Jonathan has quite a long list of foods he can’t eat, so many of you might be wondering “what DOES he eat?” The answer is a lot of the same foods. Jonathan is restricted in his diet partially because of his food allergies, but also by his age.
We’ve tried to branch out to new and different food items for Jonathan as we’ve found new allergy friendly options, but also as he’s gotten older. He still struggles a little to try new foods – like hamburgers – because he just isn’t there age wise. I think with hamburgers it’s a texture thing, but we’ll keep trying. We have been able to find new options for him at various stores, so he can try to eat the same thing as everyone else.
I will caveat that all of our finds below are very specific to these varieties and any allergy family will say you must ALWAYS read the label. Jonathan cannot have certain varieties of many things listed below because they contain milk, nuts, etc. For example, he loves Sensible Portions Veggie Chips/Straws, but he can only have the Sea Salt variety. The Zesty Ranch and Cheddar varieties both contain milk. I also check the labels if a package looks different or a “New & Improved Recipe” claim is on the package. The food may no longer be safe for him.
Breakfast
Jonathan’s go to foods for breakfast include fruit (banana, apple, watermelon, etc.) and cereal. Favorite cereals we’ve found for him include Life and Cheerios. We’ve also recently discovered he can have Fruit Loops, which he LOVES, but we try to limit his obsession.
We’ve also found a great pancake/waffle mix from Birch Benders. Jonathan can have the Classic flavor only (I’ve also seen it called Original) which we usually find at Target, our local Busch’s or Amazon. Many local grocery stores carry it, so you just have to look around. We like that the whole family can have the same mix and we can all enjoy breakfast together.
Another great breakfast option are these cinnamon rolls from Annie’s. Jonathan used to be able to have baked milk (before he had a bad reaction to a muffin we don’t think was cooked all the way – so we ended that) and we found these cinnamon rolls. They do say they may contain milk ingredients, so we just don’t give him any frosting. He loves them just the same. We have a Christmas morning tradition of having cinnamon rolls, so it was really special to have these for Jonathan this year.
Our last go to for breakfast are these frozen waffles from Trader Joe’s. They are nice to have when we don’t have time to make homemade and both kids enjoy eating them.
Lunch/Dinner
For lunch and dinner, Jonathan has a lot of common items for kids his age including hot dogs and chicken nuggets. We usually do bun length turkey or beef hot dogs, because the regular size isn’t enough food for him. For chicken nuggets, we always get Tyson because they are widely available and don’t contain milk. He also really likes vegetables – including peas and corn.
Another favorite of Jonathan’s is this veggie pasta from Barilla. It also comes in a spaghetti, but he doesn’t seem to like that version as much. It’s free from eggs, unlike a lot of other pasta and he gets a couple extra servings of veggies which I like.
These potato buns from Brownberry/Arnold and these tortillas from Guerrero are staples for Jonathan. The tortillas are amazingly soft and fluffy compared to others we’ve tried. The potato buns and tortillas can be found at Target and most grocery stores. They are out of stock a lot, so I tend to always have a back up in the freezer just in case.
Finding a pizza Jonathan could have was a MAJOR win for us. He has a play pizza set he always plays with and when we get pizza we want him to feel included. I’ve seen that the pizza has a new recipe and I have yet to compare it to the old one. We still have a couple of the old recipe in the freezer, so I’m hoping it hasn’t changed too much.
Snacks
Jonathan LOVES to snack. He is the master at going into the pantry and coming out with his own snack. Which is why any food he can’t have is up high and we have a buffer zone between the two areas in the pantry. However, that is another post for another day!
Jonathan’s favorite snacks usually consist of crackers, applesauce, veggie straws or pretzels. I would have thought a lot of those below contained milk, but they do not. The Club Crackers and their buttery taste claims really surprised me. Once again though, notice that everything below is the Original flavor – nothing cheese, ranch, etc.
Below are our go-to snacks when out and about with Jonathan. They come in travel packs, so we can easily put them in his lunch box. As an added bonus Clara also wants to eat most of them so we have to worry less about a cross contamination with her snack.
Since Jonathan clearly cannot have regular milk, he usually sticks to water, apple juice occasionally or soy milk. He’s been drinking soy milk since he was 1 and has never had any issues.
Do you know of any dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut, fish free food options we should try for Jonathan? We’re always looking for new things. Let us know if the comments if you have any ideas or comments!!
