"Our" Hot Chocolate

Coconut Milk+Hershey's Chocolate+ Candy Cane, warmed with Daddies love = Yummy!

Leftover Turkey Casserole (Dairy free)

I combined almost everything we had left over from Thanksgiving dinner, including...
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Corn

in a pan over med heat
adding...
Coconut milk
Soy aminos (I'll probably use coconut aminos next time)
Garlic salt
Celery seed
Onion powder
Sage

After mixing all the ingredients together I poured all of it into a casserole dish, covered it with diaya white and yellow cheese, covered it with tin foil and cooked it at 400 degrees until my husband got home about 30 mins later.

I served it with cranberry sauce. I thought it was really good and everyone else seemed to like it too.

Can't live without list....

1. Burt's Bee's Tear Free Shampoo and Wash- is one of the only Formaldehyde free children's soaps I can find that actually suds. I love it!
2. Similasan Homepathic Cough Syrup- for my 2 yr. old really works and I trust their products.

Anaphylaxis

I thought this article had some interesting information about using an Epi Pen. We've only had to do this once and I REALLY don't want to do it again. My greatest fear about this is, I won't use it when we should've or soon enough and it will lead to disaster. I guess I need to clarify with his allergist. Fisher gets welts often from food and this article leads me to believe that the Epi Pen should be administered if this happens. Hmmmmm.... Anyone out there have experiences they would like to share?

Still learning...

Giant Chewy Sweet Tarts have egg in them. Fisher had his first GI reaction to egg from just one bite. In the same weekend, we've decided we will no longer eat at Mexican Restaurants. We had a very knowledgeable restaurant manager, wiped down the high chair and table and Fisher still left the restaurant covered in hives. It was like a cheese landmine. It's just too risky. All the precautions we took kept him from ingesting an allergen, but it just wasn't enough to prevent exposure entirely.

Pumpkin Pie

Here are a couple Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipes to choose from for Thanksgiving Day.

Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Bryanna's Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without a yummy pumpkin pie. I hope we have luck with one of these. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Happy Holidays!

How to Clean Baby Toys with Natural Homemade Cleaning Products

How to Clean Baby Toys with Natural Homemade Cleaning Products

Smoking Moms linked to criminal behavior

Interesting article about smoking being link to criminal behavior later in life.

Dairy Free Cheese Dip

This looks like a recipe worth trying. Let me know what you think.
Nacho Cheese Dip

Short Order Cook meets Picky Eater

Up to this point, if Fisher didn't eat his food and asked for something else or even more of something he has on his plate, I've always said "No, you need to finish the other things on your plate and then you can have more". I've done this to avoid becoming a Short Order Cook or creating a "picky eater". Well, after some advice from another allergy momma, I think that I'm gonna need to give in on this a little bit. In her house, everyone needs to take at least one bite of everything. If they take one bite and they don't like it, then that's fine. At least they tried it. The big thing right now is getting Fisher to eat, regardless if all he wants are the mushrooms on his plate. I just need him to eat. More mushrooms coming right up.... I may end up with a "picky eater" but if I had all the allergies he has, I would probably be a "picky eater" too.

Packing on the weight

I haven't decided on a supplement yet. There expensive and I think I want to try a view other tricks before I try them. But here are the two I might consider- 1. Neocate 2. Duocal. I've started giving the boys a smoothie once a day to bring in more calories.

Here are today's ingredients-

Coconut milk
Blueberry coconut yogurt
Fresh blueberries
Plain coconut yogurt
Cookie crisp cereal

I think they liked it but now I'm looking for something I can add that's packed with extra vitamins that won't change the flavor too much.

Allergens we currently avoid

Dairy
Egg
Oat
Peanut
Treenuts
Strawberries
Blackberries
Sunflower Oil
Shellfish and Mollusks
Cod liver oil
Peaches
Peas
Formaldehyde

Dr. Lucy Cookies

Haven't tried these but we can't wait.
http://www.drlucys.com

Tell me what you think once you've tried them.

Need to put weight on my Toddler

Looking for a food supplement that Fisher can have. I will let you know what I find.

Free Allergy Recipes: Spinach Artichoke Dip

Free Allergy Recipes: Spinach Artichoke Dip

Halloween Tips

Well we made it through Halloween without any allergic reactions. What a relief!!! I have a couple ideas for you and your child to make the candy hunting a little easier. I decided to take the head on approach. We collect candy and then I go through the candy with Fisher and tell him you can have this, but you can't have that. I want him to start learning now that he needs to be careful about what he puts in his mouth. I also made sure we had plenty of candy at our house to make up the difference with a few extra special treats picked out just for him, like a Halloween Pez, stickers, spider rings and fun stuff like that.

Just keep in mind, if your child is allergic to peanuts this may be too risky. Touching or breathing peanut dust can be detrimental. So there are other ways of getting around the" typical " trick or treating traditions without having your child feel left out. Here are a couple..


Trunk or Treat- My allergy group held one and we had a ton a fun without any candy what's so ever. Games, crafts and then all the parents decorated the back of their cars/trunks. All the children went trick or treating from car to car. Everyone passed out games, puzzles, airplanes, cars, all sorts of fun things. This idea is a lot of fun, but it does take a group of people and someone to organize it all. I suggest finding an allergy group in your area or starting one if you there isn't one already.

