Easy Allergen-Free Corn Muffins

These are our family's favorite muffins. They are super simple, everyone can eat them and you can also modify the recipe to make them into corn bread (i.e. less sugar). And the best part, they are so quick you can even make them for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of all-purpose flour (you can use gluten free flour if you have a gluten allergy)
1/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten (that is if you tolerate cooked egg, otherwise substitute with apple sauce)
1/4 cup of oil (this could be vegetable, canola, coconut)
1 cup of liquid (this could be soy milk, rice milk, e.t.c.)

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl mix egg, oil, and liquid. Gently stir in the liquids into the solids.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle coarse brown sugar on top.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Back to School Tips

This is a great article published by The Allergic Living magazine.

http://allergicliving.com/2014/08/21/managing-dairy-allergy-at-school-steps-to-success/

It reminds us that our children are covered by the disability act, so that we can be armed with it to help us ensure their safety in school. Sending an allergic child, particularly a really young one who is not necessarily able to speak for themselves, is heart wrenching. I'm still dreading this in anticipation. One more year to go before my daughter starts pre-K. I know I'm not alone.

Our allergist always says, "if people don't think that you're being difficult, you're not doing your job".

Wishing all kids a healthy and emergency-room free school year!

Who is the real bully for an allergic child?

Perhaps it's the caretakers that are more potent to your allergic child than other children.  I was on the playground with my daughter the other day and we were playing in the sandbox.  I noticed an older woman in that same sandbox with us with two children. Who knows, she may have been either their grandmother or a nanny.  She took hard boiled eggs out and was feeding the younger child the eggs right in the sand pit. Him being a toddler he kept running away from her and she walked around chasing him.

First of all, you don't feed a kid in the sandpit, just a matter of courtesy to keep the sand clean. Secondly, when I saw that she was feeding him an egg, my "internal alarm" went off. Even though my daughter is allergic to egg white, she has no issues with egg white contact when it is fully cooked. She can also consume small traces of it as long as it is baked.  She is lucky in that respect, however, not all children are. Some children have issues with contact and consumption of both raw and cooked egg.

So I politely reached out to the woman and said that perhaps it is best for her to feed her child outside the sandbox, perhaps on the bench since there are children with severe egg allergies.  Her response: "children let's go, don't play with that little girl over there". She said it loud enough for my daughter to hear. How poisonous is that comment. As they say, don't exclude the child, exclude the food and I'd add out of the sandpit. Especially that my daughter has to deal with a lot of "no we can't eat this" all the time already and now she hears another adult telling her children "don't play with her".  My blood boiled hearing this, but I just rolled my eyes, I didn't think it was worth giving this woman a lecture on child psychology or dive into the fact that I was more concerned of other children in this case, not necessarily my own, e.t.c. she was probably a bully herself when she was a young kid....I'm just disturbed by the lack of sensitivity coming from a grown up and the example she's setting for the kids she raises. Of course, the older girl was completely confused why her caretaker told her not to play with my daughter. So not to make the situation more awkward I got my daughter to go with me and dig for some treasures with other kids in the sandpit.

Children imitate what they see, let us try to live up to the expectations we set for them....

The Silver Lining of Anaphylaxis

Is it fun to have allergies that are severe enough to cause anaphylaxis - no. Is it fun to read all of the food labels and lug a bag full of food that is safe to eat with you all the time and ask the waiter in the restaurant to speak to the chef and go over the food preparation procedure - no. But there is definitely a silver lining there also... and here are some perks:

1. You always know what you are eating, down to every ingredient. This makes you very conscious about your food intake and therefore leads you to eat healthier.
2. You mostly eat home-made food, the food you prepare yourself or the food your loved one prepares for you.  Hence it is made of fresh ingredients and always tastes better.
3. You don't eat food that is canned / preserved e.t.c. So you're not exposing your body to all of those toxins but mostly consume food that is made out of fresh raw and unprocessed ingredients.
4. You eat fresher ingredients even when you go out to eat.  Even if you get something less healthy such as fried fish or say chicken or another fried item, the chef starts a new batch of oil for you as the existing oil is contaminated.
5. You get creative with your food.

Basically you eat cleaner, fresher, more wholesome ingredients. Yes, it takes you longer to get to a meal and it consumes more time and effort, but it may all be worth it and lead to a healthier life.

But best of all, you are reminded of the fragility of life and what a gift it is and therefore cherish every moment and celebrate life! If you're a parent of a child with life-threatening allergies, you feel blessed having this child in your life every single moment even when they are having a meltdown.

There is always an upside!

Our Fave Chicken Soup Recipe

A friend of mine asked me for our chicken soup recipe. Our daughter loves it, and it's allergen free!

