FoodAllergyMama.com

Thank you….

January 28, 2012 2:02 pm

Filed under Stories

It’s been a few weeks since my last post, but I promise that my limited blogging right now will reap bigger rewards down the road as I’m busy,busy, busy creating a TON of new and amazing dairy, egg and nut free recipes for YOU. My next book is one you’ve been asking for, fast and easy family meals (and of course a bunch of new treats as well). As I put together all my favorite recipes and tips, I’d love to know what YOU want. What kinds of recipes are you looking for? What kinds of tips do you need? What is important to YOU?

Your feedback always has been, and always will be very important to me. I started this journey of blogging and cookbook writing because of food allergy kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and teachers everywhere. My usefulness to you is my number one priority. I love doing what I do, and there are few things that give me more satisfaction than serving you and your families with new meals that everyone enjoys and shares together. I’m always inspired by your stories, trials and tribulations. And I love that everyone who visits my blog feels the same inspiration and love that I do. This is an incredible community we are a part of, and I’m so grateful to all of you for your endless support, feedback and love. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So thank you for your patience while I get through it all these next few weeks, and in the meantime, feel free to post your comments and wish list for new recipes. Thank you SO MUCH!!!! xoxoxo

Another child lost to food allergy….

January 4, 2012 8:05 pm

Filed under Newsworthy stories, Stories

Ammaria Johnson, an elementary school student in Chesterfield County, VA died Monday at school after suffering a fatal allergic reaction at school. She was only seven years old. Ammaria’s death shook the food allergy community to its core. How could this have happened? What precautions were taken at her school? What emergency directives were followed, or not followed? Read the latest story here. However, not enough information is available yet about what exactly happened. What we do know is that this little girl, who had a peanut allergy, ingested a peanut product and suffered a severe allergic reaction. There isn’t enough information about exactly what happened after that, but allegedly the school didn’t give medication to counter the attack, the school apparently called the mother first instead of 911, the school allegedly denied the mother’s request to keep Ammaria’s EpiPen at school in the event of an emergency, and after what seemed to be a series of missteps, the girl died shortly after at CJW Medical Center. I’ll say it again, there isn’t enough information available about this tragedy, but one thing we know for sure is, Ammaria’s death, like most food allergy deaths, was preventable.

The journalist in me won’t make assumptions until all the facts are out. But I will say that if the school did, in fact decline the mother’s request to keep an EpiPen at school for emergencies, they will be held responsible for negligence and not having an appropriate policy in place for children with severe food allergies. I read the fine print of their “policy” but if a clinical aid refuses the only medication that could save a food allergic child’s life, than all the rest of their policy is crap and BS. The right meds for these kids need to be in the right places at all times. No exceptions.

Which brings me to my son’s school and where they keep EpiPens, medications for children with food allergies. We are fortunate to have a school nurse. She has a big cabinet filled with resealable plastic bags of medications for children with food allergies. The nurse is located down the hallway from the cafeteria. In the event of an emergency in the lunchroom, it would seem there would be enough time to get a child down to the nurse, go through the packs of medications to find his/her specific bag of medication, administer one EpiPen for 10 seconds, maybe two if the first one doesn’t work, call 911 and pray the child responds to the corrective action.

However, I never felt comfortable with this process, because it is assuming everything will go exactly as planned, and that the child’s allergy will be recognized quickly enough to escort the child down to the nurse. I’ve always requested that a second EpiPen package be stored in cafeteria with the lunch monitors who handle the payment/check in. That person is trained on the EpiPen, and the monitors know what to look for in the event of a reaction. This emergency protocol is labeled in John’s 504 Plan. Today, as I was picking up John for his allergist appointment, I asked the office to double check to make sure John’s EpiPens were still stored in the lunchroom. The office confirmed that it was, and out of curiosity I asked if there were any other medicine kits stored in the lunchroom. The nice lady smiled, and responded…”No. Just John’s.”

