Allergy free Guacamole!

So, one of the hardest things about our food lifestyle, is that going to parties and get togethers can get scary and nearly impossible to enjoy, especially while eating. One great item we regularly bring with us, that is always a big hit, is Guacamole!  You can easily make a large portion of it, and it can be VERY yummy, if made right! :) Here is my recipe for "food free" guac, that has never let me down. It is great coupled with Tostitos Natural Blue or yellow corn tortilla chips, which are safe as well!

Allergy Mommy's "Food Free" Guac:
Ingredients:
5-6 ripe avocados
1/2 cup Herdes mild salsa (or medium if you want it to be more spicy)
Juice from 1 ripe lime
1 tbsp of chipotle flavored Tabasco
1 tbsp fresh cilantro coarsely chopped
Possibly salt (to taste)

Directions:
Cut avocados in half, and use a spoon to pop them out from the shell in complete halves. Cut them only slightly, leaving large chunks still. Add lime juice and stir. This will cause the chunks to get smaller but still be chunky. add the salsa and Tabasco  and stir. Taste, and add salt &/or more chipotle Tabasco if desired. Once you like the flavoring, add the cilantro. I typically add the cilantro last, because it's flavor can override the other flavors when it's first put in, so to make sure it taste good outside the cilantro I add it last. If the chunks are too large at this point, for what you like, just stir a little more, and this will make them smaller over time, we just like chunky guac!

Chill, and then Enjoy!
Side note here: This is also really yummy on burgers!

As always, I hope this helps you on your journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leaves you craving more of the foods you have, and less of the ones you shouldn't!
Love, The Allergy Mommy

Enjoy Life e-cookbook! for free!!!

A friend of mine pointed out the most marvelous thing to me today! Enjoy Life, my absolute favorite allergy free brand, has a free e-cookbook! Now, I absolutely LOOOOOVE their treat cookbook "Cookies for everyone", so I'm assuming this one will be on the top of my list as well. I hope you "enjoy", haha! As always, may this help you on your journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leaves you craving more of what you have, and less of what you shouldn't!
Love, The Allergy Mommy

Click the cookbook to go to the download page!

Allergy free Bread Crumbs!

So, one of the things I really missed when we took gluten/wheat out was being able to make home-made chicken fingers/nuggets and those lovely Italian dishes like Chicken Parmesan, which require you to bread coat your chicken... I had never thought to try to find safe bread crumbs, then last spring stumbled upon these lovely options while meandering around soap.com. Gillian's Gluten Free Bread Crumbs!They are made from rice flours, and have VERY few ingredients. I was skeptical at first, but figured it was worth a shot, for the sheer meal options it had the potential to open up! I ordered, and waited (impatiently might I add), I received... I pondered, what on earth was I going to start with! Finally, I made a decision. Chicken Parmesan  My hubby was elated at the idea of having his favorite meal again, finally! I went to the deli, purchased just enough cheese to make dinner for whomever was going to be with us, that could actually eat cheese, and got started. I coated them in the flour first, then canola oil, then dipped them in the bread crumbs... VIOLA! Placed them gently on the skillet and hoped and prayed it would turn out ok... Alas, my wait was over. They were splendid. Honestly, you couldn't tell the difference between these and normal bread crumbs, especially after the cooking was all done. Right out of the container, the grains are larger than in your typical "bread crumb", but don't let that fool you. These are great! So, give them a try... You might find yourself secretly wishing you had purchased all 3 flavors the first time around! As always, I hope this helps you in your journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leaves you craving more of what you have, and less of what you shouldn't!

Love, The Allergy Mommy!

Quick list of Grocery store needs when learning to cook for MFPI

While chatting with some new friends yesterday I realized there was an important post I had failed to write... The basics grocery needs every "food free" fridge and pantry needs to cook somewhat normal food. Hopefully this list will help you with getting the basics while you figure out what your more regular needs are going to be.

• Brown or White rice flour by Bobs Red Mill!
• Pick one other type of gluten free flour: Sorghum & millet are regularly used in recipes, so either of these is a good choice.
• Earth Balance soy free "buttery spread" or Earth balance Coconut spread (coconut butter): This will be your butter substitute. The buttery spread tastes a lot like margarine, and the coconut butter is great in oatmeal or on toast with jam/preserves.
• Coconut, flax or Almond milk: I would get the unsweetened almond to start if you are used to 2% or whole milk, and the coconut or flax if you are used to 1% or non-fat, as the tastes are more similar in these matches. We prefer SoDelicious Coconut milk
• Spectrum Coconut/flax Oil/canola/olive oils. Vegetable oil typically contains a large amount of soy. Spectrum oil are high quality oils with superior taste, and are Organic to boot! If you are a big baker, I would also pick up a container of the spectrum shortening to replace any baked goods that call for crisco (crisco contains soybean oil, and many other things you should not be ingesting. 
• Ener-G egg replacer: This will be used in your baked good in the place of any eggs that are called for. Warning, this does not work with things that are primarily egg based ie: Angel food cake.
• Vegenaise soy free: This is your mayo replacement
• Brianna's dressings or Kraft "olive oil" dressings: The Kraft Italian olive oil dressing is safe, as well as the honey mustard and poppy-seed dressings by Brianna's. Both of these can be found at walmart super stores, as well as more health food store carry the Brianna's..
• Xanthan gum: This is what will hold you baked goods together, since you won't have the gluten in your flour to do that for you. Many gluten free recipes call for either Xanthan gum or Guar gum. We like Bobs Red Mill best!
• Loaf of Food for life brown rice bread (you'll want something that is quick and easy to snack on, it's great with both of the butter options and jam or honey!
• A breakfast cereal. There are several available at most "big-box" store that are "food free". They aren't intensely flavorful, but they work when you need some food quick, without too much fuss. Gluten free rice krispies, gluten free corn or rice checks, gluten free fruity pebbles (who knew, right), kix, cheerios, and a few of the health food brand Kashi (but I think these taste awful!).
• Lots of fruit and Veggies, and a really high quality vitamin!

