Sami got hives last night. I had a snickers bar. He got red blotches all over his face and then after a couple of hours it faded to a few spots. He also got VERY congested and a little wheezy. He's got a cold right now so it could be from that, but the congested wheezing went away same time as the hives. Don't worry I had the car keys, epi pens and cell phone on standby, but it never got that bad. Poor guy. Bad mommy. I shouldn't have eaten peanuts. He seems fine today though. Oh well add it to the list.

Just made the appt to meet with the allergist again. Fingers crossed we have some stuff fall off. Corn would be ideal. Actually it would be heaven. I want to also talk to him about the flea bite reaction. I wonder if there is any kind of a test for fleas. Plus I want to know if the cats one is worse.

I dunno. Maybe it will all be the same. Maybe we will have some good news. Knowing us it will be at least some that is worse. Blah.

Made it through the holidays without a single reaction. Yay us! We were prepared and did very well! Even had dinner out twice!!!! I'm so proud of us. We've come a long way in the past 12 months. It was this time last year that Gabe had his first reaction to a peanut butter sandwich. Last year for the holidays we still let him eat anything he wanted to......wow. That was only a year ago. Life sure has changed since then. I'm proud of how well he has done with it. And of myself for rising to the occasion. I'm certainly not perfect, but I think we've done pretty well. :)

I attempted the sugar tree last night. Yea I didn't give it enough time to cool and it fell apart so now I have sugar candy for the boys! LOL




AND!!!! I made Banana bread!!!! MMMMMMMMM!



Banana Bread 1/3 cup of butter 3/4 cup of sugar 2 bananas sliced 1/4 cup applesauce 2cups sifted rice flour 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 3/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 3/4 cup buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla

Cream together butter, sugar, and bananas. Add applesauce and beat until well blended.combine dry ingredients and gently stir into butter mixture alternately with liquid ingredients. Turn mixture into loaf pan which has been greased. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. (8"x4"x3")

I subbed baking soda and cream of tartar for the baking powder for the first time! It still rose well. I did 2 parts tartar per 1 part soda :)

I'm making this tonight! Oohhhh yea! It's gonna be cool!

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/allergy-free-sugar-sculpture-Christmas-tree.php

A win
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/business/22food.html?_r=2&hp

A Major fail
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-allergic-death-cps-1221-20101220,0,6938627.story

It's great that the FDA Will have the power to do more to keep our food safe. SOOO damn sad that a child lost their life because of stupid laws!!! The school didn't have the right to give her an epi pen!!! What if there is no time to look up records?! What if it's a kids first ana reaction!!!!? Epi pens should be in the classrooms, nurses offices and cafeteria of all schools!!!! CT passed a law for this pretty recently, but there are still so many states who haven't. A preventable death. So tragic. Praying for her family tonight.

vanilla

Okay so I'm going to admit I still use store bought vanilla. Gabe seems to do ok with it, but I would like to try cutting it out. Sooo curtesy of AnneMarie

3 vanilla beans 1 cup or so of potato vodka and use a mason jelly jar cut the beans in half so they will fit in the jar and then slice the beans in half length wise, leaving about an inch of the top bean intact, so its not completly sliced in half toss them in the jar, pour in the vodka (add more if you need to so it covers slices of the beans)throw the lid on and let it sit for 8 weeks in a cool dark cupboard, shaking it every so often and then top off with more vodka as you use it up. Can go for at least 6 months on the same beans :)

So excited to do this!

holiday cookies!

Just altered a ginger cookie recipe on the fly. Still waiting for them to cool to see if they are going to hold together, but they are YUMMY!

4.5 cups rice flour
1.5ts cinnamon
2 ts ginger
2 ts nutmeg
1/4 ts salt
2 ts baking soda
1 ts ground cloves
1.5 cups butter soft
2 cups sugar plus more sugar to roll cookies in
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce

Mix flour, ginger, cloves, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In another bowl mix butter with mixer for about a minute til creamed. Add 2 cups sugar then applesauce and honey. Then mix in flour mixture. Roll in 1in balls and place on cookie sheet at least 2 in apart. Bake at 375 for about 11 minutes til nicely browned. Let cool totally. Enjoy!

