We’ve traveled to the beach for vacation (and to visit
family who lives there) every summer for as long as I can remember. It’s part
of our family tradition and one that I continue now with my own family.
Traveling has of course become more difficult with a
toddler, but it’s also especially difficult since we have to take special care
to think about how/what we’re going eat when we’re away from home.
On this beach trip, I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable
ordering safe food for my 2 year old son at any of the usual restaurants we visit since
most are staffed by young high school or college students on summer break. It’s also always so busy at these restaurants
due to all the other people on vacation – not a great time to communicate about
food allergies or even expect the kitchen staff to keep it straight.
I considered eating at our hotel restaurant, but after
eating there on the first day with my aunt and uncle while my son was napping,
I decided to stay away! They proved they
were disorganized and couldn’t follow an easy order with my simple lunch (soup
and salad), and also got a few things wrong with my aunt and uncle’s order. They seemed very disorganized and unmanaged
in general, so felt like I couldn’t trust them with even more important food
allergy directions.
The only restaurant we visited that I felt like I could trust was the Sunset Grille. Since I didn’t call
ahead of time or view the menu online, I already brought food for my son. However, I felt comfortable ordering a simple
veggie for him to munch on – asparagus.
Thankfully we reserved a room that had a “full” kitchen
(full size fridge, sink and stove). It
would have been difficult to feed him well for 4 days with only a mini-fridge
and microwave in a traditional hotel room. I didn't take food photos as things were already busy enough, but I did take photos of the inside of our fridge and cabinet so I'd remember what we brought. These are definitely boring photos, but maybe someone will find them useful!!
Also, here’s an overview of
what my son ate for 4 days on our beach vacation:
Breakfasts:
We ate 4 days of vacation breakfasts in our room – which is
usually what I like to do anyway since 3 meals a day at restaurants is too much
food for me! Our room was oceanside, so
we had a great view for breakfast! My
husband ordered a bagel sandwich-to-go a few times at the restaurant in our
hotel, but my son and I just stuck with our own food for breakfast. Here are some of the things he/we ate:
- Gluten-free oatmeal with fruit
- Sunbutter on toast
- Soy yogurt mixed with Enjoy Life Flax cereal or fruit
- Oat muffins
- Cereal: Mix of Enjoy Life Flax cereal, Kix and fruit
Notice most of these snacks could be used as breakfast
options, and/or supplements to meals – or meals themselves. I always tried to bring many options with me
wherever we went for variety and also due to a toddler’s finicky taste buds –
one day he likes something and the next he rejects it!
- Fruit (apples, bananas, grapes)
- Oat balls
- Tostitos
- Fruit snacks
- Soy yogurt
- Oat muffins
- Rice cake snacks plain or with avocado and tomato
- Applesauce
- Raisins
- Boxed ricemilk (great for transporting since you don’t have to worry about keep it cold)
- Juice boxes
- Water
We tried to keep lunches fairly easy since we wanted to stay
on the beach as long as possible, and we also wanted to try to stick with my
son’s usual 12pm naptime. My husband and
I usually just ate snacks (fruit and granola bars) on the beach for lunch, and
I brought sandwiches and snacks for my son’s lunch.
- Sunbutter sandwich
- Mayo-free avocado chicken salad sandwich
We brought most of the food since I knew we wouldn’t be able
to find all of the food at a local grocery store.
I didn’t want to transport ground meat or frozen veggies in a cooler for
a 3 hour drive, so we went food shopping on the first full day we were
there. I bought ground turkey and a bag
of frozen broccoli. I also bought a bag
of Tostitos as an impulse buy (we all love them!), and it’s a fun snack my son
can have and enjoys. Works well on a hot
beach also!
I cooked the ground turkey in Italian seasoning in one big
batch, and then just used it throughout our 3 other days there in various ways. I bought
this handy thermos
which
worked out very well to transport the food to restaurants.
- Ground turkey, tomatoes and italian seasoning, broccoli and quinoa pasta
- Ground turkey, sweet potato and broccoli
- *I brought all the ingredients to make a quesadilla, but we didn’t get a chance to make it
Please comment if anyone had any other ideas for how to make traveling easier with food allergies and/or if you have any other good food ideas. I could always use them!!
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