The proposed School Access to Emergency Act “would enable schools to maintain a supply of epinephrine and enable staff to administer an Epipen to a student having an anaphylactic reaction.” Please read this article for more information about why it is important for you to contact your local congressman or woman for support. In my opinion, every LUNCHROOM should be equipped with EpiPens in the event of a food allergy emergency. There are a number of factors that could affect the child getting the right rescue medication at the right time. We encourage our children to always have their medicine kits on them 24/7, so why wouldn’t we have them available in the lunchrooms, where there is the most risk to these kids? Something to consider when drafting your child’s 504 Plan.

After seven hive reactions in two weeks, I took John to his allergist today to determine why. No new allergies were detected. John’s allergist said recurrent break out of hives is actually common in kids with food allergies when they are exposed to certain viral infections. As long as there isn’t any other respiratory or oral symptoms, it should be fine to treat John with daily antihistamines until the virus has worked itself out. It was interesting to note that John’s skin test and blood result for peanuts is still greater than 100 (KU/L), class 6 (highest class possible), combine that with John’s asthma and, according to John’s doctor an anaphylactic reaction could occur within 1-3 minutes. 1-3 minutes….is all it would take for my son to die if he didn’t have his EpiPens on him. Another variable is possibly how much peanut product would be ingested….the more ingested, the faster the reaction. As we all know, peanut traces could be in breads, cookies, snacks, etc. THIS is the reality parents of children with food allergies have to live with every day when we send our kids out the door. I used to think when John was in preschool that it would get easier when he got older. But I am finding that it is much, much harder. At the end of the day, John desperately wants to be a normal kid, who hangs out, plays sports and goes to 7- 11 with his friends to buy Gatorade. I get it, and I’m letting go as much as possible. But after hearing of another food allergy death…it just makes it all so hard to deal with.

Children are a great gift to us all. As parents we love them more than our own lives, and would gladly give ours to save theirs. We’re fiercely protective of them, and that will never go away. Keep fighting the fight, there’s much more work to be done in awareness, advocacy and prevention. Don’t take no for answer, ever, and believe that your child’s rights at school are just as important as any other child. Believe that homeschooling doesn’t need to be the answer, that your child can adjust happily and even thrive in any environment. And most importantly, believe in the power of YOUR voice, and empower your child to feel the same.

In the meantime, my prayers will always be with Ammaria’s family and loved ones, and hope that we can all help to prevent another child’s death from food. Here’s a great list from FAAN about the Anaphylaxis Do’s and Don’ts. Please read and share.

xo

Can you ever know for sure…

December 22, 2011 2:40 pm

Filed under Stories

…that you’ve made the right decision in an emergency situation? How do we ever know whether our children’s food allergic reactions will develop into something that is life-threatening and tragic? It’s certainly a risk we face EVERY SINGLE TIME our kids or someone we love experiences an allergic reaction to something they ate, touched or breathed in. In the nine years I’ve been dealing with my son John’s food allergies, I am always humbled by how quickly life or death decisions must be made, and what factors must be considered when making them.

The past few weeks have been very unsettling in our house because John has had more reactions lately than I care to count. We’ve had more than one “sensitive” discussion about how his allergies are upsetting to him, and overall it’s just been a rocky road. Everything was cool and stable for so long, and now it feels as if the universe is shouting out to me to pay close attention, and that vigilance is a must in every single situation when it comes to our food allergic kids.

Yesterday morning John broke out in hives after breakfast. As I rushed to give him Benadryl, I drilled John about what he ate, and if he ate anything different. For the record we are pretty much allergy free in our house, so it confused me as to what would have caused the hives all over his face. John admitted he gave his brother a Gerber Banana Cookie, which is seemingly safe, but a closer look at the label (which oddly doesn’t follow the Food Allergy Labeling and Packaging Act by not listing CONTAINS: allergen, etc.) showed it contained buttermilk powder. The cookie was baked withe buttermilk powder, not coated in it. John simply grabbed three out of the box, and gave it to his brother because he had asked for a snack while I was upstairs. When John came upstairs and told me he was itchy, I panicked when I saw his face…two doses of Benadryl quickly resolved the hives, and I felt assured no further intervention was needed.

