Hidden names of Soy... and one way to replace soy sauce!

This post is to address the dangerous forms of hidden soy. For us, soy is one of our worst allergens. Even the most insignificant amount of soy lecithin wreak havoc on my youngest daughters digestive system.  For us, soy causes Blood in her diapers, vomiting, crankiness/fussiness, inability to sleep/rest, teething like symptoms (drooling, chewing on finger etc), unquenchable thirst, and diarrhea. So, we take soy very seriously in our home, along with dairy. We are grateful that her reactions are not anaphylactic, but we still have to take every precaution to keep it at the greatest distance possible. Now, as she is getting older, her reactions are getting less severe and last a shorter period of time. We are unsure of whether or not she will grow out of these reactions to the greater extent, like our older daughter has, or if hers will be lifelong struggles, but it's safe to say that we stay away for now.  Soy is one of the hardest ingredients to steer clear of, as it is an additive in everything. Why? you might ask... Because it's cheap, and sustainable. Now, I promise not to jump on my anti-soy soapbox here, but my own opinion here, soy wreaks havoc on every body... it's just some are more easily noticeable.  Like in our little ones. Soy has MANY hidden names, so this is the most comprehensive list I could find (of course at my favorite allergy site for the basic info like this www.kidswithfoodallergies.org )

The following ingredients found on a label indicate the presence of soy protein. All labels should be read carefully before consuming a product, even if it has been used safely in the past. 

Contain Soy:

Edamame (soybeans in pods) Hydrolyzed soy protein Kinnoko flour Kyodofu (freeze dried tofu) Miso Natto Okara (soy pulp) Shoyu sauce Soy albumin Soy bran Soy concentrate Soy fiber Soy flour Soy formula Soy grits Soy milk Soy miso Soy nuts Soy nut butter Soy protein, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate

Soy sauce Soy sprouts Soya Soya Flour Soybeans Soybean granules Soybean curd Soybean flour Soy lecithin* Soybean paste Supro Tamari Tempeh Teriyaki sauce Textured soy flour (TSF) Textured soy protein (TSP) Textured vegetable protein (TVP) Tofu Yakidofu Yuba (bean curd)

*Products that are covered by the FDA labeling laws and contain soy lecithin must be labeled "contains soy".

May Contain Soy:

Artificial flavoring

Asian foods (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.)

Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Natural flavoring
Vegetable broth
Vegetable gum
Vegetable starch 

So, if you are anything like us, you like a good stir-fry. Yummy, filled with veggies and quick on those busy nights... That's where this lovely little gem comes in to play. It's called coconut aminos, and info on it can be found HERE.  You can find it at most health food stores like whole foods, good earth, sprouts and nugget market (I'm sure many other stores carry it, I just know I've found it at these store before).  It costs between 6.50 and 10.00 for the bottle, It's around 7.00 at sprouts market! It is the closest thing to tasting like soy sauce to make a lovely stir-fry from scratch. Word to the wise, this is VERY potent, and takes only a tiny amount to get some serious flavor, so use in small amounts and add more if more flavor is desired.  Outside of this, I have yet to find something that tastes like soy sauce, but doesn't contain soy.  

I hope this will help you to more easily solve your puzzle in ridding your diet of soy.  It is a difficult journey, but well worth the hard work when you get results worth working hard for.  Good luck, and as always, if you have any questions comments or extra info to add, I'm always an email away.

Hugs, The Allergy Mommy

Hidden names for Egg...and how to replace them!

This is a great list from kidswithfoodallergies.org on the "hidden" names for egg. Most of us are avoiding so much more than egg, but here is a list you need to study and memorize so that if you have rare ability of buying food right off the shelf, you know what to be aware of. 

Albumin Apovitellin  Cholesterol free egg substitute (e.g. Eggbeaters®) Dried egg solids, dried egg Egg, egg white, egg yolk Egg wash Eggnog Fat substitutes Globulin Livetin Lysozyme Mayonnaise  Meringue, meringue powder

Ovalbumin Ovoglobulin Ovomucin Ovomucoid Ovotransferrin Ovovitelia Ovovitellin Powdered eggs Silici albuminate Simplesse Trailblazer Vitellin Whole egg

May Contain Egg:

Artificial flavoring
Lecithin
Natural flavoring
Nougat

Just a side note here, if you are wanting to bake something that calls for egg, our favorite egg sub is Ener-G Egg replacer. It seems to come the closest to what the product would be like if it actually had the egg listed in the ingredients. Some great substitutes for egg can be found HERE, as well as some great info on when egg subs will and will not work. Again, this list and info can be found at the website listed above.