Fudge turned out YUMMY!!!!!!!!!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/26123295/detail.html

A good segment done on food allergies!!!! I guess there are 4 or more parts. This is just the first one and only one I've gotten to watch yet. It's good though. I LOVE how they explain that there are no shots and how bloodwork and spt don't give definate answers. I'm also really jealous that the allergist on the this does peanut challenges!!!!!

Right now I am making another batch of sour cream. OMG so yummy! AND homemade condensed milk.

Here's the recipe I found for condensed milk.
Ingredients
6 cups nonfat milk
5 tablespoons sugar
Directions
In heavy saucepan pour milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar and continue simmering 10 to 15 minutes, or until milk has reduced to 3 cups. Strain. Milk can be refrigerated for up to one week (I had to do it for a lot longer)


Why am I making condensed milk you ask? Why to make homemade Gabe ok fudge for the holidays of course!!!! LOL!

Ingredients
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/3 cups homemade)
1/4 cup butter

Directions
1.Place chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter or margarine in large microwaveable bowl. Zap in microwave on medium until chips are melted, about 3-5 minute, stirring once or twice during cooking. 2.Pour into well-greased 8x8-inch glass baking dish. Refrigerate until set

Poor Gabe

He reacted to something. I think it was starting before he ate sunbutter, but I'm not 100% sure.

It started so fast! Thank God benadryl took care of it. I'm gonna check him for bug bites after nap because he has a similar looking rash the othe day that I thought from laying on our bed (cats sleep there).

Cool Find!

Kerry on my FB sent me to this company!

http://coconutbliss.com/coconut-bliss-products/naked-coconut-bars

GABE CAN HAVE IT!!!!! So cool!

Sour Cream

Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!

So good! It is super thick and soooo yummy! In honor of it I'm making salsa chicken tonight. Chicken and salsa baked in a foil packet then topped with sour cream. :)

Off to figure out how to make salsa!

Juice

The other day I got a juicer from freecycle.com (love it) I looked it up, it's a 220.00 machine. :O So today I went and bought about 11 bucks worth of fruit. Ended up with 6 apples, 3 kiwi, 1 avacado, 2 pears, 2 bananas, and 1 mango. (oh I also added a little bit of pinapple juice I had leftover from a can of pinapples) Peeled and chopped it all up and ran it through. It took a while (of course I took my time to ensure I didn't loose a finger in front of the kids) and I ended up with only 1/4 a pitcher of juice!!! Plus a big gulp sized cup of slush. Now the juice is awesome!!!!! But just not cost efficient. But then I realized that if I run the slush through a cheese cloth to get out the kiwi seeds I'll have the PERFECT fruit puree to make ice cream with!!!!! So that makes the cost better. Or I could add milk and make a smoothie and that makes it even better cost wise.









So the verdict is that the juice is great and I know it's totally safe for Gabe! But it's very expensive. Next time I'll wait for the fruit to be in season so it's cheaper and I'll go to the farmers market and see if I can get a deal buying bruised fruit :) See if that can cut costsin half. And next time I probably won't use avacado. It tastes great, but it doesn't blend all the way and makes the juice have tiny chunks.

New release

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/clinical/Pages/patients.aspx

A new allergy guide for the Dr's. has been released as of today. I read through this article. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of new stuff in there. This seems to be the only big thing. Of course they don't post it all. :P

"The Food Allergy Guidelines—What They Tell Your Doctor

The guidelines were developed for health care professionals. In addition to important background information about food allergy, the guidelines contain 43 clinical recommendations that can help your doctor determine whether you have food allergy and if you do, then customize your care.

The guidelines provide the following information:

•Definitions of food allergy and disorders associated with food allergy
•Descriptions of the development of food allergy and conditions associated with food allergy
•Recommendations on
◦How to diagnose food allergy and what tests to use
◦How to manage non-life-threatening allergic reactions
◦How to diagnose and manage potentially life-threatening food-induced anaphylaxis and other acute reactions"


So it might not seem like much HOWEVER it is another reminder for general docs!!! I know we really struggled with our ped, because they just have so much they have to know that they barely know anything about allergies. So it's nice for them to have new information on how to diagnose allergies so that they can do a referral!

candy canes

So I got in Gabe's candy canes yesterday!!! I'm so excited about these! They look beautiful! They came fast and are good sized!

