Dazed and confused? Then dance
Fri, 12/03/10 – 13:33 | No Comment

It was the second week of karate, and Boots was starting  his new sport the same way he’d started soccer.
He’d flop. He’d flit. He’d spin merrily and smile broadly. Then he’d look appropriately chagrined when …

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Food

Picky eaters and allergy-safe cooking — the two aren’t necessarily unrelated.

Girl Gone Wonk

From policy to politics, this rant’s for you.

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The day’s events in a family way — unless something else amuses me.

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From preschool to kindergarten — so far

Simple Gifts

Inexpensive homemade gifts, creative parties and low-cost projects, for Christmas and beyond. Many are easy enough for children to help.

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Articles in Kids and Allergies

Nothing says love – or clueless – like a peanut butter cup
Thursday, 11 Feb, 2010 – 14:28 | No Comment
Nothing says love – or clueless – like a peanut butter cup

First, the good news:
Big Guy immediately recognized the Reese’s Cup in his bag of Valentine’s Day bling at school – never mind that the kids weren’t supposed to bring candy and I’d ticked Big Guy …

Don’t blame the food allergic for ruining the party
Thursday, 4 Feb, 2010 – 11:25 | No Comment
Don’t blame the food allergic for ruining the party

I did a double cringe when the Valentine’s Day note came home this week from Big Guy’s school: “Due to food allergies, please do not send any candy, cupcakes or food items.”
The first cringe came …

Learning to survive on his own
Thursday, 28 Jan, 2010 – 9:39 | No Comment
Learning to survive on his own

He’s survived solo birthday parties.
He successfully navigated the 100th Day of School, even when a food he can’t eat made a surprise appearance. He told the substitute teacher, and the food disappeared quickly. I’m not …

Can I have asthma, too?
Tuesday, 26 Jan, 2010 – 10:00 | No Comment
Can I have asthma, too?

Mommy, when do I get to have asthma, Boots asked recently.
Maybe never if you’re lucky, I said. I can’t promise that, though. Mawmaw didn’t have asthma until she was in her 50s, so you never …

Sometimes made-up allergies aren’t so bad
Thursday, 21 Jan, 2010 – 9:11 | No Comment
Sometimes made-up allergies aren’t so bad

I hate made-up allergies.
The one that ticked me off the most was from a frequent house guest who would complain that she was allergic to dogs. Hey, guess what lady? I really am allergic to …

The 100 Days heart attack
Tuesday, 19 Jan, 2010 – 10:13 | 2 Comments
The 100 Days heart attack

Somewhere along the line, the 100th Day of School became an “event” right up there with Halloween and Valentine’s Day. OK, maybe it’s not on par with Halloween because there are no cool costumes, but …

Cookies AND milk at Starbucks – it’s now possible for Big Guy
Friday, 15 Jan, 2010 – 20:24 | No Comment
Cookies AND milk at Starbucks – it’s now possible for Big Guy

It’s been Boots and my dirty little secret for the past few months.
Every time we go to Starbucks, just the two of us, we gorge. We order cake or brownies or cookies, turbo-charging our caffeine …

There’s an egg in my kitchen
Sunday, 6 Dec, 2009 – 22:34 | Comments Off
There’s an egg in my kitchen

A dear friend who’s never had to deal with food allergies laughed at me when I evicted all eggs and egg products from our house after Big Guy’s bout with anaphylaxis five and a half …

Epiblogue: Ordering organic for ‘that rat’
Thursday, 19 Nov, 2009 – 13:57 | 3 Comments
Epiblogue: Ordering organic for ‘that rat’

Yes, I’m paying $9 a bag for organic  hamster food – double the normal cost, and $9 was the sale price. Yes, I’m ordering it online because I can’t find it locally. And, yes, I’m …

The mystery of Annie’s Naturals ketchup
Wednesday, 28 Oct, 2009 – 15:54 | Comments Off
The mystery of Annie’s Naturals ketchup

I regularly recheck labels on products, even if we’ve been buying them for years, because you never know when ingredients or manufacturing processes are going to change.
It had never occurred to me to check the …

Wake me up Sunday, when it’s safe to come out of hiding
Tuesday, 27 Oct, 2009 – 22:47 | Comments Off
Wake me up Sunday, when it’s safe to come out of hiding

Times like this, I am so glad Al Gore invented the Internet. How else would I know that, as the parent of an allergic child, I should find a large closet and hide there until …

