He Can't Eat That!

A happy Valentine's Day thanks to Ener-G

2010-02-16T13:29:00.000-06:00

This weekend I wanted to make cupcakes for the boys for Valentine's Day and I didn't have a box of my favorite cake mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen. I also had a bunch of errands to run and didn't have the energy to make an extra stop to pick up a new box.

So, I decided it was time to experiment with a regular cake mix and the Ener-G egg replacer. I picked up a box of mix at Target and headed home. I think it was Betty Crocker, but I'm not 100% sure. I did look at the ingredients and it said it might contain milk in it. I had no idea how the cake would turn out without real eggs, but I was game to see what would happen. Great news! The cupcakes turned out great. They rose up like you would expect and tasted good.

I was online trying to see what other people's experiences are with "regular" cake mixes and found this posting about Duncan Hines mixes that do NOT have dairy in them. So, next time I'll give that mix a try.

I am SO relieved to have other options for making treats for the kids. By they way, here's a tip fo other moms out there: When you make a batch of cupcakes, keep a couple unfrosted cupcakes aside and throw them in the freezer ... this way you have one to grab the next time your allergy kid is invited to a birthday party.

P.S. Little Guy's school Valentine's Day party was interesting ... had to bring bread and popcorn for the party for him. Ugh.

Update on Miracle Margarine

2010-01-10T15:02:00.002-06:00

One of my original posts on this blog had to do with finding Fleischmann's unsalted margarine -- which has no dairy in it. This post has been one of my most popular with 16 comments on it.

Since I first posted it there have been some questions as to whether UNSALTED Fleischmann's margarine is free of dairy. Some people have posted that there is whey in it and I should "Make sure you know all the facts before you post something like that."

First of all, YES, we all should always check the labels of our kids' food. I posted this in Oct. 2006 -- 3 years ago!!! Things change ... always check your labels. I'm just a mom out here sharing what I have seen and what has worked for my family. And I touched on that in one of my very first posts.

That said, I am looking at the ingredients for the margarine in front of me and it says: Liquid soybean oil, water, hydrogenated soybean oil, contains less than 2% of the following: vegetable mono-and diglycerides and soy lecithin (emulsifiers), potassium sorbate and calcium disodium edta* (to preserve freshness), phosphoric acid (acidulant), natural and artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate, colored with beta carotene (source of Vitamin A), Vitamin D3. CONTAINS: Soy

So, there you have it. I don't see a reference to whey. At least in the kind I get at my local store. I don't know enough about ConAgra Foods (who produces the product). Perhaps the ingredients differ by geographic location.

I certainly would not want the person who posted the comment to this blog to give it to her daughter who has a severe dairy allergy if the package she is looking at says there is whey in it. It would be terrible for that little girl to get sick. I know, my son can't eat whey either or casein.

This blog was meant as a way to share information and find other people dealing with the same issues. We are all stressed as we try to navigate through this experience .... let's try to support one another.

B&S -- your latest show is BS

2009-03-19T19:37:00.002-05:00

Why? I asked myself this question several times the other night when I finally watched the most recent episode (Episode 319 "Spring Broken) of the ABC drama "Brothers & Sisters." Why include that line? What did it REALLY do to help the storyline? Not much. But it DID condone lying, being deceptive and putting other people in danger ..... great attributes to teach our children.

What am I talking about? If you didn't catch it, in the beginning of the show the harried, overworked single mother Sarah was making lunch for her kids and told her daughter Paige (who is around 13 years old) that she ran out of turkey, so instead she was giving them peanut butter sandwiches. Paige responds with "MOM! We are a peanut-free school!" And Sarah tells her, "Just tell them it's soy butter."

Nice.

Seriously. WHY?

As I suspected, other viewers picked up on how stupid this was and are talking about it on the ABC message board and so are some columnists.

It is so surprising to me that this liberal show would include this exchange. It's not like peanut allergies aren't well known these days (case in point -- the recent news story on the potential peanut allergy cure). So what dumb-ass wrote this ?!? Oh, I guess it was Brian Studler (according to the B&S writers blog). Well, he is not much a of "stud" to me; he is an idiot. (And evidently, not much of a writer since he couldn't write his own blog entry! Okay, I digress.)

I am fortunate, my boys can be around peanuts, they just can't ingest them, so this faux soy butter sandwich would not be an issue for them. But regardless of if your kids have peanut allergies, we all should find this dialogue shameful because it teaches the child that she is above the rules, should lie to get what she needs, and to not show sympathy and compassion for those with allergies.

Okay, I think I got it all out. Getting down off soapbox now. Thanks for listening.

The outcome of the social experiment

2009-03-11T10:42:00.003-05:00

Okay, it was a pretty anti-climactic outcome from my social experiment at Big Guy's school with the cake walk. I asked the mom in charge and she said she didn't stay for the whole thing, so she didn't see if anyone took the allergen-free treats. Oh well!

As I said before, given how hectic it was in the room with the cake walk and given the lack of visibility to these treats (both in where they were placed amongst the other treats and the knowledge that they even existed), I think they weren't taken by kids with food allergies.

But I did get a survey for the overall fun fair and in the suggestions section, I recommended that next year they have an allergen-free section of treats and advertise their existence prior to the fun fair. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Also, my friend gave me a great idea for an alternate to the cake walk, which would also address the allergy issue ... a Book Walk. Same idea as the cake walk, where you walk around and when the music stops there is one winner, but the winner gets to pick a book instead of a treat. This requires more upfront work since the parents have to get the book donations, but I think it is a terrific idea. It promotes literacy, instead of sugary treats and also helps out the kids with food allergies. Not to mention, the parents who aren't that keen on taking homemade treats from unknown bakers who may not be as diligent as they are in keeping a clean kitchen ... if you get my drift. So, I might try to float that idea out there next year too. Just call me a rabble rauser!! (how do you spell that??)

Any one have any other ideas???

Update on the social experiment

2009-02-22T14:33:00.003-06:00

Well, we checked out the Cake Walk** on Friday to see how my mini-social experiment was coming along. As I said, I hadn't taken Big Guy to the cake walk last year because I knew he couldn't eat anything that he might win, so I didn't know what exactly to expect.

When we got in the room, I couldn't believe how many treats were stacked up for people to choose from. And when the kid wins the cake walk, he/she just runs up and grabs whatever looks good. The winner didn't get much time to pick. So, it was nearly impossible for the winner to find my labeled treats.

I quickly realized the problem with my experiment .... lack of visibility. The winner couldn't find my treats and no one knew that non-allergen treats were going to be there. For labeled treats to work people have to know they are there. So, I think next year I would try to work with the parents who organize this part of the fun fair and suggest that 2-5 of us make allergen-free treats (like I did this year), label them and announce the availability of the treats to all parents via the fun fair info sheets that are sent home 2-4 weeks before the fun fair. We would basically have a separate table for those treats and then kids with allergies would know there is something there they can eat if they do win the cake walk.

What do you all think? Would you allow your child to eat something at an event like this? Is it worth it???

** (For those of you who aren't sure what a cake walk is at a fun fair/carnival, here you go. There are a bunch of numbered sheets of paper taped to the floor in a circle. Then a bunch of kids (around 15) walk in a circle while music is playing. When the music stops, you stop on a number and the leader draws a number from a hat, if your number is drawn you win and get to pick a "cake" (in this case, a plate with 2-3 portions of a treat on it).

A new member of the family

2009-02-20T13:49:00.004-06:00

Tada! I had a baby!! He was born on Jan. 21 and is a "cutie-pie" (according to Little Guy).

Hanging out today with mom.

Hmmm, now that the baby is here I guess I can't use the term Little Guy for my second son. But it would be confusing to change his nickname now. I guess I'll stick with Little Guy for him and call the baby Littlest Guy (which I'm sure he will LOVE when he is older).

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if he has any food allergies. I've talked to other moms with 3 kids and there are at least 2 families where one of the 3 kids dodged the food allergy bullet. Time will tell for Littlest Guy.

My mini-social experiment

2009-02-20T13:47:00.006-06:00

Tonight is the Fun Fair at Big Guy's school. I decided that since I have some more time (being home on maternity leave) I would bake some allergen-free treats for the cake walk.

I made the Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cupcakes with Pillsbury frosting (which only contains soy) ....

and dairy-free rice krispie treats with the Miracle Margarine (aka Fleischmann’s Unsalted Margarine, which has no dairy in it.)

As you can see, the treats are clearly marked regarding what allergens they do and do not contain. I am interested to see if ...

(1) parents with kids with food allergies even go to the cake walk (I know I didn't last year because I assumed there would be nothing there that Big Guy could eat)
(2) parents with kids with food allergies are comfortable taking food another parent made
(3) kids without allergies will NOT eat these because they think they will taste gross (which they don't, they are yummy).

So that is why I consider this donation to be a mini-social experiment. The mom running the cake walk has two kids with food allergies, so she'll be paying attention to how this all goes down.

Stay tuned!!

A nod to the difficulties of eating out

2008-05-18T10:36:00.003-05:00

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

2008-05-02T10:23:00.005-05:00

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

2008-04-17T15:24:00.004-05:00

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

2008-04-15T18:27:00.002-05:00

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?

2008-03-13T07:13:00.003-05:00

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

2007-10-25T18:07:00.000-05:00

"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

2007-10-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

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.

The latest advance in Benadryl

2007-10-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

I love when a new product comes out that REALLY meets your needs and makes you life easier. It seems like so often in life there are things out there that seem to be especially made to add work and irritation to your life. So, when something comes along that actually helps you, I get happy.

Have you seen this? Single-serving Benadryl spoons. LOVE it!!! (I am such a nerd.)

The leaky sticky bottle of Benadryl in a zip-lock bag in my "diaper" bag is a thing of the past. Now, I can toss a couple of these single-servings in my bag or purse and be prepared. I never did understand why the child-proof cap on the Benadryl couldn't do the job of keeping all the liquid in there, but oh well.

Thank you researcher or marketing genius who came up with this idea. THANK YOU!!!!

And if you'd like to read another homage to Benadryl, check out Rational Jenn's blog. Or to get tips on how to put together your "go" kit for a child with allergies (including, of course, Benadryl!) check out No Whey, Mama's post "Allergy Kits, or I'm not a doctor; Don't Sue Me"

Lists and Resources for the Season

2007-10-14T18:13:00.000-05:00

Halloween. A big holiday for kids and a stressful one for those of us loving kids with allergies.

Lots of parents are blogging about how to deal with this holiday--one where "poison" is literally pushed onto your child at every turn. I blogged about it last year. Oh, and here is a photo of the kids from Halloween last year. (I can't resist the photo!)

I LOVE lists. Here is one on safe treats for your kids, including links to websites with more information.

This post talks about the options you can take to deal with the "poison" candy that your child receives. I go with the "Fair Trade" policy ... the candy I buy to give the kids that trick-or-treat at my house is a variety of "safe" candy for my boys and I let them choose from those when we get home. Jeez, I think I STILL have some from last year.

So, any other stories or tips as we all get ready for this BIG holiday?!

I Heart Jim

2007-10-11T19:39:00.001-05:00

WARNING: A non food-allergy post .....

Just have to share what a dork I am. The Office will be on soon and I can't WAIT! This season has already been hilarious. I feel so lucky that we got 2 one-hour episodes and ANOTHER one tonight!

And I found their web site today while I was bored at my office. With pages like this on it. I want to work at Dunder Mifflin too! Looks like they have lots of openings.

And this is the shirt I want ....

And I think I have to get this one for my husband ...

He is hooked too. Last week he watched it on Thursday while I was out, Friday night with me, and Saturday with our friends. And he laughed his ass off every time!

Oops, gotta get the boys to bed so I can watched it on TIVO.

Need Carmel Apple Recipe

2007-10-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

Remember these? Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Since having the boys, I have steered clear of any kind of caramel apples. The ones that are already made up at the grocery store always say they could contain nuts (even if they are the plain kind), so I don't get those.

But this time of year, I WANT one. Sarah blogged about Fall at No Whey, Mama. And I too want to eat food for the season.

When I was a kid, we got a bag full of caramels (the bag with the sticks in it), melted down the caramels and stuck the apples in the pan. But I am pretty sure that all those caramel candies have milk in them, right?

So, has anyone out there made dairy-free caramel apples? My kids LOVE apples and anything sweet, so I'm SURE they would be a big hit at our house.

I did find a recipe online that only has brown sugar, butter (I could use non-dairy margarine), and water. Has anyone else tried these? Are they any good? Help me out, please!!!

Safe Sugar Cookies ... yummm

2007-10-10T19:31:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week a couple of our friends came over for the day. My friend and I are going to start doing more kid-exchanges ... I watch her kids on school holidays (like Monday) while she works and she will watch my kids on a day when I have to go out of town for work (a day I normally am off).

Anyway, the kids are the same ages as Big Guy and Little Guy, so they have lots of fun together.
I decided it would be fun to do a baking project with the kids since I know I have the right "safe" ingredients here at home. Whereas when she has the boys it will be harder to find non-allergy foods for a food project. Not that she doesn't' try! She's the one who made rice krispy treats for the boys at her daughter's party in Miracle Margarine.

So, I used Cherrybrook Kitchen's Sugar Cookies mix and Pillsbury frosting (dairy-free, unlike some other frostings) AND Halloween decorations. See how much fun the kids had decorating the cookies ....

(Oh and NO teasing about the newspapers on the counter. Yes, I am anal about getting the place too messy.)

and eating the cookies!

They were very easy to make -- yeah! The little guys could even roll the dough themselves. And the decorating was lots of fun. A successful (and safe) baking project.

I'm no Giada, but ...

2007-10-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

I may not be the queen of italian cuisine, who also happens to be HOT (at least according to my husband), but I CAN make spaghetti and meatballs.