Trade it out- When you buy your child's plastic pumpkin, bag, whatever you buy for your child to collect candy in, just buy two. Then fill the second bag with the "safe" goodies then trade him/her when you get home. I've even heard of the Switch Witch too, kind of the tooth fairy concept. Have your child leave their Halloween bag at their front door when they go to sleep and the Switch Witch brings them safe candy and goodies in exchange. Something like that.

Sticker trade- Trade your child a sticker for each piece of candy that's not safe.

Plan ahead- If your child is very young, and you will only be going to a couple neighbors or even just family, bring candy to those people in advance and ask them to give that to your child when you arrive.

I know it's hard. You want your child to have everything that any other child has and more, but you'll get through it and your child will be happy to be celebrating with you. That's why I chose to head on idea. I always want open communication with my kids and I don't want them to ever feel like I've mislead them or sheltered them from the truth. To each his own I guess. Just remember to take your epi-pen with you just in case.

Happy Trick and Treating!!!!

Dairy, Soy Free Mushroom Stroganoff

I found a great recipe at one of my favorite blogs for Stroganoff. I never imagined Fisher would be able to have this and it's one of our favorites. I made it last night with a few adjustments and it was delicious. I added meat (we are MEAT EATERS) and also added a pasta too. YUMMY!

Here is the recipe....Mushroom Stroganoff

Allergy friendly, family friendly FOOD: Preparing for absence

Allergy friendly, family friendly FOOD: Preparing for absence: "I know that many parents cooking for allergic families have recipe substitutions mastered. They pull out their favorite cookbook, flip to a ..."

Our new list, unconfirmed....

Almonds
Cashews
Crab
Egg White
Milk
Oat
Pecan
Pistachio
Shrimp
Soybean
Strawberries
Walnut
Wheat
Tuna

Another battle begins...

I was informed by Fisher's new allergist that because Forest has a little eczema, it's a good possibility that he also has food allergies. This is very sad and breaks my heart. She has suggested that Forest start testing before I stop breast feeding him and make the switch to milk or formula. UGH!

Poisonous Stroller

We were at this yearly event in Columbus called the Red, White and Boom for the Fourth. The street was lined with typical vendors from any carnival, fair etc. and we did the typical things we do to prevent Fisher from ingesting something he shouldn't, with success. (Every single day is a success that he doesn't have a reaction) Anyways, one thing we've never worried about before are his FEET! We put Fisher back in the stroller once it was time to go and headed home. The next day we used the stroller again and noticed he had hugh, itchy welts on the back of his legs (our sign that he's come in contact with Dairy). After sometime of scratching our heads, we came to the conclusion that his shoes were covered in butter, cheese and who knows what else from the Red, White and Boom. See, the bottom of his shoes touch the seat of his stroller whenever we put him in. There's no way to avoid this and a poor design in my opinion. So everything he stepped in was in turn on his seat. I remember thinking that day what a mess the streets were. There was food everywhere. Like someone had a huge food fight. You noticed things like this more when your child is allergic to food. We don't wear shoes in our house and I'm so thankful for that now. You bring the world into your home on your shoes.

Better than it looks??

Bagel with soy p.butter, sausage with a natural rice casing, blueberries who says he's diet suffers because of his allergies

Allergy follow up

Well, another day of prick testing reveals that Fisher is STILL allergic to oat. He's actually more allergic now to everything then he was last time. I feel like this will never end.

breakfast of champs

Oranges, Tofu, Apples and Tortillas, Yummy!

Allergy testing

Off to Anchorage today for our last visit with Fisher's allergist in Alaska.

food allergy alert....

Silk Soy products claim to be dairy free, even going a step further to say they charge more for their product because of it, but my son who is allergic to milk has a reaction to the product. It's nothing sudden. It shows itself after a short amount of time with him throwing up or gagging. I spoke with his allergist about this, suspecting a new allergy, and she said that there are several of her patients that have complained about the same thing. Ritz crackers cause the same reaction, but I'm not sure if it's due to dairy.

Here is a website I found that has food recalls due to mislabeling of allergens etc.
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/faalerts.php

Breastfeeding

If your child has food allergies you'll need to restrict your diet while breastfeeding as well. When you get a sweet tooth you can have Oreos. I know there not the best thing for you but it works and there yummy!

A few things I wish I would of known about breastfeeding........

1. You will have an insatiable appetite!!!!!

2. When your nursing on one breast, the other will leak and soak your clothes or the baby if your not careful.

3. I didn't realize how much it would hurt. Try placing black tea bags on your nipples once a day before your baby is even born. I guess it's supposed to toughen up your nipples. I did this with my first son. While I was getting ready for work I would wear a sports bra and nursing pad and then put the tea bag in place. However, I ended up never really nursing him, just pumping milk and then feeding him from the bottle, so I never really experienced how painful it was. Now with my second son, I never did the tea thing and I'm actually nursing and man does it HURT! I'm going to try the tea bag thing again. I suppose it's never too late?

4. The pregnancy pounds will melt away!

5. Buy a good pump!! Nothing wrong with used. Ebay is a great way to find one and then you can just buy new parts almost anywhere.