Food allergies aren’t funny, but here’s a SWAT for a bill that’s a joke
Thursday, 8 Oct, 2009 – 20:13 | Comments Off
Food allergies aren’t funny, but here’s a SWAT for a bill that’s a joke

You have a nasty habit of speeding. You know your break-neck tendencies put others’ lives in danger, but you do it anyway.
But then along comes a proposal that would pay you to not speed. Sounds …

Review: Van’s All Natural Waffles
Sunday, 21 Jun, 2009 – 21:10 | 2 Comments
Review: Van’s All Natural Waffles

I absolutely hate the idea of paying $3.49 for six frozen waffles. Yet, I have been because once summer hits I lose all inclination to stand at the stove and flip pancakes.
That’s why Van’s All Natural …

Time to take the Singulair question to a doctor
Sunday, 14 Jun, 2009 – 10:00 | 4 Comments
Time to take the Singulair question to a doctor

I partially bought the drug-company spin on Singulair in January largely because I wanted to:
The Food and Drug Administration found no link between the popular asthma drug and increased suicide risk, which led manufacturer Merck …

Stop the deadly spread of … eczema
Wednesday, 3 Jun, 2009 – 11:27 | 2 Comments

Here’s one I never would have guessed in a million years would have been an issue for Big Guy at school: Eczema.
He’s had outbreaks lately, which he does this time every year as the weather …

Peanuts and pets at altitude
Friday, 29 May, 2009 – 22:34 | 2 Comments
Peanuts and pets at altitude

Want to kick off a cat fight? Confine hundreds of people in a cramped, narrow tube 30,000 feet above the ground and put them in proximity to something they can’t stand.
In the case of Southwest …

Review: Delallo Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Monday, 25 May, 2009 – 21:00 | Comments Off
Review: Delallo Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

It was late on a Friday and we were still at the grocery store way past dinner time, which means the guys were prone to beg for extras and I was inclined to give in.
That …

This is anaphylaxis
Thursday, 21 May, 2009 – 11:40 | 8 Comments
This is anaphylaxis

They never believed me.
From the time Big Guy started eating solid foods, I insisted that it be done the “right” way – the way doctors recommend for any child, but particularly for one with a …

Nut warning on General Mills cereals
Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 – 10:18 | Comments Off

This one landed in my Twitter stream just as Boots was diving into a bowl of … Cocoa Puffs: “New peanut flour warning for General Mills cereals.”
Luckily, he’s not the child who’s allergic and Big …

The peanut patrol and the school secretary who invades privacy
Monday, 18 May, 2009 – 23:09 | 20 Comments
The peanut patrol and the school secretary who invades privacy

Here’s a concern that had never occurred to me as a parent of child with food allergies because I’ve been spoiled by our school’s concerned, considerate reaction in dealing with Big Guy’s peanut allergy this …

You’re right: This IS nuts
Thursday, 7 May, 2009 – 9:54 | 2 Comments

A Virginia man with food allergies orders a burger then digs in without checking.
He has a reaction, and now he’s filed a whopper of a suit against Burger King, claiming the sandwich made him sick.
The …

You can’t eat that. I’m allergic
Tuesday, 28 Apr, 2009 – 22:54 | Comments Off
You can’t eat that. I’m allergic

Get rid of a few eggs and evict the peanut butter and before you know it a kid thinks he’s king of the cupboard by the time he’s in kindergarten.
Such was the case with Big …

Don’t assume bigger equals safer when it comes to food labels
Tuesday, 17 Mar, 2009 – 23:57 | 3 Comments
Don’t assume bigger equals safer when it comes to food labels

Talk about good evidence but the wrong assumption.
New test results presented this week at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology’s annual meeting showed that 2 percent of foods without any type of allergy …

‘Pretend I’m not allergic’ – there’s now hope that day could come
Sunday, 15 Mar, 2009 – 23:49 | Comments Off
‘Pretend I’m not allergic’ – there’s now hope that day could come

Next to “bop brother over the head” and baseball, “pretend I’m not allergic” is Big Guy’s favorite game.
Boots will sit with their toy cash register as his brother orders at McDonald’s. “I’ll have chicken nuggets, …

The most important spelling words for an allergic kid
Sunday, 15 Mar, 2009 – 10:23 | Comments Off
The most  important spelling words for an allergic kid