Why not?

Okay so I am going to be attempting sausage soon. A friend of mine and I were talking and I told her about how I had made biscuits and gravy for dinner for me and hubby. To which she replied..."why for dinner?" Well we eat dinner after the boys are in bed so we can have the stuff Gabe can't eat then. She then asked me "why can't Gabe have it?" DAMN GOOD QUESTION!!!!! And you know what? I see no reason that he can't. I can make him biscuits and the only thing he can't have is the sausage. Sooo how do I fix that? I make sausage!

I got my hands on a wikihow, talked to a butcher, and the most important part, I have someone who is a saint and is giving me his meat grinder he no longer uses! WOOT!

This should be fairly easy once I have all the equipment. I just need to buy some natural casings which I can buy at almost all grocery stores and a stuffer. (although I'm holding out hope that the grinder might have one attached that's pretty common from the ones I've looked at)

So that's my next big experiment! I'll let you know when I have everything together! Should be maybe a couple weeks.

Not so much kid allergy related

But looks sooo yummy if you like wine!

Wine Jelly
2 cups wine*
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 pouch pectin
...Makes 4 cups jelly
There are 2 ways to do this, you can use SJOP (standard jelly operating procedures) and bring the sugar, juice and wine to a boil, add pectin, return to boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, pour into jars and seal.
Or you can bring the wine and sugar to not quite a simmer, just until the sugar dissolves, add pectin, stir thoroughly until dissolved through, pour into prepared jars. This second method will retain the alcohol content, but done this way, the jelly should be kept refrigerated and used w/i 2 months since it isn't properly processed or sealed.
*Wine - use something flavorful (that you enjoy) such as a nice plummy merlot, or a zinfindal. If you use white wine, go for something with lots of flavor notes, not just a bright acid flavor (sour grape juice). It won't translate well into jelly.

love this

http://www.allergymoms.com/uploads/newsletters/everychildwish.html



10 Things Children with Food Allergies Want You to Know

By Gina Clowes




1. I long to be included. I would like to look, act and eat like everyone else. I’d like to buy my lunch and sit wherever I want. I know I can’t, but I am so happy inside when someone cares enough to provide a safe potato chip, cookie or Popsicle for me. It’s nice when I can have something similar to what others are eating but I love it when I can eat the same thing as everyone else. Whenever it’s possible, please think to include me!

2. I’m scared I could die from my food allergies. I’ve heard my parents and teachers mention “life-threatening” food allergies and I remember having some reactions where I felt very sick and really scared. I could see how frightened my parents were too. Sometimes, I could use a little reassurance that I will be okay.

3. I feel like I’m the only one sometimes. If you have a support group or another way to arrange for me to meet other children who have food allergies, I would really like to know that I am not the only kid who has food allergies. Having another friend with food allergies in my classroom or at lunch time helps too.

4. I get confused when grown-ups offer me food. I know I’m supposed to be polite and listen to grown-ups, but my parents have told me I am only supposed to take food from them. When you offer me food or especially candy, I’d like to take it but I’m not sure about what I am supposed to do.

5. I get itchy spots sometimes when grown-ups kiss me after they’ve eaten something I’m allergic to. I get itchy spots when your dog licks me too. I’m not quite brave enough to tell you this so I’m hoping you will remember that if you have just eaten something that I’m allergic to, I may get hives if you kiss me soon afterward.

6. I’m embarrassed when people fuss over what I’m eating. I know I have to eat my own safe food, but it’s easier for me when I’m not singled out. Sometimes, it’s embarrassing when grown-ups ask lots of questions. I love to fit in more than anything.

7. I hear all adult conversations about my food allergies. My ears perk up when I hear grown-ups mention my name or food allergies, so don’t pity me or act terrified because then I get scared. Food allergies are just one part of me. Let me overhear you talk about all the other wonderful things about me!