Homemade, you might ask? Hell no. But they are quick and tasty and I even put the cooked pasta BACK in the pan with the sauce and meat before I served them ... to me this is a very gourmet trick. You see, when I was growing up my mom used to pour the sauce and meatballs on top of the noodles on the plate (see! they were even called "noodles" back then, not "pasta").

Anyway, the meatballs come from one of my favorite stores, Trader Joes. They have two kinds that Big Guy and Little Guy will devour: party meatballs and turkey meatballs. Neither one has any dairy, cheese or eggs in them -- which can be difficult to find in pre-made meatballs.

So, grab a bag, enjoy and don't give that size 2 chef another thought.

What did he say?

2007-09-26T09:09:00.000-05:00

Big Guy constantly cracks me up. He talks like he is about 15 years old. I'm not a good journal writer, but I don't want to lose these quotes of his. So, I'll record them here. They have nothing to do with food allergies, but as we all know .... the food allergies are just one part of who he is, a small part at that. So here are a couple of the funny ones recently.

Last week, I rented The Ex to watch with my husband because I know he thinks Amanda Peet is hot. I asked him at dinner (while the kids were busy playing with their food) if he wanted to watch it that night and I reminded him that Amanda Peet was in it (in a lame attempt to entice him into watching it). About five minutes later, Big Guy walked by and with a smug look on his face -- the look that says "I am much more grown up than you think, I heard you talking grown-up stuff" -- he said, oh so casually, "so, are you going to watch that movie with Old Man Pete in it?" Poor Amanda ... actually, I take that back, she's hot and makes lots of money, she can deal with being called Old Man Pete.

Yesterday morning, we were talking about an upcoming field trip Big Guy's class will take to an apple farm. I left the boys to get dressed while I made breakfast. Big Guy comes down to the kitchen. He sighs and says, "Little Guy is driving me crazy. He keeps asking me meaningless questions about my field trip!" And then he plops himself down in his chair ready for breakfast.

Keep 'em coming, Big Guy! You make me smile.

Just say no

2007-08-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

Today is Day 5 for Big Guy attending kindergarten and all is going GREAT. He tells me he is "excited" to go to school. And anyone who knew me when he was going to daycare knows how HUGE that is for us. Anyway, he has been eating the snacks and all is well. BUT, I do realize that the snacks up until now have been provided by the school (the parent sign up thing hasn't happened yet) so I'm not exactly out of the woods.

This weekend the subject of food allergies came up with Big Guy ... actually it was during an episode of Micky Mouse Clubhouse when Daisy Duck was making a cake (sexist Disney show!) and she put in eggs and milk. Big Guy immediately piped up "we would use Egg Replacer, right mommy?" And "we would use soy milk, right?"

I talked to him about allergies and school and how he can't eat food that was even NEAR a peanut. I told him about Chex Mix, what was in it, and explained how there could be peanut "dust" on food and you might not even see it. I told him that a grown-up might take the peanuts out of the mix and think it is okay for him to eat the remaining Chex and pretzels. And how he should say "no thank you, my mommy said I can't eat that?" I told him some grown-ups don't understand food allergies and he can always tell them no.

Now, I have NO idea if this could ever happen at school. I do know that if he WASN'T in the class then on Chex snack day, the parent assigned to that day COULD bring Chex Mix. And so I assume that some dumbass parent might forget about poor Big Guy and still bring that in. And some other ignoramus might tell him to go ahead and eat it because they picked out the peanuts. I think this is a stretch, but I don't want my son to suffer because someone is ignorant and because I had too much faith in mankind to warn him.

So, we had the conversation. We talked about using the snack box at school. We talked about how HE has to take care of himself. I told him the grown-ups and his teacher are there to watch out for him, but in the end HE has to watch what he eats.

It wasn't a scary talk. But it was one that had to happen. And will happen again in another form many more times.

I lost my power

2007-08-28T20:01:00.001-05:00

No, the title of this post does not refer to feeling helpless and lost or at the mercy of someone else's whims (someone under 6 years old and weighing less than 40 pounds).

No, I literally lost power for 3 days this weekend ... no electricity .... no TV, no internet, no CD player or lamps. There was a BIG storm here on Thursday and the power went out around 5:30 p.m. We FINALLY got it back at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

We were very lucky -- no flooding in the basement. And we were able to save that expensive soy ice cream because my parents had (1) power and (2) a chest freezer in their basement, amongst lots of other food of course. But when my husband was packing up the coolers, I made sure to tell him "don't forget all the soy stuff, it is costly!"

So, now we have power and I can check email and blogs again. Hurrah!

First Day is Here

2007-08-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

Today was Big Guy's first day of kindergarten!

Wow!

And no one cried! Hurrah. Well, I lied. His little brother cried because he knew he was going to daycare all day and that his brother was getting picked up BEFORE lunch -- curses, 2 1/2 hour kindergarten. Oh well. Life is not fair. Get used to it, even at age 3.

Here is Big Guy before we left for school.

And below is Big Guy in line at his new school. Look at those cute kids!

He had a good time. He even said he is EXCITED to go tomorrow. Hallelujah! I'll enjoy that while it lasts.

After school, I took him out for lunch where I got the call at Little Guy's school that he was throwing up. Aghhhhh! So, we hightailed it out of lunch and raced to daycare. Sure enough, he was breaking out in hives and threw up for a third time as we were trying to leave the class.

The cook tried to make something different for him ... an englifh muffin, tomato sauce and sausage pizza. When we got home Little Guy said the teacher gave him cow's milk ... but I don't entirely trust that statement. His teacher is very good and I think it is more likely that Little Guy saw her pouring milk from the "special pitcher" and thought it was cow's milk, but you never know!

Anyway, when we got home I gave him a dose of Benadryl, put some anti-itch cream on his hives and let him sleep it off.

I did call the daycare and said that I thought we should try a new approach ... find 5-6 meals that we KNOW are safe and rotate between those for Little Guy. I know the cook is trying his best, but it can be SO hard. We get reactions at home that are a mystery, so why make the poor cook -- who is trying to feed a hundred other kids -- try to decode food for my kid.

I also may have them give Little Guy juice for lunch for a while. It won't kill him. He drinks lots of soy milk at home. This way there is NO chance of someone accidentally giving him cow's milk (not that I'm saying that happened here).

So, Little Guy did get to come home after lunch like his brother, but certainly not under the best circumstances. These allergies, sometimes they really drive me nuts!!!!!! (Pun INTENDED!)

But, back to Big Guy, he ate his goldfish snack at school with no problems. He had a fun first day. Whew!

My Baby is Three

2007-08-21T14:16:00.000-05:00

Poor Little Guy, as second child he always get “seconds” – whether it be clothes or my blogging time. Anyway, yesterday was his birthday and I was busy doing stuff for and with him, so I didn’t get his post up until today.

He had a great day. All day long he said “it is my REAL birthday and I am three!” He is focused on the real day as opposed to his birthday party a couple weeks ago.

At the breakfast table, his first birthday present was waiting for him.

A big soft Buzz Lightyear. He loved it and carried it with us all day.

He started out with the chocolate chip pancakes in a smiley face. And asked me twice not to put eggs in it.

We took his brother’s birthday crown and changed the year to “3” from “5” and he proceeded to wear it ALL day long. At first when people told him Happy Birthday, he said it right back at them. I explained he could just say thank you.

After breakfast, we ran to the library and grocery store. After lunch we went to see Ratatouille, where he ate half a box of Mike & Ikes. The movie was good. It was pouring rain, so a great day to see a flick.

We had tacos for dinner and the 4 grandparents came over to celebrate with Little Guy. With the tacos, he can eat everything but the cheese, so I melt a piece of the Tofutti cheese on a tortilla for him. He was so full of candy from the movie that he didn’t eat much ...oh well!

He wanted cupcakes for his birthday treat, so I pulled four of them out of the freezer and frosted them up. Again, he ate 2 bites and then wanted to get to the pile of presents.

It was a Buzz birthday … Buzz scooter, lunch bag, wall decals, sleeping bad and shirt! Oh and a remote control spaceship from Grandma and Grandpa. My parents opted for other stuff, so he got a book and CD with songs, and a tape recorder with microphones (which was a hit).

After he got his presents, he went around the table and gave everyone a big hug to thank them for his presents. He can be such a sweetheart.

All in all a great day for him and lots of fun for those of us closest to him to see him so excited and happy.

P.S. As I re-read this post, I realize it is practically an ad for Disney!! So, hello Disney ... feel free to hire Little Guy as your Buzz Lightyear spokesman. He can say "to infinity and beyond" as cute as can be!!

A Good Compromise

2007-08-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

First of all, thanks to all my blogging buddies for your support and kind words on the last post about my meeting with Big Guy’s kindergarten teacher. The meeting went VERY well.

The nurse, teacher – Mrs. C. – and I met and talked about Big Guy’s allergies. We agreed that Big Guy will eat the regular snack (presuming, of course, that it is peanut-free) and that we’d keep a “snack box” in the room for birthday parties and in case a parent brings in a snack that looks suspicious. Big Guy, Little Guy and my mom were there for the meeting, so he got to see the class, teacher and hear our plans.

Another benefit of allergies came out in the meeting … the nurse said that we (me, my husband or my mom) would get first chance to go on field trips and work school parties. I presume this is so that a knowledgeable adult is there to watch for any food hazards for Big Guy. In fact, she HOPES one of us can attend these things. I assume this could get to be too much, but right now it sounds like fun.

Also in the meeting, my mom took the kids out of the room and we took a good look at the epi-pen. I brought an old lemon and so Mrs. C. gave the lemon the epi-pen so she could get a feel for how it works and the whole procedure – e.g., you must call the paramedics after administering the epi-pen and he’ll be taken to the ER.

I was glad that she got to see how to use it. Actually, it was good for me too. Thankfully, I have never had to use it either. And I was SURE to tell her that. I wanted her to understand when to use it. I certainly want her to use it if the situation calls for it, but I also DON’T want her to use it because he complains about some hives or tells her that his mouth itches and hurts. I know that those symptoms call for Benadryl, if that.

I suppose root of all this is based on the same issue that all parents face when sending their child to kindergarten -- “handing over your child to someone else.” For many moms and dads, up until kindergarten their baby has been mostly in their care (less and less with daycare, but still) and now in kindergarten they are taking that first step out into the world and being more independent. I have trust someone else to watch out for him and make these kinds of decisions for him.

And he has to be more aware of it and say no to anything he is not sure of. Because he is so aware of what he can eat and does ask me a lot, it is easy to consider this part of the equation a “slam dunk.” But I have to remember that when I am there, he is going to be more apt to think about food issues. Whereas when he is in class with a bunch of new kids and is excited or wants to fit in, he might take that cookie that his new friend is offering him. It could be hard to remember to say no. Karen takes an interesting approach to this dilemma with her son.

Lots to think about and talk to him about. He is definitely nervous about a new school and teacher. He says he is excited, but after seeing the class he told me “actually, I’m not so excited any more. The class room is small.” It’s not. It’s very nice. But it is new and for a five-year old picking on the size is a scapegoat for nerves.

More to come, the official “Meet the Teacher” day is Wednesday.

An unexpected benefit of food allergies (or desperately trying to see the glass as half full)

2007-08-17T07:16:00.001-05:00

Today is the first of several BIG days for Big Guy. We are off to the doctor for his 5-year visit. This morning he gets to pee in a cup (to which he said "that's gross, mommy"). And then he gets to get shots and I know he'll scream and cry (he did better with shots when he was a baby, now he knows too much).

While at the doctor enjoying all that, I also have to review all my food allergy paperwork for kindergarten: action plans, medicine release forms, etc. Lots to do!

Then we are off to his new school to meet the nurse, drop off all the meds (Benadryl and epi-pen) and discuss how to deal with the food allergy. Does the epi-pen have to be in the kindergarten room? I guess it should be in there, why not?

THEN Big Guy gets to meet his teacher, Mrs. C. THIS IS THE BENEFIT OF FOOD ALLERGIES. He gets to meet his teacher and see his new room BEFORE anyone else. Hurrah!

I've already talked to her on the phone twice (and she sounds very nice and friendly, I think I want her to be my teacher) to set up this meeting and then she called me back to clarify the snack "procedure" at kindergarten.

By the way, the snack procedure is that each parent picks a day in the month to bring in snacks for the class. But the good news is that there are 5 snacks to bring in ... pretzels, goldfish, teddy grahams, graham crackers and chex. She said they will send home a letter to tell parents that there is a child with peanut allergies in the class, so no Chex mix, etc. I'd like to point out that he is fortunate in that he can be around peanuts and even eat things that were manufactured on a line that also manufactures peanuts ... but he can't actually eat peanuts.

Okay, Big Guy can eat all of these things. I know there is some dairy in the goldfish and possibly the teddy grahams (though I have to check the label, that might be safe too), but he can tolerate that little bit of dairy. He has eaten ALL of those things a lot with NO problems.

I think that he should be able to eat with all the other kids. I know the nurse is going to suggest I have a box of snacks just for Big Guy, but I don't know why he should do that. YES, I do know why ... she wants to be VERY sure that NOTHING he eats could have a stray allergen in it.

I am VERY conflicted on this. I want him to be safe, of course! I also want things to be as normal they can. The bottomline is that they're not normal for him. There are lots of things he can't eat. But knowing that and dealing with that (pretty well, I might add), why can't he eat the things he can eat? Does this make sense?

I have to talk to the teacher and the nurse today to get a better sense of their issues and desires. But I am leaning towards this approach:

letting him eat the snacks (if they send out the peanut letter)
leaving treats for him at the school for days when kids bring b-day treats and NOT letting him eat those things (basically he can only eat the 5 snack foods)

That is somewhat of a compromise, right?

