{Allergy Free} Church Nurseries

Since we've moved we get to go through the wonderful experience of finding new restaurants, new places to go, and a new church.  Church shopping is one of my least favorite things to do.  It's just so awkward sometimes!

Hi, we're the new family in town and we have an allergy list a mile long.  Yes, we know you have a nursery.  No, we won't be leaving our kids in that nursery.  Yes, we will be taking them with us.  Yes, we know you have a children's program.  No, we don't want a donut.

How do we church shop?  I call a church mid-week and ask about their nursery and snacks.  I talk with the children's minister and explain our problem.  Some of them are very accommodating, some are already aware of food allergies and have policies in place, some are very willing to learn and work with us, and some of them just do not get it.

The new trend I've found in church nurseries is this-the snack of choice is now saltine crackers and water.  And every single church that serves this thinks they are super allergy free and allergy friendly.

I hate breaking the news to them that saltine crackers contain wheat which is one of the top 8 allergens.  Not only are many many children allergic to wheat, some are celiac which makes them intolerant to the wheat.  So, wheat is bad for many reasons.

Other churches only serve cheerios.  Again, we face the same problem-wheat.

The churches are moving in the right direction and working to be more allergy-friendly.  All purport to be peanut and nut free, it's just that some of us have problems with more than just those foods.

And one church we found does serve Rice Chex.  That's an allergy free snack!  It's safe for most people.  Unfortunately, we didn't care for that church even though they had good allergy policies.

So, churches are trying hard to be accommodating and they think they are allergy safe.  I appreciate their efforts but they're not quite there yet!

The problem with most churches is that they suggest I bring my own snack for Bee, but they continue to serve the regular snack to the other kids in the room.  They have such a difficult time understanding that Bee can't be around the other kids while they eat the unsafe snack.  Three-year-olds are notorious for spilling, sharing, and touching.  And Bee isn't old enough to advocate for herself and her allergies.  It's an unsafe situation all around.

It is amazing how unbending places are with the food policies.  The suggestion of changing or eliminating the snack is appalling to them.  Food is such a huge point of contention.  I feel like we are infamous before we even walk in the church doors.  It's not a good way to start out and to make friends.

Can you say isolating??

Some churches have no allergy protocols while others have started to implement a system for tracking the special needs of different children.  That's one step in the right direction.

But how do they handle their allergy kiddos?  With big, brightly colored allergy stickers.  I'm not sure how I feel about this policy, but that's for another post.

{Allergy Free} Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This is another new addition to our fun weekend breakfasts: Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  This bread tastes like a cross between a cinnamon roll and cinnamon toast.  Prince Charming had some waiting on him when he returned from a business trip and he declared the recipe to be amazing.  Sometimes when the kids want cinnamon rolls, I think I'll make this bread instead.  It's so much simpler! 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2 cups flour blend

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 Tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer whisked with 2 Tablespoons rice milk

1 cup vanilla hemp milk

1/3 cup applesauce

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon of cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside.

Whisk wet ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well, working out any lumps.

Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan (or small loaf pans).

Sprinkle half of cinnamon sugar mixture on batter.  Use a knife to swirl the cinnamon sugar mixture into the batter.

Spread remaining batter on top and sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 55 minutes to an hour (or 25 minutes if using small loaf pans).

Bee's Accident and Antibiotic Allergies

Just when I thought we were settling in from the move, Bee fell and got hurt.  She was playing in the kids section at a local bookstore.  She tripped and fell face first right into a wooden bench.  I was certain she had knocked some teeth out.  When the bleeding finally slowed, I could tell that her teeth were still there, but one front tooth was knocked back in her mouth.

I rushed her to a pediatric dentist who helped stop the bleeding and inspected her mouth.  There were cuts, bruising, and a loose tooth.  But the dentist was hopeful that the tooth would stay in and would eventually come back forward.  No stitches were needed so we headed home with lots of gauze and instructions to ice her mouth periodically all evening.  We were also told to give her motrin for pain and swelling as well as an antiobiotic to prevent any infection.

Once we got home, I sent Prince Charming to fill the prescription and Bee snuggled in on the couch with an ice pack.  When Prince Charming returned, I realized that Bee had never before taken an antibiotic.  Yes, in 3 years, she had never once needed one.  I'm not a huge fan of antibiotics but with the extent of the cuts in Bee's mouth, I was worried about an infection and willing to give antibiotics for a few days just to be safe.

I called the pharmacist and had him read all the ingredients to the antibiotic.  Fortunately, none of them sounded like an allergen.  But I called Bee's doctor just in case.  Our doctor is wonderful, and on a Friday afternoon, she called me personally just a few minutes after I had spoken with the nurse.  She explained about the antibiotics and felt that Bee was no more likely to have an allergic reaction to the medicine than the rest of the population.  She felt that in this case it was safe to give her the medicine to prevent infection, but to watch her for an hour after giving her the first dose.

Thankfully Bee did fine with her medicine.  So, now we know that if she ever really needs an antibiotic, she can safely take one.  Our doctor did however, caution us against certain pain relieving drugs which could cause side effects similar to allergic reactions-morphine and codeine are a few.  She felt that these drugs carried a higher risk for people like Bee.  So, now I'm praying that she never has an accident or surgery that requires a pain medication.

The doctor also explained a side effect of antibiotics-a rash that can appear about 5 days after using the medicine.  She told me that this rash was not an allergic reaction and should not be treated as such.  An allergic reaction to the drug would manifest in the first hours of taking the medicine.  If Bee were to develop a rash after 5 days, I should treat the rash with creams and lotion but not be concerned about an allergy.

