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| We’ve had a long cold winter, can’t wait for all this snow and ice to melt! |
Last Wednesday, I decided I just couldn’t take the snow and ice anymore. I needed to escape to warmer weather, to get some sunshine, and take a break from the dirty snow banks lining the street, as well as the damage from a burst water pipe and ice dam from all the snow (nope, none of the repairs have been done yet!).
Normally, we stay in a place with a kitchen on vacation, but frankly I was looking for a break from cooking (especially the tough task of coming up with foods for my son who has food allergies), so I looked into staying at a hotel. The thought of having someone else figure out what to feed my son and cook for my allergy ridden child seemed really appealing. With the kids off from school on break, I booked a quick, last minute trip to Florida.
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| A quick change of scenery and some sunshine was just what we needed! |
I called the hotel and gave them the list of food allergies (e.g., the main ones being gluten, dairy, eggs, tomatoes, oranges, apples and pears) to see if their restaurants could accommodate my son’s needs. As soon as they assured me they could, I booked a room. I also checked online and saw there was a Whole Foods store nearby in case I ran into a problem. Finally, I packed some sunflower seed butter, rice crackers, homemade gluten-free muffins, and one gluten-free hamburger bun. I didn’t know what I would find once I arrived in Florida, so I wanted to make sure I had a few things in case. Before we left the house at 5:45AM on Friday morning, I made one last fruit smoothie and packed a gluten-free muffin for the road.
The muffin ended up being the perfect snack for the plane ride, along with some baked salmon sushi I picked up at the airport. Upon arrival at the hotel, my kids were starving, so we headed to the snack bar, which served mostly burgers. My son wanted a cheeseburger, but as soon as I started to order, it became apparent how challenging even that would be. I needed a gluten-free, dairy-free, tomato-free cheeseburger. The poor waiter looked at me, slightly confused (can you blame him!). The cheeseburger arrived, with no bun, no cheese, some lettuce and a slice of onion on top. My son had a puzzled look on his face when his plate arrived. Needless to say, it wasn’t the most appetizing burger to look at.
Fortunately, I had brought a single hamburger bun with me on the trip and had stowed it in my purse (only a neurotic mother would do that). After lunch, I realized that although the hotel was more than willing to accommodate my son’s food allergies, they really didn’t know how. My fantasy of having someone else figure out allergy friendly meals for my son quickly evaporated. I realized I was not going to be able to hand over the responsibility of my son’s food allergies to anyone else (how naïve, I guess it was wishful thinking!).
That afternoon, as I was checked to see where Whole Foods was located, the chef of one of the hotel restaurants happened to be standing in the lobby. I told him about my son’s food allergies and asked if he would be willing to heat up some foods for my son if I provided them. He said that many hotel guests who had children with food allergies actually brought their own food and stored items in the restaurant freezer. He actually seemed almost relieved that I wanted to take the burden of figuring the food out for my son off of his shoulders (ironically, that’s what I was looking for him to do for me).
I headed to Whole Foods and bought a few cartons of soup, corn tortillas, organic refried beans, Daiya cheese, gluten-free bagels, vegan cream cheese, gluten-free chicken nuggets, a box of Amy’s Stir-Fry Noodles and raw honey. I stored everything in the mini-bar refrigerator in my room except for the chicken strips and bagels which I asked the restaurant to store.
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| My stash of allergy friendly foods from Whole Foods |
The next morning, my son enjoyed a gluten-free bagel with vegan cream cheese (a special treat since he hasn’t had a bagel in almost two months – I wish you could have heard all the “ooing” and “ahhing” that went on as he savored every bite). He also had a fruit smoothie that I special ordered, made with banana, mixed berries and soy milk. Usually I use almond milk in my son’s smoothies, but soy milk seems to be the more popular dairy-free milk of choice outside of the home.
For lunch, I brought a box of lentil soup to the poolside and asked the kitchen to heat it up for my son, which they very willingly did, and for dinner, my son had the gluten-free chicken nuggets I had bought from Whole Foods. I did make some honey mustard for him using the raw honey I bought. I ordered a side of sautéed spinach with garlic and olive oil so he would have a healthy serving of green vegetables. As a special treat, he had dairy free raspberry sorbet for dessert.
This is the first trip I’ve taken since my son was diagnosed with a slew of food allergies, so it was a good test run in case we go anywhere this summer. I’ve learned a few things from this mini-vacation.
- A vacation is really not a vacation when you have a child with food allergies. You can run, but you can’t hide.
- Consider staying in a place with a kitchen if your child has severe food allergies. Even if restaurants say they can accommodate food allergies, the choices they offer may not work for you or your child.
- If you’re staying at a hotel, call them ahead of time and feel them out on their willingness and ability to accommodate food allergies. In my case, the hotel was very willing, but not necessarily capable of meeting our needs.
- Ask if the hotel restaurant kitchen is willing to store and reheat food you bring or purchase (I had no idea the hotel would do this, but it was a life-saver in my situation). Be sure to label your food and remind them to store any extra food items back where they belong. Alas, our bagels were no where to be found the second morning of our stay, which caused a meltdown at breakfast. Amazingly enough, the hotel manager took it upon himself to run out and buy more gluten-free bagels as well as some gluten-free muffins for my son.
- Don’t be afraid to make special requests. I asked the hotel restaurant to make a soy milk berry smoothie, which they were happy to provide.
- When you book the hotel, make sure they make a note of food allergies on your reservation and ask them to notify the hotel restaurants. Although this didn’t always work, I found it was helpful when the restaurants had a bit of warning so it wasn’t a surprise when I showed up. Be prepared to give an extra tip for any special accommodations. Send a follow-up letter to hotel management and thank the hotel staff for their extra efforts (you never know, you might be back).
- Before you book or leave on your trip, see if there’s a Whole Foods store or other natural foods market nearby in case you need to buy your own food and ask the hotel to reheat it.
- Bring a few foods to tide your child over for the plane ride and upon arrival, until you can assess the local restaurant situation.
- Check out restaurants ahead of time to see if they cater to special diets. I googled gluten-free restaurants in the area and reviewed their menus online. Since my son has multiple allergies, this wasn’t foolproof, but it gave me an idea of restaurants that might be more accommodating for food allergies.
- Be willing to make a few sacrifices (unless your child has such severe reactions that you can’t). e.g., the gluten-free chicken nuggets had egg listed in the ingredients, but I felt it was okay since his food allergies are not life threatening and it was just one meal.
This mini-vacation was definitely nice, soaking in some sun for a few days, and changing the scenery from ice and snow to palm trees and soft sand, but I am looking forward to returning to my kitchen where I can make foods that my son enjoys and that I am comfortable with.
Do you have any tips for traveling with children with food allergies? I would love to hear them.
Resources for finding allergy friendly restaurants:
Gluten Free Registry
For another story on traveling on a special diet (anti-candida in this case), read How I Spent My Florida Vacation by fellow blogger Ricki from Diet, Dessert and Dogs.
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