Well, we'll see how the meeting goes. The nurse and teacher are VERY nice and so I see this meeting as a chance to just figure all this out, not a combative thing at all.

And the benefit, we get the early sneak peek into kindergarten. The rest of the class waits until Meet the Teacher day on Wednesday ... then school starts Thursday, the 24th!!!

Spiderman doesn't care about food allergies

2007-07-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Big Guy turned 5! I can hardly believe it. He had a good day. Below are some of the photos from the day ....

Started off with chocolate chip pancakes -- made with Ener-G replacer, soy milk and Ghiradelli chips

They were yummy!!!!

He went to "school" today and brought Fear Factor push-ups. No dairy!! After school, he came home and found this in the backyard ...

An inflatable water slide!!

They definitely liked it! And had a great time. It will get lots more use at the family party we are having for both boys in a week or so.

For dinner, we got pizza. Since Big Guy can tolerate dairy, he can eat it, but Little Guy cannot. SO, I made Little Guy a pizza with a tortilla, tomato sauce, piece of cut up salami and Tofutti cheese. He liked it and didn't feel left out. Also, when I ordered the pizza I asked for PLAIN breadsticks -- no butter, no cheese -- for Little Guy. He LOVED those too.

The overall theme for his birthday definitely centered on Spiderman, which he loves. (Which is amazing since he has NEVER seen the show or movie. It really speaks to the power of marketing!)

The cupcakes were homemade with the Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cake mix and Pillsbury Whipped Supreme frosting. They were YUMMY. And on the top were Spiderman cupcake toppers.

He had a great day and so did we. These are the really fun birthdays ... they get it, they show unbridled joy and excitement .... and Spiderman doesn't care if he has food allergies!!

Eating Out

2007-07-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

Up until our recent vacation, I was pretty easy going about eating out. I would look at the menu and find something that looked safe for the boys, such as a hamburger, and would ask them to make sure that they didn't put ANYTHING on the bun ... no butter, etc. I didn't necessarily get into all the details of all the foods they were allergic to.

But while on vacation, we stopped for lunch in Sausalito and looked at the kid's menu, which consisted of:

Fish and Chips (nope, probable egg or cheese in the batter)
Chicken fingers (nope, same reason as above)
Pizza (umm, obvious NO)
Spaghetti and marinara (okay, finally something they can eat)

We ordered the spaghetti for both of them. And MY FAULT, I didn't quiz the waiter about what they put in it. In my mind, you would only put noodles and tomato sauce in this dish. Plus at the same time, my husband is complaining that the beautiful outdoor seating overlooking the bay was too hot ... and then Big Guy was squinting and complaining, so I had to ask to be moved inside. Needless to say, I was occupied with lots of things at the time.

Okay, here comes the food. Little Guy takes one tiny bite, about 2 inches of noodles and sauce and within 3 minutes starts telling me his tongue hurts. SHIT!!!!! I quickly down my glass of wine and fish tacos. I don't give him anymore to eat and we wait. I ask the waiter if they put cheese in the kid's spaghetti, he insists that they don't ... just noodles, tomatoes and herbs.

A couple minutes later, Little Guy tells me he has to throw up. I scoop him up with the napkin and race off through the crowded restaurant to the Ladies room. We stand in front of the toilet ... nothing. "Do you need to throw up? Because this is the place to do it. I'll give you some medicine when we get back to our table." He tells me he wants the medicine and isn't going to be sick. Okay, I hope so.

Back to the table. On the way back, the nice hostess asks if everything is all right. I tell her he has a food allergy and I think the marinara might have made him sick. Another waiter is standing and also insists there is no cheese in that dish.

Little Guy sits nicely at the table and takes the benadryl. My husband says he'll take him out of the restaurant, just in case. I wait and wait and wait with Big Guy for the waiter and the bill. FINALLY, I get it and we leave.

Outside, there stands my husband in a wettish shirt, "he threw up on the way out of the restaurant. All over me and him, the wall and a lady walking in." Oh no! But it is, in a perverse way, funny too. I have the mental image of my husband holding his fingers over Little Guy's mouth (as he described later to me) and the puke spewing out. Luckily (1) my husband has a similar sense of humor to mine, (2) I know the boys' allergies aren't so severe that there could be breathing issues.

Then we look at Little Guy's legs and see some hives too. He definitely had an allergic reaction to the noodles. We give him some more benadryl and drive away.

To defend the restaurant, I didn't explain what Little Guy's allergies are (but I am not totally thrilled with the waiters' snooty attitude). I realized I need to be the person who starts out the conversation "my son has a lot of food allergies ... can you help me find something he can eat?"

We did that that same night at a restaurant in San Francisco and they were VERY helpful. There was nothing on their kids' menu that Little Guy could eat, so they grilled a piece of chicken for him and gave him some french fries and steamed veggies.

I guess I haven't been that particular and stringent about it in the past because I've been lucky and his reactions aren't life threatening, but I hate to see poor Little Guy feel bad, so I need to be better about it. And reading posts like this help me to know that I'm not alone out there.

Summer time and the living is ....

2007-07-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

not really easy, is it? It is BUSY! Which I know is no excuse for not blogging. Look at No Whey Mama, she is busy and PREGNANT! Congrats!!! Not unlike me, her sister is getting married too and she threw her a shower.

Rats! That was one of my excuses for not blogging. Here they are: throwing my sis a wedding shower, super busy at work, went on vacation, had my hubby's b-day, had my b-day, trying to work out more, getting ready for Big Guy and Little Guy's b-day in July and August; joined a book club and had to read the book, created a new photo album with this etc etc. :-)

Before I show off the fun vacation photos ... I just want to say hello and thanks for your comments to some new friends ... Janine at Mom's Food Allergy Diner, AllergicMom at My Kid's Allergies, Jen Barney at A Teacher's Life, Angel at Slayer in Training, and Ash. It is really great to hear from other mom's out there. Thanks for the comments and hanging with me while I lag behind in my blogging. I give all of you a lot of credit for keeping up with your blogs!

Well, here are some fun vacation photos. We went to northern California for a family reunion (of sorts). Before all of those festivities started we went to a place called Safari West, it was AWESOME! The kids loved it.

On the airplane heading out west ... we brought Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwiches on the plane

This is where we stayed ... a REAL African tent! But it is super nice inside with a bathroom. shower, etc.

The boys LOVED the bunk beds in the tent (notice the wine glass on the bed side table, we where in wine country, for goodness sakes!).

Big Guy and Daddy get ready for the safari. We took these jeeps all around the property and got to see tons of animals.

And the coolest part was when they got to FEED the giraffe!! Which, later we found out they weren't supposed to, but ... oh well!

I have a million more pictures, but that gives you a sense of the fun we had.

Don't try this at home

2007-06-22T14:50:00.001-05:00

Don't these brownies look delicious???? NOT!!!!!!
I wanted to make brownies that everyone could eat. So, I thought I was oh-so-clever and would use regular brownie mix and just use the Ener-G egg replacer so the boys could eat them. And I was so SURE this would work, I made a double recipe so I could be sure to have enough for everyone.

Boy, was I wrong! Don't try this at home! The batter never really turned brownie/cake-like. It just sorta kept bubbling, like a weird science experiment. So, I ended up bringing Costco brownie bites to the party and gave the kids popsicles. But being so frugal, I did try the science-experiment brownies and they actually weren't bad. They were more fudge-like than brownies. Big Guy and I ate them up over the course of a week or so. I would even break them up and put them on his soy ice cream.

But, next time I want to make brownies from a mix (that the boys can eat), I will make the trek to Whole Foods and get the Cherrybrook Kitchen brownie mix. I know these are good and won't bubble mysteriously.

If you are looking for recipes from a blog for those of us dealing with food allergies, check out a blog I just found called The Food Allergy Blog ... love the picture of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets!!

Another Call

2007-06-19T15:54:00.000-05:00

10 minutes ago ...

Ring Ring

Me: Hello

Little Guy's teacher: Hi. Little Guy grabbed another child's vanilla wafer today and just ate a bite. Do you want me to give him benadryl?

Me: (inward groan) Can you get a look at the ingredients first? They might just be all sugar. If you can't get the ingredients, go ahead and give him a dose ... lord knows he gets enough of it. But be forewarned he might barf.

Little Guy's teacher: I know he did before. I'm really sorry I don't know how he grabbed that cookie so quick.

Me: It's okay. He did the same thing to me the other day. He grabbed a piece of muenster cheese from his brother. I immediately yelled at him to spit it out. So, at most he swallowed a piece the size of a half a dime. But still, 10 minutes later he barfed.

Little Guy's teacher: Okay, I'll check the box and call you back.

5 minutes later .... Ring Ring

Little Guy's teacher: So far he is okay, but the cookies did have milk in it so I gave him the benadryl.

Me: Good. Hopefully he'll be okay. I'll be there soon.

Wish me luck!!!!!

Hot + Cold = Hives

2007-06-18T19:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Father's Day! I am grateful for my kids' father. He is great with them and they adore him.

Lately it has been VERY hot and humid here so while at Grandma and Grandpa's for Father's Day, we let the boys play in the blow-up kiddie pool.

A few minutes after Little Guy came out of the pool, while I was drying him off I noticed about 4 hives on his stomach. Of course, he was itching them. Great. This happened to Big Guy last summer. When they go from really hot to pretty cold, they break out in hives! In this case, it was just a couple, so no big deal. Didn't even have to pull out old reliable Benadryl. But jeez!!!

Well, you can see they had fun splashing around, hives or no hives. Just wanted to warn folks that those of us with sensitive kids might see this kind of reaction this summer.

Bad things come in threes

2007-06-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

Ugh, Little Guy has had 3 allergic reactions to food in the last 5 days. Here's how it all went down:

Friday: he must have eaten a couple Doritos when our friends were over because next thing I know I look over and he is rubbing his eyes so hard I thought they might pop out! Next thing I know his whole left side of his face is swelling up. Give him a teaspoon of Children's Benadryl and hold a wet cloth to his eyes. After about 15 minutes he was feeling better, eating soy icecream and back to running around in the backyard.

Sunday: He eats a cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera and 4 bites later, he is scratching those eyes again! I asked to see the ingredient list and teaspoon of Benadryl and hold a wet cloth with eyes in it to his eyes. After a three hour power nap, he is fine.

Tuesday: Off he goes to day care. At 12 p.m. I get a call, "Little Guy threw up. Can you come and get him?" When I get there they are holding him and he is calm and relatively okay, but the hives came out right after I hung up with them -- on his face, wrists and stomach. They gave him a teaspoon of Benadryl and he was already better by the time I got there.

What could he have eaten???? I check with his teachers, it doesn't seem like he ate anything he shouldn't have. I checked the label on the bread (the same bread he has eaten many times there). It says in the label "may contain milk products" -- but there isn't a milk product listed it in the ingredients. I guess that was it. But as usual, it's a guessing game - a crap shoot.

Aghh! I took him home and he was fine. I called the allergist and she suggested I put him on a daily does of Claritin for a couple weeks to help "calm down his system." He is now more sensitive to any little allergen because all those histamines are coursing through his body. So things he can normally deal with are causing reactions. It makes it sorta scary to feed him!

But no calls so far from the day care. Thank goodness. I checked the menu carefully today, talked to the cook and told him (and the teacher) what Little Guy could and could not eat.

I saw this study on the Allergy Mom's blog and I agree that while the milk allergy is not "ruining our life," it does add to the daily stress of life. I am pretty used to it (in fact, yesterday the allergist told me I was handling it well and not freaking out) and luckily, don't have to deal with breathing issues, but once in a while I see a kid sit down and eat anything on the table and think, "WOW, that mom is sooo lucky!"

Fruit Salad ... Yummy (oh, you know the rest!)

2007-05-09T20:48:00.001-05:00

Getting a children's song stuck in your head is the WORST. At times, I have wanted to stick a fork in my ears to pry the annoying tune out. And the ones that are the WORST of the WORST are these guys. Honestly, I haven't had these guys and their strange music on in our own house in at least two years.

But, when Big Guy asked for this for breakfast .....

I was very proud of his healthy choice. But also, the blueberry-apple combo reminded me of this song .... aghhhhhhhhhh!!! (what is it with those phallic hats??) Regardless of that fact, his "fruit salad"of sorts was a hit and he ate it all up!

One of the two key ingredients are these from Trader Joes (our favorite balloon-giving store)

And while he snacked on that, Little Guy enjoyed some Soy Yogurt.

So, all in all, a very healthy breakfast --- hurrah!!!!!

I can eat that when I'm big

2007-05-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

Now that Big Guy has started to out grow his dairy allergy, he can eat regular (or as he says "grown up") yogurt. So this weekend, we found these at the store. We threw some in the freezer and they were a BIG hit for dessert. In fact, he ate two, at which point, the tube became a little too "frosty" for his hands, so he went and got ... well, you can see for yourself.

He at the blue one and the strawberry one. The Shrek pictures on the Go-Gurts were half the fun.

The mis-matched mittens to solve his problem with a too-cold package just kills me. I love the ingenuity!

But, of course, Little Guy also likes Shrek and also also likes yogurt. But they don't make soy yogurt in the cool Shrek go-gurts. So, he got to eat these ...

Mint-Chocolate chip soy ice cream sandwiches. Which are also pretty darn good.

And yummy.

And messy. (Note the partially eaten sandwich hanging out of his mouth so he can show me his hands)

That sandwich was gooood!!!!!!!!! I don't care if it was a soy product!

And as the title of this entry states, Little Guy took the whole thing in stride. He asked for one of the Shrek yogurts and when I said no because it would make him sick. He told me "Okay, but I can eat that when I'm big, right?" I assured him that when he is 4 years old, it is very likely that he can eat that. But I won't promise, because you just don't know.

