Making Cookies

I love making holiday cookies.  I was so afraid that with a Peanut Allergy we would no longer have that same holiday experience. I am so happy to say that thought was dead wrong.
 

When I started making cookies years ago I would spend the better part of a week making cookies.  I made Greek cookies with almonds and powdered sugar, peanut butter blossoms,  sugar cookies,  spritz cookies, oatmeal with raisins, chocolate chip cookies, and monster cookies that have a little bit of everything in them.
 

I never gave a second thought to food allergies.  I gave them away as gifts, wrapped in beautiful boxes with big bows. People came to know them and expect to see them every year. 

I have skipped making cookies for the last couple years,  mostly because who has the time with a very small child in the house.
 

This year I was asked to make my sugar cookies for Christmas with my husband's family. I had just picked up a new snow flake cookie cutter and couldn't wait to make these special cookies with my daughter.
 

It has always been my hope to pass on my love of cooking and baking to my daughter,  and the best time to start is when they are young.
 

I had all of my ingredients and supplies laid out and ready to go. My little helper had her foot stool, special apron and she enjoyed getting flour all over the place. We had a lot of fun and made some beautiful cookies.
 

The point is to enjoy the experience with your child and have some quality time that you can both cherish. Don't worry about the mess on the counters or the floor, it will get cleaned up later.

 

The recipe for these amazing cookies will be posted on out recipe page.

 

To make tie-dye effect. Frost the edges with a ribbing of dark blue icing, puddle ice blue in the center of the cookie, fill white icing in the center. Spread with small spatula and allow to dry completely.

 

A New Citrus Allergy

I did not see it coming. Who would have guessed that pineapple would become the enemy.

I had always loved pineapple.  It was sweet and tart all at the same time.  Over the years I had begun to notice some issues.  I would develop blisters or cancersoures if I consumed to much in a short amount of time.  But this lasted for years and I still loved the taste, so I would just limit how much I had.

However, on a recent trip to Florida I had fruit salad served to me. I had No Idea that there was pineapple in it since my bowl did not contain any pieces of the fruit. Just the contact of the juice was enough to cause me the most sever citrus allergy reaction I have ever experienced in my life.

Fruit which is normally cool and refreshing felt as if I had just put a spoon of hot coals into my mouth. The fruit and juice I had consumed had blistered the whole of the inside of my mouth. I was unable to eat normally for the next three days. The roof of my mouth, was blisterd. My tongue was pitted with burned out taste buds and swollen,  while the inside of my cheeks hurt to even touch my teeth. 

Thank goodness I was on vacation with my mother, who has her own citrus allergy to oranges, and we were able to recognize what the problem was.

The biggest kick of it all is to arrive at Christmas and not have family members believe that such a thing is possible.  My husband overhearing the disbelief at the other end of the table stepped in a said, "Yes. It's called a citrus allergy, it usually develops in adults, and her mother has the same thing. 

Holidays with the Family

I have been reading a lot of articles lately of people being afraid to offend family members because of food allergies.  And the question to stay or to go if the food is unsafe.

Let me start by saying, family or not, if the environment is unsafe for your food allergy,  you need to leave.  No guilty, no stress, just go.

Here are some tips that can help you get through the holiday.

1. Speak Up

You need to remember that you live with food allergies everyday, and the majority of people do not.  Remind who ever is hosting that you have a food allergy that needs to be taken into account,  if they would like you to be present.

More often than not, they understand,  appreciate that you reminded them, and are willing to make concessions for you to be part of the holiday.

2. Pack a Bag

We always plan for the worst. Pack extra clothes in case there's an accident, pack snacks and one or two meals for the car or in case my daughter refuse to eat anything else. And we always have our Epi-pens and Benadryl.

3. You Have the Right to...

If you walk in and there is a bowl of nuts on the table that everyone is eating. You have the right to ask that it be put away and that everyone wash up.
And if they choose to not respect this request,  you have the right to leave.

Your food allergy, your life, is more important then someone else's desire for a treat. When you accept that fact, you will never again ask if you have the right to... fill in the blank.

Most family members understand and don't want their Holiday celebration to end in a trip to the ER. And if they don't, do you really want to spend time with them? I wouldn't.

