It’s crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Big Guy loves them, and Little Guy proclaims them “the most malicious cookie ever.”
The only down side to this cookie, adapted from Martha Stewart’s …

Mawmaw would be stunned if she could see her dinner roll recipe now.
Over the years I’ve crunchified it, substituting whole-wheat flour for half the white, swapped honey for part of the sugar and de-egged …

Disclaimer: There is no reason for a sane person to make crackers.
CheezIts are garlic-free, though you can’t tell from the mysterious “spices” listed on the ingredients if Cheese Nips are.
Parmesan Goldfish are garlic-free, and plain …

Once in a while easy is nice, and this Cranberry-Oat Cereal Bar recipe I found through Martha Stewart’s Cookie of the Day newsletter is easy on two levels.
For one, it was egg-free to begin with, …

This is Big Guy’s life:

He’s had cake at a birthday party only once other than at a celebration for him or his brother. And that was because a friend took extra pains to include him.
For …

I’m near the end of five years of diapers — Little Guy’s still on precautionary Pull-Ups at night but he won’t be for much longer — and thought that would mean I could wipe wipes …

A friend passed along this forum posting today, from the files of “things you don’t think of until everything’s screwed up.”
A mom whose first-grader is contact-allergic to peanut — that means he can have a …

Really, we do eat things other than muffins. It’s just that they’re so breakfast-y and snack-y and easy that we’ve been on a kick lately.
This recipe in particular holds a special place in my heart. …

Once, and only once, did I consider backing off Big Guy’s asthma treatment.
He’d just turned 2 and was having a comfortable, wheeze-free summer. He’d been undergoing twice-daily treatments of Albuterol and Pulmicort through the nebulizer …

Here’s where the allergic life gets weird:I’ve been making ketchup and mustard for almost two years, ever since Big Guy’s garlic allergy was diagnosed.
Let me rephrase that: I’ve been trying to make ketchup and …

These easily qualify as breakfast. Stuff with fruit and oatmeal, they’re hearty and not overly sweet. Even with the icing and sprinkles the guys demand.
I usually make a double batch — one for now, one …

I ran across Panhandle Premium two years ago during a particularly bad allergy spate.
Big Guy had just been diagnosed allergic to garlic, thus eliminating many favorite foods. He definitely mourned the loss. I eventually …

What’s that line from “The Big Chill” about rationalizations being more important than sex?
I rationalize a lot about this recipe, conveniently ignoring the sugar and heavy cream and focusing instead on the healthful Vitamin A …

There’s a certain irony in the fact that when I clicked on the Kellog’s SpecialK Web site tonight to see what I might have missed in its ingredient label, a popup appeared asking me to complete a customer satisfaction survey.

Oh, I’d love to!

Turns out they wanted to know how well the Web page worked for me, not how satisfied I was with the product.

Since they weren’t interested in my input then, I’ll put it out here now.

Simply put, a Special K Chocolately Drizzle bar made Big Guy very sick Monday. It might have killed him if his teacher hadn’t rushed him to the school nurse after she noticed tell-tale hives march across his face roughly 10 minutes after he ate one.

While we debate the meaning of “may contain” versus “manufactured in a facility” in this country, our neighbors to the north are considering far stricter food labeling laws.
A key to the Canadian plan, according to …

WHAT: Florida’s Natural Au’some Fruit Juice Sour String
WHAT: Dye-free and peanut safe. Also free of tree nuts, gluten and fat. Also Kosher.
THE APPEAL: A cousin introduced the guys to sugar-coated gummy worms recently and, of …

This is another popular pick in our house that’s healthful enough that I sometimes let the guys get away with having it for breakfast. Like the banana pound cake I posted a few weeks back, …

I’ve been in love with this blueberry muffin recipe for so long that, other than substituting for eggs, I’ve left it in its pristine, fat-laden state and skipped my usual evil mommy tricks aimed at …

I recently found myself vaulted full-time into the “more time than money” category, and even before I wound up there, I would have balked at spending five bucks for a half-dozen cookies. The way the …

I’d never understood the primal maternal instinct to claw out another kid’s eyes — until yesterday.
Big Guy’s Mommy Day Care shuttle arrived at his school before he had finished lunch, so I sat down with …

PRODUCT: SunButter sunflower seed butter
PROBLEM IT SOLVES: Peanut butter substitute produced in a peanut-free, tree nut-free plant. It’s gluten-free as well.

COST: $5.14 to $10.05 for 16 ounces, according to a Google search. Available in …

If you live in Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts or Washington, consider yourself lucky.
According to a new report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, those are the states on this year’s honor roll …

Here’s reason No. 5,731 teen-agers scare the crap out of me:
A 14-year-old boy died at school in Australia two years ago after classmates dared him to eat a peanut.
Think playground taunts of the food allergic …

This is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookie of the Day, a service that’s expanded my baking horizons and will no doubt expand my hips, too, unless I unsubscribe. I think I’ll keep it around, though.
Most …

Coming to a discount retailer near you — or, at least, me: Generic Zyrtec for children!

I saw the syrup with my own eyes at Target today. Unfortunately, Big Guy views “swallow pills” as a mark of maturity and disdains syrup as baby stuff. But where there’s syrup, tablets couldn’t be too far behind.

We’ve loved Zyrtec from afar for the past year. I had to give it up last summer and switch Big Guy back to Claritin after our insurer dropped Zyrtec from its formulary. I hated to do it — Zyrtec worked far better for him — but at $50 a month, I simply couldn’t afford it.

I considered going back to Zyrtec when it went over the counter at the beginning of the year, but it still was pricey.

Now, though, there’s hope

I have no idea why I keep reading labels on foods I know I’ll never be able to buy — allergy-induced obsessive-compulsive disorder, I suppose.
Like this morning, when I stood in the salad dressing aisle …

The problem with Big Guy and store-bought fish sticks and nuggets is not so much the egg, but the ubiquitous garlic. And the problem with garlic is manufacturers don’t have to note it on ingredient …

I spent all summer before Big Guy started kindergarten frantically researching the Americans with Disabilities Act and its implications for people with allergies and asthma.

I checked with the school nurse early and often, making sure she had all the records, medications, forms and instructions she needed.

I told her Big Guy needed to be segregated in the cafeteria, and they were so conscientious about making that happen that the assistant principal herself took lunch duty the first day to make sure all staff knew who Big Guy was and where he was to sit. They already had “peanut free zone” placards made up for “his table.”

The one area that threw me: Classroom snacks. I wasn’t aware of this as a possible issue until the new student orientation the night before