But, just like Big Guy, he is very accepting of the fact that there are lots of foods he can't eat. He doesn't get mad or upset. (Granted, he does for lots of other things, as a normal 2 year old would.) But he is okay with this food allergies. Thank goodness!!!!!

Working with our schools

2007-05-04T08:25:00.000-05:00

I recently got an informative email from a friend of a friend -- who I "met" via this blog -- about what she is doing to prepare for kindergarten for her child. She agreed to let me publish her email so we can all learn a little more about what other moms are doing. She has a 4 year old (nearly 5 years old) daughter who is severely allergic to Peanuts and tree nuts and Eggs. She also has a 2 year old son who is allergic to Milk, Eggs, Red Meat, Cinnamon, Apples, Tomatoes and has outgrown Wheat allergy. He has a soy intolerance as well. So you can see, she has been dealing with food allergies (and lots of them) for quite a while.

I noticed your blog about kindergarten. Lauren is starting too in the
fall. I am meeting to get a 504 plan together.

You should absolutely consider this. We met with a partner at Hinshaw Culbertson who works on the school side and handles almost all the Chicagoland schools and represents them for ADA rules and IHP's and 504's. He recommended to me to do one and get it all in writing. As long as it is a "reasonable request" then they have to comply.

I am insisting on a peanut free lunch area w/ our school because they can't guarantee that someone can wipe down the tables and the handles on the doors, etc....Lauren can't be held responsible at age 5 to do this.

They MUST also train the teachers and teachers MUST administer the Epi PenJr. if need be. Teachers will try to not do this and reference a state contract, BUT the Federal law of ADA supersedes that he told me.

I meet w/ principal and teacher this Wed. at 2:30. Every school has an assigned 504 coordinator. Some schools it's just an extra role the principal or teacher takes on while others have someone who does it full time for the district.

I hope you consider this because I think a 504 plan will help the teachers take it more seriously. I told you, I got the entire downers grove park district to change their food in the vending machines to peanut free and stopped any products containing peanuts from entering any of the pre-school snacks and no more home baked foods whatsoever.

All b-day treats left in the hall to be "take homes". They also must wash their hands or use Handi-Wipes upon entering the classroom. Janitor is required to clean Lauren's classroom first w/ clean towels. I go and "spot check" this once a month as a "surprise" to make sure that's how it is happening. I also pre-approve all snacks before class. I double check the ingredients and they can only bring in foods that have no peanuts and also are safe for Lauren to eat.

I have done a lot of work in my town and honestly, it's difficult, time consuming and parents get mad. But they're only mad a month or two and now no one cares. And for first time moms, they don't' know the difference, it's the moms who has older kids and didn't have to comply. But they got over it.

I just wanted to pass this info along. Also, don't' forget, epi's can be left in classroom NOT in nurses office and can be carried on the child as well... Hope this helps.

Wow, as you can see she has been very busy and working hard to protect her child so she can be a normal kid at school (versus home school or something else). Luckily, Big Guy and Little Guy don't have such severe allergies ... they need to ingest the food they are allergic to, not just have it in the air. But, it's helpful to hear what other folks are doing for their kids.

I have to admit, I had no idea what a 504 plan is, so I went to my handy-dandy allergy-related web pages to learn more. First I went to Allergy Moms where I got linked to FAST where they had lots of links and I swear they had a good example of one of these plans, but for the life of me I can't find it. Anyway, another site defines it as:

The "504" in "504 plan" refers to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which specifies that no one with a disability can be excluded from participating in federally funded programs or activities, including elementary, secondary or post secondary schooling. "Disability" in this context refers to a "physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities." This can include physical impairments; illnesses or injuries; communicable diseases; chronic conditions like asthma, allergies and diabetes; and learning problems. A 504 plan spells out the modifications and accommodations that will be needed for these students to have an opportunity perform at the same level as their peers, and might include such things as wheelchair ramps, blood sugar monitoring, an extra set of textbooks, a peanut-free lunch environment, home instruction, or a tape recorder or keyboard for taking notes.

Good to know. Still not sure what I'll have to do regarding all this for Big Guy, but now I know more about some options.

Can he eat a hamburger bun?

2007-05-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

Little Guy started daycare this week with Big Guy. In addition to the fears that he will cry and wail and give me the deathgrip when I try to leave him there, I get to worry about if they will remember NOT to give him the cheese tortellini or the muffin at snack time.

I get to fax documents back and forth to the doctor that give them permission to stick him with the epi-pen if he eats the wrong thing and goes into anaphylaxic shock. And more documents that allow them to give him benadryl.

But I am lucky, one of the reasons we chose this center for Big Guy is how well they handle food allergies. They post a picture of him in the room with a list of his food allergies so if a new teacher comes in the room she can see immediatley what his issues are. The whole school is nut-free, so I don't have to worry about peanuts in anything. And they have special menu items for kids with food allergies or who are vegetarians. But still .... I worry.

The teacher even called me at lunch yesterday to ask, "Can he eat a hamburger bun?" I told her it should be fine, but I knew there was a teeny-tiny chance there was egg in the bun. But since 90 percent of the buns I've looked at in the past four years, don't have egg in them, I hoped it would be okay.

And really, these things can creep up at the weirdest times, when you think you have done everything right. Like when Karen's son had a reaction to a tiny bit of egg on his hands. So, if it can happen to the mom, it can happen at school when I am miles and miles away.

And my Little Guy, like Sarah's Katherine, will learn this is just part of who he is. But it is another thing to worry about. And I totally agree with Sarah when she says that caring for your child is a privilege, not a chore, but you have to admit it is one more thing to worry about.

But, really, look at that face? How could you NOT want to do whatever you need to to keep him safe.
And we all know, that every mom worries. And every mom has something to deal with with their kid. It might be lots of ear infections and having to get tubes in their ears. It might be a delay in speech. It might be a wicked temper. Everyone has something, right?

His First Jolly "Recital"

2007-05-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

Last week (I know this is late!) Big Guy sang in his first recital at school. It was very cute. Despite his often shy demeanor he told me it was fun and he liked it .... finally his drama queen tendencies he gets from me are coming in handy.

Oh and when I say "school" I really mean daycare. I think that is a term we all use to try to distance ourselves from the bad reputations that many daycare centers have had over the years. And of course, the guilt of not taking "care" of our kid ourselves in the day. So, we call it school so we feel like they are there because it will advance their education.

Anyway, the recital was a "Jolly Phonics" recital where all the kids two years old and up could show the parents the songs they are learning to learn their letters. It was fairly hilarious -- and something straight out of Parenthood -- when all the parents pulled out their cameras (and I was right there with them!) and started filming this momentous event.

And he is such a superstar, he had another recital for Catholic Pre-School of Religion where he sang more songs ... these about Jesus. This recital had snacks afterward so I made sure to grab a couple bags of Teddy Grahams in case there wasn't anything there for the boys to eat.

Two shows in one week. Wow! I think it is the beginning of a trend!!

It's a small, small (blog) world

2007-04-27T14:20:00.001-05:00

Sarah at No Whey Mama clued me in to the Vegan Lunchbox and Shmooed Food in her comment to my last post.

At the same time, my mother-in-law was busy making "muffins" with Big and Little Guy.

Not exactly their best glamour shots, but you might be able to tell that they do really enjoy these muffins. Okay, you probably can't tell from Big Guy's photo (on the right). He looks sorta confused or worried.

Grandma lets them take a cheese spreader and add their own frosting to the "muffin

So, I asked her if I could get a copy of the recipe. And she sent me an email to let me know she found it on the Vegan Lunchbox site and it was actually the Fluffy While Cupcakes recipe. The first time she made them she didn't include the coconut extract. The second time she used lemon extract because it was what she had in the cupboard.

Smart Grandma! She knew all about that great site long before I did. But isn't it cool? I found about it through my new blog friends

Speaking of new friends, check out Karen's blog, Because I Said So. Her son has egg and peanut allergies and one of the many things she blogs about is dealing with these allergies. She shares a heartbreaking story about what happened to her son when he ate a homemade cookie ... luckily it didn't result in a trip to the ER, but definitely was a difficult experience for her son.

All this talk of baking (not to mention 3 brown squishy bananas sitting on my counter) inspired me to make banana bread with the boys.

Here is the recipe ...

Banana Bread

3 large ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 egg -- I use Energ-G egg replacer
4 T.
butter or margarine
1 1/2
cup flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Heat oven to 325
Grease
9x5 loaf pan
Mash bananas, beat in sugar, egg, butter
Stir in remaining ingredients until just moistened
Pour in pan
Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean

Yummmy! Enjoy.

Filling the Pantry

2007-04-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

I am including a new section to my blog called “Filling the Pantry.” See it on the right-hand side below the blog archive.

I was inspired when I saw the “Foods” section in No Whey Mama’s blog . By the way she has posted some good-looking recipes. I want to try the Monkey cookies -- I’ll just need to use the egg replacer and skip the nuts.

Anyway, when I started this blog I wanted it to be a humorous (on the rare good day) resource for people and place to share experiences and tips. I have always said that dealing with food allergies is MUCH easier once you know how to fill your pantry with various “safe” things that your child can eat.

I have included lots of references to different products we like at our house, like here and here. But I thought listing cool products on the right would make it a lot easier for the “hordes” of people that read this blog.

When I was roaming other blogs, I did find a reference to Divvies. But I need to see them kid-tested by Big Guy and Little Guy before I will post it on the Filling the Pantry section. They look yummy. Has any one tried any of these out?

Also, let me know if you have any other good food suggestions.

Thanks!

First Step Towards Kindergarten

2007-04-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

One small step for Big Guy ... one giant leap for Mommy!

Earlier this week I signed up Big Guy for kindergarten. I absolutely think he is ready, so I'm not too freaked out about my "baby" going to school, but it is a lot to take in. And of course, on top of everything else, I need to think about the food allergy thing.

I filled out the forms and listed all of his allergies (luckily there is a looong blank line on the form!) and mentioned it to the mom-volunteer at registration. She said, "oh, they are really good here for kids with food allergies, they even have their own table in the cafeteria."

Oh.

I guess that is good news.

Right?

Because every mom dreams of having their child ostracized and forced to sit away from everyone else. Right?

There aren't enough other things that make kids feel worried and bad about themselves. When I was in 3rd grade, Adam G. teased me every day on the bus about my hairy arms and told me I looked like a gorilla. Hi ... nearly 30 years later and I still feel a teeny-tiny bit self-conscious about my arms. (Note: they are hairy, but they are blonde hairs and not too unusual.)

I digress. I KNOW it is a good thing to protect the kids. I KNOW there are kids out there who have severe food allergies. But evidently, I'm not alone in this fear. Check out this "Allergy Nation" article, especially the section on School Rules. I found it on Check My Tag. Thanks, Ria.

We have the kindergarten parent's night on April 30, so I'm sure I'll learn more there. Big Guy can, luckily, tolerate a lot more of the food that used to make him sick. He now eats regular yogurt and cheese. He knows not to eat peanuts and other nuts. And he is fine being near peanut products. For example, I eat a peanut butter sandwich right next to him while he eats the Sunbutter sandwich.

So, I don't really think he needs to be at a seperate table. Espescially because kindergarten is only 2 1/2 hours long, so the whole issue of eating in the cafeteria won't come up until first grade.

I'm sure there will be LOTS more to blog about on this subject.

Anyone else have experience with starting your allergy kid at regular "big kid" school??

Easter Bunny

2007-04-07T22:39:00.000-05:00

Whew ... I just finished putting out the spoils from the Easter Bunny. As you might imagine, there are many treats that are not available to me for my kids. No chocolate bunnies or Cadbury eggs. However, they can eat jelly beans, hurrah!

Also, there are very cute Sweet Tart eggs with stickers so you can decorate the plastic eggs with eyes, nose and a face and create your very own egg family. These treats are okay for my boys to eat. And I found new candy-coated licorice that is delish!

Evidently there are other parents who want alternatives to candy to give their kids on Easter morning ... I found a package of plastic eggs filled with various morning cartoon characters: Dora, Boots, Diego, Blue, SpongeBob and Patrick. No candy, just more little toys to litter my house.

Overall, I think the boys will be happy and have fun looking for the eggs. Frankly, any kid is happy getting CANDY before breakfast, whether it be Sweet Tarts or a gigantic chocolate bunny.

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back!

2007-04-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

I know it has been ages (in blog time, at least) since I last wrote. And just as things were sorta heating up at "He Can't Eat That!" My last post about the food allergy clothing generated several great comments. So, thank you!

And it elicited a "lurker" and fellow mom of a food allergy kid to say hello. Sarah, at "No Whey, Mama" posted a comment to let me know that she listed "He Can't Eat That!" in her blog roll. Cool!!! I think that might be a first. Hurrah! And I'd love to return the favor, so I am adding Sarah's blog to my Mommy Blogger list.

As a result, I've checked out her blog and it is a good read. I can relate to her entry about her daughter's note to anyone watching her about what she can't eat. Little Guy regularly tells me "I can't eat that Mommy. It has eggs in it and makes me sick."

And as I think I wrote earlier every once in a while we play "What will you say if someone gives you ....?" This game involves me saying to the boys, "Pretend I am a friend at school and I tell you 'Hey, try these peanut candies. They are great!'" And then, Big Guy says "No thank you. I'm allergic to peanuts." And Little Guy puts his mouth into my outstretched hand and pretends to eat up the pretend candies. And he laughs hysterically. Hmmmm. I'm not too worried about this killer behaviour because he is my little ham and comic and I'm pretty sure he is doing this for the laugh. The fact that in real situations he asks me if he can eat things leads me to believe he sorta gets it. Plus he is younger and doesn't eat food without me or one of the grandparents around.

Anyway, the point is that even at a young age, these kids get it.

Well, tomorrow is Easter. A VERY interesting holiday for kids with egg allergies. I'll be back very soon with more on how we are handling a holiday that revolves around eggs!