The Lunch Room

We never really know what is happening at our children's school unless we are physically there. This week I was given a look into the behavior of one of our local schools during lunch time. As a food allergy Mom I was scared.

 

I attended the Holiday Bazaar at one of the local grade schools, to sell Christmas crafts. I was not expecting to be placed in the cafeteria, but at launch time I really had my eyes opened.
 

I knew that the area has not been exposed to a large number of children with special food needs. I had been told that this school had food allergy policy's in place.  You would never know it from what I witnessed.
 

When I arrived in the morning the cafeteria was full of children having breakfast.  Mostly cereal from what I could tell.  When breakfast was over and the children had gone off to class, I got to see the clean up. One of the lunch aids swept around and under the tables with a dust mop, while one of the kitchen staff wiped down the tables with a bucket of detergent water and a rag. Everything remained till lunch.

 

For todays' lunch the menu listed Corn Dog, Baked Beans, cheese stick, grapes, and apple slices. Later upon checking the posted schedule on the wall this was the lunch every other Wednesday for the whole school year.

 

When the lunch bell rang and the students lined up to enter the cafeteria, a student aid sat in a chair in the door way and dispensed a pump of hand sanitizer onto each child's hand. The students were then expected to rub this in and were then allowed in line to receive their meal trays.

 

They took their seats like soldiers in a mess hall, filling the first chair then the next and so on. When they became to loud one the aids blew their whistle at them. When the children needed help they raised their hands, and many times the item they needed help with, and an aid walked over to open what ever it was from a cheese stick, milk, or grapes, with no gloves on at all.

Allow me to explain some thing about these aids. When I first saw them in the morning I thought that they were janitors, they wore jeans and tee shirts, and were preforming janitorial services in the cafeteria. At lunch time one of the men donned a whistle on a string and they both put on small white aprons. The one resembled a gym coach in a tiny white apron.

When lunch was done they blew the whistle twice to get everyone's attention. Then there was clapping that the children repeated and one long whistle blow that signaled for the children to rise and proceed to another line to pour out their milk and clean off their trays. They were helped in these tasks by more student aids. Between classes a student aid wiped down each table with a single wet rag and a pie pan to catch crumbs.

After the last class of the day is seated the cafeteria aids folded up the table and sweep under them. The tables were then pushed out of the way and a small cleaning machine was run over the floor before they were returned to their same spots.

If your a food allergy Mom and made it this far your probably freaking out like I was. If your not a food allergy Mom please allow me to spell it out for you. Hand sanitizer does not kill food proteins, it kills some germs and the good bacteria that lives on your body. Hand sanitizer is 70% alcohol and should not be ingested. Cafeteria aids walking around with no gloves touching everyone's food, enough said, I hope. Wiping down all of the tables in the cafeteria with the same rag, just spreads food proteins around, and that at the end of lunch no one re-sterilized the tables.

No where did I see an allergy free area, but this would have also meant that someone would have been eating alone.

I have a dear friend who's children are currently attend this school, and aside for the hand sanitizer her daughters chief complaint is the whistle, apparently this tool has made the children fell like dogs, but they like the clapping very much.

After seeing this display, I hope to visit my own school for a day to see just what is happening there for lunch, before my daughter starts school.

 

How to Read Food Allergy Labels

 

I have had a number of people ask me recently to read labels for them to be sure that they were safe for "allergies" in our case a peanut allergy in particular. I'm happy to take the time to ready them, and show people what to look for. As a matter of fact I just happy people are considering her allergy at all.

 

I thought I would share today how we read food labels for allergies. I would like to start by introducing Gina Mennett Lee, M.Ed., a food allergy consultant, allergy mom, and blogger. 

She put out a poster that illustrates just how we read food labels in our home. It is a three step process that makes reading labels a little easier on us rushed parents.

Step 1:

Look for the "Contains:" statement, usually at the bottom of the ingredients list. If your allergen is listed here stop looking and put it back.

Step 2:

Look for "May Contain" or "Processed in a plant with". If your allergen is listed here stop and put it back. Remember in the US not all companies report for cross contamination, it is currently not required by law.

Step 3:

If you have not found your allergen in steps 1 or 2 you must read each individual ingredient in the ingredients list.