Then last night before my son when to bed, he had about four hives on his face and said his face was itchy. Again I gave him Benadryl because he had no other symptoms (such as wheezing, coughing, etc). There was nothing John ate that he didn’t have before. Fast forward to this morning, and once again, after breakfast John came to my room itching his arms and face and his face looked like this:

I immediately gave him the same two doses of Benadryl that worked on his reaction yesterday, and called his doctor’s emergency number, all the while watching John like a hawk. He stayed right next to me the whole time, as I held his epipen in one hand, phone in the other. I looked closely for every other sign possible and asked John a million questions such as Did his throat hurt? (No) Do your lips or tongue feel funny? (No) Does your chest hurt? (No) Do you feel dizzy? (No) Does your stomach hurt? (No) John’s hives were mainly on his face, parts of his back, his arms and one part on his leg…what many consider a full body hive reaction. Many people feel that these symptoms alone is enough to give the epipen but I hesitated to give the epi for one reason: my doctor on the phone said that they recommend giving the epi when the patient presents the vomiting/breathing/mouth symptoms, and that as long as he wasn’t in distress and the hives were lessening, that the Benadryl would counter the reaction. Of course, John’s symptoms could worsen at any minute, in which case I would have given the epi and called 911, no exceptions. But with a house full of young kids, no husband around and his highly respected allergists telling me the Benadryl was an “appropriate” course of action at that very moment, I decided, yes, the Benadryl was good enough for now, and as I saw his hives literally fade away, I was comforted.

However, in a lengthy discussion with the allergists’ office, I wanted more answers about what was going on with John, and can I expect to see another reaction soon, perhaps an even worse one? Apparently these types of reactions can occur intermittently for up to a week after the initial one, and there is truly no way to know if the reaction will present itself as hives or something like anaphylaxis. John’s course of action was to take a Zyrtec and Benadryl once a day until this passes out of his system, then I’ll need to bring John back in to determine if the reaction was caused by either touching the baked milk cookie, or possibly an emerging soy allergy. We’ll do a full testing on John again to rule out soy. If not, then we can assume the reaction was caused by touching that cookie. It’s another argument for the logic behind food free classrooms (or only allowing fruits and veggies as snack choices). Because if anyone believes that you can’t suffer major reactions by just touching a food you’re allergic to, simply take another look at the photo above.

Finally, I asked the doctor if I made the right choice, because I was still doubting that I did. I was assured, yes, given the set of circumstances, and John’s list of symptoms, that I made the best choice at the time. I then asked “But why? Why did this happen? Why now? How did it happen, and how do I know it won’t happen again and be THE big reaction that puts John’s life at risk?” I was told “You don’t know. None of us know. We don’t know if your son’s reaction was stemming from yesterday’s or if he has a new allergy, and if he DOES have a new allergy, why now? No one knows”.

No one knows. Ever. As a mother I always want to make the best decisions and am fiercely protective of my children, as are all of you. But what never ceases to amaze me in the world of food allergies…is how LITTLE we still know. How mysterious this disease is, how different each reaction is, and why some are highly allergic to one thing, and some outgrow others. I’m always asking why, but still feel like I don’t have any more answers than nine years ago when we first started on this journey. At which point are we going to know more? At which point can food allergies be eradicated? I know we are headed down the right road with new therapies, treatments, laws, etc. But on days like today, I’m painfully aware of how little we DO know. And how so much of this is still out of our control.

During this holiday season, I wish you all Happy Holidays and to BE SAFE. xoxo

Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Dinner Biscuits

December 21, 2011 2:54 pm

Filed under Recipes

Happy Holidays everyone! A Facebook friend of mine requested I post the recipe for my Dinner Biscuits, and thought of course…it is the PERFECT biscuit to serve alongside your Christmas or New Years Dinner. I always make a ham for Christmas dinner, and these biscuits are so delicious with it. It literally takes minutes to mix everything together and pop into the oven to bake just as your guests are arriving. Plan ahead and have everything pre-measured and ready to go. Mix in only as much soy or rice milk as needed. You don’t want the dough too sticky.

