Getting started on a gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, corn-free low allergen diet is not easy, but I found that a lot of the resources that were available to me made it seem a lot worse than it actually was. I am not saying that it is not challenging to avoid all the different allergens, just that its nowhere near as hard as a lot of the books on the topic make it out to be.

The first key is to eat only food that you prepare. That said, there is no reason to do a lot of actual preparing. The closer you get to raw and vegan the easier it all is. Here is what we do when I am not testing recipes. It does not require much skill in the kitchen.

Snacks
We snack primarily on bananas, apples, oranges, blueberries and grapes. I keep pushing baby carrots as well but my son is not all that fond of them. The preparation process is the same as for a bag of chips with the exception that I try to wash the fruit before tossing it into the lunchbox. Berries and grapes need to be washed, put in a container, then put into the lunchbox. No heating or knife skills are required.

Lunch
My son eats sandwiches for lunch. Pretty much every day he wants a sunflower seed butter sandwich. He even gets them at restaurants. I use gluten free bread. I toast the bread, spread on the sunflower seed butter and cut the sandwich in half before inserting it into a waxed paper bag. I can also make turkey with mustard and ham with mustard for variety. It works like any other sandwich on toast. Lunch is the same as it ever was.

Drinks
I make my own lemonade with liquid stevia to avoid feeding any sugar without fiber. I put it in a thermos. You can use juice or milk boxes too, I just want to avoid sugar. We also drink water. The mommies may want to know that all American wine is gluten-free.

Dinner
Dinner in our house is always allergen free for the entire family. If you are not a cook or if you are not sure what to do in the kitchen, just cook like its 1958. We have roast meat and two different microwaved veggies (baked potatoes microwave well) or one veggie and a really big salad. I like to poach fish in lemon juice, butter flavor shortening ,herbs, and pepper. This involves putting fish in a glass baking dish, adding lemon juice, pepper , a blob of shortening and maybe some herbs and then baking at 450 for 20 or so minutes depending on the fish being used. I also roast chicken parts with garlic powder, italian seasoning and lemon juice. As in I put chicken in a pan, shake stuff on it and bake it at 425. Then of course there is the grill and kabobs. Just use tamari in the marinade instead of soy sauce. If you don’t want to bake a potato, grocery stores do make frozen microwaveable rice if you want a starchy side dish. Gluten-free pasta overcooks easily so I don’t recommend it for people who are not willing to watch the pot, but by the third batch you will have the hang of it. Really you will.

Dessert
Here is where the challenge comes in. Desserts tend to be a combination of eggs, dairy, gluten and nuts. The key is to reinvent them. That is why this website is so dessert heavy. Until then, you can buy the gluten and dairy free processed frozen desserts or cookies. Just go to Amazon or Vitacost. Order and have the food drop shipped.

You really can do this. I know it seems scary, but if you stay near the outside of the store and remember that your children may prefer processed food but will indeed eat apples if they get hungry enough, you are going to be OK with the diet.

Really, you will.