Allergen free vacation planning

Going on any trip requires planning. Having multiple food allergies and a gluten intolerance takes NASA level planning.

My sweetie and I flew to Montreal to kick off fall with some leaf-looking and a little peace and quiet. We met up with my parents there and had a culinary delight day after day with a little extra effort. Montreal is quite wonderful in the fall. You aren't yet freezing to death and you are not surrounded by tourists. No lines for tables or events, no crazy prices set to pad the lean months.

When planning for our trip we had to get creative about how we were going to stick to both our very petite budget and  our diet. Our son is severely corn allergic and milk allergic. I am gluten intolerant. I nurse him so that means I am temporarily allergic to corn and milk as well. To save the stress of playing twenty questions at every restaurant after reading a dozen menus just to find one that seemed even semi safe, we booked a hotel with a mini fridge and a microwave oven. We checked that it was in walking distance to the grocery and started putting plans in place. Add to the mix the language. Now my husband, the dapper lad that he is, speaks a little French leftover from his school days. I butcher the language like only an American can. If we were in Italy I would be good to go....this is no Francophile momma. 

First step: How to get our breakfast made without having to cook on a pan or pack oils.

To solve this we bought one of the microwave omelette makers. Totally cheesy but effective. 2-3 eggs whipped up in a bowl with our packed salt and pepper, nuked for 2 minutes and served. We also found safe turkey at the grocery so we planned for making egg omelettes with turkey and spinach. The spinach came from the salad mix we bought for lunches. 

As a optional breakfast, I pre packed baggies with gluten free oatmeal, corn free brown sugar and microwave directions. These also make a nice midnight snack and meal for the day of a flight. 

Total cost: $4 for the omelette maker, $8 for the eggs, $5 for the turkey. =$17 for breakfast for 3 for a week on vacation.

Lunch:

For lunch we relied on packed safe snack foods and the local grocery store. The best part of being in a foreign country that is French leaning is the marvelous foods. Our grocery store had pate, soups, individual olive oil packets, etc. We loaded up on delicious meat spreads, soups and drinks. It was a bit pricier than making lunch at home but still less expensive than eating out every day and dealing with the stress. I packed containers for taking food to go. I have a slight confession: there are many hiding places in my house for Bento containers. I am obsessed with them. If I put them all together I would see how many I have and not be able to justify a single future purchase. In all honesty though, (and an attempt to justify hoarding) they all serve different purposes. Some are the Indian style metal containers which don't get dishwashered, are only good for cold foods and can't be heated. Some are the Japanese style which are precious, can be microwaved but are not liquid safe. Additionally I have Japanese soup containers which are also great for berries and roll ups. ...but I digress. See my problem? I love those things.

Dinner: We only planned a few dinners in because I feel strongly that half of visiting a foreign place is eating. Seriously. If you aren't going to eat the local flavors, why bother? That is the proof of heritage for a people. You can see their manners, culture, customs, history and social movements all on your plate. For Montreal, it is an experience. We went to the store and enjoyed the French appreciation of offal and the cuts of meats that Paleo people can only dream of. The local no fuss grocer had chicken hearts, livers and other parts mixed right in with all the others. To make this corn allergy momma happy, none of the packages had cornstarch packaging to sop up the liquids. The beef selection included tongue, tail, etc. It was beautiful to see rabbit cheaper than chicken. Actually, we were surprised that chicken was the most expensive. When we thought about it, it isn't exactly ideal chicken raising climates in Canada. 

Once out, we ate gluten free with no problems. Corn free was a bit easier because the American reliance on fake ingredients was minimized. The only issue we had was that sauces were often thickened with cornstarch to reduce the gluten in restaurants. 

Overall- this vacation set me at ease. I was frightened of taking my son out of our area. Next time I will pack more snack foods and also rely less on hotel dinners. Finding a cut of meat is easier than feared. Breakfasts were a good cost savings and so were lunches.