Food Allergy Clothing … Next Hot Item on the Runway?

2007-03-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

Hey! This blog thing is working! What do I mean? I mean that thanks to this blog I have gotten hooked into other web sites and blogs that deal with food allergies through comments like this to my posts.

And like everything on the web, once you start clicking on one site it takes you to 10 more cool related (or unrelated, but interesting) sites.

So, now I have a plethora of things to blog about, but for this post, I want to focus on the allergy clothing that is out there. Who knew? Not me!

Liz at Mom-101 showed me these items at her other site, Cool Mom Picks. And thanks to Ria for the comment that led me to her site Check My Tag where they sell clothing that alerts people to the fact that your child has a food allergy and what to do if they eat something off-limits. And then through all that clicking around, I found the patches would require that my guys wear 4 patches … isn’t that a bit much??

Anyway, for fun today I showed Big Guy the different sites and his reaction to the Allergators, “That’s silly. Alligators don’t have allergies.” And the shirt at jeeto that he liked best was the dinosaur one. Go figure!

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or experiences on using these types of clothes, please ler me know!!

"March"ing Along

2007-03-05T15:51:00.000-06:00

Wow! It is already MARCH!!!!

It has been awhile (again) since I last posted. I have to admit I am not always feeling it. I do enjoy reading other people's blogs, and I was sad to see a much more experienced blogging mom decide to take a permanent break.

But, like most mothers, I feel pulled in so many directions. It's hard to find time for this creative outlet. Mary at Mom Writes talked about slowing down in the blogging world too. And being somewhat of a perfectionist, I always think I need to have a really funny or meaningful thing to say. But that's not really true in blogland, right? I also get down by the lack of comments, but I shouldn't because I read lots of blogs and don't comment ... I think that is called "lurking."

Also, recently I was inspired by the Lazy Organizer blog and my mom, who has been organizing her whole house. So, last week I cleaned out the pantry/extra dishes/vases/etc. closet in the basement and made that look purdy. AND I cleaned out the medicine/shampoo/everything else closet in my bathroom. Those two feats took professional help (aka my mom came over and cheered me on).

But this weekend I cleaned out Little Guy's closet ... how many diaper bags do I need???? And today I cleaned out the frig ....how many jars of salsa do I need??? And I did those two cleaning jobs on my OWN! So, needless to say, keeping my home from turning into a pigsty also takes up blogging time. (Not to mention my pesky job!)

Also, I have been reading "Surrendering to Motherhood" a book my friend recommended. It really gets you thinking about what is important. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, while I am blogging here today, Big Guy was drawing. Below is his masterpiece, titled, "Bat." Enjoy!

P.S. The words at the top are a result of his interest in letters and copying the letters in the book we read, "Bats at the Beach" that sparked his interest in drawing the bat in the first place.

The Problem with Breakfast Bars

2007-02-20T21:34:00.000-06:00

I know that breakfast bars are basically a good marketing gimmick to give people cookies for breakfast -- including kids. I mean, really, how different is a breakfast bar from a fig newton?

Anyway, if you've read this blog before you know that breakfast can be a difficult meal for kids with allergies ... no eggs, etc. Like a lot of moms, I sometimes give in and let the boys eat a breakfast bar for a treat for breakfast ... usually followed by a mandatory yogurt. Up until the time we found out that Little Guy can have wheat, I gave him bars like these. But now I want to give him bars that I can get at the regular grocery store .... but, NOOOOOO! I can't find any. They all seem to have eggs or dairy or nuts in them.

Big Guy can have these because he is growing out of his dairy allergies and can tolerate some dairy in baked goods. But I can't find any regular breakfast bars that Little Guy can eat. So, guess what he can eat in the breakfast bar "cookie" aisle? Pop-tarts!!

Yep, that's it. If I feel guilt over breakfast bars, you know what I must think about pop-tarts! And yet, you also know that I hate to deny the kids things because of the allergies. So, now they get pop-tarts as a treat once in while.

So, if you have any suggestions for breakfast bars that the boys can eat, PLEASE send them my way!!

Happy Valentine’s Day Eve!

2007-02-13T19:36:00.000-06:00

Alas, our last ditch effort to get valentines last night was for naught. We ran to Walgreens and successfully found Spiderman valentines, but because we got a big snowstorm last night and all day today, I could not get Big Guy to school. Oh well, he can bring them on Thursday (the next day he goes to school).

Here I was thinking I did so good with the valentines and then I read about Mary. She writes about the cute valentines she and her daughter Emily made for her 3-year old pre-school class at Mom Writes. She also shows some of the other cute things the kids (actually the moms) in the class made – candy necklaces, homemade crayon hearts, homemade cards, etc.

I am such a loser. I was feeling good because this year I taped a mini box of Nerds to the Hallmark Spiderman valentines. (Last year the kids just got a card.)

Big Guy signed his own name and I thought I was mother of the year. NOT! I guess this will be another holiday where poor Big Guy can’t eat most of the “treats” he gets. I am just too worried about the nut possibilities with many of the candies. He is doing better eating dairy and therefore chocolate, but it seems like a lot of those candies have a high likelihood of having nut residue. Oh well, we'll see what he gets on Thursday.

While cruising the internet, I found some interesting facts (and my comments) about Valentines Day from Hallmark.

Research reveals that more than half of the U.S. population celebrates Valentine’s Day by purchasing a greeting card. And I’m sure you are loving that, Hallmark!
Romantic Valentine’s Day is a top card-buying occasion for men. Not my husband – he told me early on in our relationship “I don’t do Valentines Day” -- it is a Hallmark holiday” And the factoid above confirms it. (Seriously, I am not complaining, he does a lot of great things other times of the year when he doesn't "have to.")
Last-minute shopping is the norm for this holiday with nearly 50 percent of all Valentine’s Day cards purchased in the six days prior to Valentine’s Day. Okay, that makes me feel better about my Walgreens run.

Anyway, some more candy ideas to accompany your valentines (if you are into that) for you food allergy folks … Nerds, lollipops, skittles, those candy necklaces , gummy anything (maybe not these).

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Got Hot Chocolate?

2007-02-12T22:20:00.000-06:00

Today we got a couple inches of snow, so Big Guy, Little Guy and I went out to shovel the driveway. Due to the steep pitch of our driveway, this was QUITE a task (seriously, it feels like it is at least a 30 degree angle –though my husband is telling me it is only 15 degrees). Luckily, no one tumbled down the icy driveway.

But we did enjoy some yummy hot chocolate afterwards. See the mustaches for evidence of how much they liked it.

The boys also snacked on Dora’s legs and Boots. No, they aren’t cannibals. I found new Dora “animal crackers” which gives the boys a chance to munch on a little girl’s legs and a monkey. Why do kids get such glee out of digesting TV characters? Anyway, I just mention it here because it is another food product that doesn’t contain dairy, peanuts or eggs – hurrah!

Oh yes, the sugar is kicking in.

Whatever it is ... it's hysterical.

Come on ... wouldn't you want to be eaten up by this cutie-pie too?

Funny or Scary?

2007-01-31T19:59:00.000-06:00

Funny or scary? Creepy or cute?? You decide!!

I mean is it just me, or does it look like Homer is about to devour Little Guys hand?

Hopefully Little Guy won't come home and decide he should try to put his foot in MY mouth. (I do that enough as it is.)

Thank you, Grandpa-parazzi for sharing these photos of Little Guy from today. Only YOU would have Homer slippers and that's why we love you!

Catch-Up (not ketsup)

2007-01-28T19:32:00.000-06:00

Whew ... it has been a while since I last posted. Life has been crazy ... working lots more hours than normal, planning a big trip, trying to figure out what to do about kindergarten. pre-school and childcare this fall for Big Guy and Little Guy. Stress levels are on the rise!! So, what suffered? My blogging.

I was inspired to get back on tonight because I am vain and wanted to show my latest picture of the boys from today ....

Also, I wanted to voice my violent agreement with many of the other posts out there from other blogging moms about the Today show piece on Friday about "happy hour and playdates" Do I think mom's should be getting wasted while their kids play with other kids? No. Do I think it is okay to have a glass of wine with friends while your kids play? (If you know me at ALL, this will be a huge no-brainer) YES. If you want to read some witty posts on this check out Wonder Mom; Friday Playdate; Crib Ceiling or A Mommy Story. As my friend at work said, "I don't' see what the issue is. How is this not different from getting together for dinner with friends and while the kids play you have a beer or glass of wine?" And another point I heard was why is this so focused on moms? Do you think dads don't get together and while the kids play, they watch the game and have a beer?

Well, anyway, enough of that. As part of my catching up, I finally posted my new year's eve photos to that post ... at least I got it done this month!

I am also happy to report that because of this blog I got to know another mom through email who just found out her son has peanut allergies. I'll blog more on that when I can be more thoughtful.

For now, I will just say GO BEARS !!!!!

And if you want some fun, get-in-the spirit You Tube videos, check out the Lyric Opera singer or some good old-fashioned Superbowl Shuffle knock-offs with Da Superfan Shuffle.

One more photo ...this guy is not in the video, but he could be, right???

Food Allergies -- Science or Voodoo?

2007-01-15T22:37:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I think the whole food allergy thing is part voo-doo because we don't know where it came from or even exactly how to handle it. There are so many different ideas on how to "treat" them. For example, this article was recently published that reports on an experimental study where they fed a person with a food allergy small amounts of the food the person is allergic to. This is the OPPOSITE approach that is normally taken--which is to completely avoid the allergen.

Because food allergies can be so confusing and so damn scary, I signed my family up to participate in the Children's Memorial Food Allergy study. The four-year, $5.5 million research initiative will look at the impact of environmental and genetic factors on children who suffer with food allergies.

It took about half a day to get to the hospital and have the kids, myself and my husband tested. We all had to get blood drawn and get skin prick tests ... that part sucked, but overall it wasn't bad. (And in fact, the tests alerted us to the fact that Little Guy had grown out of his wheat allergy ... hallelujah!) We recently got a letter updating us on the study and asking us to talk to family and friends and see if they might participate. It seems they especially need families who don't have food allergies to serve as the control group. So, if you are interested in helping the medical community figure out this whole food allergy thang, check out this site.

If you participate, we can compare our medical test scores ... cool!

Picture This

2007-01-04T16:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, I am finally succumbing to posting pictures of Big Guy and Little Guy on my blog.

I hadn't done so up until now because I was worried about security issues, but after seeing adorable pictures on other blogs, such as Christina's daughter at A Mommy Story or pictures of this cutie-pie at Mommy Off the Record, I can't resist. It is part of the Mommy-DNA to want to show off pictures of your kids, so why not do so on my blog, right?

So, here is the blog premier of my boys!!!! (Trumpets, please)

Below is Big Guy indulging (can a four-year old indulge?) in a soy ice cream cone. Get it! It's yummy.

And here is Little Guy slurping up a rainbow ice cone (another good non-dairy option for you when you are out, like we were at the zoo, where they don't have soy desserts).

And yes, these photos are about 6 months old now. (No more shorts for us for a while.)

So, those are my boys. Most of the time they are sweet and lovable, other times I refer to them as the hooligans. For better or worse, expect to see more of them here!

Kiddie New Year's Eve

2007-01-01T16:57:00.000-06:00

We are finally recovering from last night. Ten years ago that would have meant that I was up all night "enjoying" some beverages on new year's eve, today it means a slightly different thing.

Don't get me wrong, we still enjoyed some beverages (we tried mojitos, they were yummy), but having two kids at a friend's house with their two kids and another mom with her two kids and a couple with their two (are you keeping up?) makes for a very different new year's eve than the pre-kids kind. (For the record, this totals 8 kids under the age of 4 1/2 years old.) t was still lots of fun, just very different.

We let the kids ring in the new year with plastic glasses of sparkling apple juice and run around with noisemakers at about 8:30 p.m. The kids did great. They all played well and had a blast.

The part about the whole night that wiped me out was the sleepover part of it all. We didn't want to drive on new year's because of all the crazy people on the road, so we had one big sleepover. Unfortunately my two guys didn't take so well to this. Big Guy was so excited to sleep in his new spiderman sleeping bag, but when the time came to really use it and sleep, he couldn't do it. He finally fell asleep in my friend's bed watching Ice Age on the portable DVD at a LATE hour. Little Guy actually went down with no fuss (a miracle for him), but woke up about 2:30 a.m. freaked out because he was in a new place. We had to calm him down without waking the rest of the herd, I mean kids. At 6 a.m., Big Guy woke up to go to the bathroom and freaked out because he was overtired and in a new place. I had to hustle him to the basement so he wouldn't freak out. VERY TIRING. But, we had a great group nap from 11:30 to 1:30 today, so we are all feeling better.

And the bottomline is that, overall, the kids had a great time, and so did the grown-ups. By the way, couple random things related to all this:

One of my resolutions is to blog more

The kids enjoyed Orville Redenbacher's Kettle Korn in the cool new mini-bag (perfect size for kids) at the party -- dairy-free and yummy!

I planned on posting photos from last night, but realized I left my digital camera at my friend's house. (I told you we were tired!) I'll add them to this post later in the week. Update: 1/28/07 -- Finally added the photos!!

So, Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

He Can’t Eat WHAT????

2006-12-29T18:33:00.000-06:00

Boy, just when you start to feel comfortable and confident with the whole food allergy thing for your kids … you get the mystery reaction. (Frankly, I think that is a common occurrence for all parents, just insert a different issue for “food allergy” and I think most parents can relate.)

Here is what happened. We sailed through the holidays (from a food-allergy perspective, not from a “oh my God, I have a lot to do” perspective). Last night, we went over to my in-laws house for dinner and to visit with some out-of-town relatives. We were all enjoying ourselves when I look over and see Big Guy rubbing his eyes a lot while he is playing.