So, Bee can take antibiotics.  We are going to have to be cautious with pain relievers.  And I learned that amoxicillin only comes in pink.  You can't get dye free anywhere!  While Bee does ok with small amounts of food coloring, I can't believe something like a medicine cannot be safe for all children-even those with allergies to dyes. 

Bee didn't talk or eat for the rest of the day.  Finally, by the next morning she decided she would drink some juice and eat a little breakfast.  It took days for the swelling to go down and she was sore for over a week.  But, at our checkup with the dentist, we learned that there is no infection, the tooth is still hanging on and coming forward, the bruising is minimal, and the cuts are healing.  We are so thankful that they were only baby teeth!  Here's to hoping she makes it to adulthood with all her teeth!

A Complaint About Ian's Brand

Our new health food stores don't carry the brand of allergy safe chicken nuggets that I used to buy.  I've had to find other options.  One type of nuggets that we've found to be safe is the Ian's Allergy Friendly Chicken Nuggets.

But I do have one complaint about them.  It may sound silly, but it was so frustrating to me the first day I bought the nuggets.

The box contains about 15 nuggets.  The cooking instructions on the side of the box only specify how to cook 5 of those nuggets.  They give you a time and temperature for 5 nuggets, but do not give instructions for how long to cook the entire box of nuggets.  If you cook the entire box for the time given on the box, they will not be all the way done.

I called the company to ask them how to safely cook the entire box.  They didn't know and wouldn't tell me.

I asked them if there was some type of ratio-for each serving of 5 nuggets that you add, you need to add x amount of time to the total cooking time.  Nope.  They had no idea.

If I by a box of nuggets that comes wrapped in plastic wrap and I have to open the entire package to get out the number I want, why can't you tell me how to cook the whole thing?

Their rationale was that some families only have one allergic individual, so they only cook one small serving of nuggets at a time. 

Seriously?  Can you not just tell me how to cook the entire box safely?

Not all of us want to take out just 5 nuggets, rewrap the rest, and save them for later.  Some of us need to cook the entire box.

They had no plans to adjust the cooking instructions.  Why can it not just be simple?

I even checked the family size box which contains double the amount of nuggets as the regular-sized box.  The cooking instructions for that huge box tell you how to cook 5 nuggets.  I don't know about you, but if I have a big family and need to cook a lot of nuggets, I'd like to know how to do it.  I don't want to check them every few minutes to see if they seem done or keep poking them with a thermometer.

I buy chicken nuggets for convenience when I'm in a time crunch and need a quick meal.  Therefore, they should make the nuggets easy to cook with clear instructions.

So, I'll search around for a different more convenient brand because I don't have time for that kind of guesswork.

I told you it seemed silly.  But when you have 4 hungry kids waiting for lunch to be done and you have no idea how much longer it will take, it becomes a problem.  When you worry about the safety of the nuggets and you keep checking them to make sure they are thoroughly cooked before serving them, it becomes a problem.

Why can't they make things simple for us food allergy parents who have enough on our mind as it is?

{Allergy Free} Chocolate Donuts

At our house, weekends equal donuts.  The kids wake up on Saturday wondering what we're going to eat for breakfast.  They won't accept anything fast or simple like cereal or oatmeal.  No, they want fresh baked breads, biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, or donuts.  Weekend breakfasts are supposed to be extra special.

This means that mom and dad stumble out of bed and sleepily bump around in the kitchen as we try to bake something new and exciting.  I do the baking, Prince Charming does the fetching of ingredients and then helps with clean up.

Lately, the kids request donuts every weekend.  While I love our cinnamon and spice donuts, it was time for a new donut flavor.  I went with chocolate.  They were amazing!

Chocolate Donuts

1 cup flour blend

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons Earth Balance melted

1/2 cup rice milk mixed with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (buttermilk substitute)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer whisked with 2 Tablespoons rice milk

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray the donut pans.

Mix the dry ingredients together well with a whisk-work out the cocoa lumps.

Whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just enough to combine.  Don't over-stir the batter.

Fill the donut pans.  I used a spoon to spread the batter into each mold and then I smoothed the tops.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until donuts spring back when touched.

Let cool on wire rack and drizzle with glaze while still warm.

Makes 12 donuts.

Glaze:

1 teaspoon Earth Balance melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon rice milk

Whisk ingredients together and pour over donuts.  I put my glaze in a ziploc and piped it onto the donuts (less mess to clean later).  You can also dip the donuts in the glaze.  Since I don't have a wide shallow bowl in the apartment that would work for dipping, I did the piping.  It seemed easiest at the time.  If I had all my lovely dishes, I would probably just dip my donuts.  But does it really matter when they will be gone in a matter of minutes?  Presentation does not matter to my crew, only taste!  You'll see what I mean in the next picture because the donuts sure aren't pretty!

Tiger has already requested these for next weekend.  He actually wanted them again that same day.  Then he asked for the next day.  Then he settled on next weekend.  So, these donuts will become regulars at our house I'm sure!

Allergy Safe Probiotics

The kids have been under the weather with tummy troubles.  That's when I was reminded of probiotics.  Unfortunately, we were out of our allergy safe probiotic and since we are in a new city with new stores, I had to find another brand of probiotic for them to take.

Finding a dairy and soy free probiotic is no easy task sometimes!  But I found two options that are safe for Bee.

Rainbow Light Probiolicious Gummies

Animal Parade AcidophiKidz

Coming Soon

As if relocating and moving and a new job and sick kids and having to find all new stores, doctors, and specialist were not enough change, we have one more big change coming to the hive!

Yes, the hive is growing and getting even busier.

And the question everyone asks us, "What if this baby has food allergies?"

Well, what if?

My response is, "Then I think we're probably the people best equipped to handle that situation.  The baby couldn't have a more prepared family."