Meal planning for extreme failsafe / RPAH elimination diet - HELP!

Hey guys,

I need your help in a big way! After seeing an allergist last week, I am going to start on a major elimination diet to try and workout if I can reduce/cure my severe eczema, hay-fever, post nasal drip etc. I had skin pr*ck testing and came up for dustmites also.

It is the RPAH elimination diet from the "Friendly Food" book, and I'm on the strict one for 4 weeks before starting food challenges. My son is on the autism spectrum, and has ADHD, and I wanted to do the failsafe diet over a year ago, but TBH, with everything that we had/have going on in our life, I couldn't cope with such a drastic full on diet. I took him off colourings and a lot of preservatives, but the salicyates/amines part was too much, as we have a lot of fresh fruit/veggies in our diet, and I don't buy so much processed foods. Now that I have to for me, I can do it for him, and for my DD who I've noticed reacts to some foods (kiwi etc).

I just don't know how to do it, it is so full on, and when you combine it with us keeping kosher, so I can't buy a lot of the stuff that is OK, and the fact that both my kids have become annoyingly picky eaters (they had such great diets at the beginning of them eating food, but it has slowly evolved into them only liking about 7 different meals... And they are healthy meals so I should be happy, but any time I introduce new things they turn up their noses at it, and I find cooking in general really hard, and it's going to be at least 4 weeks of fights every meal!)

So I guess I need help/suggestions for meals in general, plus how did you cope with picky eaters who wanted the regular stuff.

Just FYI this is the list of what I'm allowed:

Veggies
bamboo shoots
brussels sprouts
cabbage
celery
chive
cholo
dried beans
dried peas
green beans
leek
lentils
lettuce (iceberg)
mungbean sprouts
parsley
potato (white)
red cabbage
shallots (not spring onions)
swedes
butter beans
chick peas
4 bean mix.

Every 2nd day I can have something from this list:
asparagus
beetroot
carrot
Chinese vegetables
green means (not minted)
lettuce (other)
marrows
parsnip
potato (red)
pumpkin
snow peas
snow pea sprouts
sweet potato
turnips
bok choy

Fruit
pears
mango

Meats
beef
chicken - no skin (not really supposed to have as the kosher one isn't as goodm but a friend who did this said they did it and hjust washed it really well)
eggs
fish (fresh white only)
lamb
veal
mince meat only if I grind my own)

No dairy, no soy, so will be living off rice or oat milk

Nuttelex margarine or Crisco sunflower oil

Mineral/soda/tonic water
Limites amount of lemonade from a bottle not can.

No caffinated coffee :(

Herbs
chives (as a garnish
garlic
parsley
poppy seeds
saffron
sea salt
shallots
vanilla
vanilla extract
citric acid

Grains
arrowroot
barley
buckwheat
cornflour
plain pasta (no colours/flavours etc)
potato flour
rice (white only, no jasmine, basmati or brown)
rice flour
rice cereals (plain)
rolled oats
sago
quinoa
rye flour
wheat
wheat flour
wheat cereals (plain_)
weetbix
vitabrits
rice puffs
weeties

Sugars
caramels
carbon
golden syrup
maple syrup
sugar
toffee
occassional white marshmellow or white jelly bean
melrose chashey spread
Canadian Maple syrup

Snacks
chashews (raw)
rice cakes (plain)


I'm so glad I can still have gluten. I can't have bakery bread, so we are going to buy our own breadmaker, and make some every night before bed. I have no idea what to put on the kids lunches - they can have nuts or meat at school, and normally they have cut up fruit & veggies and a Vegemite sandwich!

I'm so stressed out by this all. I know it will be worth it, but it will be weeks of hell. DH is going to help me make dinner each night for the next night, as so often I'm out all day with specialists etc.

I'm trying to find a dietician who has experience in this type of diet, and paed's in general to make sure they kids and still getting enough protein etc, and to help me do the food challenges with them, as the ones my dr will be getting me to do are a bit different. I have a few names from the dieticians association, so I will call them and explain the situation and see who can help me. I'm just so worried the kids will flat out refuse to eat and go to bed hungry most nights, especially DS as any big changes he doesn't cope well with.... and I hate stressful meal times.

Any advice or commiserations most welcome!

I can't help darl, but a friend recommended Shepherd Works to me, they are in several locations, they may be able to help with this particular diet.
Xxx

It's hard work!
I found after a number of failed experiments, that the easiest way to get through is to go very simple and repetitive. Meat, 3 veg. Meat, 3 veg. Being able to have gluten should make things a bit easier - we had to cut that out as well.

Our staples include things like pikelets, scrambled eggs, crumbed chicken pieces, rissoles and rice, potatoes and "bread" rolls.

My son has become much less fussy now! He's hungry so he just eats out of desperation and has now largely gotten out of the habit of complaining about the meal and refusing to eat. :lol: I was also very worried to begin with that he'd starve.