Wheat and dairy free?

My youngest son (from Seattle) has recently been found to be allergic to both wheat and dairy. For backpacking, I think we can manage the wheat, but the dairy is a big concern, especially for breakfast. (With freezer bag meals, dinner isn't so much of an issue.) No dried milk (he drinks almond milk, which doesn't come dried), no cheese, no cocoa (he doesn't drink coffee or tea). Instant cooked or raw cereals are non-starters with no milk. I'm also not about to get into heavy camp cooking with separate meals for one of the party, especially for breakfast and lunch).

Any ideas? Please?

Both almond and coconut milk come in powdered form.http://www.almondmilkhq.com/powdered-almond-milk/ We have instant oatmeal for breakfast that requires 1/4 cup hot water. Simple, tasty, and nutritious. Egg beaters? Freeze dried eggs? Some are as good a scrambled egg as you can get. Packit Gourmet has some great breakfast selections. Goat cheese?

That's interesting--I have done several searches for dried almond milk, the last about a year ago, and found only some very dubious Asian sources (the same ones that were putting melamine in dog food). I'm glad there are now, finally, some decent sources! Thank you for the site!

Powdered eggs are definitely a no-no. We do have to consider the cook, here. Even the thought of powdered eggs makes me queasy! (I don't eat fresh eggs, either.) Besides, the limit of my camp cooking in recent years is boiling water. However, with the dried almond milk available, that solves his breakfast problem--he finds plenty of varieties of gluten free granola.

So far I haven't found instant oatmeal that doesn't say on the label that it has been in contact with wheat. I could probably run some raw gluten-free oatmeal through a food processor, though, which would have the same effect.

I don't know if he has tried goat milk or cheese. Since one of the side benefits of his going non-dairy was that he stopped snoring(!), his wife is obviously not encouraging his making any trials of other forms of milk.

Hah! A snoring cure is not to be held lightly. I wish I could figure one for my wife. Oh well, she's a great hiking companion otherwise.

Bob's Red mill sells gluten free instant oatmeal:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-quick-cooking-oats.html

I find it in the stores here but I live in the communist republic of California. I also found this at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Glutenfreedas-Instant-Oatmeal-Variety-6-Count/dp/B002AUF0Q2

Now that you have a source for powdered Almond milk there are plenty of hot cocoa powder recipes that would only require substituting powdered almond milk for the powdered milk:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-cocoa-recipe.html

I haven't seen any Bob's instant gluten free oatmeal in my local stores, although Bob's Red Mill is a local outfit and the local markets carry lots of their products. It's easier to use the food processor (cuts the oats smaller so it cooks faster) than to drive 30 miles round trip to Bob's retail store or the nearest natural foods store just for instant oatmeal!

I really think I'm going to let my son get the special stuff (including the dried almond milk) and mix his own breakfasts and lunches. He lives close to several Seattle area natural foods markets (PCC and Central Market).

OM, my sons are also on a GFCF (gluten free / casein free) diet. You probably already know this, but for the benefit of everyone else reading, I'll say it anyway. Most people who can't eat wheat really can't eat the gluten it contains. Gluten is also in some other grains, including most, but not all packages of oats. Make sure you buy the ones that specifically say "gluten free" somewhere on the package. We've also found Bobs Red Mills to be a good brand, but not all oat they sell is GF, so you really have to pay attention.

My wife is great at finding stuff they can eat. I'll ask her and see if she has any ideas and specific brands for you. I know for example, there's another brand of instant oatmeal we've used which is flavored and comes in individual serving packets with a convenient water fill level line on it. We've also bought dairy free cocoa mix, Now Foods brand IIRC? I'll ask her. Also, you can usually find rice noodles in the grocery international isle. They're a great alternative to wheat based noodles, and the thin ones cook very quickly.

If there aren't any health food stores near you, you might consider ordering online. Amazon usually has very reasonable shipping rates if you shop around a bit. Good luck.

If you are doing short trips, why not just have him take non-dried food? The gal I hike with has gone to no-cook meals and makes her own bread and trail bars (gluten free, dairy free, vegan). She also takes fresh vegetables and avocado. Her pack is a bit heavier, but not that much for a 3-day trip. I cook for myself using lighter dry food and she does her non-dry food thing. I do not see why your son could not simply do his own meals. He probably can easily carry more weight.

No one seems to have mentioned soy milk. Better Than Milk vanilla soy milk powder actually tastes good made up as a beverage or in cereals. Check out vegan recipes on-line. I think there are recipes for concoctions of nutritional yeast and ground cashews to make cheese sauce substitutes. Hope this helps.

CamperMom

He won't touch soy; I have no idea why. Maybe because almost all soybeans are GMO. If I didn't mention that in my OP, my apologies!

You beat me to it, OM, but I was going to mention that most soy is GMO. I try to limit my soy intake as well.