I especially love serving these tender biscuits for breakfast with a little dairy free margarine and honey.

DAIRY, EGG AND NUT FREE DINNER BISCUITS

Yield: 8 biscuits

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (alternatively use 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. all-purpose flour)

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. or 1 c. soy or rice milk

2 T. dairy free margarine, melted for brushing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt with a wire whisk. Add the soy or rice milk slowly, stirring with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together and isn’t too sticky. Turn onto a light floured surface and knead 12-15 times, until the dough is soft and smooth.

Pat the dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to make 8 rounds, rerolling as necessary.

Brush the surface of each biscuit with melted dairy-free margarine, and bake for 15-20 minutes. or until very light golden brown.

Baking with Martha Stewart ;)

December 15, 2011 9:41 pm

Filed under Newsworthy stories

I’m so excited to tell y’all that I’ll be on The Martha Stewart Show, December 16th at 9 am CST/10 am EST on The Hallmark Channel. We’ll be talking about baking allergen-friendly recipes for the holidays, and I’ll show Martha my favorite holiday treat; dairy, egg and nut free molasses cookies. (If you need a wheat free/gluten-free version simply swap the wheat with your favorite gluten-free flour blend). Martha has really embraced learning more about the world of food allergies, and is one of the only cooking experts to even tackle this issue in a mainstream forum. My dear friends Cybele Pascal (author of Allergen-Free Bakers Handbook & Whole Foods Cookbook) and Lori Sandler (owner of Divvies Bakery and The Divvies Bakery Cookbook) were the first fabulous food allergy mamas who appeared on Martha’s show the past few years, and really paved the way to getting the word out on delicious and easy allergen friendly recipes for our families. Because of their hard work and advocacy, more people are talking about our world, embracing our challenges and now baking wonderful allergen free treats that everyone enjoys. But another HUGE food allergy advocate that you may not know about is one of Martha’s senior producers, who is the leading force behind getting our story told. She lives as a food allergy mama like the rest of us, and has been a silent advocate in getting a big name show like The Martha Stewart Show to cover food allergies and recipes. It really is because of her tireless work on behalf of all of us that these stories are told. A big, huge, enormous virtual thank YOU…you are one of the unsung hero’s of food allergy awareness.

The clip will most likely be on Martha’s website tomorrow, and it would be fantastic if you all could show your support of these types of segments by posting a comment to the video clip. I know that if Martha’s staff could see how much these types of stories mean to us, and that there is a huge demographic of viewers that want more allergen aware segments, they would possibly be open to even more of them in the future. The more mainstream food allergy coverage is, the better for all of us. When we get people talking about it, we bring awareness. And awareness brings compassion and diligence.

I’m so proud to be a part of such an amazing and support community of parents who are so passionate about food allergy awareness. Simply read my previous post, and all those incredible comments from so many of you, and you can literally feel the positive and warm energy. Your comments brought tears to my eyes, time after time. I’m beyond grateful to have you all to connect with. There are so many advocates, too many to name here, but who are always working behind the scenes and in front of the scenes to get the right information out there. I thank my lucky stars for you every day.

One more thing, my all time favorite site in the world for food allergy info, FAAN is posting another one of my holiday recipes on their blog FAANnotes. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Baking everyone and a VERY VERY Happy Holiday Season to you and your families!

xoxox

Food allergies suck…

December 7, 2011 9:15 pm

Filed under Stories

OK, not the most eloquent of titles but it’s the only thing that truly resonates with how I feel tonight. Most days are just fine, and I am content with the hand that has been dealt my FA son, knowing that we will persevere through the murky waters of food allergies by being diligent and raising awareness, along with maintaining a “can-do” attitude at school, parties, play dates and any other type of outing. But there are days where as a mom, I wish this would all go away and we could just find a cure. Days like today.

