of different types of food. I will be making all my meals, so breakfast , lunch, and dinner recipes are all welcome. I will have the basic kitchen pots/pans and was assured that I would have a blender at my disposal. I am happy to buy something that I will use in every dish (like soy free, dairy free Earth Balance butter) but would prefer not to buy a bottle of vinegar for just one meal.
So hit me with your simplest, soy/dairy/egg/nut free recipes that don't require a lot of assumed home cooking items!
Response by poster: Just to head this off at the pass - a lot of stuffs like tortillas or premade anything tends to have soybean oil in them - I really can't have anything (mostly - Nadaa moo coconut milk ice cream is a savior) that I don't make from scratch. And done thread stalking
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 5:04 PM on July 13, 2016
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 5:04 PM on July 13, 2016
will not have staples like vinegar, flour, sugar, etc etc.
A couple of sets of travel bottles meant for shampoo &c from a dollar store might broaden your options a lot. (Do you have friends heavily into camping who might already have a pile of containers for wee bits of staples already neatly packaged up that they'd be happy to lend you?)
I imagine I might be eating a lot of oatmeal with rice milk and fruit, and spaghetti (made with egg-free pasta).
posted by kmennie at 5:06 PM on July 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
A couple of sets of travel bottles meant for shampoo &c from a dollar store might broaden your options a lot. (Do you have friends heavily into camping who might already have a pile of containers for wee bits of staples already neatly packaged up that they'd be happy to lend you?)
I imagine I might be eating a lot of oatmeal with rice milk and fruit, and spaghetti (made with egg-free pasta).
posted by kmennie at 5:06 PM on July 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Are you vegetarian? If not, consider making a bunch of chicken breasts or thighs (in coconut or olive oil) paired with salads from Mark Bittman's 101 Summer Salads. Many of those salads are around 3 ingredients.
The Whole 30 food plan has a lot of crossover here. (No dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol). There are TONS of Instagram accounts with Whole 30 recipes. Nothing processed.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:20 PM on July 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Whole 30 food plan has a lot of crossover here. (No dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol). There are TONS of Instagram accounts with Whole 30 recipes. Nothing processed.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:20 PM on July 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
+ 1 on bringing vinegar, oil, other condiments in small bottles if you don't want to purchase. I would make a few spice mixes too (cumin+coriander+cinnamon+smoked paprika, thyme+rosemary+red pepper flakes, etc)
Rice and beans with salsa on top - no tortilla needed. Salsa can just be chopped tomatoes, onion, a jalapeño, cilantro and salt.
Is pre-made polenta safe? If so, fry slices of that as a base for white beans and tomato sauce where tomato sauce is a can of diced tomatoes cooked down with some onion and garlic. Throw some basil on top. If not, put over a safe starch or make soft polenta from scratch as the base.
Sauté broccoli and chickpeas with a bunch of garlic and toss with egg-free pasta.
1 cup red lentils + 1 white onion + 5 cups of water + salt, simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are soft. Blend and then add lemon juice for a really nice light soup. You could reduce the water for a thicker soup.
posted by (Over) Thinking at 5:22 PM on July 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Rice and beans with salsa on top - no tortilla needed. Salsa can just be chopped tomatoes, onion, a jalapeño, cilantro and salt.
Is pre-made polenta safe? If so, fry slices of that as a base for white beans and tomato sauce where tomato sauce is a can of diced tomatoes cooked down with some onion and garlic. Throw some basil on top. If not, put over a safe starch or make soft polenta from scratch as the base.
Sauté broccoli and chickpeas with a bunch of garlic and toss with egg-free pasta.