“Come over here, Big Guy. What’s with your eyes?” I asked. “I don’t know, but they really itch, Mommy,” he answered back. When he moved his hands away so I could see his eyes, I could see they were starting to get swollen, almost like he had hives underneath his lower lid. “What in the HELL is that????” I thought to myself. (No! I did not say that out loud to Big Guy.) We hightailed it into the kitchen to show Grandma J and she immediately grabbed the children’s benadryl from the cupboard. We talked him into talking a teaspoon and I cuddled with him in a dark bedroom. He kept saying the light hurt his eyes.

Immediately my mind is trying to figure out what in the world caused this reaction—dinner consisted of chicken, rice, and broccoli. He had a fig Newton after dinner and I let him have three teeny bites of a star sugar cookie my mother-in-law got from some other relatives. Was it the sugar cookie? When I gave it to him I knew there was a good chance there was butter in it, but he has been doing very good tolerating some dairy.

My husband came to check on us and asked what I fed him. When I told him I gave Big Guy a couple small bites of the star cookie, he pointed out that it could have had nuts in it.

Wow, that hadn’t occurred to me. TO ME! I am the ever-vigilant one with these food allergies. I am the one person in the WHOLE WORLD who tries to think of every possible “forbidden” thing that might be in a piece of food they want to eat. But, honestly, it had not entered my head that there might be nuts in these cut-out, tasted like butter/sugar cookies.

And at the same time, my mind is racing watching and listening to Big Guy to make sure his breathing has not been affected. And I am trying to remember where I left the epipen (in my purse, where it ALWAYS is) in case I need to use it. Luckily, his reaction to who-knows-what didn’t get any worse and the wonderful benadryl did the trick.

Overall, he is okay. But this kind of thing makes me crazy. I want to know what evil villain did this to my baby!!!! But, I probably won’t know for sure. That is one of the frustrating and scary things about food allergies.

So, for anyone out there is dealing with food allergies, actually for any parent: my one piece of advice, make sure you have children’s benadryl! And for those with food allergies, make sure you have the epipen. Thankfully I didn’t have to use it, but I was able to deal with the whole situation better because I knew that, if need be, I could use it and possibly save my child’s life.

Anyone else have a mystery reaction recently???

Disclaimer – Part 2

2006-12-22T22:26:00.000-06:00

When I first started this blog, I put out a disclaimer to warn parents to use their own judgment regarding what to feed their children with food allergies and, certainly, not to take my suggestions as the final word.

As we are about to celebrate Christmas and enjoy time with family, I want to make another disclaimer. I don’t want any one who reads this blog to think that I don’t fiercely love my kids and appreciate them to pieces. I don’t want my blog posts to come across like whining and wishing my kids were different. They are who they are … food allergies and all … and I love them for it.

I do realize that I am truly blessed to have these healthy and happy kids in my life. I do know that there are millions of couples who can’t conceive or who are dealing with much, much more severe health issues than I do. In the big picture, these food allergies are just a small teeny bump in the road.

This blog is not intended to complain and say “woe is me,” rather it is meant to be a place to share experiences and products that have worked for me and my boys. I have found it really helpful to talk to other parents who have gone through similar experiences and I thought this blog might be a new place to meet other people who can share.

And so, I hope every one who does read this blog appreciates the blessings in their life this holiday season, as I do. And appreciates the spirit in which I write these posts.

… and now, back to wrapping presents for Big Guy and Little Guy!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies He CAN Eat

2006-12-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, I can’t give my kids many of my favorite Christmas cookies from when I was a kid … peanut butter kisses, gingerbread cookies, fudge, or sugar cookies. Most of the cookie recipes call for an egg or two (or evaporated milk or cream cheese). I could use the Ener-G egg replacer, but for some reason I haven’t used it much.

But I am happy to say that I do have some yummy recipes to share with you. Big Guy, Little Guy and I made both of these cookies this weekend. (Thanks to my sister-in-law for the butterscotch shortbread recipe! We’ve been enjoying it for 2 years now.)

Butterscotch Shortbread

½ cup margarine, softened
½ cup shortening
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter, shortening and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour and salt. (Dough will be dry and crumbly; use hands to mix completely.)

Roll dough into rectangle, 15 X 7 inches, on lightly floured surface. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares, or use cookie cutters to make shapes. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 25 minutes or until set. (These cookies brown very little, and the shape does not change.) Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Note: I don't have the patience to frost and decorate these after dealing with all the work of cut-outs, so I sprinkle green and red sprinkles on them before they go in the oven.

The next recipe, Holiday Oatmeal Cookie Brittle, was new to me. I found it on the Quaker Oats Web site when I was looking for info for my last blog entry, Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips (which happen to be dairy-free). I did use white chocolate chips for the marble effect, even though they contain some milk. I know Big Guy can tolerate that little bit of milk and I decided to give it a try for Little Guy. There are so few white chocolate chips in it and I don’t expect Little Guy to be eating large amounts of these treats.

(That is the strange thing about food allergies. Every person is so unique. It’s not always black and white … although for some people, it is black and white—any bit of the allergen can have severe effects.)

Another idea to make these cookies look fancy/Christmasy if you want or need to skip the white chocolate chips is to use other decorations, such as red and green sprinkles. The chocolate chips are really the main source of sweetness.

Holiday Oatmeal Cookie Brittle

2 cups Quaker oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces (I used Miracle Margarine)
1 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (12 oz.) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup white chocolate pieces

Edible gold dust (optional) (No, I did not use this stuff.)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
2. In large bowl, combine oats, flour and baking powder. Add butter. Beat on low to medium speed of electric mixer until crumbly. Add powdered sugar, brown sugar, water and vanilla. Beat on low speed until dough forms.
3. Divide dough in half. Place one-half on one cookie sheet; flatten with lightly floured hands into 13 x 9-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Repeat using remaining dough and second cookie sheet. (The Boys LOVED this part!!)
4. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, rotating cookie sheets after 12 minutes. Remove cookie sheets to wire racks.
5. Sprinkle 1 cup dark chocolate pieces evenly over each large, warm cookie. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes. With spatula or knife, spread softened chocolate evenly over cookies. Sprinkle white chocolate pieces evenly over smooth chocolate on both cookies; let stand 2 to 3 minutes. With the tip of a knife, run through the white chocolate pieces, dragging them into the dark chocolate, making marble-like streaks. Sprinkle with gold dust, if desired. Cool completely. (Refrigerate 15 minutes to set chocolate, if necessary.)
6. Remove large cookies from cookie sheet and peel off foil. Break each into 24 pieces. Store tightly covered in a cool place.

I will stay on the look-out for Christmas cookie recipes that are okay for people who allergic to dairy, egg, peanut and tree nuts, but I’d also love to know if any of you have any recipes to share!!!

Eatmeal

2006-12-11T20:08:00.000-06:00

In my last post, Brunch Issues, I lamented about the challenges of going out for breakfast food with the boys. But, I neglected to sing the praises for oatmeal—or eatmeal, as Little Guy calls it—a great breakfast option for kids with dairy, egg, nut and wheat allergies.

We eat Quaker Instant Oatmeal at home … usually Maple & Brown Sugar or Apple Cinnamon. It’s filling, low fat and contains protein. Quaker also says it helps remove cholesterol. I don't know if a four year old and two year old have many cholesterol issues, but hey, can't hurt. And the kids eat it up! But a word of caution regarding the various kinds of Quaker oatmeal … check the ingredient label. Some of them do contain dairy, so look carefully.

When you are out at a restaurant, you can usually get it plain with just a side of brown sugar or raisins. Be sure to ask for it plain or they might bring it out with milk and butter on it.

Hope you, too, can enjoy a nice bowl of warm “eatmeal” on a cold wintry day!

Brunch Issues

2006-12-06T20:50:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we went to my niece's baptism. (I am the godmother ... my first time!) The baptism was really nice and Baby Z behaved like an angel—I really think that baptismal water is extra special!

After the baptism, we all went to a restaurant for brunch. Hmmm, brunch for Big Guy and Little Guy .... okay. You see, breakfast can be a tough meal when you have kids with dairy and egg allergies (and don’t even get me started on how much harder it was when Little Guy had the wheat allergy). It's manageable at home, but harder at a restaurant where you can't ensure they use Miracle Margarine on the toast. (Or for that matter, you can’t ensure the bread doesn’t have milk in it.)

Please note: my sister-in-law was great and warned me that there might not be much the boys could eat there. Giving me the heads up helps tremendously. Like the boy scouts say “be prepared!”

I’m not here to whine about what the kids can’t eat, but I do want to address the breakfast issue because I’ve had friends with kids with egg allergies ask for ideas on what to feed them.

So, let’s look at the popular kid foods at a breakfast place and whether my boys can enjoy them:

Pancakes – nope
Scrambled eggs—no
Waffles – nuh-uh
French toast-- not going to happen (unless I want to use the epipen)

What can they eat??? Granted, not a whole lot at a breakfast place, but there are some options. Breakfast meats are a wonderful option. We ordered a side of bacon and a side of sausage. The boys ate it UP! Bring it.

Before the pork extravaganza was set down in front of them, they polished off the fruit plate. Cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries (for Big Guy, not Little Guy), blueberries, mango, and even pomegranate seeds! (They didn’t have bagels at this restaurant, but a plain bagel is almost always okay for egg and dairy allergies—not wheat allergies.)

So, they did fine at the baptism brunch. Plus, Little Guy hasn’t grown out of his “not very interested in eating anything” phase, so the fact that most of the menu was off limits to him wasn’t much of an issue.

Would I make going out to breakfast a regular tradition for my boys? Ummm, no. There are just too many things on the menu they can’t eat. But, it was definitely do-able for a special occasion, like this one.

I’ll save my suggestions for breakfast foods at home for another day. Anyone have any ideas for what else to order at the breakfast joint?

I’m FAMOUS – at least in the blog-o-sphere

2006-12-01T16:17:00.000-06:00

Today, my blog was featured as the cooking blog of the week on Ann-Marie’s blog, This Mama Cooks! Anne-Marie writes several blogs, so I am thrilled that she thought enough of mine to feature it on her blog.

I first found one of Anne-Marie’s other blogs, A Readable Feast, when I was searching for an egg-less meatloaf recipe.

I am learning that writing a blog takes a lot of patience – which if you ask my friends, I don’t have a lot of. I tell people: I had no patience before I had my kids and now all my patience goes to them. But it takes time for people to discover your blog. And so I am so grateful that Anne-Marie chose to highlight my blog. I really think it will help get the word out to other moms who are dealing with food allergies (or anyone else, for that matter).

Since it is after 4 p.m. here I better start thinking about what to make for dinner … not my favorite subject. Maybe I can go to This Mama Cooks! for some inspiration!!

Chocolate Overload

2006-12-01T14:56:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I read a fun blog post from Susan at Friday Playdate about her family's snow day. In it she talked about the baking she did (amongst other things) while she and her boys were holed up in the house. Her post inspired me to bake today after we got 8-12 inches of snow.

Of course, she was very healthy and made muffins, while I made chocolate chip cookies. And not just one kind ... we made one batch of Cherrybrook Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Cookies which are egg, dairy and peanut-free and then of course (since I already had the cookie pans out and the oven on) we made my hubby's favorite: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I am eating one right now and they are delish!

I discovered the Cherrybrook Kitchen line about a year and a half ago. They also make mixes for chocolate cake, yellow cake and brownies. I haven't tried the brownies yet. The cake mix has been used several times and for both boys' birthday cakes.

And being the chocoholic that I am (and instilling into my boys), we also made hot chocolate. It's a must-have after they came in half-frozen from playing in the snow.

For a long time, I assumed hot chocolate would be off limits for them, but my friend, Amy, found a non-dairy hot cocoa mix -- Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa. I just add a couple tablespoons into a cup of soy milk and throw it in the microwave for 1 minute. This makes it luke warm which is perfect for a 2-year old and a 4-year old.

So, I think we now have enough treats in the house for the whole family. Hope you and your family enjoy your snow day ... whenever it happens!

Thanks, Jolly Green Giant

2006-11-29T20:14:00.000-06:00

After I posted my entry yesterday about not knowing what the heck to make for dinner, I reached into the tried-and-true freezer for the magical answer. And out came .... ho, ho, ho, (no, not Santa), Green Giant! (does this reference to a jingle ring a bell?)

There was a bag of Green Giant "Create a Meal Stir Fry - Teriyaki" that I bought a while back. Hurrah! I had two chicken breasts I cooked the night before, so I sliced those up and threw them in the pan with the bounty from my saviour the Giant. I also made a batch of rice.

Overall, it was pretty good. The veggies were a little on the mushy side, but okay. Big Guy really liked it. He kept saying, "Mommy, this dinner you made is really good!"

Definitely not gourmet, or something I'd want to eat every night, but it was something everyone in the fam could eat ... no egg, dairy or nuts in it. And it was easy, which I guess is the whole point of bags of dinner like this.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get more inspired and organized for making dinner, please pass it on!!

What's for Dinner?

2006-11-28T17:08:00.000-06:00

Seriously, I think this is one of the most irritating questions! I HATE having to figure out what to cook for dinner! Hate. It!

My mom used to complain about this too and I never understood why ... until I became a mom. It doesn't matter if I am home all day or at work, either way I don't know what to make. I am not much of a cook so that doesn't help. And of course (just to show some connection to the theme of this blog) my options are a bit limited because of the boys' food allergies. But really, that is a weak excuse. Even if they didn't have the allergies, I would dread this part of the day.

Seriously (to quote Grey's), I rejoice and feel such sweet relief when I know I don't have to worry about what to make for dinner. I am in such awe (and also a little bit of disgust) at the people who can plan their menus for the whole week.