After school I offered my son John a brand of vegan pudding we’ve had in the past, and that I knew was safe for him to eat because I painstakingly read the label numerous times, except for today it seemed. This packaging look nearly identical but it was a slight variation made with soy milk. As many of us already know, some soy milk-type products often have milk or legume proteins hidden in the ingredient list. John noticed right away that it was slightly different packaging and asked if it was OK (because our FA kids are REALLY good at NOT trusting labels). I looked at the label, and it looked OK..still not putting two and two together that it was slightly different. I told John it was fine to eat, and since he trusts his mother to give him good information, he opened it up and took a bite. Reaction. Albeit it was minor (itchy lips and small hives), it was still an immediate reaction. Once we countered the reaction with medicine, and saw that John was OK, and the itching was only on the outside of his mouth and not inside, I went to the fridge to double-check the packaging. Sure enough, after looking at every little ingredient…there it was; Locust Bean Gum from the Legume Family. Thank God John didn’t start wolfing this stuff down, and took a careful bite to check first (again, FA kids are REALLY good at NOT trusting labels). My heart sank. I failed my son. He trusts me to make good decisions and to keep him safe at all times, and I didn’t. I’ve written many times in this blog that “mistakes can and do happen, even in the best of circumstances”.  This mistake happened on my watch, and if I’m vulnerable, so are schools, restaurants, etc. Wait, I take that back…they’re about a thousand times more vulnerable because they aren’t as lovingly and personally invested into our children’s health as we are. We’re moms, and will fight to protect our kids under any circumstance. Yet, we’re not perfect and slip ups happen even when we think we’ve got it all covered. Good to remember when we are trying to keep excess food out of our children’s classrooms….

Speaking of excess food, after this particular reaction my son left to go to basketball practice. Almost as soon as he walked in the front door upon returning, John broke into massive tears and sobbing. I gotta be honest, I haven’t seen him cry like this in a really long time. In fact it is rare John cries at all because he hates any excess attention on him. He’s always the kid who’s cool as a cucumber. So I knew something really bad must have happened at practice to shake him up. It was hard for him to talk about, but once he calmed down a bit he told me was embarrassed about his allergies, and for feeling different. I calmly pressed for more information, all the while fighting back my own tears, and he said that his coach offered his teammates a pizza party if they scored a certain number of points at their next game. John’s friend, who is very sweet and I know always looking out for him, told the coach John was allergic to pizza and couldn’t have it. John was mortified because he hates feeling different as well as if he were somehow preventing his friends from having pizza. He remained silent about his allergy and didn’t want to talk about it. The coach was concerned, and apparently unaware of John’s life-threatening allergies (this is a travel league, and usually all that information is relayed via paperwork and registration, so I guess I assumed wrongly his coach had this information). He said to the boys, “no problem, how about Jimmy John’s or Subway?” By this time, John said he just wanted everyone to stop looking at him, and to just have a pizza party. In that moment, I imagined John wanted to crawl up and go hide somewhere, because once again, all that attention on him made him feel different, and not like a normal 4th grade boy who just likes to hang out with friends and play sports. He goes great lengths to avoid looking different, and now that we’re approaching middle school, it’s only getting worse.

John’s emotions when he came home were raw, unlike anything I’ve ever seen come out of him. He’s growing up, and very aware of his limitations. He hates it, and at times, wishes his allergies would just go away. He wishes he would outgrow them, and he wishes for a cure. He doesn’t want his friends to miss out on things like a pizza party, because of him. He wants to blend in, and not have kids, coaches and teachers make accommodations for him. Once the tears stopped tonight, this is what John told me, straight from his heart.

