Cupcakes

Baby Bee's first cupcake......and I'd say it was a huge success!  These are chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate chip icing from the Allergen Free Baker's Handbook.  I'm making another batch tomorrow.  They don't last long..........

Doritos

I know people probably think I'm crazy as I scope out what their child is eating.  They think I'm nuts as I obsessively pick up dropped Cheerios and other deadly snack foods off the floor.  They think I'm totally paranoid as I try to keep my kids separate from the other kids during eating times.  They think I am crazy and hyper-supermom as I bring all of our own snacks and food to every event.

You know, I think I'm crazy too.  I never thought I would ever have to do these things or worry like this.  I don't want to be paranoid and obsessive.  But I am justified.........

Take a look at Bee in this picture.  This is after medicine, a bath, lotion, and more medicine.  This is a good hour after the initial reaction.

This is a picture of an allergic reaction after...........wait for it...........she picked up a Nacho Cheese Dorito and started to put it in her mouth.  I leapt out of my chair and across several small children to snatch that one tiny broken Dorito chip from her hand.  I grabbed her up, cleaned her hands with wet wipes, wiped her face, and took her far away from the Dorito-dropping children.

Yet, we still ended up leaving the event within a few minutes of our Dorito scare all because Bee started to get very itchy and fussy-which is never a good sign.

I can only imagine what would have happened if she actually ATE that dumb Dorito.

So, for all of you who think I'm crazy, I'm obsessive, I'm paranoid, or I have some type of crazy supermom-syndrome:  Get over it!

Try having a little compassion.  Know that I don't want to live like this, no one does.  Where you see food, I see ER visits.  Where you see cute little Goldfish crackers and candy bars, I see rashes and anaphylactic shock.

We view the world with different perspectives.  And some days I would give anything to be able to see the world the way you do.  But that's not possible.  So for now, try to understand my viewpoint.

I don't need you to turn up your nose and whisper that I'm crazy.  I already know that.  But my craziness is justified.  I even have pics and ER visits to prove it.

So anytime you meet an allergy mom, have some compassion and know that life with allergies is a huge challenge.  And please keep your food to yourself............

Pumpkin Cookies

My mom emailed me a cookie recipe and boy is it good!  We had these for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie-the kids aren't pumpkin pie fans and I'm not either.  We'd rather eat cookies!

Pumpkin Cookies
2 cups GF flour blend (I use 4 cups rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch, 2/3 cup tapioca flour)
1/2 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon (I think mine is more of a heaping tsp)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups cugar
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 T egg replacer mixed with 2 T rice milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.
Beat all ingredients in large bowl until completely mixed. 
Place by spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Wet fingers and gently flatten and shape cookies into little round disks.  (If you don't shape them you will have ugly pumpkin mounds as the cookies don't flatten as they bake).
Bake 18-20 minutes.
Cool on wire racks and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Chewy, yummy!

Doctor

Well, we have another big appointment coming up for Bee.  We visit the immunologist next week and I've got to get busy preparing for our appointment.  Here are my thoughts and questions for the doctor so far:

I plan to ask about food challenges and discuss some of our food challenges that we did at home.  Hopefully our immunologist won't be too mad at me.......
We tried beans and corn and everything seems fine so far..........
So what can we try next?

Can we try egg yolk if we separate the eggs?  Will we ever be able to eat eggs again?????

Can we try banana?

Avocado?

Kiwi?

Wheat?  We had a Cheerio accident and nothing happened even though she had Cheerios in her mouth......so is her wheat allergy better?

Can we restest some of the original RAST results?  And her IgE level?

She has had fish oil supplements with no problem so can we try fish?

We tried sunflower butter.......that was a total no go as Bee's mouth broke out in a huge rash.  What other things should we avoid that are related to sunflower seeds?  Can we test for sunflower allergy?

What about foods that are fine when she eats them and she loves to eat them, like oatmeal and watermelon, but if they sit on her face, she breaks out slightly?  Why do some foods make her break out only if they touch her face?  Should we avoid those foods as well?  Is there a difference between an internal allergy and a contact allergy?

Why does her milk allergy seem worse?  Now we cannot even touch her after touching dairy or she will break out in severe hives.  What can we do?

On the upside, her eczema has improved dramatically and she doesn't itch constantly.  So we are making improvements!

We'll see what the doctor says this time...........

