The 4 Biggest Mistakes That Food Allergy Families Make When They Want Variety

The 4 Biggest Mistakes That Food Allergy Families Make When They Want More Variety (How To Get More Variety)

Your first priority is to keep your child safe from anaphylaxis. I know that because I live that reality too.

But after that, when I talk with my readers and clients, one of the main things that come up is that moms feel like they want to stop making just 5 things all the time.  Moms and food allergy families WANT MORE SAFE VARIETY!

Because when you’re first starting out, it can seem like everything is off-limits and we just want safe food that our whole family can eat and enjoy.  But if you’re struggling with this right now, I know that some of these mistakes are going to surprise you! 

So let’s dive in. 

The 4 Biggest Mistakes That Food Allergy Families Make When They Want More Variety

1. Not making the same meal for everyone.  

I know this is a hard one, but hear me out.  

I know you don’t want to ask everyone to remove all the allergens because it doesn’t seem fair.  

BUT, if you know HOW to cook with simple ingredients and with really good, basic replacements, allergy meals are really, really delicious.  Your family will not even KNOW what they’re missing! 

Trust me on this.  I’ve managed severe milk, egg, peanut and tree nut allergies and gluten intolerance and serving delicious allergy meals is much easier than you think! 

Think about this: At first, it may not seem hard to keep regular meals separate from the allergy meal, but after a while the amount of concentration and focus you need to make sure that cross-contact doesn’t happen becomes really draining.  Not only that but cooking more than one meal almost every single day becomes more and more difficult. 

Starting out this way is a sure way to become burnt out.  And if you’re burnt out then its really hard to become inspired and think of or find new meals to make!! 

2. Constantly searching for new allergy-safe recipes.

As a mom managing multiple severe food allergies I remember scouring Pinterest and Google and recipe books for new allergy-friendly recipes All.The.Time.

I was always on the lookout for new recipes because I thought that’s the only way to get more variety.  I was so sick of making the same 5 things for my family.

But after several years and many lightbulb moments along the way, I now know that looking for new recipes and products is one of the WORST ways to get variety.

Because finding new recipes and products without knowing how to properly meal prep causes hours and hours of wasted time and energy which leads to burnout.  

Food allergy meal prep can change that.  

If done right, meal prep increases variety and convenience without being limited to finding the rare allergy-safe recipe or if you can even find the ingredient!

And it doesn’t matter if you have no idea how to start with meal prep because I make it SIMPLE!  

I’ll tell you more in a bit, but first, the next mistake… This is a big one and you may not even realize you’re doing this.  

3. Focusing on finding pre-made products to get more variety and convenience.

So maybe you use some pre-made boxed products like “Shake and Bake” or a pre-made pancake mix or pre-made rice. All of these might SEEM to add variety, but what happens if you can’t find them at the store?? You have to search for them everywhere because your 5 main meals depend on them! It’s time-consuming and frustrating! I know this is and was causing stress during this pandemic.

These type of convenience foods are SO SIMPLE to make from scratch and would likely be made in the same amount of time it takes you to open the box and read the instructions of the pre-made version! But if you don’t feel like a confident cook, it may seem easier just to buy the boxed version.

What’s the solution?

Food allergy meal prep. Which brings me to my last mistake:

4. Not Utilizing Food Allergy Meal Prep.

This is a huge mistake and will cost you variety AND convenience. First, you need to know what I mean by food allergy meal prep.

What Is food allergy meal prep?

Food allergy meal prep has 3 parts, and its a mixture of all 3.

1. Meal planning.

   This is your base for success. It will give you a starting point and less stress thinking about what to make every single night.

2. Cooking With Simple Ingredients.

   Knowing how to do this will stop your dependence on those pre-made brands I talked about above! You’ll feel confident that you can throw together simple meals that your family can all eat & enjoy together.

3. Efficiency Tips and Tricks.

   These are going to streamline your cooking and planning so both meal planning and cooking simple meals are done in a flash. You’ll reduce your time in the kitchen even though you're making everything from scratch.

Over the years, I’ve found that food allergy meal prep WORKS to easily get a variety of allergy-safe meals on the table every day without all the expensive pre-made food OR the stress of finding it. 

After 13 years as a severe food allergy mom, many clients, and a food allergy-friendly recipe book later, I’ve become an expert at meal prep specifically for food allergies.  

Dinner at my house has changed forever!

And it doesn’t matter if you’re a terrible chef, I promise!  Anyone can learn meal prep because I make it SIMPLE! You can get started with my FREE Food Allergy Cooking & Meal Prep Starter Kit. I teach you everything you need to know so you get more variety without the stress of an allergic reaction or constantly searching for new recipes or products.

I know that keeping your little safe from anaphylaxis is your number one priority. I want to make that simpler for you.

Conclusion

I know that keeping your little safe from anaphylaxis is your number one priority. After that, many food allergy families want more allergy-safe variety and convenience.

Read the 4 biggest mistakes above so you can get variety and convenience. To learn more food allergy safe meal prep tips check out my FREE Food Allergy Cooking & Meal Prep Starter Kit.