Nabisco's Reply (in short: not helpful)

As I mentioned a few weeks back, we bought a box of Nabisco graham crackers only to notice the fine print: kosher dairy symbol on the front (although no dairy listed in the ingredients). So I wrote to them, and here is the reply:

Hi Andrea,

Thank you for visiting http://www.nabiscoworld.com .

I appreciate your interest in HONEY MAID Grahams.

I'd be glad to provide you with information on our manufacturing processes pertaining to milk food allergens.

I understand that allergic consumers are concerned about the potential carryover of an allergen between products that are manufactured on shared equipment. Most of our production lines are designed to be convertible to other products. If a product is made on shared equipment, every reasonable precaution, including stringent cleaning and sanitation practices, is taken to prevent cross-contact with the eight major allergens (eggs, fish, shellfish, milk, peanuts, soy, tree nuts and wheat).

When contact with one of these allergens is unavoidable, then the product is labeled appropriately. Please be aware that formulas may change and the best source of information is the ingredient line. We ask that our consumers take the time to check the ingredient line prior to purchasing a product.

I hope this information will assist you with your food choices.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact me. For more information about food nutrition, visit www.kraftfoods.com and click on Healthy Living.

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

I realize they can't always answer every question, but all I wanted to know was why the dairy sign?

Cucumber!

For a kid who is having such a rough time lately (yes, having a baby brother is annoying, we got that), Amelia managed to eat a new food anyway today, and it was... drum roll... wait for it... A VEGETABLE! Yes, folks, our scurvy-bait four-year-old had not one, but two slices of cucumber tonight at dinner. I am not sure why -- something to do with the fact that the beef burned her tongue and "cucumbers are never hot." I don't quite get the logic but it was hella exciting, anyway.

Was this a one-time only event? Or could this crunchy green thing actually get added to her repertoire? No idea, but yay for now!

Kraft Foods-- this time you FAIL!

A while back, I sung the praises of Kraft Foods for their excellent labeling. Not so fast!

A few days ago, Amelia asked if we could buy her graham crackers (I think they served them at school but she couldn't have them at the time because of her soy allergy), so since she can have soy now, we said yes. I went online and checked out Honey Maid Graham Crackers -- which, as you can see, from the ingredient listing (ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, GRAHAM FLOUR (WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR), SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, HONEY, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN-AN EMULSIFIER, CORNSTARCH) contains wheat and soy but no other top-8 allergens. Since it's the top graham cracker brand (or it seems to be, from all their marketing and shelf-hogging at the supermarket) and part of Kraft, I felt pretty confident that if the label didn't list a food, it wasn't in there.

I did one last scan of the box before I gave it to her, and noticed the Kosher Dairy symbol on the front (meaning in some way, shape, or form, there is dairy in this box). Super annoying and frustrating! I sent them an e-mail and I'll update when I hear back from them, but with a major food company like this, if there's some trace amount of dairy in their food, they should tell people.

Can you see the D on the front of the box? Grrr. It should be an "F" because Kraft, YOU FAIL!

4% of U.S. children have food allergies, analysis finds -- latimes.com

In this LA TIMES article, they report on the latest findings about food allergies, including that 4% of children in the United States have food allergies, and that there is a rise in cases, not just in diagnosis of the problem. No surprise there, at least for those of us dealing with food allergies, but always glad to see a mainstream publication giving attention to the problem. Read on, here:

4% of U.S. children have food allergies, analysis finds -- latimes.com

Check out FAAN's new web site

Congrats to FAAN (The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network) for re-launching their web site, which can be seen here: http://www.foodallergy.org.

Their old one was, admittedly, hideous -- with a layout that made it seem like a high-schooler built it back in 1996, so this is a much-needed improvement. You can subscribe to get alerts about undeclared allergens in foods, do a recipe search, and find out more about a particular allergen.

Congrats, FAAN, and thanks for your work on behalf of people with food allergies.

Food Challenge

Does the idea of bringing a young child to a hospital, telling her to eat a food she's never had before, and explaining it MIGHT make her sick sound fun to you? Wait, what if the kid is high-strung around doctors to begin with, and has had bad reactions to foods in the past? How about if she takes weeks or months to warm up to a new food? Yeah, and that she has to have six to eight ounces of it to see if she can manage it? If this sounds like an excellent way to spend a few hours, congratulations, you're a stronger person than me! Because the most challenging thing about Amelia's "food challenge" last week at Mt. Sinai was coming up with ways to make the experience as bearable as possible for her.

Let me back up for a moment. This summer, Amelia had her annual allergist appointment, where they did skin prick tests on her arm and *tried* to draw blood, but she got so upset they had to give up. So we did the bloodwork a few weeks later up near us, which went a lot better. The two tests showed that she had a good chance of being able to eat soy, so we decided to go ahead and do a "food challenge" (which is where a child, under the care of a doctor, eats a certain amount of a food and is observed for a reaction. No reaction? You have "passed" the challenge.)

Amelia was game about trying the chocolate soy drink (we'd built it up in the week before) but after one tiny sip she decided she didn't like it. Uh-oh. Much begging, cajoling, hectoring, bribing (Skittles), and gnashing of teeth ensued. We even mixed it in to her juice drink to hide the flavor. After, seriously, HOURS, she'd drunk about two ounces of the stuff, not the called-for six to eight. Sigh. Dr. Sicherer wasn't thrilled, but he was good-natured enough about it, and said that we should just continue to feed her small amounts of soy at home and watch for a reaction (such as eczema, or possibly, a flaring-up of her reflux).

So far we've tried to give her grilled cheese (with soy cheese, of course) and she took a teeny tiny scrape with her teeth. Not sure she even got any soy in that. Tonight Len's going to make a pizza. But I think I'm going to have to hide it in stuff, like pancakes or muffins, rather than get her to eat a brand-new food, which is always tricky.

Needless to say, the day sucked, but it's over and it appears she can start eating soy, at least in small amounts. She did pretty darn well for a four-year-old, actually -- considering her past bad experiences with doctors and with food.

Bring on the tofurky!

Keeping Allergies Off the Table

My man Ming Tsai (looking smooth, left) has a cool article in The Atlantic about how he keeps his food-allergic patrons safe when they dine at his restaurant, Blue Ginger. I love this guy.

Keeping Allergies Off the Table: "An award-winning chef explains why he makes his restaurant safe for people with food allergies...."

It's just nuts

It's just nuts, otherwise known as yet another article about how people are overreacting to food allergies. Sigh. I guess for everything there must be a backlash.

The author, Patricia Pearson, writing in Canada's Chatelaine, raises some good points. Those include that there is probably some overdiagnosis happening; that teaching kids safe habits like hand-washing and not sharing food is probably better than trying to make schools nut-free; and that most people are not allergic to food that is airborne.

