•When your child is invited to a party, it is advisable to contact the host beforehand to ask whether you should bring something along. By doing this, you will make sure that your child will enjoy the party without suffering any ill effects afterwards.
LUNCH BOXES AND PADKOS
•Sometimes homemade food is the only safe choice for people with a food allergy or intolerance because the selection of take-away foods and snacks is sometimes limited and even dubious.
•The variety of recipes in this book gives options for breakfast, light and main meals, muffins, breads and snacks.
Food allergies and intolerance – the social dilemma
Outsiders do not always respond positively towards people with a food allergy or intolerance. I know of people who have consumed forbidden foods just to avoid negative comments, only to suffer from ill symptoms for hours or even days afterwards.
When your allergy or sensitivity has been diagnosed by experts and responsible people, such as a medical doctor or a dietitian or by medical tests, and positive treatment is recommended, it remains both your choice and responsibility to stick to the treatment and to take a firm stand when others react as if it is “nothing to worry about”. Everyone has choices in life and these should be respected by others.
Nutritional analysis
The nutritional analysis of the recipes has been done with a computerised programme according to information regarding nutritional values found in the following sources: South African Food Composition Database (SAFOODS), including information from the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) regarding the “Food Composition Tables” (1991); updated information regarding vegetables and fruit (1998); and updated information regarding beef, milk and eggs (1999/2000).
Abbreviations
| °C | degrees Celsius (metric unit of temperature) |
| CHO | carbohydrate |
| cm | centimetres (metric unit of length) |
| g | gram (metric unit of mass) |
| kg | kilogram (metric unit of weight) |
| kJ | kilojoule (metric unit of energy) |
| med | medium |
| mg | milligram (metric unit of weight) |
| ml | millilitre (metric unit of volume) |
| mm | millimetre (metric unit of length) |
| MUFA | monounsaturated fatty acids |
| PUFA | polyunsaturated fatty acids |
| SF | saturated fats |
| “Free of” abbreviations | |
| W | Wheat |
| G | Gluten |
| Ma | Maize |
| E | Egg |
| Mi | Milk |
| L | Lactose |
| So | Soya |
| C+P | Colourants and preservatives |
Breakfast dishes
Breakfast dishes and drinks
Breakfast is an essential meal of the day. If you have a healthy breakfast, you will probably not be ravenously hungry by 10am and might even realise during the morning that your ability to concentrate and your energy levels are better. Choose a breakfast according to your circumstances, food allergies and sensitivities. When you do proper planning, food choices become so much easier for each meal, including breakfast.
A typical breakfast consists of:
Starchy food, such as:
•Instant breakfast cereal or cooked porridge
•Bread, biscuits or muffins
•The leftover starchy food from supper, such as rice, pasta or potato
Protein-rich food, such as:
•Milk or yoghurt
•Substitutes for milk, for example soya, rice or coconut milk
•Cheese, eggs, cooked legumes such as lentils or baked beans in tomato sauce, or nuts.
•Protein dishes for light and main meals
•Fruit, fruit juice or vegetables such as slices of tomato
You can also prepare a delicious breakfast drink from the ingredients which are usually part of your breakfast, such as by combining breakfast cereal, milk, fruit and a little ice water. See the recipes for smoothies.
Breakfast dishes and drinks
| Name of recipe | Free of:W = Wheat; G = Gluten; Ma = Maize; E = Egg;Mi = Milk; L = Lactose; So = Soya;C+P= Colourants and preservatives | |||||||
| W | G | Ma | E | Mi | L | So | C+P | |
| Buckwheat-flour porridge | • | (•) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Barley-flour porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Millet-flour porridge | • | (•) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Oats porridge | • | (•) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Oats porridge with oat bran | • | (•) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Taystee Wheat porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||
| Maize meal, kreemymeel porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Braai pap, polenta | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Sorghum-flour porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Crumbly maize-meal porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Stiff maize-meal porridge | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| “Melkkos” with tapioca | • | • | • | • | (•) | (•) | (•) | • |
| Breakfast drink | • | • | • | • | ||||
| Fruit smoothie | • | • | • | • | (•) | (•) | (•) | • |
| Beetroot and carrot smoothie | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Green smoothie | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Hot-chocolate drink | • | • | • | (•) | (•) | (•) | • | |
| Naartjie syrup | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Lemonade | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Iced tea with fruit juice | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Camomile tea with fruit juice | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
Cooked breakfast cereal
Although it is a simple process to cook breakfast cereals, some people do not know how to boil porridge because they are spoiled with the availability of instant cereals.
Due to the variety of ingredients that are added during the processing of instant cereals, it is impossible for some people with food allergies and sensitivities to eat these cereals. Also, when no or only limited quantities of milk can be added, it becomes difficult to moisten the cereal satisfactorily. In cases like these it is more convenient to choose a cooked breakfast cereal as a breakfast dish. Breakfast cereals can be cooked in a saucepan on the stove or they can be prepared in a suitable microwave-safe dish.
How to cook porridge in a microwave oven:
Use