1 cup red lentils + 1 white onion + 5 cups of water + salt, simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are soft. Blend and then add lemon juice for a really nice light soup. You could reduce the water for a thicker soup.
posted by (Over) Thinking at 5:22 PM on July 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Probably the easiest meal is Meat and 3 Veg. Take some oil with you, grill or pan fry chicken, salmon, steak, a sausage or chop. Steam some veg. Boil, roast or microwave a potato. Eat. Fancy it up with a squeeze of lemon.
posted by kjs4 at 9:13 PM on July 13, 2016
posted by kjs4 at 9:13 PM on July 13, 2016
We avoid the same foods in our family. I use Trader Joe's sunflower seed butter for breakfast/snacks and have had no issues with their thin breadsticks, rosemary crackers, oyster crackers, and scoop corn chips. I use their oatmeal packets for breakfast. Also take advantage of Trader Joe's pre-chopped everything (fresh and frozen veggies, chicken strips, etc) and salad bags when you cook. Trader Joe's has small couscous and quinoa which are easy to prepare with water or broth.
On vacation I go buy the plainest rotisserie chicken at Whole Foods (they usually have one that is just chicken or with only salt, pepper) and work off of that for a few days. If you'll be near a Chipotle they only use soy in their sofritas, the dairy is obvious, and they use nothing else (http://chipotle.com/allergens).
If you can bring a small amount of balsamic vinegar here's a low ingredient recipe:
Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach
If you have an oven, the easiest baked chicken is to bake boneless skinless breasts or tenders in a baking pan with sides, covered in orange juice. I sometimes toss in some chopped onion.
Easiest potato "fries" is to roast wedges coated in olive oil and salt+pepper.
To dress up spaghetti/pasta I cut up and fry Italian sausage (TJ's has these too) and add in a safe can of tomato sauce.
Good luck with Baby Kitty's digestive system! I ate rice & plain chicken for a long time while we were figuring out what was going on with ours.
posted by girlhacker at 10:00 PM on July 13, 2016
On vacation I go buy the plainest rotisserie chicken at Whole Foods (they usually have one that is just chicken or with only salt, pepper) and work off of that for a few days. If you'll be near a Chipotle they only use soy in their sofritas, the dairy is obvious, and they use nothing else (http://chipotle.com/allergens).
If you can bring a small amount of balsamic vinegar here's a low ingredient recipe:
Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach
If you have an oven, the easiest baked chicken is to bake boneless skinless breasts or tenders in a baking pan with sides, covered in orange juice. I sometimes toss in some chopped onion.
Easiest potato "fries" is to roast wedges coated in olive oil and salt+pepper.
To dress up spaghetti/pasta I cut up and fry Italian sausage (TJ's has these too) and add in a safe can of tomato sauce.
Good luck with Baby Kitty's digestive system! I ate rice & plain chicken for a long time while we were figuring out what was going on with ours.
posted by girlhacker at 10:00 PM on July 13, 2016
Yeah, under the circumstances I think I'd largely stick to Meat and 3 (more like 2 cooked + 1 raw). I spent a couple of years road-warrioring in extended-stay places during the week, and they generally didn't have ovens, only stovetop and microwave, maybe a toaster. The simpler you eat the better.
It might be worth your while to buy a $20 rice cooker (or $7 microwave rice cooker) to expand your range, and just eat very "clean" for the duration.
Avoid spice mixtures as they tend to have stabilizers, but get yourself a set of tiny travel jars for safe dried herbs and spices. Get yourself one of TJ's nice salt grinders. You can also use handy small-serving accoutrements like one lime/lemon/orange, a small bunch of grapes, a couple little avocadoes, even a peach or apricot to fancy up your straightforward chicken-and-broccoli or fish-and-squash dinners.
You'll survive a short run of simple meals. Treat yourself a little and upgrade to maybe the fancier haricots verts or the twee tiny potatoes, or steamer bags without sauce/seasoning and pre-cut butternut squash cubes and those very precious organic canned beans or packaged lentils or the shelf-stable rice or quinoa ready-to-cook bag/bowls. Get yourself a pair of tiny fancy strip steaks or filets mignon. Let the nice butcher folks at Whole Foods recommend something that'll survive a basic pan-and-stovetop situation well. Plate your food attractively and enjoy an audiobook or podcast while you eat.