Unfortunately, her arguments are totally lost in her one-sided article, which she starts off with (warning: ANNOYING parent alert) a kvetch about her son who is SO picky he won't eat mac & cheese made with certain noodle shapes and how horrid it is he can't bring a pb sandwich to school. Yep, way to make yourself sound like an ass, Pearson. Also, she doesn't factor in to account stuff like ages -- a 13-year-old can wash hands and not share food, but can a five-year-old avoid sticking their fingers in their mouths after touching a (possibly food-contaminated) desk?

I agree that there should be more research on food allergies as well as good, clear plans for having kids with food allergies in schools so that the kids are kept safe AND the rest of the student body can eat in peace, but this was not the article to try to find a rational middle ground.

If Pearson's biggest problem is a picky eater, she should a) count herself lucky and, excuse my language here, but b) stfu.

Want to read the whole magilla? Go right ahead, here!

A "allergy threat is overblown" themed article on Slate.com

There have been a few of these articles lately -- basically pointing out that the fear of food allergies far outweighs the actual risks from them. Author Meredith Broussard also reminds us that you're way more likely to bite it from a car accident than ingestion of a food. Agreed 100% -- HOWEVER when it's your kid, it doesn't feel overblown at all. She also takes Hugh Sampson and Scott Sicherer (both are allergists at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai, and Dr. Sicherer is Amelia's allergist) to task for not doing good statistical work to get a better sense of what they claim is an increase in the rates of food allergies. I do find it hard to believe that Broussard has blown the lid off of some medical scandal that no one else, including other allergists, hasn't seemed to figure out. The author also alludes to the doctors as having ulterior motives, and big pharma as wanting to make big bucks off finding a cure to food allergies (ya think?) in a way that's pretty sinister.

I could also live without Broussard's snarky tone, like this paragraph: The seafood study wasn't just used to legitimize food allergies inside the medical community. It also became a handy political weapon. In 2004, FAI hired a consulting firm to devise a plan to include specific ingredient information on food labels. Tax forms show that those expenses "included mailings to the public to help support the proposed legislation." Food allergy legislation was soon proposed by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and passed into law. We experience it now as the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, the law that requires cream cheese to bear the label "contains milk."

Considering our current problems with our food supply, I don't think a law mandating more transparent labeling is such a bad thing, do you?

Want to read the whole piece? Check it out for yourself here.

P.S. The illustration above is from Slate's feature, and is by Mark Alan Stamaty. Dude, talk about obvious! Sheesh.

Yummy Allergen-Free Snacks (from Parenting Magazine)

I think someone at Parenting magazine has a kid with food allergies, because this isn't the first time I've seen them cover the topic. In their October issue, they have a really cute, full-page roundup of allergen-free snacks, which you can also see on their site.

Some of them might not work for Amelia, but it's still such a cool thing to open up a major magazine and see them devoting so much space to the issue of allergies. Yay!

Is Coconut a nut?

I can't seem to find any good info on this -- is it a nut? And if not, why do they call it coconut? Although I guess nutmeg isn't a nut, and eggplant isn't an egg. The English language is weird.

What to Do With a Well-Meaning Mother-in-Law?

My mother-in-law is very, very nice. She loves the grandkids. She really wants Amelia baby J to be happy and healthy. What is she not so hot at? READING LABELS AND BEING AWARE OF POTENTIAL ALLERGENS. We bumped into her and grandpa yesterday at the Farmer's Market, and to cheer Amelia up (bee phobia), grandma gave Amelia a lollipop that one of the stands was giving away. But she didn't ask me if it was okay, nor did she read the label. In a stroke of really good luck, it was the brand that Amelia's okay eating (Dum-Dums). But still... .

So, when your mother-in-law does something you're not comfortable with, and it pertains to a safety issue, what do you do? I did the "whoa, hey, let's not forget to read labels next time first!" (trying for a jokey and casual voice) thing, but I don't know if that was effective or just went in one ear and out the other. I keep hoping she'll "get it" but we've had quite a few of these close calls (closer than this, which wasn't too bad) which I catch and fix without making a fuss, but is that the best strategy? I'm stumped, and worried the next time I may not be there. This is why I won't let her cook for Amelia or be in charge of any meals other than a snack I send over.

Or maybe that's okay -- I am her mom and it's my job to feed her, not anyone else's. Grandma's around to be a loving and fun presence (which she is).

Gerber Cereal: FAIL!

My mother-in-law stopped by with some baby food for John recently. One of the items she bought was a box of Gerber's "single grain" oatmeal cereal. Single grain my foot. Soy oil-lecithin is the third ingredient (after, thankfully, oat flour). That's just gross, and weird. Why the soy? For flavor? Bulk? A cheap filler? Whatever the reason, I'll pass. I realize most soy-allergic people are not allergic to soy oil or soy lecithin (Amelia included) but there's still no reason to add anything to a single grain baby food other than the grain, and some vitamins/minerals (a key one being iron, which babies need).

Gerber in general has always bugged me. Maybe because they seem to own the market due to sheer advertising muscle. But two different nutritionists I know say they prefer Beech-Nut. And I also like Earth's Best. Regardless, this is not cool. Gerber: FAIL!

Milky Way

Want to hear something weird? Most of the world's population actually can't digest milk. According to a recent USA Today article, "Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world's highest percentages of lactase tolerant people."

The really weird part is that "[b]eing able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn't really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it's abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what's really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk."

So those of us who can chug milk or munch on tons of cheese are actually in the minority. Granted, having an intolerance probably won't send you to the hospital in dire need of Epinephrine the way having an allergy to dairy will, but consuming milk products can still make you feel lousy and people with a lactose intolerance still have a tough time navigating restaurant menus.

Chicken Nuggets Are So Yummy

I never got into chicken nuggets. When I was a kid and we went to a fast-food place, I stuck with the tried-and-true basic burger. As I got older, of course, they just seemed sort of gross (is there even chicken in those things?). But then I discovered the yummy brand of chicken nuggets. They're definitely a step up from the usual (all chicken breast, all natural, etc.) and they taste amazing. (Greasy and rich and all that, but if you're three, why not?) They're good enough that I'd want them for a meal now and then myself (dieting issues not withstanding).

We had made them a billion years ago for Amelia and then she went through her chicken boycott phase, so we forgot about them for a while, but recently when we realized we needed to broaden her diet just a wee bit, we tried them again. The first time was a dud -- she dumped her "dipping sauce" (maple syrup) over them, they got cold and soggy, and that was the end of it. This time, we cut them up into smaller pieces and gave her a fork (she isn't a huge fan of getting greasy fingers) and she totally ate them. Not a TON, mind you, not like her 1/4 lb. of turkey she can pack away, but still, a respectable, pre-schooler serving size. They cost more (sigh, of course) but they're so worth it. Here's what's in them: Chicken Breast Meat, Water, Salt, Breaded with Unbleached Wheat Flour, Evaporated Cane Juice, Dried Yeast, Spices, Paprika. Flash fried in non-hydrogenated soybean oil to set breading. Not bad, right?

Soy Confusing!

