Allergy-Friendly Valentine’s Day – a pictoblog!

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 2 Comments

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In classrooms all over the world, little kids will be exchanging Valentines and the goody bags will be replete with foods possibly containing nuts, dairy, eggs and other allergens. The very thought sends me into shock spacer So, love this article by FAAN to keep our kids safe at the Valentine’s Day classroom party. Thankfully, my son is in a school district which has strictly forbidden chocolates et al in the goody bags but I will still be volunteering for their party to ensure my little one is safe in the humungous public school system. If circumstances permit – I would strongly suggest caretakers of food-allergic young children try to do the same.

With that, the countdown to a beautiful allergy friendly Valentine’s day begins…

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Allergy Friendly Tempura galore :-)

Posted on February 9, 2012 | 1 Comment

When it comes to food, probably my only real weakness is tempura – broccoli, cauliflower, onion, pumpkin, squash, zucchini flower, spinach, green beans, green pepper, carrot…battered and deep fried to a crisp  light golden brown – ‘Life is Beautiful’ spacer

What an irony that this was the one dish I could not make for my own son. So, began my quest for the perfect allergy-friendly batter to coat these awesome vegetables. Join me on that journey…

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Liebster Award Recipiants – My List :-)

Posted on February 8, 2012 | 7 Comments
Thank you so much Susan, (a wonderful mom and the blogger at ‘The Food Allergy Chronicles‘) for listing ‘Allergy Foodie’ as one of the recipiants of the Leibster Award. It is truly an honor and I walked around with a goofy smile all day – that’s how happy it made me spacer
 
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Liebster is a German word for “Good Friend”. There is almost no one in my family or friend circle who face the health challenges my little one does but thanks to the camraderie of the food allergy blogging community, I find the energy to survive and thrive so this is such an appropriate award…

Here are the rules!!  There are rules to receiving and accepting this award.

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  3. Copy and Paste the Award to your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the word and love to other bloggers.
5. Have fun.

I follow quite a few food allergy blogs and have learnt a lot from each one of them. So, it is really tough picking out just 5 so, my list comprises those blogs that I enjoy because of the different perspectives they bring to food allergies. They are all moms of children dealing with food allergies, eczema, asthma and more.

And the winners are…(Drum roll please!)

  1. Life in a Joyful Chaos is an inspiring blog about a family’s journey circumventing food allergies, autism, homeschooling, adoption and more – all while managing an online business ‘Truly Pure and Natural’ - whoa!
  2. Colette Martin @ Learning to Eat Allergy-Free is a writer, baker and a food-allergy mom!  Her son was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, triggered by allergies to wheat, milk, eggs, soy and peanuts. Therein began her journey to learn to to eat allergy-friendly. At Learning to Eat Allergy-Free she shares research, recipes, products and tips on eating allergen-friendly and gluten-free.
  3. Allergy Shmallergy : This blog was ranked in the top-25 food-allergy mom blogs by Circle of Moms and rightly so. What I love most about her writing is the attitude behind it…’Living safely with food allergies doesn’t slow us down and I hope this blog makes it easier for you and your family as well’!
  4. Susan @ The Food Allergy Chronicles writes about ‘creating some magic in the kitchen’ despite restrictions imposed by food allergies. Her recipes are truly mouth-watering and she walks us through tough recipes in simple easy-to-follow steps. Between her two sons the family has to keep away from dairy, eggs, sesame, beef, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts and raspberries. Her sons also have asthma and one of them suffered from severe atopic dermatitis till recently. Her open spirit truly embodies the spirit of thriving and caring in the food allergy community.
  5. Rianne @ Art of Dessert followed her passion and became a pastry chef. Then she became mom to two beautiful sons – both of whom were diagnosed with multiple food allergies.  It was indeed an irony and as she puts it. ‘I bake so many delicious desserts but my own child couldn’t enjoy them.’ So, she spent hours experimenting with allergy-friendly baking. And, did she succeed or what?!? I have never seen desserts that look sooooo beautiful – truly an ‘art’.

Living with multiple food allergies, eczema and/or asthma are challenges wherein a mom dies a million deaths everyday with a smile. These blogs make that journey so much easier…anyone looking for answers and support in the world of food allergies, eczema and/or asthma should so check out these sites. 

I love what Susan of Food Allergy Chronicles said – ‘The thread that weaves between us all is the thread of hope. Passion keeps this hope alive…it is what fuels me everyday. ’ Cheers to that and good health to all!

Congratulations to all the Leibster award winners spacer  

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EpiPen: How and When to use it?

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 6 Comments

Thanks to Elizabeth Goldberg, the force behind OneSpot Allergy, I came across a very nicely put together video by EpiPen UK on ‘how and when to give oneself an epinephrine shot’. Definitely a must-watch for all allergy-aufferers and caretakers if they carry an EpiPen.

www.epipen.co.uk/patient/how-to-use-video.html

As mentioned in the video, even if symptoms recede and you are feeling much better after an EpiPen shot, call emergency. In the US, that number would be ’911′.

Stay safe and always armed with an EpiPen…

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Posted in Useful Links & Articles

Allergy Friendly Chicken Noodle Soup – my way ;-)

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 16 Comments

Most people who know me personally will be shocked seeing this home grown recipe of AF Chicken Noodle Soup because I have been a vegetarian all my life. I have absolutely no clue how white or red meat tastes – go figure spacer That’s the reason why Allergy Foodie has not seen any recipe thus far listing any kind of meat as an ingredient. That soooooooo is not my forte!