Allergy-wise, it’s been a disastrous weekend.
We showed up at a birthday party to see bowls of peanuts among the snacks. It freaked Big Guy out, but I’ve been trying to teach him to avoid rather …

Working with food-allergic families makes good business sense
Sunday, 25 Jan, 2009 – 12:30 | Comments Off
Working with food-allergic families makes good business sense

There is one, and only one, pizza place we go to in town.
We don’t even go there often, because we’ve cut back drastically on eating out. Still, the guys deserve a treat once in a …

Food allergies are not just hysteria
Sunday, 18 Jan, 2009 – 11:10 | 3 Comments
Food allergies are not just hysteria

It started with an article in British Medical Journal in which an American doctor claimed parents are in the grip of a “nut hysteria” that is fueling irrational fears about allergic reactions to peanuts.
The doctor, …

Better than the original egg-free, garlic-free blue cheese dressing
Tuesday, 30 Dec, 2008 – 15:06 | Comments Off
Better than the original egg-free, garlic-free blue cheese dressing

Dad has to drop some poundage pronto, which means he’s eating like a bunny this week.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “Well, if she hadn’t baked all those cookies …” But it’s really not my …

Garlic-free creamed spinach
Sunday, 28 Dec, 2008 – 14:36 | Comments Off
Garlic-free creamed spinach

This is an absolute favorite for Boots and me. Dad, not so much. Big Guy, won’t touch it yet even though I play up the cheese and cream when describing it. Sometimes even the best …

Garlic-free make-ahead mashed potatoes
Saturday, 27 Dec, 2008 – 14:35 | Comments Off
Garlic-free make-ahead mashed potatoes

I’ve been hitting the freezer and the recipe archives of late in an effort to right the guys’ nutritional ship. Not that a dish with a half-pound of cream cheese is exactly healthful, but at …

Egg-free, garlic-free roasted cauliflower
Friday, 26 Dec, 2008 – 10:02 | Comments Off
Egg-free, garlic-free roasted cauliflower

Looking for a way to end the junk-food bender and make use of some leftovers at the same time?
Tonight, I’m clearing the fridge of vegetable-tray remnants by making roasted cauliflower, a side dish Boots proclaims …

Site review: BeFreeForMe could be a nice hit in the pocketbook
Thursday, 25 Dec, 2008 – 19:03 | Comments Off
Site review: BeFreeForMe could be a nice hit in the pocketbook

You think your food bill is high?
I pay $6.49 a quart for egg-free mayonnaise and count myself lucky that one store carries it locally. The peanut-butter subsitute we prefer is $21 for two, five-pound pails …

Egg-free pumpkin bread
Wednesday, 24 Dec, 2008 – 10:07 | 2 Comments
Egg-free pumpkin bread

Ever play Cookbook Bingo? OK, so maybe that’s just here.
The game involves being bored with all the usual dishes and thumbing through pages looking for something new to make. In this case, I needed a …

Hummus a hit for meals or snacks
Tuesday, 23 Dec, 2008 – 13:37 | 2 Comments
Hummus a hit for meals or snacks

It cracks me up when someone takes a basic dish from another country, slaps a gourmet label on it and transforms simple to upscale.
Such is the case with humble hummus. It’s been a staple in …

Egg-free, garlic-free sun-dried tomato dip
Monday, 22 Dec, 2008 – 13:48 | Comments Off
Egg-free, garlic-free sun-dried tomato dip

This frankly is not a kid favorite — except for Boots, who is famous worldwide for eating anything. But I love it even though I hate tomato, so I make it and listen to Big …

Garlic-free hot or not wings
Sunday, 21 Dec, 2008 – 19:47 | 2 Comments
Garlic-free hot or not wings

I hadn’t made these in years due to lack of a garlic-free hot sauce, but once I discovered Crystal, it was easy to convert.
It’s also easy to make a hot and a mild version from …

Egg-free French bread
Sunday, 21 Dec, 2008 – 12:13 | Comments Off
Egg-free French bread

Merry Christmas to me!
My lust for kitchen tools is no secret. Where it gets a little weird, though, is the depths of the strange desires.
A baguette pan long has been my wildest fantasy — I’m …

Egg-free scones
Saturday, 20 Dec, 2008 – 17:25 | Comments Off
Egg-free scones

Scones really are nothing more than a biscuit with a bit of sugar and a good PR agent. Except Big Guy won’t eat biscuits.  He used to, but somewhere between 1 and 2 he went …