You know what's weird? That people with soy allergies can eat soy lecithin and soybean oil. I guess those two soy products have been broken down so much that the body can't "recognize" that it is actually soy, and won't react with an assault.

Anyway, when I read a label and the allergen statement says "contains SOY" I put it down and move along. But then Amelia asked for animal crackers (where did she even learn what those were?) I figured I'd start looking to see if we could find an okay brand for her. Barnum's Animal Crackers seemed to fit the bill -- it had the "contains SOY" labeling so I'd never bought them for her before, but upon further review, the only soy was the above-mentioned soy lecithin and soybean oil. It was confusing, though -- why was the company labeling for soy as an allergen if the only soy was the okay kind? I even ran it by Amelia's dietitian, who gave us the okay, so we let Amelia have some of these last week. She liked them okay but didn't seem to be in love, but I think she was really happy that she asked for a certain food and was able to have it. Of course, her dad and I devoured the whole stupid bag of them on a recent long drive. Argh.

A love letter to Ian's Natural Foods

There are food companies popping up left and right to address the increase in allergies as well as the rise in celiac disease (hey, there's gold in 'dem 'dere hills) but a few really stand out as being particularly impressive.

In my first Tales From the Peanut-Free Table Love Letters, I am sending a big warm fuzzy hug to Ian's Natural Foods. They have a huge allergen-free line of frozen and convenience foods like Alphatots (tater tots with letters), a Mac & No Cheese (made with rice milk and other non-dairy stuff), and French Toast Sticks. None of their stuff has artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. On their site, you can search for products with a specific allergen. They even put their money where their mouth is by sponsoring a Massachusetts golf tournament benefitting FAAN. But what I like most of all is that they strive to make their allergen-free foods as fun and tasty as their other stuff, so that even kids on restricted diets can get something special, cool, and let's admit it, frozen and packaged and happy-meal-esque.

So to you, Ian's, thank you and ♥

Turns out most kids are fussy eaters

What? you gasp, children are often fussy about food? No! Well, yes. I know, it's obvious, but as a parent, I have a hard time knowing what is "normal" and what is just my kid. I always assume because we had some really extreme eating-related issues during Amelia's early years with the allergies and reflux that she is a particularly picky eater.

But the more I talk to other parents, the more I see that she may be somewhere in the picky side of things but she's definitely not alone.

My friend Lise was here yesterday with her totally flexible, good-natured four-year-old Caralena. The kid had been traveling for days but was still super cheerful and well-mannered. No tantrums. No talking back. Awesome kid. But I digress.

Her mom told me that the list of foods that Caralena eats is probably only a tad bit longer than Amelia's. I was definitely surprised. In my mind I'm imaging households of children spooning up spicy red sauce or sushi or lobster or duck a l'orange (is that a dish?), and that we're the only ones stuck in a "kid meal" rut. So, Caralena, thanks for being such a cute guest and for helping me see that having an adventurous eater is the exception, not the rule.

One fish, two fish, no fish on my dish

Amelia's not allergic to fish. She's been tested (skin and blood) more than once, and she's come up negative to cod, salmon, and tuna (presumably, that means she's fine with just about any fish). But since it's a top-8 allergen, and one that can cause serious reactions in people who are allergic, I was nervous as can be about offering it to her.

As I've said before, her caution combined with my nervousness equals not taking enough risks, either of us. So I decided tonight was the night to put some fish on Amelia's plate. I made some really simple and tasty oven fried cod. It was super basic (dip cod in melted margarine, then dredge in crushed rice cereal mixed with salt and pepper, bake for 15 minutes at 400). I put a tiny bit on her plate, along with a baked potato and (of course) her turkey. Plus a bowl of strawberries. She devoured the turkey and then set to work on the berries. When she asked for more strawberries, I told her she was welcome to seconds if she'd try a bite of either the fish or the potato first. She did a lot of lifting up of the potato, then putting it down. Finally, she grabbed some fish, stuffed it in her mouth, cried, spit it out, and told me she didn't like it. The whole thing took about 1/10th of a second. I had a moment of "uh-oh, is she allergic after all and spitting it out because it is making her sick?" but then I realized, hey, if you don't like something and you're three, you spit it out.

As the meal went on (fish incident over as quickly as it started) she told me sometimes she doesn't like a food the first time she tries it but then she starts to like it more the second time. It's cool that she realizes that. Maybe it's because we're taking swim class and we've been talking about how each day she is less scared and likes it more, and how proud I am of her. She even asked if I was still proud even though she was scared, and I explained how I was even prouder -- that it was hard to do stuff when you were frightened and that made it all the more awesome that she was forging ahead.

Oh, today we made some yummy Ian's Alphatots. Not the healthiest, but once in a while, why not? I heart that company -- they make a ton of free-from-top-8-allergens foods, and really make an effort to make stuff that's fun for kids. I called them once, too -- and the customer service rep was super friendly and helpful. Plus they sent me a coupon, so it's true love forever now. What can I say? I'm a cheap date.

When is it caution and when is it just flat-out crazy?

Ever since Amelia was diagnosed with her food allergies, I've tended to be hyper-cautious about cleaning the kitchen. I wield my Clorox wipes like a weapon and when we cook with stuff she's allergic to, I pretty much don a Hazmat suit and treat all surfaces as if someone has sprinkled anthrax on the counter tops. I even used to wash my hands before I'd put dishes in the dishwasher (which is so crazy I've forgotten my rationale). When we go out and she has a snack somewhere besides home, I am wiping surfaces, and wiping her hands, and re-wiping over and over. It gets to be a bit much, even for me, and everyone else thinks I'm nuts -- in-laws, godparents, even my husband, but I would rather err on the side of caution.

But lately I've started to relax a bit. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's fatigue from having a new baby, or that we've had a full year of preschool under our belts (with nary a reaction, yay!) or some other reason, but I am getting more laid-back. I even let Len bring eggs back in the house after a two-year ban, because I realized that there's really no good, logical, medical reason to keep any allergen out of the home, so long as we clean up well after cooking and eating it.

But it does make me wonder: am I relaxing in a good way -- learning how to allow a child some freedom? Or am I getting cocky and letting down my guard too much, just because we've had no allergic reactions since Amelia got her diagnosis? One allergist told a parent that "if you're not the most neurotic mother in the room, you're not doing a good enough job." How's that for alarming?

I'm still not planning on retiring my Clorox wipes, but if I can relax a bit it may be better for me, and for her, too. After all, she has to live in a world where the overwhelming majority of people will be eating food that she can't. If I can teach her to be cautious, not crazy, I know she'll do just fine. I just have to figure it out how to walk that fine line myself first.

Blueberry Picking '09

Last summer, we went blueberry picking a few times and though Amelia always had fun, she never ate the blueberries. She'd only have them baked in a blueberry muffin, or once in a while, eat two or three frozen blueberries (no clue why).