However, meats are my little boy’s major source of proteins because he is allergic to many of the vegetarian sources of proteins like soy, eggs and dairy. So, when I whipped up this soup on a snowy evening and dad and sonny boy lapped it up like there is no tomorrow – I knew the soup was a sure winner spacer If only my son had liked it then I would have put it down to all kids thinking that their moms are the best cooks in the world even if the mom is just warming up a frozen meal in the microwave but this had a discerning adult giving a thumbs-up too.  So – here is an Allergy Friendly Chicken Noodle Soup spiced up my way to add cheer to those long dreary winter nights. Am also delighted to be sharing this recipe on the blog-hop, ‘Allergy-Free Wednesdays’ - a weekly allergy-friendly party hosted by 5 fellow bloggers like…spacer

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Allergy Foodie has a FB page – yayy!

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

‎Yayy – we have some exciting news…’Allergy Foodie’ finally has a Facebook page. But, why are we on Facebook? Well, the obective is to develop a community around positive Allergy Friendly living and bring news relating to food allergies from around the world. Do visit the page and ‘like’ it to get daily updates on new research findings, new products, personal experiences,  community outreach activities and more. Thank you spacer
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Allergy-Foodie/193793763390

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Allergy Friendly Gift Basket…a pictoblog!

Posted on December 27, 2011 | 2 Comments

This is truly the most wonderful time of the year and the happiest season of all spacer Wishing everyone a joyous and safe holiday season from Allergy Foodie. This year was specially precious because I had an awesome time making Allergy Foodie gift baskets consisting of simple AF (Allergy Friendly) goodies! Organic, wholesome, nutritious and flavored with spices and herbs – perfect way to warm up a cold winter evening…

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds: Organic raw green pumpkin seeds, fresh lemon juice, chilli powder, salt with a dash of dark brown sugar!

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Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

 

Granola Fruit and Seed Bars: Old fashioned oats, organic pumpkin seeds, organic quinoa, organic dark brown sugar, organic local honey, organic dried fruits (dates, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries)

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Sugar  Cookies: Cherrybrook Sugar Cookie Mix beautifully decorated by my little one spacer
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Sugar Cookies

 

Biscotti: Organic Rice Flour, Bean Flour, Herbs and Earth Balance Butter substitute.

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Biscotti bursting with flavors.

Hot chocolate mix: Unsweetened pure cocoa powder, dairy-free chocolate chips, sugar with a hint of cinnamon and chilli powder to make it truly gourmet spacer Packaged with egg-free Marshmallows – cold winter evenings beckon…

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And, finally the Allergy Friendly gift basket…spacer

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AF Rice and Mung Bean Khichri

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Moving forward from my previous post ‘AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…‘, this rice and mung bean dish tastes particularly good on a cold winter evening. Soul-satisfying, nutritious, packed with flavor and above all AF – Allergy Friendly. ’Khichri’ has been a part of Indian cuisine for over 700 years – whoa! 

Since, I just could not come up with a name for the dish in English that would reflect the true nature of the dish - I threw it out as a question to my Facebook friends.  So, this post is an ode to all the fun names they came up with…Niv, a most creative food blogger of Panfusine came up with ‘Kedgeree’, the British dish that traces its roots back to the India Khichri and uses fish and rice. Mohita, my high school pal, names it ‘Rictle’ – Rice + Lentil, dear Indu called it the ‘Rice Porridge’, my cherished undergrad friend Helen wondered if ‘Rice Polenta’ should be the way to go and Kamy coined a real cool name - the ‘Indypot’ or Indian hot pot spacer Finally, decided to stick with the original name as suggested by the guys. They made school a barrel of fun but stuck to tradition when it came to dish-naming – Navin, a grad school pal and Vivek, an undergrad friend spacer  Thanks all – given the various names, even a first-time taster can hazard a guess as to what the dish is going to taste like…spacer

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Posted in Recipes

AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…

Posted on December 17, 2011 | 3 Comments

Recently, I was reading an article about American Chefs having discovered Mustard Oil as a finishing oil in salads. It was a deja vu moment as it transported me to a time when I was a kid and used to love a dish hugely popular in Eastern India called ‘Aloo ka Chaukha’ which literally translates into ‘Potato Mash’ – go figure spacer

If mustard oil is a heretofore unheard of ingredient, refer to my previous post – ‘Mustard Seeds, Mustard Oil and more…‘

Here goes…mashed potatoes aka ‘aloo ka chaukha’. Listening to one of my favorite Holiday classics, Santa Baby , Taylor Swift’s version as I whip up this delectable dish - perfect countdown to my son’s favorite day of the year spacer  

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Mustard Seeds, Mustard Oil and more…

Posted on December 16, 2011 | 2 Comments

Since many of my Allergy Friendly recipes use a medley of spices, I figured that knowing a tad bit more about them would make first-time users less trepiditious.  The idea took seed when Susan, an awesome mom and the blogger behind ‘Food Allergy Chronicles’ mentioned the fact that I use a huge variety of spices in my dishes – so, thanks Susan spacer

Spices and condiments enhance the flavor of a dish but are almost always entirely optional. A quick note about the difference between ‘spices’ and condiments’ -usually spices are used to season a dish during the process of cooking for e.g. cinnamon in baking whereas condiments are used at the table to suit individual tastes like ketchup. Also, spices are oftentimes a part of a plant/tree like seeds, bark, fruit for e.g mustard seeds or nutmeg while condiments are prepared concoctions like mustard that is made from mustard seeds.

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Posted in Ingredient