Managing a Coeliac Childs diet
The children will be home all the time (almost)!! They’ll be constantly hungry, raiding the cupboards and snacking all the time!! And managing a child’s coeliac diet is a trial at the best of times.
Constantly eating us out of house and home! And never full……
What do you do? How do you manage with a coeliac child?
We have packed lunches for school – whilst I’ve had conversations with the catering staff at the school, I’m just wary. It isn’t worth the risk, but sometimes it would be nice to just not have to prepare a lunch box in the morning. I’m fed up preparing them, and by now my coeliac child has had enough eating them too. And I wish my lunchboxes looked like the picture below, but they don’t. I’m just a mum doing my best on a daily basis. It’s all we can do. Just like any other mum.
She doesn’t like sandwiches – never did pre diagnosis either
Occasionally has a pasta salad….
She did like sausages in a Schar bun – the frozen ones are just divine – even I eat them too, Found in Morrisons, Sainsburys and Asda. They were down to £2 last week in Sainsburys!!
She prefers to just have bacon pieces – that I must cook in the morning or in advance.
So, her lunch contains a FreeFrom Oat bar from Tesco for her snack, bacon pieces, an Innocent smoothie pouch, fruit, FreeFrom digestive biscuits, yogurt & a FreeFrom chocolate snack bar.
Not the healthiest of lunches as she’s now decided she won’t have yogurts either. Her calcium intake has severely dropped the past month – more on that later in the week.
So how do you go about feeding your coeliac children for the school holidays, keep them entertained & ‘full’. Ever noticed how hard it is to keep a coeliac child full!!
So how do you go about keeping them full?
I have no magic answers, as I’ve taken my eye off the ball slightly with life going on in the background, but with the end of school, its time to try new things, however hard that is and sometimes it’s really hard to just get them to try new things.
Obviously, fresh fruit is a good thing for them to snack on, but how hard is it to get kids to eat fruit? They are drawn to the snacks, the biscuits, colourful packaging, the sugar that pre-teens and teens seem to be drawn to.
10 Snacks options to try:
- Yogurt – a great source of calcium & protein to help their growing bones
- Popcorn – the plain types (not covered in sugar) are a nutritious snack & full of antioxidants– mind when giving to young children due to choking
- Nuts* – a handful of nuts can be beneficial (not salted ones!). Almonds are actually seeds and have a great source of fibre, protein & contain vitamin E, selenium, zinc, calcium, magnesium & other B vitamins. *Dependant obviously on age/nut allergies etc.
- Raisins – contain iron. I was told a long time ago that after eating raisins you should eat some cheese which will help neutralise the sugar?? No idea if true – must Google!
- Cheese – a piece of good cheese with lunch will boost their protein & calcium too
- Carrot/celery sticks and hummus – hummus is made from chickpeas & contains fibre & plenty of antioxidants.
- Energy balls – try making your own? Not one I’ve tried, but think we need to give it a go. Normally made from oats (use GF ones), ground nuts, dried fruits & honey. I had a look online & this one is simple enough by using Gluten Free Oats in the recipe and suitable GF chocolate. Tesco chocolate chips (80-100g) are suitable. Check the ingredients for any changes. No Bake Banana Energy Balls
- Bell Peppers – naturally sweet. Dip them in guacamole (make your own by mashing an avocado with a fork, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a little garlic & even a couple of teaspoons of yogurt to soften the texture further). You get good fats from the guacamole, vitamin c from the lemon and antioxidants from the garlic!
- Nut butters & Apples – almond butter, cashew butter. I’ve come to recently like peanut butter on apples too.
- Frozen fruit popsicles. Pick up some refillable/reusable lolly moulds and make your own ice lollies with fruit. Puree fruit in a blender, add a little water or fruit juice & freeze. I’ve seen some in Home Bargains & Sainsburys.
- Rice Cakes – plain or with nut butter/peanut butter
What are your top snack tips or who do you follow for handy hints for food?
My top one to follow is the The Batch Lady on Facebook – if one of her recipes takes my fancy, I just convert it to a gluten free one. She has some great ideas to prep for food in advance so you always have something in the freezer and are ready for anything.
Four days left of school for us!!
Yay, I think…..