But today we went blueberry picking, and she was doing the total "one for the bucket, one for my mouth" thing, then she got home and had about four more bowls. Her grandmother was super thrilled, since we'd all spent quite some time being tense about Amelia's appetite, and seeing how great she's doing is a relief to all of us.

Oh, and grandma (aka Lela) made Amelia a special allergy-free cake today, too. I tend to be very anxious when Lela cooks for Amelia, because she is one of those casual cooks who throws in a dash of this, splash of that, and she never, ever ever reads labels. She and I have had some slightly awkward moments around Amelia's food allergies but it's just one of those things I've held firm on. Anyway, total credit is due to Lela, because she's really working hard on this. She found a zucchini cake recipe, and read all the ingredients to me. Other than eggs, it was all totally safe for Amelia (flour, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, zucchini, oil). So we gave Lela our box of Ener-G Egg Replacer, and she made the cake. It was really, really good. Amelia had a few bites and seemed to enjoy it. She was definitely cautious about it but for a first time with a new food, she did great. Uh, the bad news is that the rest of us devoured like 1/2 the pan. My baby weight isn't going anywhere, I am sorry to report.

Food chaining

I started doing some reading about "food chaining," a technique to help expand a child's diet by making small, incremental steps from one food they like to new foods. For instance, if a kid will only eat a chicken nugget from McDonald's, maybe you start by trying a new brand of nuggets. Once they start eating those, then you move on to a homemade nugget, then on to offering chicken without the breading, and so on. Or if a child will only eat potato chips, you can see if they might enjoy salt & vinegar chips, BBQ chips, and so on. I believe with this technique, you stick with the same texture but try to expand with flavors. It sounds like something that is used with kids with serious eating issues, with the guidance of medical professionals who specialize in pediatric feeding disorders.

Though we certainly don't have anything remotely like a feeding disorder happening over here, something about this strategy seems like it could make sense no matter what kind of eater you have, and I've been thinking about it a bit lately as I watch Amelia slowly expand her diet at (what sometimes feel like) random moments. When Amelia was younger she LOVED sliced apples. She lived on them. Then at some point she got sick of them and wouldn't eat them in any shape or form, which sucked because we live in Upstate New York and it's apple country from September through November. A few months ago, her nanny diced one up with cinnamon, brown sugar, and raisins, and sold it as a treat. She may have even called it "apple pie without the crust." Big. Hit. Total smash. Yahoo.

So Amelia's been enjoying that for a while now (c'mon, who wouldn't?). A few weeks ago I was rushing to get her dinner on the table and I peeled and sliced up an apple just to have a fruit to offer her, not expecting her to eat it, but at least wanting her plate to have something besides a protein and a carb. But she was hungry enough, or comfortable enough, so she did eat it. Saaaaaay. Last night she chowed down on the Red Delicious slices I gave her (it was a particularly good apple, by the way) and asked for more. The peeler was in a sink of dirty dishes and frankly I was still mad at her for her earlier temper tantrum (I sound mature, don't I?) so I cut up a new one without peeling it and gave it to her with no discussion -- in other words, no "Oh, do you mind the peel? Blah blah if you don't like it, eat around it, sorry about the skin, yadda yadda..." which of course would lead to her being oppositional (ah, the mind of a three-and-three-quarters-year-old) and not eating it in the first place. But with no big talk about it, and her being super hungry, she ate another 1/4 or so of an apple, peel and all. At first I saw her kind of trying to avoid the peel, but then she just started munching away.

I am not sure but I think that might be an example of food chaining, where a child expands he diet in small, steady steps. Whatever you call it, I'm excited! It's an interesting technique and seems to be non-pressured or particularly stressful for anyone at the table. And from my point out view, I know I can always find her an apple no matter where we are, and how handy is it to slice up an apple as a snack on-the-go? Yay!

Quaker Oats Company: FAIL!

Two of Amelia's friends are big fans of the tasty (albeit sugary and not-so-great-for you) Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, so their moms serve them at playgroup now and then.



The moms nicely asked if Amelia could have some, so I read the label and as you can clearly see, the only top-8 allergen is wheat, which Amelia can, and does, eat. Can't miss it, it says CONTAINS WHEAT INGREDIENTS in big bold letters, nicely calling out their allergen for people who are reading labels. Excellent work, you guys.



So... all systems go, right? Not so fast! A quick perusal of the front of the box shows a Kosher OU symbol (standing for the Orthodox Union, the world's largest kosher certifying agency) as well as D right next to it. About.com's Guide to Popular Kosher Symbols says that "'Dairy' or 'D' printed near the kosher symbol on the food package indicates the product is kosher and contains some milk or milk derivative."



Weird, right? So I call Quaker Oats and get a nice but SUPER dippy customer service rep who clearly didn't know anything at all. She just said that the "D" is KOSHER. Ya think, Golda Meir? Then she "accidentally" hangs up on me. Charming. So I call back and get another perfectly nice but also unhelpful guy, who also says that Quaker labels for all allergens (great) and that if there is a risk of even cross-contamination they would label for that, too (also great). He even gets a bit frosty with me and tells me they "go above and beyond" at Quaker with labeling. Listen, guys, that is swell, but what up with the D? He also tells me that the "D" on the front of the box is "something Kosher." Oh, I see. Toda Moshe Dayan. (Yeah, that's thank you in Hebrew, folks. I heart the interweb.)

So, in closing, I have no clue why there is a D on the front of this cereal, other than some representative of the Kosher certification agency felt that the food wasn't Pareve -- which means contains neither milk NOR meat. I won't be feeding the food to Amelia, at least not yet, but I would like to get to the bottom of this, just out of curiosity. Maybe a call to the Orthodox Union is in order? Stay tuned... But for now, a big FAIL to you folks over at Quaker Oats. Listen, no shame in having milk in a food, just freakin' label for it.

Label confusion

We were all set to make Amelia some Bell & Evans chicken nuggets (which she'd had ages and ages ago and which we hope could be an appealing way for her to try chicken again) when I noticed on the package a weird discrepancy. The ingredient statement had all the expected stuff (chicken, wheat, salt, cane juice, etc.) but then elsewhere on the package, it listed Allergen Information: Contains milk, wheat.

After a call to Bell & Evans (very nice people, btw) I was told that there'd been an error in the labeling, and that there was no dairy in the nuggets all. They'd noticed the typo a few months ago and tried to put a sticker on all packages leaving the factory but I guess they missed mine. So we're all clear for nuggets, if she'll go for them. We'll see.

Anyway, it is crazy what you see when you start reading food labels. Soy in Life Savers (yuck)! Or my personal gross-out favorite: fish in microwave popcorn. Blech. Or when something does not list dairy in the ingredients but has a D (kosher symbol) on the front of the package. What's that about?

You say tomato, I say annatto, let's call the whole thing off

Other than to-mah-toe and po-tah-toe, I'm not sure what else rhymes with annatto. But when I read Amelia's allergist Dr. Sicherer's book, he devoted a section to a patient who had a mystery allergy and after some detective work, they realized it was annatto, the seed often used as a food coloring.