8.Sometimes I’m sad about having food allergies. It’s hard to be the only kid in class not having a cupcake and eating something different from my box of “safe treats” especially when there are about 20 other birthdays in my class. I know it’s not the end of the world, but from my perspective, it’s tough at times.

9. I’m watching you—Mom and Dad! You may think that I’m too little to notice, but I see that you went back home to get my Epi-Pen® when you forgot it. I see that you read the ingredients on the Smarties every time. You are my role models and I am learning how to manage my food allergies from you!

10. I will do about as well as you do. My parents “can-do” attitude will help me cope with the challenges of living with allergies and ensure that food allergies don’t stop me from being everything I was meant to be!



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Oreo/whoopie

MMMMMM!

I made the cookies!!! They are YUMMY! I need to use my food processor to make the powdered sugar next time instead of the magic bullet. The frosting is a little bit grainy, but still super yummy! I think I'm going to make these for Gabe's bday party at school. They were super easy and fast! Plus I have a cookie press that someone gave me that gives me cool shapes! Today's were xmas tree shaped. Next time I'll do a round pattern.

Anyways just wanted to share!

guest post

I submitted the following for a spot to guest blog. :)


Imagine.....You have just bought a house, and found out you are pregnant with your 3rd baby. You have a just turned 3 year old and an 18 month old. Life is good. Life is great! Your kids aren't picky eaters, you try to eat healthy, you want to do more, but well, life gets in the way sometimes. Then suddenly one day your 3 year old gets hives ALL over his face. You start going crazy, what can it be? He had a peanut butter sandwich, but it can't be that! I mean he JUST had one and no reaction! So you think of everything it could be. No answer. Then he has a BITE of your pb &j sandwich a week later and gets hives all over his face and chest. You freak thinking how terrible it will be that you r kid is allergic to peanuts!!! THEN he starts reacting to other things too and you realize it's not peanuts, but soy! WAY worse!!!!!!!! Then you finally get in for allergy testing and they hand you a list of allergies.

corn, wheat, egg whites, soy, strawberries, peanuts, tree nuts, 4 molds, 5 pollens, cats and latex.

I remember my husband and I took my 3 year old home and got a sitter so we could just go and freak out. We went to Applebee’s and I just remember sitting there STARING at their menu saying "can't have this, this, or this! OMG Honey WHAT ARE WE GOING TO FEED HIM?!?!?!" It was bad.

This was my life almost a year ago. My name is Niccie. I'm a stay at home mom to 3 kids now. Married to a great guy who works crazy hours. We thought it was the end of the world! We had to change everything about lives, from what we eat, to how we eat out, to how we do family holidays, to certain things our son can't play with (play dough), to how we do our yard work! It is crazy how much of our lives Gabe's allergies touch!!! The big debate of peanut free tables at lunches, labeling laws, school allergy action plan laws and fears of people leaving peanut m&ms in the carts with cars, suddenly pertained to us!!!! Before allergies there is just so much that we did not know and understand. I will never say that I'm glad my son has allergies, however I have to say that I am grateful that we have come to understand so much because of them. Before our son had allergies, we, like most people, didn't understand anything about it.

Because of the allergies, I have learned SOOOO much about what we put in our bodies! I have learned about America's big dependency on corn. Did you know a company does not have to list where its ingredients come from? If it's not one of the top 8 allergens then it doesn't have to be listed!!!! (egg, soy, milk, fish, peanut, tree nut, shellfish and wheat) I have learned how to better feed our family and have cut out almost all preservatives!

My son, Gabriel, has learned that he has to watch what he eats. He always tells people he has allergies and that he needs to ask me if it's ok. People try to feed him all the time! At picnics I have a hat that says don't feed the kid!!! He has learned to be responsible and that life is not fair. It's hard on him some times, but for the most part my little boy has been amazing at adapting! Because of Gabe's allergies I have had to learn how to alter recipes to fit us. I see it as a challenge! I want my son to do the same things the rest of his class does!!! We've gotten to experiment with different kinds of foods and substitutes! Different flours, duck eggs, golden syrup etc. We've gotten to try a lot of things we never would have otherwise!