My heart is heavy for John, and all the FA kids like him. Especially on nights like tonight. Everyone means well, everyone is trying their best, but sometimes, the reality is still that this is a very real disease that could cause death within MINUTES if not treated, or if an epi pen was left at home because “someone” didn’t want to feel different. That “someone” is John….and I fear he will continue to want to ignore his medical condition at the risk of trying to blend in. All I could do tonight was give my son my love, my hugs and my full attention to what his heart was saying. Before kissing him goodnight though, I reminded him that although I know how hard it must be to have a body that different from some other kids, he’s not alone. There are millions of kids out there just like him, feeling just like him, and want to be included in LIFE….just like him. He’s special, and that’s OK too. At the end of the day, we’re all different with unique challenges. Some kids have diabetes, some kids have learning disabilities, some kids have medical disabilities. But we’re all the same in that we just want to be loved, heard and accepted. And I guess that’s all that John and our other children, hell, even us, really need.

“The mere sense of living is joy enough”….

November 1, 2011 8:36 pm

Filed under Stories

This is one of my favorite quotes from American poet Emily Dickinson. In the past month as I’ve shuffled endless carpools, write, cook, bake, clean, try to sell my house, etc. etc. etc. I’ve had to pause each and every day to remember the joy in all the little stuff I do every day. Yes, I have my share of crappy days like everyone else, but lately I’ve come to realize that it isn’t necessarily the issue at hand that matters, but rather how I choose to react to it, that matters.

For example, in previous years, Halloween really used to freak me out, and not just in the literal sense (I don’t like mock graveyard scenes, zombies and scary movies…I’m a wuss). I used to hate having to think so far ahead about how I was going to handle the school Halloween party, or how I was going to handle trick or treating. This year, the tone was totally different. For starters, my son’s class party was food free, which was fantastic and eliminated all that planning and stress. The kids DID NOT care, believe me. I was in the classroom helping out and they were having so much fun playing games, etc. that they could have cared less if someone brought in a neon orange-tinted cupcake. Second, my 4th grade FA son wanted to go trick or treating without me, and out with his friends. Now, our community is very much like Mayberry, and everyone looks out for everyone’s kids. My son was going with trusted friends, and he took his medicine kit and my cell phone with him. He knew the rule was that he was to eat ZERO, ZILCH, NADA candy while en route, and had to wait until he got home to eat any of the three types of FA safe candy he got. John’s friends knew the drill, and were so aware and thoughtful of John and how to keep him safe. They truly cared about his well-being and were serious about following my rules. I told John, that I am letting go a little to allow him to make his own choices, and that I trusted him to follow the same rules we’ve always had. Then with the blink of an eye, my freckle-faced boy bolted out the door, with pillowcase in hand. He was LIVING…just like any other kid. And though I worried until the second he ran back in through the door, I was grateful he had his moment to let go and have fun. He never takes anything for granted, and I could tell he enjoyed spreading his wings a bit.

As John enters middle school next year, he is inching toward the age group of FA kids who are most likely to die from a food allergic reaction. Last year FAAN released a survey of food allergy patients ages 13-21 years old. Half the respondents admitted to knowingly eating food that they were allergic to, or that they knew was unsafe for them. Only 61 percent of the patients carried their life-saving medication epinephrine. And the majority of the respondents said although they wished their peers knew more about food allergies, they didn’t want to be the ones to educate them. FAAN conducted an earlier study that showed 69 percent of fatal food allergic reactions, were between the ages of 12-21. It is an extremely vulnerable group, and as my FA son grows up, I am realizing how important it is to be forthcoming with all this information to my son, so he can advocate for himself, especially as he increasingly finds himself in social and sports situations where I’m not always around.

I’ll try not to focus so much on the statistics. Instead, perhaps I’ll follow Emily D.’s lead and just live for today, because at the end of the day, time is sacred and shouldn’t be wasted for one minute worrying about things and situations we can’t control. Prepare, plan, but then let go and live freely, right?