There are always going to be other items you will need, but this is a good staple list to get you started so you're not starving! If you need some help finding more "staple" foods, feel free to email me, and I'll do the best I can to help! But, As always, may this help you on your journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leave you craving more of the foods you have and less of the foods you shouldn't!

Love, The allergy Mommy!

Cows milk subs for Toddlers, kids, and Adults!

Now, let me start off this post by prefacing that ANY change made to a sensitive child/baby's diet should ALWAYS be consulted with a doctor, especially if this will be your child main source of nutrition. Now, with that said, here is our milk subs list that we love oh so much, and a little blurp on why we think they are each so awesome! Also, with milk being my 20 month old's main source of nutrition, we have very carefully examined each milk, and made sure that these were adequate in the things her body needs to thrive. Just because a child/Baby's weight is fine, does not mean they are healthy. They need a variety of food groups and fat types, fruits & veggies etc. The more restrictions you have for your child's diet, the harder it is to have the complete range of what they need. If your child is VERY sensitive to wide spectrum of foods/groups, you may want to ask your doctor about supplementing Metagenics Ultracare in their diet. Read more at the metagenics website to know what it's all about. We think it's great, and Kelly Dorfman M.S. & L.N.D. even has it as part of her "kelly's Yummy Cow-free milk recipe", which can be found in her amazing book on page 78. These milks should NEVER substitute infant formula or breast milk, as they are seriously lacking in many vitamins and fats that infants and young babies need. Consult your doctor & read the book I mentioned by Kelly dorfman to get for info on why... Alright, So, here it goes...

1. Unsweetened Coconut milk- we Love the rich and creamy texture that comes with coconut  milk. It is velvety smooth, and it quite simply splendid in smoothies, or in being used to make safe ice-cream. I make my cakes with the canned coconut milk (more like cream), but this is much too thick to drink, and I don't think it tastes as good to drink, but whatever you do DO NOT buy thai kitchen canned coconut  milk... It's awful.You can buy the drinkable coconut milk in 1/2 gallon and 1 liter sizes, by So Delicious, Silk, and Coconut Dream . The half gallon is typically in the refrigerated section, and 1 liter containers can be found all over but are found often with either food storage items or coffee. 
2. Almond Milk- Almond milk is much better for cooking as it is not as sweet and fruity tasting. Like wise, it is inferior to coconut milk for smoothing and cakes, because it lacks the sweet taste that comes naturally with coconut milk. One advantage it has, is that you can find it in unsweetened vanilla, which is oh so yummy!!! Almond milk has many producers, but our favorite ones are Almond breeze, So delicious, and Silk!  These are the companies that make an unsweetened vanilla, which is what we prefer!    
3. Flax milk- This too has a much sweeter taste. Similar, but more flavorful, to rice milk. It's health benefits are superior to any of the aforementioned, but it's been our experience that little tummies can NOT handle much of it at a time. We chose flax milk to add in small amounts to our daughters mix, because it has a wide  ange of vitamins and fats that cannot be found in any other milk. It is too thin to bake with, but it is very nice to drink. It can be found in 1/2 gallon size, in the refrigerated section of nearly any health food stores, and even some big-box stores. 

We typically do a mostly 50/50 with 1/2 oz-1 oz of flax milk in each cup my 20 month old drink. We do the unsweetened coconut milk, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and the original unsweetened flax milk.
 

We never use soy milk for our selves or our children. There are too many studies pointing to the imbalances it can cause, especially in little bodies. If your child does not have a soy allergy, we have still had every pediatrician recommend that all children should consume as little soy as possible.
As always, I hope this helps you on your journey to a "food Free' lifestyle that leaves you craving more of what you have, and less of what you shouldn't!
Love, The Allergy Mommy!

You are NOT alone in MFPI!