Some days it's hard, but the hardest part is people who don't understand. People who think that because he doesn't stop breathing it's not an allergy. People who comment on me telling him he can't have something. "Lighten up mom, some candy won't kill him!” For Easter he wanted to do an Easter egg hunt SOOO bad! So we compromised, I let him do the hunt and then for every egg he found I traded him for a yummy earth lollipop or homemade marshmallow. Then he gave away the candy he couldn't eat. One lady asked me as loud as could be in a very rude voice right in front of him "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT BOY! WHY THE HECK IS HE GIVING HIS CANDY AWAY? IS HE DUMB?” I explained that he had food allergies and she rolled her eyes at me. (BTW I did NOT hit her I was good!!!)

So anyways I guess the point to my post, now that you know my back ground, is this.

If someone tells you they have a food allergy, respect it. Even if it doesn't cause them to stop breathing it can make people VERY uncomfortable.

If you are going to a pot luck type event, write down the ingredients. Takes an extra minute, but it could mean that 1 more person could enjoy your dish! I know I appreciate it SOOO much when people go out of their way to help us out like that.

Please don't let your kids take food into the playground, play place etc. It can make other kids really sick! Just the residue is enough to make some kids really ill.

There is no explanation or cure for food allergies. It's not like environmental allergies where you can do a shot. Having a little of what you are allergic to can not only make you sick, but it can also make your allergy worse. Each exposure gets worse normally.

Just because someone has had a food before doesn't mean they aren't allergic to it. People almost NEVER react the first time. Some food allergies can even take years to build up.

Some food allergies are out grown, but not all and not everyone. Each case is different.

If your child ever has problems with vomiting, stomach pain, constant stomach issues, hives, sunburn rashes, eczema, itchiness, throat swelling, lip tingling, and even on occasion strange symptoms like unexplained pain, hand swelling, hyper activity, migraines etc. check into allergy testing. It's popping up more and more and something as simple as cutting out eggs could make life 100% better! There have even been cases of fibromyalgia being explained by food allergies! It happens!

If you are making food for someone with a food allergy be very careful about your counter areas, utensils etc. It's such a little thing, but it could keep a kid from getting sick! One girl in Canada died after kissing her boyfriend after he had eaten a peanut butter sandwich! It doesn't take much for some!

Teach your kids about allergies. That some people can't eat certain things and so they should never offer food to other kids. We once were at McDonalds and some one let their kid take fries inside. The child trying to be nice offered Gabe some fries. He told them he had allergies, the nice child then told Gabe they were ok. He didn't understand and Gabe just heard its ok and ate them. Almost ended up in the ER that night.

And most importantly and this goes for every allergy mom or sufferer I've ever met, ASK questions when in doubt!!! I'd rather answer 20 questions for someone than have them feel like it's too hard to make the effort so that Gabe can be involved. For instance I always bring Namesta brownies to school functions, (LOVE LOVE LOVE this company!!!!) I've talked to the other allergy kid’s mom and made sure they are safe for him too. That way I know my son and him will have something they can eat at school functions!

Thanks for taking the time to learn something new about allergies today! The more people know the safer it is for allergy sufferers!!!!

Follow my food experiments and allergy issues at www.cornfreeeat.blogspot.com! I LOVE a challenge so if you or anyone you know suffers from a food allergy and is looking for a certain food let me know and see if I can alter the recipe for you! I've taken on all kinds of things! Crackers, pumpkin pie, marshmallows, jam!

Thank you for this chance to guest post and spread information on allergies!

So I had posted that I wanted to do a peanut test. I called the allergist. They don't do any type of peanut challenge. AT ALL! They will do a blood test for it, but none of Gabe's allergies have ever shown up in a blood test! They will not do a SPT (understandable) NOR will they do a food challenge. I asked if I could just sit in their waiting room. Nope! So we have no way of testing it other than going and sitting in the ER parking lot. That's crazy to me. I want to know if he's actually allergic to them or not. It would be a great source of protein for him, since he can't eat other nuts. And peanuts are a different protein completely so there is a good chance he will be able to have them even though he's allergic to other nuts.

So not sure how we are going to handle this.