When we had our appointment last month, I asked if they would test Amelia for annatto allergy, and Dr. Sicherer looked at me like I had two heads. Apparently my careful reading of his text wasn't careful enough, because he told me having an allergy to annatto is quite rare. (Dude, you may be the Dr. House of food allergies but I am an editor, and "rare" did not come up in your chapter, but hey, whatever.... .) I'd avoided foods that otherwise seemed safe because annatto was listed as an ingredient, but once we got the okay, I figured it was okay to feed it to her. So Amelia got to enjoy a tropical fruit Edy's popsicle, with pineapple, passion fruit, peace, and a bunch of other stuff including annatto. She was fine. Yay, another ingredient we don't have to worry about.

Bread and Jam for Frances

Lately we've been reading a lot of Russell & Lillian Hoban's Frances books around here. They are awesome, and I actually semi-remember them from when I was a kid. Frances (a badger, in case you were curious) is cute, full of attitude, and of particular appeal to Amelia, is often annoyed about having to be a big sister. In Frances' defense, she tries very hard, though. My favorite right now is Bread and Jam for Amelia Frances because Frances goes through a picky eating phase, and her parents handle it so well. It's nice for me to read books to Amelia about other kids and food, so that she knows, at least at some level, that all kids have their own weird food preferences.

In the book, Frances only eats bread and jam even though the rest of the family is busy enjoying an array of other foods (a lot of eggs in little egg cups, and some veal. Hey, they were written in the '60s, what do you want?). Instead of nagging her, Frances' parents finally stop serving her anything but bread and jam. Before long, she gets sick of it and starts eating other stuff.

This is a long build-up but for the past few months, I've periodically try to make Amelia a jelly sandwich, involing her as much as I can in the making of. We put a thin spread of grape jelly on the bread, then use this handy cut-'n'-seal sandwich maker thingee from The Pampered Chef to form a circle with crimped edges and no crust. It looks really pretty, if I do say so myself. Of course, Amelia will request one, then take nary a bite. Grrrr. It drives me nuts but I tried to go with the flow. The flow being 'say nothing and let this kid find her own way even if inside you're thinking, Eat the freakin' sandwich!.' Today I offered her one at snack time, naturally assuming she wouldn't eat it but that she could always make it up at dinner. Also I was sort of peckish and had my sights set on her leftovers. Either she was hungry, too spacey to realize this wasn't one of her usual foods, or the lesson of Frances finally won her over, because she ate the whole thing. Awesome!

Plus, in another not-par-for-the-course occurance, she nibbled on a few bites of carrot, and actually chewed and swallowed it, rather than take a bite, chew, spit it out, repeat. I think the carrot eating was due to the fact that Amelia spent a good 30 minutes helping me rinse the carrots we got at the CSA and maybe they started looking kind of appealing to her in their cute orange-y way. They were rather dainty and colorful.

Tip of the hat to you, Chef Ming Tsai

This month's Cookie magazine features a profile of Ming Tsai, owner of yummy-sounding restaurant Blue Ginger in Massachusetts (Rice Paper Wrapped Salmon with Lobster-Sake Sauce! Crispy Organic Coconut Shrimp and Baby Shrimp!) and host of Simply Ming on PBS. His David son was an infant when he was diagnosed with allergies to soy, wheat, dairy, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs, which, considering what his dad did for a living, was one heck of a cosmic joke. Har de har har. Ahem.

Anyway, the Chef has spent years helping make restaurants safer for people like David -- he became a spokesperson for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network and worked with Massachusetts government officials on a bill making restaurant kitchens more aware and accountable of patrons with food allergies. Check out the full feature here:

Father of Invention: Chef Ming Tsai: cookiemag.com

So from one parent of a food allergic child to another, thanks. (P.S. Hey, in more good news, David's outgrown almost all of his allergies.)

Sugar; Amelia's gateway drug

I can't believe how much kids like sugar. I realize that's the sort of comment experienced moms would respond with a "ya think?" and perhaps an eye roll.

But man, it blows me away how much it's the magic elixir for Amelia. Add it to some diced strawberries a few times, as I mentioned earlier, and now she loves the juicy red berries. Lately she's been on a blueberry strike (even avoiding her once-beloved blueberry muffins) but since we haven't been to the market in a few, today it was just about the only fresh fruit we had left in the house. So we let Amelia sprinkle some sugar on them (a tiny bit of sugar, mind you) and bang, two bowls emptied.

I know there must be a way to use this to my advantage with other foods, right?

Picky eaters in the news

This is a recent item from Parenting magazine:

BEYOND PICKY
A lot--a whole lot--of kids are fussy eaters. But as many as 20 percent of children have an actual pediatric feeding disorder, says Peter Girolami, Ph.D., with the Kennedy Krieger Institute Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program in Baltimore. In these kids, their pickiness leads to weight loss, slowed growth--and extreme stress for the whole family. Sound familiar? Talk to you doctor to find a specialist near you.

Makes me feel like I'm doing okay, since we're not having weight loss/growth issues over here. That said, we could be doing a whole lot better, too. This gives me some motivation to move forward!

Healthy!

OK, not really. Tonight's dinner: a bite of corn on the cob, a large handful of potato chips, one lick of beef hot dog, and most of a Edy's fruit bar. Why so nutritious, you ask? Because we didn't make Amelia her turkey or her bagel or her noodles, the only things she'll consistently eat (other than fruit, sweets, or muffins), so she had to make do with the other stuff. Is she the only child in the world who doesn't want to eat a hot dog?

Also, I had one of those awkward etiquette moments, because Amelia's cousins weren't allowed to have potato chips until they ate their broccoli, whereas I served Amelia her chips along with the rest of her meal. I'm not sure how I feel about the "eat your broccoli and you'll get your chips" as a strategy. I go back and forth on it. I know Ellyn Satter says not to do it, but rather to lay out all the food and let the kid pick what, how much, and which. But as a parent, it is almost impossible to for me to keep my mouth shut when my kid chows down on potato chips (which she almost never gets to eat) over the healthier fare. That said, tonight's dinner was unhealthy all around so I am clearly overthinking this.

I am going to have to steel myself when it comes time to move to "family meals" because it'll probably be six months of her not eating dinner. I'm going to have to go Method acting on her and pretend I'm not freaking out. I'd like to thank the academy.... .

Kraft-y

Last week I picked Amelia up from camp and her teacher told me Amelia really enjoyed her pasta salad. Me -- > shocked. They gave her Good Seasonings salad dressing mix and she loved it. I was a bit %*$*!! whoa because I never ever give her mixes/packaged stuff because I'm so paranoid, but Josephine called them and they said there were no allergens and to forge ahead, so they did. I guess that's how Amelia will expand her diet, if she's offered new things and I loosen up a bit.