Hello, to all the Mommies out there... This post is simply to give you some hope... I have met several women recently in my learning/education of nutrition and dietetics for children with that painful and down right difficult diagnosis of MFPI (multiple food protein intolerance). I feel like we have all had something in common, and that's the feeling of being alone in our journey of keeping our children happy and healthy. But I'm going to tell you something now: You are NOT alone, not by a long shot. Our community of food intolerance's is ever growing, and at a scary quick rate at that.  Most of us have seen dozens of doctors, had hundreds of blood/lab tests performed, and have spent countless hours cleaning up vomit and diarrhea from a dear sweet darling that ingested something that just didn't work in their sensitive bodies.  If you are new to our community, there are a few resources I feel that every mom here should read (and re-read 10 times haha).  If you do not have the means to purchase the books some of them can be found at your local library (if they are a good and decently large library). The cookbooks are typically not at the library, but you want to always have these on hand anyway. Alright, here's the list (and please, if you know of any books out there that are informative, and fact/study based, please share so that we all can learn more).

1. Whats eating your child This is my absolute FAVORITE book, it's a must read for our community.
2. The art of baking with natural yeast This is a great resourse to help start making your own safe breads.
3. Cookies for everyone cookbook Treat cookbook for top 9 allergens by Enjoy Life (my fav safe brand)
4. Food Allergy Great book for adjusting and thriving in your new lifestyle
5. Learning to bake allergen free Another great resource for baking without our sensitivities. 
6. Food allergy vs intolerance article at mayo-clinic. This is short, but good for those of you who are just delving in to this new lifestyle. A few tips on what to look for, what is an emergency and what is just going to be uncomfortable for a bit.
7.  http://www.food-allergy.org/  has some good tips, and helps to normalize the process in the beginning

I hope these help you, and as always I hope this helps you on your journey to a "Food Free" lifestyle that leaves you wanting more of what you have, and craving less of what you shouldn't!

Love, The Allergy Mommy

The frustration with Doctors... and finding a new one!

Hello Mommies, I have had a few different emails lately about the frustration of Doctors, and their unwillingness to actually help. Before we moved to our current location for school, I had the best doctors on the face of the planet. I simply LOVED them. AND for anyone in the Sacramento, CA area that is having these issues... You should try to get on with them. Dr.Yinka Davies (pediatric gastroenterology) and Dr.Laura Sorgea (Pediatric PC)... Anyway, they were the most proactive, loving, and devoted Doctors. BUT, we didn't come by them easily, and replacing them now that we are in a new place, has proved nearly impossible. We really lucked out, and have an incredible pediatrician here. She cares, and is really good at what she does. So, what I wanted to do with this post, is talk about what to look for in a doctor, and why these things are so important, especially when you're trying to find a specialist in pediatrics, as children depend on us to advocate for them... So, here we go.
1.When you go to the doctor because your child is having trouble keeping food in, whether they are losing food through vomiting or diarrhea, or if they are refusing food all together you should never accept "That's ok, this is normal, it will subside".. or "The child weight is fine, so they should grow out of this"... or my personal Favorite "this happens with a lot of children we see", plus any other myriad of responses here. A vomiting child, a child with constant diarrhea, or a child that does not eat is NOT normal. Nor is a child with constant constipation, excessive gas or burping, or a child that constantly cries.  If a Doctor you see tells you this, to me it is there way of saying "I've seen it, don't know what to do to fix it, and I'm not about to do anything to figure out how I can". You as their Mother, or father, know things the doctors do not. You may not have been through years of medical school, rotations, and a residency, but you're not brain dead either. If you are reading my blog, than you must at very least have an inkling that something isn't quite right. There is a chance that there is absolutely nothing wrong but a slightly finicky digestive system, but as a mommy I'm not willing to take the chance until every resource has been tapped, and every scan has been run, every test has been proven, and every option tried. These are our babies, and we have a duty to advocate for them. To fight when they need help, and not take the easy route, because it's less expensive or more convenient.
I'm here to tell you, our road is not always an easy, but I promise you 10 times over, it will ALWAYS be worth it. Your child will always be worth the extra effort, and they will always be grateful you did everything you could to give them the best possible life and comforts you could afford them.
So, in this long, arduous, and at times painfully discouraging, journey we are on, find each other! Be there for one another, and help when you can. It lightens the load and burden to know that you are not alone, and as long as you don't want to be, you never will be. I'm grateful every moment of my day for the tender mercies a loving Heavenly Father has so sweetly blessed me with. I will never completely understand each individual circumstance that comes my way, but I promise, I will always have love and empathy for your struggles, and do all that I can to lighten the load this new life may bring! As always, may this help you on this journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leaves you craving more of what you have, and less of what you shouldn't!
Love, The Allergy Mommy!

Peanut Butter to melt in your mouth!

So a friend of mine that I visited with today, who has a sweet little man that is allergic to soy dairy & egg, spoiled me with a few new ideas for treats today. One of which is this lovely little jar of sweet wholesome goodness! In her words "it's like eating a Reese's Peanut butter cup!" Now, I don't know about you, but SIGN ME UP! Now, one thing you do need to be aware of is that this DOES contain cocoa butter (chocolate), so if you have a chocolate allergy as well, you should steer clear.  If not, by all means, eat up and Enjoy!  You can find info on all of there products HERE, or if you want the info on this actual little delight, click the jar!

I'm thinking a batch of peanut butter cookies with this is in my VERY near future! Recipe on that to come! As always, may this help you on your journey to a "food free" lifestyle that leaves you craving more of what you have, and less of what you shouldn't!

Love, The allergy Mommy!