One more thing, I just learned today that my Food Allergy Mama blog was nominated as a Circle of Moms top 25 Food Allergy Blog, a true honor and am so excited to be in the running. Please go here to vote, and you can vote every day until November 16th. I am so grateful for all you guys, you really are the most amazing and supportive group of readers I could ever hope for. I’ve learned so much from all of YOU over the years, and hope that I can continue to inspire and create recipes for your families for years to come. Seriously love you all and your comments…;)

Happy Baking…and will be back soon for a Thanksgiving recipe!!!

xo,

Kelly

Allergy Friendly Chicken and Rice

September 30, 2011 12:53 pm

Filed under Recipes

October is practically here and it feels like fall in Chicago. Fall in the Midwest is breath-taking; the colors on the trees are gorgeous and the chill in the air always makes me want to hole up in my cozy home. The reality is, though, two of my kids play travel soccer, two other kids play park district soccer, two kids take piano lessons, one takes guitar lessons, one is trying out for travel basketball, one is in yearbook club, two others are in chess club, and baby Michael’s lack of speaking means I have to add weekly speech therapy as well. Nevermind my own schedule. But I am still adamant about making a home cooked meal for breakfast and dinner most days of the week.

In order to do that, I have to plan ahead and choose meals that aren’t fussy. I love slow roasting, slow cooking and braising for easy home-cooked deliciousness. This Chicken and Rice dish screams comfort food…but it is incredibly easy and requires very little labor time at all. I love to saute the veggies when the kids get home from school (5 minutes) and then let the oven do the rest of the work. Feel free to use whatever veggies you want in the saute mixture…butternut squash, carrots, celery and zucchini are my favorites. I also use whatever rice I have on hand, Basmati, Brown, etc. This dish also makes an excellent leftover meal the next night.

ALLERGY FRIENDLY CHICKEN AND RICE

1 3-4 lb. package chicken, cut up into legs, quarters, breast, etc.

1 T. olive oil

1 T. dairy free margarine

3 peeled carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 small butternut squash, diced

1 large garlic clove. minced

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 tsp. celery seed

1 3/4 c. rice (I like basmati or brown)

1 1/2 c. organic chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil and dairy free margarine until hot. Add vegetables and garlic, and season generously with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes and stir in dried thyme and celery seed. Stir in rice and lightly toast for 1-2 minutes. Turn off burner and place chicken pieces on top of rice and vegetables. Place dutch oven uncovered in oven and bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and add chicken broth. Put cover on top of chicken and bake 40-45 additional minutes or until chicken is done.

Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Oatmeal Creme Pies

September 5, 2011 7:07 pm

Filed under Recipes

As a kid, most of my favorite treats came from Little Debbie. Nutty Bars, Swiss Rolls, Honey Buns and my all-time favorite, the Oatmeal Creme Pie, made its way inside my orange Charlie Brown lunchbox most days of the week. My mom believed in having something sweet every day (God bless her), yet she was also a working mom of five kids and didn’t have the time to slave away in the kitchen baking. So, thanks to the explosion of sweet, processed, convenience treats in the 70′s and 80′s, Little Debbie successfully fulfilled my sweet tooth.

Over the years, I replaced my commercially processed sugar buzz with the homemade kind. But I never forgot how much I loved those treats. In fact, when I was suffering severe morning sickness (OK, when haven’t I had it?:) with my third son Matthew, eating three Oatmeal Creme Pies every day saved me from passing out. One for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner. No joke. I felt comforted and blissfully happy in those seven seconds it took to eat the cookie.

Recently at the grocery store, I passed by Little Debbie and suddenly realized that John HAS to know what an amazing little treat the Oatmeal Creme Pie is. But since I am a harsh critic of anything that resembles a “poser”, I hesitated to try to a similar version that was Dairy, Egg and Nut Free. But I got over it, and figured I’d keep trying until it was perfect.

This version is perfect, in fact, I can honestly say I love it even more than the Little Debbie version, and that is saying a lot. I don’t like to knock Little Debbie, ever. She’s a childhood friend.