I made a call to Kraft, who owns Good Seasonings, and the customer service rep was very nice, and told me if there was any chance of cross-contamination, they'd label for it, and when I asked if mustard was in the mix, she said they'd research that and call me back within 7-10 days. After 24 hours, someone called me back (impressive) and said they actually label for all seeds: sesame, celery, poppy, mustard. You name it, they will label for it in the ingredients. This is why I heart big corporate food giants. I mean, yes, I love little mom & pop companies and local this and that, but when it comes to food allergies and labeling, the big guys have it covered in a way smaller places just can't. In fact, Amelia's allergist says that kids with nut allergies shouldn't eat in bakeries because there is just too mix risk of cross contamination.

So, I salute you, Kraft foods! Thanks for being so great about labeling, and for having such nice customer service.

P.S. Of course we made pasta salad at home on Friday with the mix and it was a bust. Went over like a lead balloon. Onwards!

Crapola

Well, it's not a huge shock, but it's a bummer nonetheless. We sent Amelia's three-day food log to her dietitian (who works out of Mt. Sinai, dealing with kids with food allergies). The good news is that Amelia gets enough protein and seems to be eating enough calories. The bad? "She has a very limited repertoire of foods and the older she gets, the more difficult it will be to introduce foods."

Crap. Crap. Crap. I know it's the truth, and I know I am going to have to bite the bullet and get her to eat "family meals" instead of her very own beloved turkey turkey turkey every lunch and dinner, but ugh. I may not have the heart for it.

The dietitian (Marion) said we just have to make allergen-free meals (obviously) and assume it may take 10 or more times before she'll try a new food. That's pretty much the same advice that Ellyn Satter gives in her books, and it sounds so sane and reasonable. But ugh. I can't imagine pulling this off.

Also, I know this is stupid but my ego is bruised. I tend to think that with a kid with all these food allergies plus the reflux, the fact that she comes to the table, eats enough to grow, and enjoys some foods (OK, not a lot but still, there's some variety there) is a total success story. Sigh. I realize this is not about me, this is about being a good parent and finding ways to help my child grow and develop, but still, come on, a little credit here?

Actually in all fairness to me, the last time I met with Marion she did give a compliment -- she said a lot of families where the kid has had some growth issues due to health reasons wind up in power struggles with their child over food, so the fact that Amelia was eating a good amount of food and not battling with us at the dinner table was great. Couldn't she have given some "rah rah" with her constructive criticism this time around? Sheesh!

Poor Amelia has some sort of bug (with fever) right now so there will be no "family meals" for the next little while, but it's on the horizon. Stay tuned... .

One Potato, Two Potato

Last night we made "sweet potato chips" which is basically sliced sweet potatoes, tossed with canola oil and a bit of salt, and then baked in the oven. They are not crispy, though, more like a soft slice of potato. Amelia goes through phases on these. She likes them, she avoids them like they've got swine flu, then she likes them again. We've had a bad run of it lately but since Len and I like them, it's no biggie. Last night she asked for ketchup and I suggested she try a bite plain first, since the last time she decided she liked them more without ketchup than with. She actually did try a bite (shocker) and remembered how much she liked them. So that was a big hit, which is nice since sweet potatoes are decent for you and the dish is easy to make.

Tonight, we made baked potatoes and she was huffy because I actually put one on her plate (split, and mashed up with margarine). Sheesh. Suffice it to say she didn't go near hers, except to stab at it half-heartedly with a fork. For some reason as a kid I didn't like mashed potatoes so maybe it's a texture issue? Who knows? I realized how much I like baked and mashed potatoes, though, so that's good.

Riddle me this

OK, so just out of curiosity, can anyone explain why my kid won't eat a bite of her dinner until she gets ALL the stuff that is being served? Like tonight -- for dinner, I made her beef, crackers & pretzels (yeah, yeah, I know. I'm out of carb ideas. So sue me), raisins, and grapes. I served it all up except the grapes. She asked for the grapes. I told her in a minute. She got upset and refused to eat anything else. I told her to get started on the rest of the stuff and the grapes would be on their way. Fussing ensued until I gave her her grapes. At which point she ate everything in front of her and asked for seconds, and thirds, on the grapes.

Is this a 3-and-a-half year old thing, or just my kid?

Enquiring minds want to know.

P.S. The grapes were tasty, I admit. We're on a roll over here. Do grapes actually have any nutritional value, or are they just nice sweet cold treats? Either way I'll keep serving them to her, and I'm glad she likes them, but I'm curious. Grape research underway, I'll report back.

Strawberry Success

So, for some reason, I really wanted Amelia to like strawberries. I'm not sure why, maybe because most kids like them and I always want her to have experiences like her friends when she can, considering how much stuff she can't have, but the whole "try them, you'll like them" goes over like a gondola full of shit around here, so... in the spirit of Ellyn Satter and her tip that it can take a kid MANY times before they'll like a food, I kept offering them and trying not to talk them up too much. Of course, nada.

Finally I hit upon a great idea: SUGAR! Sugar is Amelia's gateway drug. Sprinkle it on anything and she'll at least give the item a try ... or a lick. Brown sugar is her absolute fave but in a pinch she'll go for the white stuff.

Long story short, she is now enjoying her strawberries (not as much as her beloved grapes, though) and I can either a) pat myself on the back for getting her to like a new food or b) kick myself for making her such a sugar junkie. Ah, motherhood!




In less fun news, tonight Amelia had a full-on tantrum and was screaming and sobbing while eating her oatmeal raisin cookie. If it were me I might not have continued chowing down, but nothing was going to pry that cookie out of her little hands. She's asleep now so can someone pour me a margarita, please?

The first recipe I ever memorized

I feel like a old-fashioned cook because I can now easily make biscuits from scratch without consulting the recipe.

Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup oil (I use Crisco Canola oil)

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together oil and water, then add to the dry mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are blended, then remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead about 20 (approx.) times, added more flour if it gets too sticky. Then roll out (I just pat with my hands) and use a small cup to cut out biscuits. Place on a ungreased baking pan and bake about 10-12 minutes, until the biscuits are slightly browned.

Easy! Yummy! Someday Amelia will love these (hopefully). Come on, what's not to like? But for now she may just have a nibble or two only when her favorite stuff (turkey, raisins, grapes) are all done and she is still hungry. That's okay, though; I like these, as does Len. As Len once joked, how come we're trying to fatten up our daughter and instead we're the ones getting big?

Picnic festivites & blueberry muffins

Today I took Amelia and Baby John to a playdate at Sophie's house. Sophie has a baby sister, Isolde, who is only a month older than John so that makes it fun for everyone -- me included. I am giving myself a pat on the back for going out with two kids, as I'm still kind of nervous about that, and for not having a heart attack during our picnic lunch when Sophie, hands all sticky with cream cheese, kept trying to hand Amelia blueberries. Luckily no cross-contamination occurred, only because Amelia didn't want the blueberries in the first place.

