Talking Allergies

Hi,

My son and I will be in Toronto for a lacrosse tournament and we will be staying in the dorms which have a limited kitchen ie. microwave and fridge. His team will be eating in restaurants but I will be bringing food and making some for him while we are there which is for 10 days. I will not have access to a car as I have been told driving there will be difficult. So my question(I have never posted but I have read the forumns for a long time) to everyone is do you have any ideas of what kind of food I should bring and what could I make in this type of limited setting? His allergies are all nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and he has an anxiety disorder developed from his fear associated with all his allergies (he is 17).Thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome Allergicmum, I'm sure many on the forum have great suggestions. I assume you are traveling by bus together if you won't have a vehicle, if so, make sure you let them know ahead of time that you will need extra storage room for a cooler, extra bag etc. Ten days is a long time to feed a 17 year old. Will anyone on the team have a vehicle along which if need be they could run you to a store?
If you aren't using an electric cooler I have heard others say they freeze certain food items to save on the room ice packs take up.
One thing I would suggest as the fridge is dorm style is to bring some kind of plastic bags or stickers to mark your DS's food that will go into the fridge. That will stop someone from snacking on his food if they by accident do forget he has allergies and can't share.
I hope it goes well and the lacrosse team has a great tournament. I'm sure it will be fun as well as a learning experience, be sure to let us know how it all works out.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Thanks for the welcome. Never thought about needing a cooler for on the bus...thanks! He will probably have times when he can't get back to the dorm to eat so great idea! Mu hubby was in Toronto for work this week and spied out the area for me and there is a store about 5 blocks away which I can go to luckily. Fortunately we will all have our own fridges in our rooms so that helps worrying about aspect of things but labelling will be a good idea as they will be sharing with one other guy. Since my older son is on the team I am hoping that they can share a room for that reason.

If that is the case I'd take one large cooler and then one of those fabric style large lunch bags. Take a couple ice packs with you so that during the day you are able to pack your son food he'll need just for that one meal/snack.
You might want to post your question on the travel thread also to get a few more responses.
And if you have two son's attending I'd just tell them for safety/food/convenience etc. you would like them to be roomed together. Saves moving people around afterwards if necessary.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Thanks for more great ideas. His older brother is also on the team and we are going to ask that they be together for that reason and the brother has allergies too but not the anxiety so things are a little bit easier with him. He also doesn't have the sesame seed allergy which is the biggest source of my youngest son's anxiety re:allergy.I think I will post on the travel section (copy and paste as I am lazy).

when your husband was in the area did he check which restaurants are nearby? If you have an idea where the team might want to go you can check out their menu in advance. Some places might be willing to make special arrangements, but that usually requires advance notice.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

I am not sure at this point where they are eating...with his anxiety even if it was perfect in every way I don't think he will eat there unfortunately. He is seeing someone about it but it is a really slow process. Anxiety is a tough thing to deal with. I am hoping that I can convince him to eat a pizza restaurant if it does not have any of the food that he is allergic too in its premises as I am sure a few meals for pizza will come into play. At least then he will eat one meal with the team.

Thanks for everyone's help and advice,

We're in Toronto and almost have a match on your allergies (except we have egg as well). Sesame is also our big challenge when it comes to a meal (not dessert).

We just ate out at Swiss Chalet (Beaches) tonight and happily walked away with a "Nutritional and Allergy Guide"
http://www.swisschalet.com/ourmenu/allergens.pdf
which I think your son will be very pleased with - and there are multiple Swiss Chalet's in Toronto so you might be able to convince the team to go to one...

Food on the go - I should be more diligent and write down the successful brand names but I like:
Walmart - for its pepperoni sticks that do not need refrigerated, premade rice meals
Loblaws - rice meals out the specialty section, couple of potential frozen meals

I am not sure about eating pizza out - I need to look further into that - I know multiple premade crusts do have sesame warnings....

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myself: seasonal allergies, chemical sensitivities
son 2007: allergic to sesame and raw eggs
daughter 2009: no allergies
daughter 2011: severe eczema, no allergies

Thanks Ginger for that Swiss Chalet link. We will definitly be going, it will be a good place when travelling and also for DD when she's out on her own.

Michele

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Myself - Seasonal, cats
dd-asthma (trigger - flu) anaphylactic to eggs, severe allergies to bugspray and penicilin,pulmicort
ds-Seasonal, cats and OAS
dh-allergy cats, bugspray and guava, outgrew egg allergy