Have fun making this with your kids and please be sure to wrap each individual pie in a little bit of saran wrap to keep it fresh. Put the pies in your kiddos’ lunchbox and start making your own “Little Debbie” memories.

DAIRY, EGG AND NUT FREE OATMEAL CREME PIES

FOR THE COOKIES:

1 1/2 sticks dairy free margarine

1 3/4 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. good quality vanilla extract

2 T. water

2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 c. quick-cooking oats

FOR THE CREME FILLING:

4 c. confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 1/2 T. good quality vanilla extract

5 T. soy or rice milk

1/2 c. dairy free shortening

Make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dairy free margarine, brown sugar, applesauce, vanilla and water until mixed well. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Add to the margarine mixture and mix well. Stir in the oats with a rubber spatula.

Use mini cookie scooper to divide dough evenly onto parchment paper. Bake 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly on parchment sheets.

While cookies are baking, make the filling:

Combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well using a rubber spatula.

When the cookies are cooled, spread a generous amount (I love the creme part to seep through the edges for the ultimate flavor) on the flat side of one cookie, then top with another similar sized cookie. Wrap each “pie” in saran wrap to keep fresh.

A happy and proud food allergy mama…

August 29, 2011 1:57 pm

Filed under Newsworthy stories

My food allergic son John will turn nine Wednesday. I know we all cherish our children’s birthdays, but for me, I especially thank God every year on John’s birthday that he is alive and well, and pretty much like any other 4th grade boy who loves sports, playing guitar and hanging with his friends. I used to dread John’s birthday because I was reminded of all the things he COULDN’T have; pizza, cake, cupcakes, candy and ice cream. But for several years now I am reminded of everything he CAN have, and that his life is by no means living without. John lives as fully as any kid I know, and appreciates every little thing in life (for example, his sincere joy and gratitude from being able to eat a peanut free Vegan Ice Cream cone at Lollapalooza this year…he truly enjoyed that moment for all it was worth). I think sometimes as a parent of kids with food allergies and special needs, I get weighed down by advocating and keeping my kiddos safe and happy. But I’m increasingly letting go and trusting that all will be well. Always vigilant, of course, but trying to infuse way more fun and timeless carelessness into our daily lives and routine. This year, on John’s birthday, I will light a special candle for him and for all the kids out there who perhaps were given the short end of the stick, whether it is with food allergies or with learning disabilities or serious illnesses, EVERY child deserves to feel like they are like any other kid.

Finally, after years of debate and efforts to promote food allergy awareness at my son’s schools, the day has finally come where I feel like we have made TREMENDOUS progress. Today I attended our schools’ Room Parent Meeting, to which our principal got up and addressed the room parents about the seriousness of food allergies, and that new procedures will be in place. For example, our school will celebrate birthdays AND holiday parties in a NON food manner for Kindergarten, First and Second Grades. The third and fourth grades will be up to the discretion of the classroom teacher. Grade level parties will be conducted with NO FOOD (remember my 1st grade Spanish Mercado and Thanksgiving Party stories?). Finally, the district has developed a comprehensive list of Food Allergy Policies and Procedures, as well as specific Food In Classroom guidelines. The link is here and I strongly recommend you forward these documents to your schools and preschools so they can further develop their own safe food allergy best practices. There are also sample letters and tips for you to use. During my principal’s address today, she went out of her way to mention that if any parents in their children’s classrooms have concerns about No Food Parties, or are getting any push back about safe snacks, etc. (ie Dairy Free classrooms, etc) that they should contact her directly. She doesn’t want anyone to feel like they have to defend the policy, and that she will take the time address the seriousness of the food allergy policy. As a “food allergy mama” advocate, I have had more than my fair share of parent push back on food policies I’ve advocated for years (thanks to our rights outlined in John’s 504 Plan). Hearing this come out of my principal’s mouth meant the world to me, because it allows me to not be the “face” or take on the burden any more. I’m truly grateful and excited for these new policies, and hope you can use some of the documents in your own schools.

Have a GREAT beginning of the school year everyone!!!