An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away!

Here's another one of Brody's favorite desserts. I wish Josh wasn't such a picky eater. He loves apples themselves, just doesn't care so much for the texture of cooked apples I guess. Crazy kid!

Apple Crisp (milk, egg, & nut-free)

6 medium apples

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 cup dairy-free margarine, melted

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup quick oats

Grease 9 x 13 pan. Peel and slice apples. Place apples in pan and toss with lemon juice. Mix rest of ingredients with a fork and sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve with a dollop of Rich Whip or your favorite dairy-free ice cream!

What a find!

At last, just what every allergic child needs! Their very own stuffed dust mite toy!

"This soft toy measures about five inches long, thousands of times larger than an average dust mite, and it's guaranteed not to leave behind any allergenic waste particles or to cause any allergic reactions. Each plush toy comes with a dust mite fact sheet."
achooallergy.com

But at least they're cuter than the real thing!

Food Allergies a Trend?

"Our troubling economy, concerns about the environment and the desire to prevent age-related ailments are behind many of the top 10 food and nutrition trends that will shape supermarket shelves and restaurant menus in 2009."

Top 10 Eating Trends Promise Healthier Products For 2009

Food Allergies Are Nothing To Laugh About

Dr. Robert Wood responds to the LA Times article, "Nut Allergies - A Yuppie Invention", wherein columnist Joel Stein states that the rise in food allergies is simply due to "a parent who needs to feel special".

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-wood15-2009jan15,0,2215559.story

"Stein says that food allergies kill about as many people a year as lightning strikes, suggesting that we therefore shouldn't take this medical condition seriously. The point he completely misses -- or worse yet chooses to ignore -- is that deaths are so infrequent only because of this high level of vigilance."

Berry Delicious Fruit Smoothie

I make these smoothies for the boys almost every single day, either as part of their breakfast or a quick after school snack. I'm always worried about Brody's calcium intake, so I tend to add calcium powder to just about everything. Ditto flax seed for a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Feel free to leave those ingredients out if you don't need/want them.

1-1 1/2 cups frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)

1 banana

1/2 tsp flax seed meal

1 tsp calcium powder

1-1 1/2 cups apple juice

Combine in blender. Adjust amounts of berries and juice until desired consistency. Enjoy!

Label Reading

Just a reminder to not only read all labels all the time, but also look over the entire package for allergy warnings in odd places! Just before Halloween, I had picked up a package of Jolly Rancher Doubles and was happy to see that they were safe for Brody's allergy set. I was thrilled to have found a new treat for Brody and just in time for Halloween!

When Brody put the first piece of candy in his mouth, he almost immediately said that it made his tongue feel funny. My mind instantly flashed back to a very severe reaction he had had to milk several years ago where his first symptom was the feeling that his tongue was "burning". But I reassured myself that the ingredients were fine and decided that he probably just didn't like the flavor combination of Grape/Green Apple. Can't say I would either! After a couple of minutes he decided that he really didn't like the Jolly Rancher Doubles and spit out the piece in his mouth. Later that day I decided to try one and happened to take a closer look at the individual candy wrapper in my hand. If you can manage to uncrinkle the entire wrapper without totally distorting the words, you will find this interesting tidbit of information...

Allergy Information: Manufactured on the same equipment that processes PEANUTS/MILK.

Based on Brody's tongue feeling funny, I would certainly assume there is cross contamination with these candies. Why was this warning not on the outside of the main package? Unfortunately right now cross contamination warnings are not mandatory, but the FDA is accepting written public comments on "May Contain" labeling until January 14, 2009.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!! We need to work together to keep our food allergic children safe!

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064806b7555

Cookie-Cupcake

We are invited to a birthday party for a friend's little boy today. Brody really doesn't like cake whatsoever for some reason, but loves cookies. So I decided to make him a milk, egg, and nut-free Cookie-Cupcake for his treat at the party today. Same concept as the cookie-cake I made for Josh's birthday...just smush a glob of cookie dough into the cupcake pan, bake, cool, and decorate. A nice alternative for those who are non-cake lovers! The cookie recipe I used was the Simple Sugar Cookies from an awesome cookbook called Baking Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro. I highly recommend this cookbook for anybody looking for lots of delicious dessert recipes while avoiding eggs in their diet.