My primary tip is to not fall too hard into Traditional Breakfast Thinking. Fish and rice is traditional breakfast in some countries, and nobody will judge if you have half a leftover chicken breast with some grapes and leftover salad or steak and avocado.
Oh - pack yourself 2-4 Gladware-type containers and a big handful of sandwich or freezer bags, and fold up several big pieces of foil to bring along too. That was always the worst part of hotel-cooking on the road for me, forgetting to bring anything I could store leftovers in.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:19 PM on July 13, 2016
It might be worth your while to buy a $20 rice cooker (or $7 microwave rice cooker) to expand your range, and just eat very "clean" for the duration.
Avoid spice mixtures as they tend to have stabilizers, but get yourself a set of tiny travel jars for safe dried herbs and spices. Get yourself one of TJ's nice salt grinders. You can also use handy small-serving accoutrements like one lime/lemon/orange, a small bunch of grapes, a couple little avocadoes, even a peach or apricot to fancy up your straightforward chicken-and-broccoli or fish-and-squash dinners.
You'll survive a short run of simple meals. Treat yourself a little and upgrade to maybe the fancier haricots verts or the twee tiny potatoes, or steamer bags without sauce/seasoning and pre-cut butternut squash cubes and those very precious organic canned beans or packaged lentils or the shelf-stable rice or quinoa ready-to-cook bag/bowls. Get yourself a pair of tiny fancy strip steaks or filets mignon. Let the nice butcher folks at Whole Foods recommend something that'll survive a basic pan-and-stovetop situation well. Plate your food attractively and enjoy an audiobook or podcast while you eat.
My primary tip is to not fall too hard into Traditional Breakfast Thinking. Fish and rice is traditional breakfast in some countries, and nobody will judge if you have half a leftover chicken breast with some grapes and leftover salad or steak and avocado.
Oh - pack yourself 2-4 Gladware-type containers and a big handful of sandwich or freezer bags, and fold up several big pieces of foil to bring along too. That was always the worst part of hotel-cooking on the road for me, forgetting to bring anything I could store leftovers in.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:19 PM on July 13, 2016
Something I have done in similar conditions is:
--oatmeal+dried fruit for breakfast
--microwave packs of quinoa/brown rice mixed with simply cooked vegetables and protein. I have used packages of smoked salmon (the fillets, not the paper thin kind), a rotisserie chicken, and even some cooked bacon to satisfy the protein component.
--cooked lentils (you can get microwave packages or the TJ's packs in the vegetable section) mixed with roasted squash (hot oven, oil, salt, toss) and protein. I put in goats cheese too, but that's out so you can add some oil/vinegar/lemon or even just some salad dressing that's vinaigrette-y.
--salmon cakes made with either canned salmon or the flaked smoked salmon packets (here are some varieties without egg) on a green salad.
Seconding bringing foil/ziplock bags. That shit is necessary if you want to do anything in batches.
posted by guster4lovers at 11:14 PM on July 13, 2016
--oatmeal+dried fruit for breakfast
--microwave packs of quinoa/brown rice mixed with simply cooked vegetables and protein. I have used packages of smoked salmon (the fillets, not the paper thin kind), a rotisserie chicken, and even some cooked bacon to satisfy the protein component.
--cooked lentils (you can get microwave packages or the TJ's packs in the vegetable section) mixed with roasted squash (hot oven, oil, salt, toss) and protein. I put in goats cheese too, but that's out so you can add some oil/vinegar/lemon or even just some salad dressing that's vinaigrette-y.
--salmon cakes made with either canned salmon or the flaked smoked salmon packets (here are some varieties without egg) on a green salad.
Seconding bringing foil/ziplock bags. That shit is necessary if you want to do anything in batches.
posted by guster4lovers at 11:14 PM on July 13, 2016
My Whole Foods always has Plain Roasted Chickens available in their Rotisserie section, either hot or chilled.