1. For recipes which use eggs primarily as a binder (such as drop cookies), possible substitutions for one egg include: 
• 1/2 of a medium banana, mashed 
• 1/4 cup of applesauce (or other pureed fruit) 
• 3-1/2 tablespoons gelatin blend (mix 1 cup boiling water and 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin, and then use 3-1/2 tablespoons of that mixture per egg) 
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water; let stand 1 minute before using 
• Ener-G egg replacer

As always, I hope this information helps you along your arduous journey of find food that is safe for your kiddo and family. If you ever have any questions, or need help finding foods/substitutions for something you are making, I'm always an email away (and I'm happy to help). Best wishes and hugs!

~The Allergy Mommy 

Soy/dairy/gluten/egg free Mango Ice cream

Hello Mommies!  Yesterday I was on a mission to make some ice cream for my kiddos... I set our to do some avocado ice cream, and had the idea to add some mango to it... When it came to making the ice cream, I decided that I wanted guac more than avocado ice cream, and experimented with making straight Mango ice cream... The results were LOVELY to say the least, and my lil ones LOVED it! So, here I am to share another yummy, and safe, treat to make any time of the year...

Doesn't it look yummy!

Mango Ice cream

Ingredients:

1 container of So Delicious brand "original creamer" (it's the red one)

1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar (add to taste, as sweetness depends a lot on the mango)

Flesh from 3-4 ripe mangos (These NEED to be ripe)

1/4-1/2 tsp of Xanthan Gum

Directions: Start by putting all mango flesh in a blender and blending till smooth.  Depending on how ripe your mangoes are, you may need to add part of the creamer to keep it moving around so that it will get creamy smooth. Add remainder of creamer and sugar, then blend for about 7-10 minutes. Add xanthan gum and continue blending for 2 minutes more. Have your ice cream maker ready, and pour mixture in to ice cream maker. Mix in Ice cream maker till thick and frozen.

This is my Nifty Cuisinart Ice cream maker!!! Less than 20 min start to finish!!!

One note about it, you need to have room in your freezer for the container you see

that the ice cream is in. It has to sit in the freezer for 1-2 days prior to use to work!

 Put in to a freezer safe container, and let freeze for about 2 hours. Open the container, and make sure it is not getting "solid". If it is starting to be more solid, instead of creaming like ice creaming, mix around. Then.. Enjoy!

The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast... new book, check it out!

Hello Allergy Moms, and friends alike! Just thought I would share a new book with all of you. I'm still learning more about this, but felt really good about sharing a way for us to make our "safe" foods completely from scratch.  All while possibly eliminating some of the reactions we or our kiddos have been having due to a very common, and mischievous culprit. I'm sure I've got you wondering now, what on earth I'm talking about. Well, allow me to introduce Natural yeast. Now, as we all know, baking our safe breads at home is time consuming, expensive, and not always result yielding. I can't tell you how many times my amazing husband has made bread for me and the kiddos, when I am hungry and wanting something that required no effort on my part, and bless his sweet soul he always delivers!! Even making the breads at home, there were still store purchased items that were going in (yeast, and egg replacer by Ener-G) that one could not guarantee were safe for my bubble children. Recently, a lovely friend of mine asked me if we had been using "natural yeast". Admittedly, I had never heard of it, which is an absolute shame considering we made so much food from scratch. She told me about a book she picked up for about 6.00!!!!

The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast: Breads, Pancakes, Waffles, Cinnamon Rolls and Muffins

Now, the 6.00 book is the kindle edition, but you also have the option of purchasing the actual book for just over 12.00 on amazon as well, which as we all know, is not too shabby for cook-book. Anyway, I have to admit, I have not yet tried this out. I am so excited to delve in to my world of baking with a whole new option. Though our cookies and treats do not typically call for yeast, this is going to be a great way to not only make our breads that much safer, but it's also VERY inexpensive to make. With how much it costs to eat "food-free", I don't know a single one of us moms that doesn't hope to save even a little bit somewhere. So, when it all comes down to it, check it out! I'm learning about it, and I think we should all learn out it... I'll do a post soon on any changes in my kiddos eating/reactions and keep you all updated, but for now, safe eating and happy days!

Love,

The Allergy Mommy

Great finger food/snack for 1-2 yr olds!