And if you notice when I write my blog posts, it is often the time I should be cooking dinner. I am such a procrastinator. Bad, bad mommy. June Cleaver I am NOT!!!

Okay, I really have to go and find something for my poor family to eat. More to come on what they get!

Waffles and more ...

2006-11-27T15:11:00.000-06:00

First of all ... I know I am slowing down in posting on my blog. I look at other people's blogs and see how often they post ... WOW! They post every day. I give them a lot of credit. I can't keep up with it that often. I enjoy posting, but every day is too much for me. And I have been reading lots of blogs. It is unbelievable how many are out there ... very overwhelming!

Anyway, we had a busy busy weekend so I haven't been able to blog. Of course the weekend revolved around eating ... we ate a lot of turkey, mashed potatoes (with Miracle Margarine and soy milk), etc. etc. We also saw a lot of friends and I thought it would be interesting to see what the boys ate (and what they couldn't) during the holiday weekend. If your kids have food allergies, you know that people are always wondering what they actually can eat ... here is a sampling.

Wednesday -- dinner with friends and we ordered pizza ... Big Guy can tolerate more milk these days (hurrah!) so he got to eat a couple slices. Little Guy can't eat pizza so I brought leftover Meatcakes for him.

Thursday -- breakfast with friends ... homemade waffles!!! I learned something new--you can make Bisquick waffles with just milk, no eggs!!!! I have stayed away from making pancakes and waffles because of the need to include eggs. But my friend pointed out that the package says "egg optional." We made them with soy milk I had brought over and they were delicious. The kids never even missed the egg.

The big dinner ... the boys ate turkey, mashed potatoes, beans. Neither of them could eat the rolls (they had eggs in them), but they were okay with that and they could eat the yummy cran-apple pie. It was from Market Day.

Friday -- post-Thanksgiving casual dinner with my brother and his family. My hubby made hand-ground hamburgers. They were delicious and everyone could eat them up. We also had waffle fries and green beans. The boys could eat it all!!

Saturday -- more leftovers ... nothing too exciting.

Sunday -- Big Guy and I went to see Happy Feet and since he is able to tolerate some dairy, he could have buttered popcorn.

Dinner at friends while watching the Bears game -- most of the kids had chicken nuggets. It can be tricky to find nuggets that don't have any dairy or egg, so I brought dino nuggets from the 3 lb. bag I got at Costco. Turned out Little Guy preferred the Beef Bourguignon (good taste for a two-year old) that the adults ate. (Thanks to hubby for making it!)

So, let's sum it up: Did I have to make allowances for the kids? Yes. Were they able to eat every single thing their friends ate? No. Did they care? No. Did it add a lot of extra stress to my life? No.

I was more stressed out by the Bears loss, figuring out what to bring as an appetizer Thursday and Little Guy's intense interest in his binky (aka pacifier).

Meatcakes

2006-11-20T19:52:00.000-06:00

Some days are just better than others. It's a fact of life. It seems like usually you notice it when it is a bad day ..."oh great, it's going to be one of those days," you mutter to yourself. Or "could this day get any worse?" And while you take note of the spectacular days ... vacation days or holidays (although sometimes those are more stressful than fun) ... it's nice to appreciate a regular ol' nice day.

I am lucky. That is the kind of day I had today. And since it is only 3 days before Thanksgiving, I am feeling especially thankful for today. It wasn't a spectacular day, but a lot of little nice things happened today.

I figured out early in the day what to make for dinner (yummy and fun individual muffin-size meatloaves which were deemed "meatcakes" by Big Guy ... think ground beef cupcakes) which was HUGE for me. I love not having that niggling feeling in the back of my head all day wondering what I'll do for dinner that night. And they were delicious! I used one of the flavored Stove Top Stuffings (mushroom and onion) and it was easy and really tasty.

I got a chance to exercise this morning while watching the last half of Oprah on the Grey's Anatomy set. And while I did that Big Guy and Little Guy played well together. They both ate a decent breakfast. These are all good things.

Later in the day we went to the library. I LOVE the library. I love all the books that I can choose from and if I don't really like one, I can return it--no harm, no foul. I don't lose any money. It's great! I filled the canvas bag with so many books I had to put some back. I can just go crazy there ... books seem to fly off the shelf into my hands. And I'm talking about both children's books and adult books. Even the librarian who checked me out commented on the number of books I had (hence, putting some back).

Oh, and the reason I could do all this on a Monday is because I am LUCKY and have a great boss and work for a great company that lets me work 3 days a week. So, Mondays are one of my days with the boys. A day I can slow down and hang out with them ... go to the library and make meatcakes (with ketchup "frosting.")

Enjoy the little things or as they said "long ago" ... Don't Worry, Be Happy.

You're Giving Him That?!?

2006-11-17T13:14:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week I saw a great post called The SanctiMommy about how other mothers judge you as a mom. Give it a read ... it might just hit a nerve. I was thinking about this phenomenon in the context of raising the kids with food allergies and it has made for some interesting circumstances.

On the one hand, there is the time I was giving Little Guy potato chips at the grocery store in order to keep him occupied, happy and less likely to pull the displays down. Out of the corner of my eye I see another mom looking at me with that face. The face that so obviously says "how can she give him fatty potato chips? can't she at least give him pretzels?" I so wanted to slap her upside the head and say "NO, I cannot give him pretzels since he is allergic to wheat!" But in order to avoid jail time, I chose to ignore her. I was unfairly hit with the judgement of the SanctiMommy.

On the other hand, one day I was dropping Big Guy off at preschool and, following my usual routine, I checked with the teacher to see what the other parent brought in for snack that day for all the kids. I had to do this to see if Big Guy could eat it ... much of the time he could not, so the teacher would give him one of the snacks I brought in earlier in the year. No one made a big deal about it, he just ate something else.

On this day, I was told that the snack was mini-Twix bars. I quietly told the teacher not to give it to Big Guy and instead give him a bag of Teddy Grahams. Then I overheard the mom who brought the snack tell her husband, "She won't let her son eat our snack! She thinks its not healthy enough." So she thought I was being a SanctiMommy and wouldn't loosen up and let my son eat a candy for snack. Umm, NO! He is allergic to milk and can't eat your candy. I wish he could, but he can't. Of course, I did not go up to her and tell her. Maybe I should have. Instead I was just pissed.

In both situations people judged my actions with my kids based on their assumptions. They didn't know me or my kids. They thought they knew what I should be doing, but they had no clue. For me, it all goes back to the old cliches ... "don't judge a book by its cover" or the one about walking a mile in someone else's shoes. I guess they are cliches because they are so true (and I think even saying that is a cliche!)

In the end, we are all trying to do the best we can with our kids. I wish we could try to be more supportive of each other rather than judgmental.

Okay, I am done with my rant/soapbox diatribe.

He Won't Eat That

2006-11-13T18:52:00.000-06:00

Little Guy is driving me crazy!! Other moms probably can think of a thousand reasons why I would say that. And my reason is no different than any other mom's. He is two years old and won't sit still to eat a meal.

I am so tired of cajoling and negotiating with him to eat his meal ... breakfast, lunch or dinner. Just. eat. your. food! I know this is standard for a two-year old, but that doesn't make it less tiring.

Today, I discovered a new mommy blog "A Readable Feast" from a mom who writes about cooking and children's books. I found her when I was looking for a recipe for eggless meatloaf. Most recipes for meatloaf use egg to hold it together and since both my boys are allergic to eggs, I had to search the internet for a recipe. Thank goodness for the internet! She also writes another blog (who has the time to write this many blogs?!?) that looks interesting called "This Mama Cooks." It's fun to find new blogs.

Anyway, back to Little Guy and the lack of interest in eating. This is one issue that really doesn't have much to do with the food allergies ... only that it is extra frustrating when I try to cook something he can eat and then he refuses. But I'm sure all moms can relate and if you have any suggestions ... fire away!

Well, I guess this is just one more example of why they call it the Terrible Twos.

By the way, I ended up making a "hamburger stew" with ground beef and potatoes--a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. It was pretty good ... perfect comfort food for a cold, wet day ... at least for those of us who would eat it!

Creatures of Habit

2006-11-09T12:26:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the blog, many of my friends have been asking me how Little Guy likes wheat since we got the go-ahead to add that to his diet from our allergist (see he CAN eat that!!!)

I think everyone (including myself) imagined that we would be stuffing him with wheat products all day long. But, in reality, old habits die hard and I haven't changed his diet too much.

PLUS, I have all those expensive non-wheat items to finish up. (No way am I throwing them out ... he WILL eat them.) For example, we found the Ener-G pretzels pretty good ... although my husband thinks they taste like stale pretzels, Little Guy LOVED them. And we have to finish off all the wheat-free pasta and cookies and the Nature's Choice breakfast bar s, etc. etc.

I will say those breakfast bars must have been pretty darn good because when Little Guy was learning to talk, "Co-Co" was one of his first words (which actually says a lot about me as a mom). Co-Co meant cookie and he would stand under the cabinet where we kept them and point to cabinet shouting "Co-Co, Co-Co, Co-Co!" until we got him one.

Another reason I haven't given him a lot of wheat products is because most of the bread we currently have in the 'frig has a small amount of whey, casein or milk in it (whey and casein are products of milk). Big Guy can now tolerate that small amount in his bread, but I've got to get new bread for Little Guy .... I really have to do that.

It would probably also be good to get a few other grocery items since our refrigerator looks barren ... one sad yogurt, three sips of milk that are about to go bad, a bruised apple and some wilting broccoli. I'm a GREAT mom.

Anyway, I'll let you know what bread I find that has wheat but none of the other "taboo" ingredients.

P.S. Thanks to my loyal readers, Alma and Lynn, who encourage me to keep up this blog. :-)

The Pseudo Vegetarian

2006-11-07T19:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, today I got an email from Big Guy's day care center (where he goes two days a week) with tips on what peanut-free snacks parents can bring in. The center is peanut-free so they are trying to help people out with some ideas because (apparently) some people can't exist without those pesky legumes.

Before I share the list (which by the way, about 50 percent of the things on it my kids can't eat because of all their other allergies ... sigh), I want to share a funny story about what recently happened to him at his day care as a result of his allergies.

At this day care they feed him lunch and a snack. I usually ask Big Guy what he ate for lunch and he was often telling me "I had beans and a tortilla, mommy. But everyone else had chicken." Oooo-kay, I thought. I guessed the chicken was breaded and had egg in it so they didn't give it to him.

After a couple weeks of this, the teacher asked me, "Can he eat chicken? I'm just wondering because the kitchen doesn't give it to him, but I gave him some because I thought he could eat it." I asked her if it was breaded. "Nope, just grilled chicken," she answered.

Well, we figured out that the kitchen misread his card about his food restrictions and thought he was a VEGETARIAN! And so all he got were beans!!!! Jeez! Poor kid already can't eat a lot of the things the other kids eat and now he can't eat meat either AND he is loaded up with the toot food!

So, a big thanks to the teacher who caught it and helped fix the mistaken identity Big Guy had with the day care kitchen.

Anyway, back to the list of peanut-free snacks for those who are lucky enough to only have ONE food allergy ....

Cereal/Bars:

General Mills

Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Kix, Berry Berry Kix
Lucky Charms
Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex
Trix
Kellogg’s

Cereals: Corn Pops, Crispix, Fruit Loops, Post Alpha Bits, Quaker Cap ‘N Crunch

Nutri-Grain: Apple, Blueberry, Raspberry
Nutri-Grain Twist: Banana & Strawberry, Strawberries & Cream

Post
Honey Combs

Cheese/Dairy:
Sargento
Mootown Snacks- Cheeze & Pretzels, Cheeze & Crackers, Cheeze & Sticks

Yogurt
Go-Gurt, Drinkables

Other Cheeses -- Sliced, cubed, shredded, string cheese, cream cheese, spreads, dips

Crackers/Chips/Cookies:

Austin
Zoo Animal Crackers
Betty Crocker
Cinnamon Graham Cookies
Dunk Aroos
Sprinkled Vanilla Frosting

Frito Lay

Cheetos- Crunch, Zigzag, Puffs
Rold Gold Pretzels
Sun Chips- Original, Sour Cream, Cheddar, Classic, Flavored

General Mills

Bugles- Original
Keebler
Bite Size Snackin Grahams- Cinnamon, Chocolate
Elf Grahams- Honey, Cinnamon
Fudge Stripes Shortbread Cookies
Golden Vanilla Wafers
Grasshopper Mint Cookies
New Rainbow Vanilla Wafers
Munch’ems- Sour Cream & Onion, Original, Ranch, Cheddar
Snack Stix
Sugar Wafers
Toasteds- Wheat, Buttercrisp
Town House Classic Crackers
Wheatables- Original, Honey Wheat, Seven Grain

Kraft

Handi-Snacks- Cheez ‘N Crackers, Apple Dippers, Cheez ‘N Pretzels
Handi-Snacks Teddy Grahams- Honey, Chocolate

Nabisco

Air Crisps
Potato- Sour Cream & Onion, Ranch, Barbeque, Cheddar
Pretzel- Original
Ritz- Original
Wheat Thins- Original, Ranch
Barnum Animal Crackers
Cheddar Sportz
Cheese Nips
Dizzy Grizzlies- Vanilla Frosted, Chocolate Frosted
Graham Crackers- Honey Maid, Cinnamon, Chocolate
Newtons- Fig, Cobblers, Raspberry, Apple
Ritz Crackers- Original
Saltine Crackers
Teddy Cheddy
Teddy Grahams- Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate, Honey
Triscuits, Triscuit Thin Crisps
Wheat Thins
Old Dutch
Baked Cheez Curls

Chips

Crunchy Curls
Pretzels
Pepperidge Farm
Butter Thins
Goldfish- any flavor
Goldfish Graham Snacks- Honey, Cinnamon, Golden
Pringles - Any Flavor
Sunshine
Big Cheez-It
Cheez It- Regular, Reduced Fat
Hi Ho Crackers- Regular, Reduced Fat