After I eat off the meat, I always save the bones, skin, and fat, as they make for a wonderful chicken stock. I add my vegetable scraps to it, but if you're starting from scratch, I would just add an onion and other aromatics to it, whatever you want. After the stock is done and strained, you can make a simple chicken soup with vegetables and/or rice added to it. Season with a couple of herbs, and you have some yummy soup!
posted by spinifex23 at 12:25 AM on July 14, 2016
After I eat off the meat, I always save the bones, skin, and fat, as they make for a wonderful chicken stock. I add my vegetable scraps to it, but if you're starting from scratch, I would just add an onion and other aromatics to it, whatever you want. After the stock is done and strained, you can make a simple chicken soup with vegetables and/or rice added to it. Season with a couple of herbs, and you have some yummy soup!
posted by spinifex23 at 12:25 AM on July 14, 2016
I also stay at a Residence Inn when I travel and make all my own food from scratch because of celiac disease (along with some other intolerances). I've just made my peace as well as I can with buying vinegar and olive oil and whatever and leaving the extras behind when I go. Probably to be thrown away but oh well. I don't have room in a carry-on for those extra liquids and it makes the food I make at my destination tastier and logistically easier. (It's much easier to make a damn salad when you have all the ingredients than try to find some substitute for dressing or a packaged dressing that is free of all your allergens, for example.)
I do pack a travel size salt and pepper and sugar packets because they don't take up liquids space. Sometimes places have those but I have cross-contamination concerns.
What are your quickest and easiest meals right now? That's what I'd make when I get to my destination.
I'd also plan on eating "snack dinners" because who wants to cook on frickin' vacation or whatever? Snack dinner could be a plate of pickles/olives, veg sticks, apple slices or other fruit, salami or turkey slices, corn chips. I think you'd be able to find corn chips and turkey free of your allergens--luckily the things you are avoiding are part of the Big Eight and should be called out on all food labels.
posted by purple_bird at 10:56 AM on July 14, 2016
I do pack a travel size salt and pepper and sugar packets because they don't take up liquids space. Sometimes places have those but I have cross-contamination concerns.
What are your quickest and easiest meals right now? That's what I'd make when I get to my destination.
I'd also plan on eating "snack dinners" because who wants to cook on frickin' vacation or whatever? Snack dinner could be a plate of pickles/olives, veg sticks, apple slices or other fruit, salami or turkey slices, corn chips. I think you'd be able to find corn chips and turkey free of your allergens--luckily the things you are avoiding are part of the Big Eight and should be called out on all food labels.
posted by purple_bird at 10:56 AM on July 14, 2016
This is the point we went very meat-crazy. Burgers and Whole roast chickens and pork tenderloins and home-made pastas were our best friends (but S was never warned off eggs).
We also did a lot of baking, with coconut milk for milk, corn oil for soy oil and that earth balance stuff for butter. Focaccia bread too. I found out later that vegetable oil really doesn't have much soy protein in it which is usually what the little ones are allergic to, but we had never tried it any way.
Have you tried to re-introduce any of those ingredients? because I feel doctors warn against all of them at once and don't let you re-introduce any of them for 18 months. Eggs in particular would help. My daughter was allergic to cow's milk and soy, from 0-2 years, but it turns out eggs never were a problem.
For future reference, goats milk never set her off, so try that first when she starts having milk.
posted by Llamadogdad at 11:43 PM on July 14, 2016
We also did a lot of baking, with coconut milk for milk, corn oil for soy oil and that earth balance stuff for butter. Focaccia bread too. I found out later that vegetable oil really doesn't have much soy protein in it which is usually what the little ones are allergic to, but we had never tried it any way.
Have you tried to re-introduce any of those ingredients? because I feel doctors warn against all of them at once and don't let you re-introduce any of them for 18 months. Eggs in particular would help. My daughter was allergic to cow's milk and soy, from 0-2 years, but it turns out eggs never were a problem.
For future reference, goats milk never set her off, so try that first when she starts having milk.
posted by Llamadogdad at 11:43 PM on July 14, 2016
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posted by soren_lorensen at 4:52 PM on July 13, 2016