This new treat recommendation goes out to all my Mommy friends, with little kiddos on limited diets, that need a yummy snack to help get their tummies from one meal to another.  Now, I'll be honest here. I'm not typically a fan of Gerber. It seems like a lot of their snacks and foods have LOADS of unnecessary crap (ahem!) in them, and I am NOT a fan of processed food. With how sensitive my youngest is, this snack was a SERIOUS gold mine when she can only have very small amounts of fructose, in addition to the no soy-no dairy-no gluten/wheat- no egg issues. Well, gerber FINALLY managed to pull through for me this one time, and I am beyond grateful for it. My little one LOVES these new snacks, and they get her a wide variety of fruits and veggies in tiny bite size amounts, that are super easy to control.


Now, since we have some issues with berries as well, we only get the tropical ones typically, but we did try a bag of the very berry blend, and they were SUPER YUMMY! Both are great tasting, especially considering what we're used to tasting in foods that aren't home made, that are allergy free. HAHA!

In any event, you've gotta give them a try. If not for sanity sake, so you have a snack. Then for your sweet little ones sake, so they can have something that is truly yummy for a treat! Hugs and best wishes as always...
Love,
Allergy Mommy!

Our New Sensitivity! Fructose!

         I know, I know, sounds awful doesn't it? Our little darling, the youngest, after having practically everything but breast milk and fruits/veggies removed from her diet, was still having some serious "digestive" (ahem!) issues. 8-10 diapers a day, and at times vomiting. I mean, I can change diapers all day long, but when you get in to the skin falling off the bum because of rubbing from wipes and acid eating away at it to boot, something has GOT to be done. After another round of fecal testing, and a full blood work up, we figured out our darling has fructose mal-absorption and lactose intolerance, on top of the other things we already knew about our first.
         Now, I'm sure you're wondering at this point how on earth we didn't know that she was lactose intolerant. It's simple, our older daughter didn't have lactose intolerance, she just had milk protein (casein) intolerance, and she wasn't breast fed past 3 months. Our younger daughter was nursed from day one till she was 15 months old, and never was exclusively on neocate like our oldest. Alright, so continuing on...
         Avery needed to have lastase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose, that most bodies typically make on their own) drops put in to her breast milk, the let to sit overnight to break down the lactose. On top of it, we had to figure out what fruits and veggies she was going to be able to handle, and in what quantities. In the end, she can have about 1/2 banana, or 1/2 cup of blueberries. No apples, peaches, pears or any of the other yummy, nutritious, fruits she so dearly loved. We also are only able to give her avocado, cooked and pureed carrots,  celery, and corn(of all things).  In any event, after all of the testing, she had a reducing substance level that was frighteningly high, and yet no iron deficiency or protein deficiency either. Once was got all of the labs back, it was clear as crystal what her new problems were, and we were finally able to nip this in the bud.
           Though our dear darling was even lower on the possible foods list, we had an answer, and were able to work towards getting things better under control. If you feel like this is something that is giving your child or yourself some grief, one of the easiest tests you can do is a methane/hydrogen breath test. There are several things they can test for in these breath test, fructose and lactose are just 2 of them.
          We give our daughter vitamin drops containing iron, in a dose specified by her doctor as she needs more to meet the needs of her dietary restrictions.. She drinks coconut milk, almond milk, and flax milk, and we are going to start a supplement called "Metagenics ultracare" under the advisement and care of nutritionists & doctors. Always run changes you are making and problems or concerns you are having by your doctor. They have more experience, and a much better education (they are doctors after all)... If you don't trust your doctor to help make these decisions with you, you need a new doctor. :)

New off the shelf "safe" treat!

In my grocery shopping this week, I stumbled upon a lovely new little treat! Chewy granola bars, in four flavors, of course by my favorite "food free" brand, none other than... Enjoy Life! I LOVE THESE GUYS! This company also has an Amazing cookbook that I've ranted and raved about a few times, that I tell every allergy mommy to buy "Cookies for everyone"... In any event,we only chose 1 flavor because of what tastes I know my little ones likes (and other food allergies to coco and berries), but I of course bought all the boxes they had of the caramel apple, even before tasting them, knowing that they would taste great... Because lets be honest, that's just how Amazing Enjoy Life foods are!

They are on sale for 2.99/box right now at my local grocery store, but are regularly priced at 3.99/box. They taste oh so yummy, and we are so grateful to have yet another yummy snack for my allergy prone darling. Thank you a million times Enjoy Life. You've saved us so many times before, and never seem to let us down. We're "Lifers", I just know it! Enjoy!