EIEI_O

This is our first major trip with our 18-month-old son. He has a severe allergy to wheat, barley, rye and strawberries. This means pasta and anything breaded is out. And he is a picky eater as well: rice, tofu pups and bananas will be the only thing to pass his lips for weeks sometimes.

So, my concern is this: if my son will only eat rice noodles and tofu pups some days, where do I cook this for him when we are traveling? Hotel (Richelieu) unfortunately doesn't have a kitchen. Are these common items on supermarket shelves in New Orleans and Alabama? We are renting a condo for the AL leg of the trip so I'm a little more comfortable there--if I know that I can find well-stocked organic natural food stores near Gulf Shores. Even if I do starve him into submission, how do I feed him in the breaded food capital of the world? For obvious reasons we have not introduced peanuts or shellfish either.

I guess what I am really looking for is any advice on how to travel with a toddler. And, we are going to New Orleans in August so advice on fun inside things to do would be much appreciated as well.

Thank you.

AL

Scarlett

While I have never had to do this-you might look into the electric teakettles that boil water instantly. You might be able to use that in hotels with no kitchen facilities .
I would never count on health food stores or stores having anything like tofu pups on their shelves.
Here in Jacksonville, there is one health food store, the grocery stores are very limited to tofu items.
We don't eat red meat..we brought a bag of food from home with us when we traveled with small children. Might be best for you to just pack the groceries along with the baby
(They do love white rice in the South so that won't be a problem)

benj

Wow, it's tough enough to try & keep a toddler happy while traveling. Factor in allergies & you really have to work. Not to worry. Since you have a little time then I would suggest maybe calling ahead to a couple of places to see if they have the tofu selection that you need. The best place is the Whole Foods. They have 1 location on Magazine St that you could try. While there you could also explore the area.
http://www.wholefoods.com/stores/list_LA.html

Try checking the site for products. Does your room have a fridge? That helps. Strawberries are really done for the season but we don't serve them like crazy anyway. Bananas are always around at the French Market stalls. There are also a couple of vegetarian places in the Quarter area that might have something he'd eat. Rice is usually served at restaurants & you might find rice noodles at the grocery on Royal St (corner St Peter).

By the way, not everything here is breaded. Fried, maybe but we do cook things without breading. You might just have to ask.

Have a great trip!

og719

Here in Gulf Shores there are a couple of choices, though limited. There is a store in Orange Beach called "A Better Way" that sells organics. It's just east of the Winn-Dixie on Perdido Beach Blvd. Also, there is a store called Gulf Shores Health Food in the Bruno's shopping cetner. Never been in there, though.

EIEI_O

These are great ideas. Thank you to all who posted. I will check out these stores and investigate the electic teakettle. There is a Whole Foods only 2 miles from our hotel in New Orleans; that is encouraging!

Benj, thank you for making the distinction between breaded and fried. It seems that whenever I ask about fried/breaded here, I get snotty looks from the waiters so I just started assuming all fried is breaded. I'll take a deep breath and clarify. Thanks! And my husband and I are looking forward to sampling the local cuisine. I just hope I can sneak him a beignet while my son isn't looking

Thanks.

AL

benj

You should be fine. Grab a banana at the French market stall for your son to eat while you demolish some beignets. Can he have banana chips? My daughter loved those as a child, also the apple chips.

Many of our fried things are dipped in a beaten egg & then lightly dredged in flour & fried. No heavy batter like fried chicken. The great thing about NO food is that it is very versatile & creative. Don't hesitate to ask. The restaurants are used to people from all over the world with different eating habits. I doubt you could suprise them & they are usually glad to help.

You should like Whole Foods. They have prepared food there as well as ingredients to do your cooking. It might be a good place to stock up for your trip to Gulf Shores.

Have a great time & let us know how it went.

Scarlett

With all the Low Carb diets around, it is easy to ask any waiter for something to be grilled or broiled rather than fried.
I found it was always easier for me to ask and ignore any waiters attitude when it was for my kids
If you ever get an attitude, ask for the manager..there is no reason for a waitperson to give any paying customer his attitude !!
OK, I am fine now

jor

Feed him rice, tofu pups and bananas. Don't feed him anything with wheat, barley, rye and strawberries in it. I think this will work out. Good luck.

babiesmama

I understand your nervousness. I am from NO and can tell you there is a Whole Foods market on Magazine Street that has a marvelous selection of organic foods. Also, be careful of food fried in peanut oil. Do you carry an EPI PEN? If I were you, I would not leave home without one. You will need a prescription from yoour pediatrician, and they are expensive- but if you don't have one I would never leave home without one. Good luck!

MonicaRichards

I also wanted to add about ordering off menu at restaurants--I've never had a problem doing that, check the other things they are serving to see if they have the ingredients to make what you want and if they do, just ask away. Be sure to mention your son is allergic, as in will go into shock if he's given something he shouldn't, to make sure the server just doesn't give you the brush-off. I go lots of places with a friend who is allergic to milk and eggs (like even one touching her skin will send her into shock) and we find if you are very clear how sick you will be they will be very accomodating.

J_Correa

Monica's advice about telling the waiter about the allergies is excellent. Unfortunately some waitstaff do just brush off those types of requests if they are lazy and think someone is just being a pain in the neck about things. But, when faced with the knowledge that something could cause a person to actually die, even the laziest of waitstaff tend to pay attention.

I have an allergy to mushrooms and have been told something does not contain mushrooms only to find them on my plate when the food comes. Fortunately my allergy isn't life threatening so it's not a huge deal, but it can certainly ruin an evenning - I just get hives. Since I have been explicit about having a food allergy, I haven't had any problems with being served mushrooms in restaurants.

Dan

I'm very allergic to strawberries so I make sure waiters know this if I'm ordering a dessert or fruit-based entree. So far, no problems!

logandog

Do not try the strawberry rye-barley wheatmuffins in New Orleans in August.

PamSF

YOu should be able to find most of what you're looking for in NO up on Esplanade.(Close to the Richlieu) There should be a health food store there. There was, at one time, a rather large one. There is now a Whole FOods on Magazine(up in the Garden District). It will be your sure fire place for things like tofu pups.Can he tolerate cow's milk?

jersey

Being a person with Celiac Disease and unable to eat anything with gluten (wheat, rye ,barley, and malt to name a few) I understand your plight. I would do a google search on gluten free foods and find a place online that sells these foods. You can also go to a good health food or grocery store and look for this section. Most stores here in NJ have such a section now. There are kid cereals, pasta's, even doughnuts and cookies that are for people like your son. Then you can carry the food with you. Which I do when I travel. But I must say that most decent restaurants are really good about helping you out with this. I've had many restaurants cook me a 'special' meal just for me. By the way, even places like McDonalds have gluten free fries (their frier is dedicated only for fries). Good luck and have a great trip.

jersey

ttt

patg

I just wanted to add that rice prepared in a restaurant could have been prepared with soup stock, possibly shellfish-based. Be sure to inquire about all the ingredients. Also, deep frying in fat that has been previously used for shellfish will contaminate the food with allergens. I have a friend with life-threatening allergies, and he told about these two complications.