Fruit:

Fresh-Apples, Bananas, Oranges
Packaged Fruit- Apple Sauce, Apple Sauce Mix, Diced Pears, Peaches, Raisins, Mandarin Oranges
Fruit Snacks- Fruit Roll Ups, Fruit by the Foot, Fun Fruit

Jell-O and Pudding Snacks:

Popcorn:

Barrel O’Fun
Corn Pops (No Kernels)
Frito Lay
Cheddar Cheese
Chester’s Popcorn Butter
Old Dutch Popcorn
Carmel PuffCorns, Cheddar, White, White Cheddar

Vegetables:
Fresh Carrot Sticks, Celery Sticks

Special Treats:
Cakes/Cupcakes
Cub Foods Bakery, Kowalski’s Bakery, Sam’s Club Bakery White, Chocolate, Marble Cakes

Candy:
Air Heads
Rolos
Dum Dum Pops
Runts
Gum Drops
Shock Tarts
Hershey Kisses-Milk Chocolate, Extra Creamy
Sixlets
Jolly Ranchers
Skittles
Junior Mints
Smarties
Life Savers
Spree
Lollipops
Starburst
Mike & Ikes
Sugar Babies
Milk Duds
Sweet Tarts
Nerds
Tootsie Pops
Oompas
Tootsie Rolls
Ring Pops
Twizzlers

Cookies/Donuts:

Cub Foods Bakery
Donuts/Donut Holes- Glazed, Powdered Sugar, Sugar
Sugar Cookies
Kowalski’s Bakery
Iced Sugar Cookies
Donut Holes- Plain, Glazed

IceCream/Frozen Treats:

Edy’s
Whole Fruit Bars
FlaVorice- Freezies
Good Humor Popsicles
Sherbet Cyclone
Icee- Squeeze up tubes
Italian Ice

Kemps

Fudge Bars- Regular and Junior Size
Ice Cream Bars
Ice Cream Cups
Ice Cream Sandwiches- Regular, Mint Chocolate Chip
Twin Pops- Any Flavor
What’s Up Orange Sherbet Treats
Klondike
Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

Minute Maid

Soft Frozen Lemonade
Polar Express
Ice Cream Sandwiches

Faux-giving

2006-11-06T20:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, my family and I had Faux-giving ... Fake Thanksgiving ... because my parents will be out of the country on the real Thanksgiving. The family event consisted of myself, hubby and the two boys; my brother and his wife and their two young'ins; and my sister and her boyfriend.

One of the things that really struck me about this year's family gathering (other than the fact that all four kids were actually old enough to play on their own for longer than 5 minutes before they started wreaking havoc) was how easy it was to feed the kids. All the food allergies, pretty much a non-issue.

I attribute this phenomenon to the fact that my family know "the products." My mom doesn't even give it a second thought when she makes the mashed potatoes ... she uses the Miracle Margarine (along with soy milk). And she uses it in the carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes.

On a related note, Little Guy LOVED the sweet potatoes (probably because they are soaked in margarine and brown sugar). But jeez, he could not get enough of those. I was seriously afraid to give him too many, I mean, would he turn orange??? He could be the orange version of Violet Beauregarde.

Anyway, my mom also bought soy ice cream for the boys to eat while the rest of us pig out on French Vanilla. And Big Guy can eat the apple pie. Both boys could eat just about everything on the table. This is probably not a big deal to other moms, but it is pretty cool to me.

It wasn't that long ago (2 or 3 years) that I was quizzing my mom about what was in all the food so I could figure out what Big Guy could eat .... answer: not much. With all the hullabaloo with the holidays, my mom forgot to use miracle margarine and used regular butter. I felt bad Big Guy couldn't eat much, she felt bad she forgot. Overall, not a great scene.

But, you can see that with time we don't even think about it. What used to be a stessful big deal, has turned into a nonevent. A regular happy dysfunctional Faux-giving.

I have a LOT to be thankful for in my life and what I am blogging about today just represents one small thing on that list.

he CAN eat that!!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-02T19:13:00.000-06:00

Hurrah!!! Yippee!!!! Zipedeedoodah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little guy can eat wheat!!!!!! At least we can give it a try. We just got back from the allergist's office and she said that based on his blood test and his skin test it looks like he has grown out of the wheat allergy. WOW! Only one year after he first showed that he had the allergy to it.

My mind is reeling at the possibilities! Of course, we still have to avoid eggs, dairy and nuts. But this is a start. And I'm used to avoiding those things since Big Guy has had those allergies for the past 4 years.

So, for dessert tonight he got his first taste of a classic -- animal crackers. He was very excited to eat elephant. But when he saw the bag he said "that makes me sick." We told him the doctor said he could eat it now. He told me they were yummy. Now, let's hope he doesn't hurl!

Happy to share such good news!!!!

Wheat a Minute!

2006-11-02T13:29:00.000-06:00

We are off to the allergist this afternoon. Our regular 6 month visit to see how the boys are doing and if I need to change up our allergy/asthma routine. I am pretty excited about this visit ... strange, I know!

But my two-year old was diagnosed with an allergy to wheat a little over a year ago and since I had gotten used to my older son's dairy, egg and nuts allergy I pretty much freaked out when my little one had wheat added to the mix.

Aghhhhhhhhh! How do you not feed your kids wheat!?? I mean they can't possibly live without Teddy Grahams, spaghetti and breadsticks, right? Wrong!

It was just a matter of first, having a good cry and then once that was out of my system and I lost the "woe is me" outlook, I scoured the speciality stores and found wheat-free pasta, cookies and breakfast bars (to name a few).

But a few weeks ago, we volunteered to be part of a study at Children's Memorial Hospital on kids with food allergies and the boys had to get skin and blood tests and lo and behold!!!!!! my little guy tested negative to wheat!!

So, today we show the results to the allergist and see if it was a freaky test or if he can start eating stuff with wheat in it. It is pretty exciting to think he could eat that stuff.

Stay tuned!!!

Some for you ... some for me!

2006-10-31T20:03:00.000-06:00

Well, we just went through the Halloween candy and it was a good haul for a four-year old and a two-year old! But my poor two-year old lost a significant amount of candy due to the allergies ... even many of the non-peanut treats had chocolate (and therefore dairy) in them. More for Mommy! (And Grandpa Leo has dibs on all the Mary Janes since they have nuts in them).

It is crazy that I feel bad taking away candy from him (because of the allergies) because he really and truly has enough other candy for his little body for several days ... proof point #1 -- the melt down he is currenly having! But I do feel bad and I know it all stems from wanting him to enjoy all the things I do and experience Halloween like I did. But the reality is life is VERY different for kids today in so many ways. I need to just ... let.it.go.

This is like a therapy session for me. And I'm sure that is a phrase I'll use a lot when writing in this blog.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween and got all the treats they were looking for!!

Tricks or Treats?

2006-10-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

Today we went to a neighboring suburbs downtown's businesses trick-or-treat "fest." It was fun -- lots of kids in fun costumes. A chance for our kids to wear their costumes again. My older son is a skeleton/vampire (started out as a vampire, but the cape started bugging him so he now wears last year's skeleton costume with the white face paint and fake blood from the vampire) and my little one was Buzz Lightyear.

Of course, in the car on the way there my husband and I tried to reinforce to the kids that they absolutley should NOT eat any candy without having a grown-up look at it first. This warning was not because we are health freaks, but because of the food allergies. My older son is allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts and my younger has all those allergies, plus a bonus ... wheat!

It was amazing to me how many of the candies have nuts in them! This isn't really a surprise to me; it's not like I've been living in a cave the last 30 years and I understand why ... they are yummy! Peanut butter cups, snickers, peanut m&ms, almond m&ms, I could go on and on. But since the schools have gone to the peanut-free zone, I don't see all those candies as much any more.

Luckily a lot of the places had dum-dum lollipops, starbursts, dots, and licorice -- all safe for Buzz and the vampire/skeleton. And I guess all the "illegal" candies that made it into the candy haul can be treats for mommy and daddy.

It is scary to think of what would happen if one of my boys ate one of those "treats" -- to say it would be a trick is an understatement. Honestly I'm not sure what would happen to them because they've never had nuts. I've seen the reaction when they eat milk or eggs, but peanuts are still a mystery ... thankfully.

Miracle Margarine

2006-10-27T14:51:00.000-05:00

Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine actually helped make me feel like things could be normal for my food-allergy kids. Who knew that margarine had such super-hero qualities??

Before I realized that this margarine didn't have any dairy in it, I was going to specialty food stores to get soy butter for my son with the dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut allergies. I felt like dealing with these allergies was going to be a BIG deal (and yes, sometimes it can be a big deal). But finding something in the regular dairy case -- and a product I could easily direct other people to get -- was awesome.

I thought I was a little nuts to get such happiness from a margarine until my friend told me what happened after her daughter's birthday party. My friend (the b-day girl's mom) made rice krispy treats with the Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine for my kids since they couldn't eat the cupcakes. She then offered one of the treats to another mom at the party (who happens to be her best friend), but the friend declined because her son has a dairy allergy. B-day Mom told her it was okay for him to eat them because of the Fleischmann's (side note: DON'T get the salted/regular stuff, it does have milk in it). The friend didn't know about the great powers of Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine and was delighted and surprised that she could fill her kid up with those yummy treats. But later she told B-Day Mom she was a little mad that she hadn't told her about Fleischmann's earlier since she knew that she was dealing with the milk allergy.

SEE!!!! Everyone wants to know about Fleischmann's! Actually, I think this little story demonstrates how we all want to keep things as normal for our kids as we can AND not have to go to 5 different specialty stores to get food for the little critters.

All Hail Fleischmann's! But I am still searching for the spreadable kind ... I only know of one local grocery that carries it. SO, I read a bunch of labels and found out that Smart Balance spread also has no dairy in it. Yeah!!

Treats for Kids with Allergies

2006-10-26T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have a feeling I'll have several posts about Halloween and the fun/fear with it when your kids have food allergies. But I wanted to share some great tips from my new friend -- thanks to this blog, Mary Ann Holecek. (Thanks, Kina for sending Mary Ann the blog info!)

Mary Ann has two kids with food allergies and some of the allergies are pretty severe, so she has to be VERY careful with what treats make it into her kids pillowcases at Halloween (do kids still use pillowcases??) She suggested the following peanut-free goodies:

Baffles caramel rice popcorn-like cakes
All Tootsie roll products are in a dedicated nut-free (tootsie rolls, suckers, charms blow pops, charlestowne chew, jr. mints)
Mike and Ike's

You should be able to find all of these products at Jewel Food Stores. Hurrah! One less trip to Whole Foods.

My First Comment

2006-10-26T07:33:00.000-05:00

Hi there, anonymous! Hurrah!! I got my first comment to He Can't Eat That!: Hello!. Thank you!!!!! She/He provided two Web resources ... http://www.peanutallergy.com http://allrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-living/dairy-free/main.aspx. I will check them out and probably put up on the site.

I am guessing that you are dealing with peanut and milk allergies. Good luck!

The First Red Welts (aka hives)

2006-10-26T07:23:00.000-05:00

So, we first figured out that my first child had a dairy allergy when we tried to give him formula when he was about 5 months old. Previously, he had only had mommy juice (aka nursing). The first time we gave him formula was when I mixed it with rice cereal. Within 10-15 minutes he started getting blotchy. Red welts (which I later learned were hives) on his face and hands ... everywhere the rice cereal touched. Thankfully he didn't have breathing problems or swell up to twice his size, but it was definitely scary. At that time, I was a fairly new mother, so anything unusual puts you into hyperdrive.

Let me digress a minute and just say that as time went on and I got more used to dealing with effects of food allergies, my reaction was very different when those red welts would pop up. As long as there are only a couple hives, now I often just sort of shrug it off. If my son is not bothered it by, then I'm not. I think about what could have possibly been in the food he just ate, but many times I can't figure out what could have caused it. Either way, I might give him a dose of Benadryl, but often I just wait it out.

So, anyway ... we called the pediatrician and he suggested we try the other brand of formula -- same thing. So then we tried soy formula and ta-da, he was okay. We stuck with soy formula and assumed he had a milk allergy, but weren't totally sure.

Anyone out there who wants to share their "first time" they saw an allergic reaction??

A disclaimer

2006-10-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

I feel the need to start off this blog with a disclaimer before I start talking about food allergies and what to give your kids. I am not a doctor (nor do I play one on t.v.) and the information I share in this blog is based on my experiences and what worked for my family.

Moms are always getting lots of advice from lots of people (neighbors, mothers, co-workers, doctors) on every topic under the sun. But the bottomline is that you know your kid the best and you decide which advice to take, which to modify and which to politely throw out the window.

This blog is no different. Food allergies are such a unique thing that you sort of have to learn as you go. I hope this blog provides a place where parents can share ideas, frustrations and victories. And back to the disclaimer ... always talk to you doctor, allergist, etc. before making any significant changes to your child's diet.

Hello!

2006-10-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, why is this Blog called "He Can't Eat That!"?? It's because that is a phrase I have had to say MANY times in the past three years. A little over three years ago, we figured out that my son (who was about 13 months at the time) was allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. This came as quite a shock to me because I have never had any kind of food or airborne allergies.

It has been an interesting journey the past three years and I have learned a lot--though I know there is a lot more to learn. In that time I have met a few other mothers who are dealing with the same thing and I found it was really great to talk to them about how they deal with food allergies and what foods they found for their kids.

Finding this "community" has not always been easy so I thought a blog on this topic could be a cool way 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!"

I am not all that familiar with blogging, so I'll tell you right now that I may not do this very well. But what the heck, I can give it a try!