I didn't say anything (as in, "Sophie, if you have cream cheese on your hands don't touch something Amelia might eat because she's allergic") because I was sure Amelia wouldn't eat them in the first place, although in hindsight I should have said something after all. Hm. Next time I need to be ready if that happens again!

Regardless, we all had fun and there were no problems. Highlight: the girls playing on the slip 'n' slide. So fun!

Also I made some more blueberry muffins (from my cooking bible, the FAAN Allergy-Free Cookbook). Finally fresh blueberries are in season and not obscenely costly. Frozen ones taste fine but when you mix the batter it turns it all purple, whereas that doesn't happen with the fresh ones.

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup milk-free, soy-free margarine at room temperature (note: I took ours out of the freezer and therefore had to microwave it to get it soft enough, which I think makes for a slightly less successful muffin)
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. water, 3 Tbsp. oil, 2 tsp. baking powder; mixed together
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen are fine but let them defrost first)
1 Tbsp. sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (I don't do this step btw!!)

Preheat oven to 375. Line muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium-size bowl, beat margarine until creamy. Beat in the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in water, oil, and baking powder. Add vanilla, remaining baking powder, and salt.

Fold in half the flour and half the water with a spatula. Add remaining flour and water. Fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg-sugar (if you are doing this step). Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let muffins cool slightly before serving.

Tidy!

Amelia likes a project, so she and her beloved nanny Lena organized the shelf in the pantry that has all of Amelia's safe (aka non-allergenic) foods on it. Also we found a box of Golden Raisins Amelia and I had bought on a shopping trip a while ago but forgot all about. So today for snack she had golden raisins (to me they are kind of weird but I'm not sure why) with her pretzels.

In case you're wondering, yes, she's still freaked out about the fire and even woke up last night at around 1 AM screaming and scared. Poor thing!

Photo of nice neat shelf:


PS Why does Amelia love the little corn on the cob holders that you stick in each end of the corn but won't actually eat the darn corn? Munch, what is going on in that little brain of yours?

We didn't start a fire....

Well, actually, we did. Tonight, Len was cooking dinner when all of a sudden, the oil from the salmon dripped on to the coils of the (STUPID) electric oven, and as you can imagine, what occured was fire. Amelia--> terrified. She is scared of fire and all things fire (fire alarms, the red button in the elevator to call for firemen, fireplaces, talking about fire, smoke, etc.)

I once started a fire in the microwave while attemping to sanitize my sponges. (Don't ask.) She didn't stop talking about it for weeks. So tonight, the dinner conversation was 100% all about the fire. Was the fire gone? Where did it go? How did it start? What happened? Would it come back? What happens if there is a fire? Is the oven still on? What caught fire? Is the turkey okay? Can I see the fish? Is it ruined? Is that smoke? Is it still hot?




Not much eating was done, as you can imagine. I actually tried to bribe her ("eat a bite of your turkey and I'll tell you about the fire for the 97th time") which I realize is a bad idea on so many levels, but man I was tired of talking flames and I knew she was hungry. On the upside, though, now Len is the firestarter, not me!

Oh, and she got her appetite back for a cookie before bed, so never fear.

As an aside, why is fish so freakin' expensive? It was like 10 bucks for just enough salmon for me and Len. I am annoyed that eating healthy costs way more than eating junky. I guess I have to think long-term health rather than short-term cost cutting. Annoying, though. Amelia can actually have fish, says her allergist, but I have yet to feed it to her because I am hella neurotic and scared to introduce a highly-allergenic food even if I'm told it is okay. I have offered her some of ours but I am always confident she'll say "No, thanks" and so far she has. Stay tuned, though, we'll get there!

Yin Meets Yang

Today Amelia had a playdate with her "friend" (as usual, I like air quotes here because at three-and-a-half, what does a friend really mean?) with Sophie, from preschool. Sophie is hilarious -- she is OBSESSED with food. She asks about her next meal when she's just finishing the one in front of her, and her mom has to remind her not to beg for snacks or ask "when is lunch?" over and over again. She's totally normal sized, adorable, not overweight or anything like that, but just loves loves loves food and thinks about it all the time. When Amelia and I were walking with her back from the park, Sophie was telling us how she is "hungry all of the time." Anyway, it cracked me up. Yin, may I introduce you to Yang?

In fun news, Amelia and I had a tea party together today. I am trying to do some "just the two girls" kinds of things so she feels special, and like there's something good about being the older sister, rather than just wondering why Baby John gets all the attention. Menu for tea party: water (in fancy tea pot), pretzels, rolled-up jelly sandwiches (Amelia had a bite, hooray), and Berry Berry Kix. (Note: I was so busy reading the ingredients to check for allergens for these that I didn't realize they have 8 grams of sugar per serving. Oops! Sweeeeeet, no wonder A is lovin' them.)

Thank you, Ellyn Satter

I love author Ellyn Satter, who has written many helpful books about feeding and children. She is (I believe?) a Registered Dietitian and Social Worker, and focuses on how much emotions come in to play with food and how the process of feeding their kids can really drive parents crazy.



I read CHILD OF MINE and HOW TO GET YOUR KID TO EAT: BUT NOT TOO MUCH when I was struggling to figure out how to be calm, cool and collected with Amelia around food. Satter's main thesis is that your job as a parent is to provide healthy, tasty food; set structured mealtimes and snacks; and leave your kid alone to figure things out. Your child's job is to decide what to eat (within the choices you have offered) and how much, if at all.

Dinner is Amelia's least-favorite meal these days. She's tired, crabby, and usually not hungry because she has a mid-afternoon snack. But at our appointment, our allergist Dr. Sicherer told us Amelia doesn't need her EO28 Splash drink anymore (it's a hypoallergenic drink for kids with food allergies who can't have milk/soy/etc.). He said Amelia has enough other food in her diet to have a balanced diet and can have calcium-fortified juices/rice drinks to cover any calcium issues. So today I tried offering a much smaller snack, and no rich, filling EO28 Splash. She came to the dinner table hungry, and ate all her turkey and raisins. She was still hungry after finishing those and after kind of sulking and complaining about her whole wheat bread and biscuit, wound up eating the biscuit (or at least some of it). Her dad and I stayed calm, and didn't jump up to get her something else to eat. Satter suggests that if a kid is hungry, they will eat and not to "short order cook" for them or you're in for a major battle every night.

Anyway, it may not sound like much, but seeing Amelia have at least some of her bread and biscuit was pretty satisfying, as was sending the message to her that we had faith she'd figure out how to feed herself without us hovering. I'm feeling really pleased, so thanks, Ms. Satter! Check her site out here: https://ellynsatter.com.

Allergy appointment (a.k.a. morning from hell)

Took Amelia to her annual allergy appointment today at Mount Sinai in NYC, along with baby John (who at under five months old, hasn't eaten a thing yet other than breastmilk). Amelia was fine until it came time for the various allergy tests. Her dad took her in (I was still in the other exam room with John, nursing) and Amelia started yelling during the SPT (skin prick tests) about how it "burned." At least the nurse was able to finish the test (which, btw, showed that Amelia is still allergic to milk, has about a 50/50 chance of having outgrown her soy allergy, is not allergic to sesame anymore (we think), is barely allergic to peanut (!!), and can safely eat chickpeas and lentils).

