A nod to the difficulties of eating out

I'm a little late posting this, but I thought it was really cool to see a local restaurant acknowledging the difficulties eating out with food allergies. I've blogged about this before and I know other people have too.

I don't think a 5 year old and 3 year old would really dig this posh restaurant, so I hope family-style restaurants consider doing the same thing. It would be so cool to be able to order ANYTHING off the menu at a restaurant, or at least have it CLEARLY marked so we'd know what we could get AND actually have the food contain what the server says it does (or does not).

Here is another idea .... Can you imagine how cool it would be if underneath the description of the food on a menu there was a list of allergens (like we get on food labels) ... for example:

Chicken Fingers Allergens: wheat, soy, egg, dairy

Oh, and it should be in plain English, like that, not "casein, whey, etc."

Is that really so hard??

Wow, what a dream!!

Photo Essay ... enjoying the sun and water

As promised here are the photos from our trip to Florida. We had SO much fun. While today, as I post these, it's pouring rain. Sigh.

Travel tip: Note from the doctor

We recently went to Florida for a family vacation and had a wonderful time. (See photos below!)

As all of you know, traveling with the allergic "rug rats" adds a whole 'nother dimension to getting prepared. Since we went back to an area we had been before I knew there were health food stores nearby if the main grocery stores didn't care some of the products the boys like.

But still I decided to bring the Tofutti soy cheese they like so much since I have a hard time finding it here. I actually brought 2 kinds of cheese -- the soy American slices and the soy cream cheese. I carried both on board so they could eat it en route and so I could keep it cold. I was a little worried about the soy cheese because it could be considered a liquid and is more than 3 ounces. Sure enough, when we went through security they saw the rule-breaking cheese in the x-ray machine and asked us about it. My husband immediately said, "go ahead, throw it out." I immediately started explaining "how my little one has all kinds of food allergies and we can't get that cheese anywhere, blah blah blah."

Now, let me say if there had been a big line at security or we were running late, I would have sacrificed the cheese too, but that was NOT the case. The nice lady from the TSA told me that I should have a note from the doctor re: his food allergies and then they could let it through. (who knew!?!) Instead I got to speak to her supervisor. He was a nice 24-year old kid who looked at me and the soy cheese and said we could take it through. Hurrah!

So, lesson learned: BRING A NOTE FROM YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR KID'S ALLERGIES WHEN YOU TRAVEL.

Now, on to the fun stuff .... photos! The boys had a great time fishing with their dad, enjoying the beach and the pool.

OKAY, I can't add my photos :-( ... I get the error message below. It happens whether I am in IE or Firefox. I did report it to Blogger and will try again later. So, stay tuned for photos.

Describe what you were doing when you got this error.
Provide the following error code and additional information.

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O'Soy is Okay ... I think

As I said in my last post, I couldn't tell if it was safe for Little Guy to eat O'Soy yogurt any more. I did email Stonyfield Farm to get more information on whether the yogurt now contains dairy and they sent me the following response.

Hello,

Thanks for contacting us! We always welcome comments and questions from our yogurt lovers, and we’re grateful when someone takes the time to tell us what they think of our company and products.

To answer your question regarding whether O’Soy is completely dairy free, the O'Soy may contain traces due to shared equipment, but it also may contain traces due to the fact that some of the cultures used are dairy based. A small amount of cultures are initially used in a very tiny dairy base and then grown into the billions. If any dairy is present, it is in a minuscule amount. The cultures will turn the remaining amount into lactic acid.

Our old packaging stated that trace amounts maybe present, then updated the statement to be more accurate. The formula has not changed, but if there are any dairy concerns, it is best to consult with your physician. If you're highly allergic to dairy we do not recommend usage.

We are passionately committed to producing the best tasting, healthiest yogurts available, and trying to do some good in the world while we’re at it. Please visit our web site at Stonyfield.com to learn more.

Sincerely,

The folks at Stonyfield Farm

I consider this a very nice and fairly complete response. So, thanks folks at Stonyfield Farm! I think that since Little Guy is not SO allergic that he can't breath if he has dairy, I will give O'Soy another chance. I am sure he had it before and we never had any issues, so since the recipe hasn't changed, I think he'll be okay.

And thanks to all of you who commented!!

O'Soy -- what's going on?

O'Soy and Silk yogurt had been staples in our house. The boys LOVE soy yogurt. But recently, my husband called me from the grocery store and told me that the O'Soy yogurt said it contained active milk cultures. So, we stopped buying O'Soy. This is a real bummer! 50% of the market taken away from me (or rather from Little Guy since he is really the one that has to avoid ALL dairy still).

I went to the O'Soy web site to see if I could find more information on it, but I couldn't. If anyone else has any info, please let me know.

And for all of you who accepted my challenge several months ago to comment on the anniversary of my blog .... THANK YOU! It was wonderful to see so many comments. And to all of my friends who have personally told me to get my butt back to blogging and they miss me in the "blogosphere"... THANK YOU!

Happy Blogiversary

"He Can't Eat That" is ONE year old. I can hardly believe it!!! It seems like just yesterday I wrote "Hello." And while sometimes (okay, lots of times), I've been remiss in writing, I have REALLY enjoyed this experience.

I definitely met the goal I set for myself, "to connect with other parents who also have kids with food allergies. I'd like to share what has worked for me and I'd like to hear other people's stories when they have had to tell someone "he can't eat that!"

It has been so heartwarming and energizing to meet so many other parents though this blog and blogging in general.

As part of my blogiversary, I would like to challenge any and ALL readers to post a comment!! I am asking all the lurkers (maybe there are only 1 or 2), but anyone to -- as they say in hide-and-seek -- come out, come out wherever you are!!!

If you have never posted a comment, just click Comments and you can fill out an online form. When asked to pick an identify, you can choose Anonymous if you don't want to fill out an account.

I think the most comments ANY post I put up was 6. So, help me out friends .... let's get that number up!

I survived a year. I made friends. I found out Little Guy CAN eat wheat. I dealt with hives and "throw-ups." I started posting photos. I met a lot of supportive folks who love their kids and are dealing with similar issues. Or met other people who can relate on other levels.

So, give out a shout!!

Thanks!!

Anne D

School Update and Question

Big Guy has been in kindergarten for nearly two months now. We haven't had any food-related problems. I did volunteer to help out in class the day they made "Bernie Bears" out of biscuit dough. I looked at the ingredients and made sure it would be okay for him to eat the project.

There has been one birthday party in school already. Mrs. C. (his teacher) followed our process perfectly and gave Big Guy a treat from his treat box, even though Big Guy tired to talk her into calling me to check on the ingredients of the birthday treats.

And there has been one field trip. Again, the teacher and nurse were great. Mrs. C. talked to me ahead of time to make sure I would bring the epi-pen to the trip. (I volunteered to go with the class.) AND the nurse called me at home to find out if I would bring his medicine or if she should send it with the teacher. So, they definitely had it covered. Luckily there wasn't anything at the pumpkin farm that was an issue for him, but you NEVER know.

Next step is the HALLOWEEN PARTY! Again, I will volunteer at it. (Looks like another unintended advantage of food allergies is getting to be REALLY involved in your child's class.) I talked to the room mother to find out what food/treat project they were planning for the party and she said they were going to decorate store bought sugar cookies. So, I told her I would find one that would be okay for Big Guy to eat too.

Any ideas?

So, overall kindergarten is going great for Big Guy. Whew. Happiness is NOT getting a call from school to tell you that your son is heaving his guts out and breaking out in hives.