Gravy

I really didn't think a dairy-free gravy was possible and that it would even be edible........thankfully I was wrong.  Here is our Thanksgiving gravy:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 yellow onions sliced
2 tsp rosemary
2 tsp thyme
3 T oat flour - or you could probably use rice flour
dash of red wine vinegar
2 T honey
4 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 T corn starch mixed with a small amount of rice milk

Cook the onions in the olive oil over very low heat for an hour to an hour and a half-yes, that long.  You want the onions to carmelize and they will only do this over low heat, so don't turn the heat up.  Add the rosemary, thyme, and 1 T of oat flour.  Stir while cooking for about 1 minute.  Add vinegar and honey and continue stirring for another 2-3 minutes.  After this step you could set the gravy base aside and keep in fridge until you are ready to make the gravy.  I usually do these first steps the day before I plan to use the gravy since the onions take so long to cook.
Then over medium heat stir in the last 2 T of oat flour.  Add chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened.  If not thick enough, add in the corn starch/rice milk mixture and stir.  Wait another 5 or more minutes until thickened.
This gravy is not a thick, rich cream gravy but it has great flavor with the onions. 

If you want sausage gravy, cook some ground sausage and add the sausage and drippings to the gravy after you add the chicken broth.

Holidays

I love the holiday season-the cooler weather, the great food, the yummy dessert, the family time.  This year, I'm only getting the family part of all that.........Where we live there is no such thing as "cold" weather.  Now everyone down here would disagree with me as they have pulled out their jackets and stocking caps-for weather in the 50's..........sheesh........And as for the food, well, our holidays will have to be allergy free and just how fun and yummy can that be, right?

But more than that, how can you be safe over the holidays?  How do you not go crazy with worry?  What do you do about everyone else who wants to eat their "normal" food or even family members who can't figure out how to cook for you or won't even try............

Thankfully, our families are very understanding of our allergy issues. And this year, Thanksgiving was at my house and I was in charge of the whole meal.  Scary!  I have never cooked Thanksgiving, much less an allergy-free one!

I have to say that everything turned out surprisingly well.  This was probably thanks to a week-long practice session of cooking all the items at least once to be fully prepared.

But what do you do when Thanksgiving isn't at your house?  Do you bring all your own food?  Do you eat in a separate room?  Do you make everyone wash their hands after they are done cooking and eating?

I'm glad we didn't have to think about these issues for Thanksgiving but now I'm thinking about Christmas........we'll be traveling and won't have the luxury of cooking in our allergen-free kitchen for each meal.  How do I explain the allergies to everyone and how do I keep from panicking when everyone wants to hug Baby Bee?  Why do all holidays have to center around some type of food?

I'll try and post some of our successful Thanksgiving recipes later.  You really can have a normal meal.....and Bee was thrilled and loved everything.

Dairy Free

Some dairy-free thoughts............

Websites
Dairy-free living
Go dairy free
Eating with food allergies
Kids with food allergies

Cookbook Ideas
Go Dairy Free
More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally
The Milk Allergy Companion and Cookbook
Cooking for Isaiah
Bake Deliciously Gluten and Dairy Free Cookbook
I can't personally endorse any of these because of all the other ingredients they contain so many other things that we can't have but I've heard good things about them.

My two favorite cookbooks are:
Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook
The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook
These are free of almost everything that we can't have and are a great resource when you are beginning allergy free cooking.

Milk alternatives:
Rice milk
Hemp milk
Almond milk
Coconut milk

Butter alternatives:
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Spectrum vegetable shortening
Soy free margarine

Yogurt alternatives:
Coconut yogurt
Rice Yogurt

Ice cream:
Sorbet is often dairy free
Coconut ice cream
Rice milk ice cream

Creamer:
Coconut milk creamer

Buttermilk:
One tablespoon of lemon juice to one cup of rice milk.  Stir together and let sit for 10 or more minutes.

Chocolate:
Chocolate chips
Chocolate bars
Baking chocolate
100% cocoa powder should also be free of milk products

Roux:
A roux can be made using olive oil and your flour of choice and adding unsweetened rice milk. 

We avoid soy as well as dairy, so these are my best soy- and dairy-free alternatives.  I've learned that it is hard to find something non-dairy that is also non-soy.  So you have to be careful when searching for dairy-free or vegan recipes.  I sometimes look for allergy-free resources and cookbooks rather than simply a milk- or dairy-free resource. 
And I have yet to find a cheese alternative but I'm still looking.