Courtney, over at Courtney’s Sweets, is an acquaintance of ours. We know her primarily through blogger networks, but had the opportunity to meet her, her husband, and her sweet baby girl when we went up to New York for an event last September.
What I did not know at the time is that Courtney’s daughter suffers from a condition called Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome, or FPIES. In essence, FPIES is an allergy of sorts. Most of manifestations are internal, resulting in digestive problems and all of the weight, hydration and other problems that accompany digestive problems in young children. You can find out more by viewing Courtney’s post, What is FPIES|FPIES Explained.
The most significant problem is that any food could trigger the reaction. You have to carefully test individual foods to see whether or not the child can tolerate them. Courtney’s baby girl has a list of safe foods and ingredients as well as a list of trigger foods that you can find here. Most children with FPIES outgrow it by the time they are 3 years old, but that is little consolation to the parents who are trying to figure out what they can and cannot feed their children.
Courtney put out a call a couple of months ago asking some of her blogger friends to help call attention to this affliction by putting together recipes that she could feed her child, but that others could enjoy as well. Seeing that oats was on the trigger list, I knew that I wanted to do something safe that could approximate the filling and flexible nature of oatmeal. I settled on a tasty Cous Cous Banana Pudding that can double as a great breakfast item for a toddler. Here’s what I came up with.
- 1-15 oz. can coconut milk
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup white sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1-8.8 oz package Israeli (or pearled) couscous
- 2 bananas, sliced
- ½ cup toasted coconut
- Combine first 4 ingredients into a saucpan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring often. Be careful not to scorch the milk.
- Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Layer prepared couscous with sliced bananas. Serve topped with toasted coconut.
- Enjoy!
Do you know anyone affected by FPIES? What are their triggers and how do you adjust meals to avoid them? Leave a comment and share your story.
This sounds so good and looks absolutely delicious! FPIES is a pain, but if you can eat stuff like this it’s not so bad 🙂 She’s a huge fan of bananas too! Thank you so much for making this for my Sweet Baby, Brian!! Hope you and the family are doing well and hope we see you guys again soon!
I don’t know what cous cous is but I bet that’s some yummy noms for baby. Wish I was able to test it out but mine is too big for that xD Makes me sad.
You are completely able to try this. I think Beth and I enjoyed it more than the kids did!
I don’t think I thought of cous cous in a dessert before. Bananas and coconuts is a nice combination.
We eat cous cous a lot here – but never as something SWEET. What a neat idea!
YUM! I love anything with coconut! 🙂
How interesting! So glad you found a great alternative so baby can enjoy. 🙂
I’m sorry, but you need to do your homework about white sugar….that is THE WORST thing you could feed a child, let alone any other human being for that matter. Please do your homework….you are dangerously dealing with a precious childs life.
I’m sorry that you feel this way. The jury is still out on just how dangerous white sugar is. Many studies suggest that white sugar is no more dangerous than any other form of sugar. The reality is that any food is dangerous if not enjoyed in moderation and there are much worse, and life-threatening, things that you could feed a child with FPIES than white sugar.
In this recipe, I use a mere 1/4 cup of white sugar for a dish that could easily serve 4 (that’s 1/16 cup per serving). In return, Sweet Baby gets other wholesome ingredients that might be dangerous for her when prepared with other foods.
If the sugar really is a problem, this dish could easily be prepared with more natural sugars like coconut sugar or honey, with sugar substitutes, or even without sugar altogether.
Thank you for continuing the conversation and allowing the opportunity for others to see how this recipe and just about any other recipe, for that matter, can be amended to account for individual tastes, beliefs, and food philosophies.
Hmm interesting but the pictures look so yummy. I love foods that while they don’t sound like they’d go together they end up creating something delish. And thank you for making me aware of FPIES.
We absolutely love couscous! I have never tried it with anything sweet and I think this will be a great hit! Can’t wait to try it.
I would never have thought to put cous cous in a sweet pudding but I bet it’s a bit like tapioca. Yum!
Very similar to tapioca!
This looks so good! I never would have thought of using cous cous.
Creative recipe. Thanks for spreading FPIES awareness!
Wow, very interesting. I would have never thought of cous cous in that kind of recipe. May have to give this one a try. thank you for sharing
I would never have thought to use couscous in a dessert. Reminds me of tapioca pearls.
I love the combo! It is unique and flavorful!
I know Courtney through blogging and this recipe looks fantastic! What a great idea to use cous cous in place of oats!
I think this would be great! I love texture, and like a previous commenter said, it reminds me of tapioca! I’ll have to definitely try this… With white sugar. 😉
My son has Celiac disease which is challenging for him. I hadn’t heard of fpies but it sounds like a tough challenge, particularly for a child. the recipe sounds yummy!
What a creative recipe for babies! I didn’t make anything quite this creative but I really enjoyed making all our foods.
I loved the chance to do this. The challenge of coming up with something outside of my norm is a big part of what I like about cooking.
Great ideas! Reaching out to bloggers for recipes, and this recipe are both great ideas! I love the cous cous pudding!
Skip the baby, this looks good for ME~
Oh, it was so good! I’m not a big on oversweet desserts. This had that great tropical kind of sweetness. Really nice!
I dunno about baby, I want some!
I have never thought of making couscous into a dessert!
Wow, looks very yummy , maybe i will try it on weekend.
This recipe looks really good. I want to make it and see how it taste.
Wow – here’s something really different! I have some couscous, and haven’t figured out what to make with it – a dessert never came to mind. But I also have coconut milk, and I want to pick up bananas and make this asap!!! It looks sooo good!
I’ve Never Tried Cous Cous Before, But After Seeing This Recipe I Can’t Wait To Try It! Looks Delicious!
I was not familiar with FPIES . I sounds like a real struggle. The recipe looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. Would love to try it.
What a great recipe you came up with, I complain that I can never come up with a meal at least I don’t have to worry about trigger foods.
This looks like a fantastic treat for all ages!
I would never ever thought of using Cous Cous in banana pudding so this is interesting. Thats a sign of a good cook- willing to try something different and substituting (and having it turn out edible!) It looks delicious.
I want to lick my screen right now. That looks so yummy!