Sadly, we cannot confirm any of that that with blood tests, because the second the nurse pulled out the needle Amelia started screaming so loudly that I heard her from down on the other end of the floor of a major hospital. I guess she screamed, thrashed, fought and just freaked out so much no blood was drawn, so... . Sigh.

The upshot is Dr. Sicherer, our allergist, thinks we should do a soy challenge in his office, where we give her small amounts of soy over the course of a few hours and watch her carefully for any reactions. His office is super backed up so it will probably be a few months before we can do one, but that's about that for now.




I was really bummed about the Amelia'ss appointment, maybe more than I needed to be, frankly. We go there just once a year and the data from these tests is so helpful, and now we only have 1/2 of what we need to find out what kind of progress she may have made. That's the valid part, but the part I wouldn't admit as casually is that I am worried that Amelia is going through such a rough time. If she gets a minor cut or scrape she gets hysterical, and the sound of her screaming when she gets her hair washed would have people walking by our house think we were beating her. I wish I could figure out how to make this easier on her (and on us) and I'm fearing she'll always be this worked up about stuff she is scared of. Looking back on my own childhood, my biggest regret is that I let fear stop me from doing fun things -- kid stuff, like going on a roller coaster, or diving off a diving board in to a pool -- but things that make a childhood thrilling. For Amelia, I believe it's a combination of being three, being her (sometimes a sensitive kid), and the final whammy; having a new baby in the house. That perfect storm is creating a very cute, very small monster. Think Tasmanian Devil.






In better news, John's SPT to egg, soy and dairy were negative, which is a positive sign that (I think?) he may not struggle with the same food allergies as his sister, or if he does they will be less severe. Maybe he'll have a few (like, nuts, whatever) but hopefully he'll dodge the full list that she's dealing with. I'd know more but Amelia was still crying and upset during the final talk with Dr. Sicherer so I didn't get to ask some of the questions I meant to. Hey, I can always e-mail him, at least.

In "big picture" news I have two healthy children that I love very much and a great husband who really tried to help out today (even more than normal) when he saw how frazzled I was getting. (Did I mention John chose last night to wake up every two hours from bedtime to wake-up? Argh!) But for now, I'm a bit off my game and have to try to relax a bit, and let Amelia feel anxious if she needs to, even if it's hard for me to do that.

Applesauce Brownies recipe

Thanks to the Food Allergy News Cookbook, where I get 99% of my dessert and muffin recipes. They're easy to follow, taste great (for the most part) and are totally allergen-free. Amelia can eat wheat but there are plenty of wheat-free recipes, for anyone who can't do wheat or gluten. And even though Amelia is allergic to soy, she can safely have Fleischmann's unsalted stick margarine. That plus wheat makes cooking quite easy, so I count my blessings! The unsalted is the one with the green label. The red (original salted version) has dairy, so avoid it!



Applesauce Brownies
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk-free, soy-free margarine, softened
3 Tbsp. water, 3 Tbsp. oil, 2 tsp. baking powder; mixed together
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch square pan (note: I used an 8X8 with no problems). Set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar and margarine with the water, oil, and baking powder mixture. Stir well. Add applesauce and vanilla extract; blend well. Add flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

(These are more cake-y than fudgey, for all you brownie aficionados out there.)

Brownies, Take 2

Ta-da! Success! Brownies baked & brought over to Grandma & Grandpa for a Father's Day dessert. Amelia ate half of one and seemed to enjoy it. No complaints = success in my book. What do I expect? Lavish praise and thanks from a three-year-old? Nope! Happy to get the no-gag-and-spit-out-of-mouth-like-she's-been-fed-a-dead-rat seal of approval.

I'd share the recipe but I am loathe to go downstairs and wake two sleeping children. Stay tuned, though -- details coming soon.

Brownies, Take 1

Last week, we were invited to a BBQ thrown by the parents of one of the "friends" in Amelia's playgroup. The air quotes are because at three and 1/2, she's not quite sure what it means to be a friend. They all usually play near each other but not so much together. But I digress... .

Anyway, I knew there would be a ton of stuff Amelia was allergic to, which always stresses me out -- you know, "Will she touch someone else's plate?" "Will someone else touch her food?" But I figured I could bring some stuff she'd like and hope for the best. It's not like I'm willing to keep her in a plastic bubble just because she has food allergies, but I do wish I didn't get so anxious in the first place.

We brought her some basic, easy-to-pack foods for her dinner (bagel--> success, chicken--> bust, why do I bother with the stupid bird in the first place?, potato chips--> interested in them on her plate but didn't eat them). I also made a big deal out of bringing brownies (homemade, no eggs/dairy/nuts/sesame/soy/etc.) and popsicles (Edy's fruit bars) so that there'd be treats there she could have. Amelia was excited about those, so I thought I'd offer her a taste of the brownie before we hit the party, partially as a tasty treat but also in a pre-emptive "if she is going to gag and spit it out, better to get it out of the way pre-party" kind of maneuver.

All went well until I put the yummy chocolate-y brownie in her hand ... . As soon as she touched it she handed it back with a "no thanks." (Points for being polite!) Turns out a fresh-out-of-the-oven brownie that's still a bit warm is a no-no. This kid likes her food icy cold or room temp. Sigh. She did, however, have some popsicle at the party, and managed to have a good time.

We'll see how the next round of brownie-making goes, since she wants to make them for Father's Day. Often, Amelia enjoys the making and not the eating, so my job is not to push her to "try a bite" because a) that never works and b) it is super stressful for both of us and c) why do I care if she tries a bite or not?

Stay tuned, and I'll share the receipe, too. It is really good and super easy -- two things I like when it comes to baking.

Welcome!

Hi -- and welcome to Tales From the Peanut-Free Table.

I'm a parent to a super-duper allergic (as in no soy, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, eggs, or dairy) kid. Plus we have to avoid stuff like seeds (what the hell does that even mean?) and introduce each new food carefully. Said kid also has reflux (fancy name: GERD). And she'd rather do just about anything than stop moving to sit down and eat (so she's petite, although, unlike in her earlier months, she's now growing just fine on the low end of the curve). I've also got a baby who is about to start eating something besides breast milk, and hopefully that feeding process will go a bit smoother the second time around.

I'll be writing about my experiences feeding them, which also includes my own nervousness and anxiety and my quest to combat it so as to avoid creating a crappy mealtime environment. I'll post anything I see that's interesting and relates to food, kids and food, or allergies. Do you have a kid who presents a challenge at the dinner table because of allergies, reflux, or just plain old pickiness? Glad you're here! I'll report on any fun foods she might actually try, and I'll also pass on any actual helpful tips I might have.