 

 

This simple 3 step process saves time and effort while you are in a busy grocery store trying to decided if something should come home with you or not. My Husband and I have been using these steps for the last 6 months with great success.

 

 

I would like to give a special thanks to Gina Mennett Lee for putting together such a great illustration of these 3 steps. (For more information on Gina Mennett Lee please click on the link.)

A Special Thanks

At this time of year I would like to take some time to thank those special people who help all of us allergy parents get through everyday life.

 

Every allergy parent needs support.  Dealing with food allergies isn't easy, and without those special people to help us out along the way or to give us that push we need to be activists, we would just be lost.
 

For me that person is my husband.  He's an amazing partner and friend. Always encouraging me to press on and do more. Nothing I bring to him is silly or trivial. He would make a great activist himself if he could just, "Tell those blanking people that their blanking kids can't have blanking nuts at school." I guess that's why I'm the activist in the family.

It could be that special teacher you friended through the PTA who sends you messenger updates about events. And when she asks you what a 'real' pumpkin is, you know she meant Teal.

It could be that neighbor who has a grandson who is allergic to nearly everything and understands what your going through, and offers you and your daughter a homemade allergy free cookie. Or the other neighbor from down the way who is always willing to step in when you need a trusted person to keep her safe while your at the school educating people on the importance of knowing about food allergies.

It could be your mother who finds those almonds that are free of all other nuts, so that you can put them in your Holiday cookies.

It could be your support group on Facebook, that lets you tell it how you really feel and they all get it. It could be that blogger mom who does so much in the way of being an activist that it makes you think, 'I can do this!'

Where ever you get your support and inspiration, be sure to give them a little thanks for all that they do for you. 

Happy Holidays.

 

Halloween Hoopla

If you plan it just right you can do fall/Halloween events for about two weeks, three if you really have a sense of adventure.

The Pumpkin Patch

Our first outing every fall is to the pumpkin patch, Country Corner in Alpha, IL. We have a friend who is the program coordinator and we love picking out our pumpkins and popping corn from the fields. They have a great range of activities for the kids and as she gets older she will have new things to do and experience. We always enjoy our time there, even if it is just for the photo ops.

Farmers Market

This year I discovered that the last farmers market in Macomb, IL was called Moon Over Macomb, and that they offered free activates for the kids. They had a straw bail maze, petal tractor race, decorating mini pumpkins, story time, and a horse drawn wagon ride through the square. Not to mention the farmers with their pumpkins, mums, crafts, honey, fruit, and baked goods.

Before we left for town that morning I made two Teal Pumpkin buttons. I simply downloaded a pumpkin outline and printed it out on teal craft paper, I cut them out and wrote 'Teal Pumpkin Project' in black marker and placed them between two sheets of laminating paper. I put tape on the back of mine and fixed it to the lapel of my coat. I had planed on putting the other one on my daughter by deiced against it and dropped it into my purse.

While on the wagon ride one of the moms sitting across from me yelled out, "The Teal Pumpkin Project. I just read about that. We're peanut and tree nut." To which I replied, "We're peanut." She informed me that they were going to be participating and before she went home for the day she was going to be getting her spray paint. It makes me smile to think of moms across the country 'tagging' pumpkins for awareness. Before we got off the wagon I reached into my bag and handed her the other button, I knew I made two for a reason.

Halloween Hoopla

The grade school puts on a Halloween Hoopla the Friday before Halloween. They offer a photo booth, games, activates, costume parade, pumpkin carving contest, and a pizza dinner.

Since my husband is away on work, and it was just going to me and my daughter attending the hoopla I couldn't see how I was going to promote allergy awareness until the PTA started to message me. It started with a question of what to pass out in treat bags for kids with food allergies. To which I sent a brief list and a link to Foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project. When she informed me that she had heard about it on TV, but was unsure what it all meant I saw my chance to educate. I asked for a table at the Hoopla and began planning my education strategies.

First of all I had my Teal Pumpkin, Flyers from the FARE website, and a list of safe treats. Since I couldn't man the table all night with a two year old, I put together a little giveaway to get people to the table. They will drop their names and numbers into a pumpkin to receive a gift bag full of non-food treats.

The picture below is just a little preview of what will be on my table.