Food Ideas! Help 2 Year Old Bored With The Same Foods

[GlutenFreeinPanama]

Help, my 2 year old has been gluten-free/dairy Free for 4 months, he was diagnosed celiac in July. Since we live in Panama we do not have any gluten-free food options beyond gorilla crunch cereal. It is cost prohibitive to buy off the web and ship here (think taxes of 50% value and months in transit) so his diet is VERY limited. He will not eat much beyond gorilla crunch cereal, almond milk, gluten-free pancakes (I bought bunches of bags stateside and brought down), and peanut butter on his fingers. Normal fair is pan seared chicken or fish, a veggie, and a fruit. Day after Day. I understand his boredom. Help, if any of you savvy mom and dads can give me some ideas I am sure we both would love to get out of our little rut!

[Wenmin]

Check out the LiveGlutenFreely.com site. I just made the cheesy potato soup and it is delicious. I do plan on trying the sloppy joe bake when time allows. Most ingredients are readily available.

Wenmin

[kareng]

Do you get corn tortillas or make arepas? PB might be good on them. You could make a PB sauce for him to dip his chicken in. Lots on the web but basically you melt a little pb and add a little oil,vinegar, maybe almond milk, spices, gluten-free soy sauce if you have it. Or put it in a jar and shake it up hard. Like a salad dressing or chinese peanut sauce.

Will he eat rice or eggs, separately or together?

Cutting things up in little pieces and getting a toothpick to stab them with is always fun. My kids ate a lot on toothpicks they wouldn't eat otherwise.

My kids liked red potatoes cooked in OLive oil. Leave the skins on, cut in little cubes (toothpick opportunity). Toss in a little oil. Spread in a pan and cook in a hot oven, stirring a couple of times. Or put in foil packs and grill.

After one of your other posts about shipping to panama, I was at a UPS store here in Kansas. I asked what it would cost to ship 1 lb to Panama. I was told "alot".

[shopgirl]

Do you have a crock pot or a slow cooker? My mom gave me a crock pot right after I was diagnosed and I'm kind of in love with the little thing. I throw in veggies, potatoes, rice, chicken, whatever I have or is on sale and just let it all stew together. When it's time to eat, I warm it up in the microwave. Sometimes add a little bacon for fun or flaxseed for fiber.

Does he like soup? My mom was usually able to sneak just about anything in a soup or a thick stew when I was a kid and I was a pretty notoriously picky eater.

[GlutenFreeinPanama]

Thanks so much! Toothpicks I can get and will try those out tomorrow. I like the cubed idea as well. He will eat rice, that we have plenty of around this country. Celiac is an emerging disease here in Panama, and in our town of 100,000 my son is the only known confirmed case, but I cannot help but think we are not alone! Makes me on Momma on a mission to educate the folks around here.

Thankfully our pediatric GI is USA trained and we had all the tests at our disposal,just not food! I am making his almond milk, which he loves, and will try all of these ideas this week.

Thanks again for all of your answers and ideas...especially those who looked into shipping here.."alot" is a great way to put the price.

[missy'smom]

Coconut milk is a good substitute in dairy-free recipes sometimes.

I use it in baked custards-my kiddo likes pumpkin custard, just coconut milk, pumpkin, eggs, spices(cinnamon etc.), some sweetener a bit of starch takes 5 min to mix up and bakes in no time. There are rice, raisin baked custards as well as plain custard recipes on the web. If you go easy on the sweetener(honey, maple syrup, sugar etc.) then it is a pretty healthy dish. I bake them in individual custard cups.

[kareng]

I thought of some more. My boys are 14 & 17, but some of this still applies.

My 17 yr still loves little colored sugar sprinkles on things.

Cut things in fun shapes - circles, squares, triangles. Don't know if you have cold cuts. You could use metal ( never used for gluten cookies ) cookie cutter to make shapes. You eat the ugly edge pieces left or put in eggs. Can use on apples.

Do you have straws? You can slurp cooled broth, running mashed potatoes, etc.

We make pb milkshakes. Wonder if you could blend a little pb and chocolate syrup with the almond milk. Maybe freeze it. Stick a stick or cut banana into pieces and use toothpicks. Melt a little chocolate and dip banana. Then freeze. Really , surprisingly yummy and ice cream like.

My boys and their cousins like frozen & uncooked veggies like peas and corn. 14 year old still wants frozen, unthawed corn. Uncooked fresh veggies like green beans, slices of potato, fresh peas.