Ingredients:
1. whole chicken
2. 1 onion
3. 2 celery sticks
4. 1 carrot (pealed)
5. broccoli (optional)
6. 2 garlic cloves (optional)
7. 2-3 bay leaves
8. pinch of peppercorns
9. salt to taste
10. fresh / dry herbs options: thyme, herbs de provence, or fresh parsley or cilantro all go well (pick one herb of choice)
11. grain options: noodles, quinoa, rice

Preparation:

Wash the chicken and place it in the water and bring to boil. The trick here is to bring it to boil slowly and when you see foam float to the top you have to skim it. This is how you get a really clear broth.  Another option is to quickly bring the chicken to boil and pour that first water out, wash the chicken and put a new batch of water in this way you will avoid the skimming procedure and still have a clear broth. The downfall of the latter option however, is that you may end up with a very watery broth. So I personally prefer the first option especially if you're getting a good chicken.

Once the chicken is simmering and the water is now fully clear from the continuous skimming of the floaty gray matter, add in the onion (whole), the carrot (whole) and celery stalks (whole). Add a bay leaves, whole peppercorns. Let it cook on slow boil until the chicken is fully done. Once the chicken is done, add in chopped broccoli, the grain of choice (i.e. this is either noodles or quinoa or rice) squeezed garlic, herbs and salt to taste. Let it cook a little longer until everything is fully cooked. Turn off and enjoy!

In search for allergy-free sweets

Having severe allergies to items commonly used in baking is a challenge when you crave a treat or when you throw a party for your kid. Of course the surest way is to make your own desert.  For example, in an earlier blog I shared an amazing chocolate cake that we did for our daughter's third birthday.

Another go-to healthy desert is this luxurious chocolate mouse that only takes a few minutes to make.

Ingredients (makes 2-4 servings):
1 avocado
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (make sure to read the package that it's dairy free)
2 tablespoons of honey

Instructions:
Place cleaned avocado and the other above mentioned ingredients in a blender (I love our Vitamix) and let it blend into a rich mouse.

Optionally you can spice it up with cinnamon or chili powder.

Serve:
You can serve it as is or you can put fresh berries (raspberries is my favorite choice) on top.

It's healthy and absolutely delicious.

But I've also been researching places to buy an allergy-free candy when on the go or when time is of the essence or when you want to change things up a bit.

I've come across these links below:
http://www.premiumchocolatiers.com/

• caution: look out for legumes (like Guar gum, e.t.c. if you / your child has a legume allergy)

http://nocownohow.com/
http://www.etherealconfections.com/
http://www.divvies.com/
https://sjaaks.com/
http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/
http://www.chocolatedecadence.com/
http://www.amandasown.com/
http://www.mama-ganache.com/
http://www.grocersdaughter.com/
http://www.rescuechocolate.com/
http://www.chocolateinspirations.com/
http://www.lagustasluscious.com/shop/
http://www.rosecitychocolates.com/

For M&M replacement - check out Whizzers Chocolate Beans (I'm still tracking down how one can buy these in the US, they are UK-native)

Can Food Really Kill?

I haven't been writing for a while..... I needed that space and time to live through, digest, and come to terms with the new reality. The reality that ironically has always been there - just in the shadows.

Can food really kill? It is a paradox that is hard to grasp. When I think of food, I think of nourishment, I think of different tastes and flavors and textures.

But here I am sitting in the doctor’s office, reviewing the blood work results from my daughter’s most recent test.  Her doctor is patiently walking us through each item. He lovingly shares the stories of his other patients. And he hands us the practice epi-pen, so we can have the pen talk us through the application procedure.

It all seems strangely normal somehow. There seems to be no surprises. We know our daughter is allergic to certain proteins. The results at first glance really didn’t uncover anything we didn’t already know. But it is not until the next few days that the results of the test really hit me.  Yes, why should I be surprised? The test didn’t reveal a new allergen. What hits me though is the severity. Yes, I know she can’t have dairy or nuts of any kind or legumes e.t.c. Yes, we haven’t even been cooking with these ingredients for the last three years. I know she can’t even touch these food items, let alone consume. But I never really thought that her reactions to these foods would be off the charts. I never thought that her sensitivity is the highest that it could be.

I’ve read many blogs and stories of other parents and wept reading them. I sympathized with the severity of their children’s allergies.  I felt what they were going through as I thought I was going through the same thing, but only on a non-life threatening level.  I thought that in our case a little Benadryl will do. 

I’ve been convinced that her allergies will go away one day. Yes, I am still totally convinced. I know she will lead a really full, beautiful, happy and long life. I know she will make her mark on this world. She will touch a lot of people with her radiance, kindness, compassion, and intelligence.

No one prepares you to hear the news that Benadryl and nebulizer may not be enough… no one prepares you for a blood test result that states that your daughter’s numbers in terms of severity of allergies  are off the charts for food groups that are present in so many products.

It’s something I’ve read about. My heart has wept for the children whose life was in real danger. How can food kill?

I felt like I’ve been mourning to a certain extent as the test results are sinking in. Yes, nothing changed. But internally, I have an eruption of emotions. The thought of how it will all work when she needs to start school, the thought of her teenage years, the thoughts that all need to be banished. And I can’t help but feel that she understands everything….

Talking about it doesn’t make it better, unless you’re talking about it with a purpose. The purpose of changing something to help a child like her. I know that unless one lives through the same thing themselves, they won’t understand. Yes they’ll sympathize, perhaps they’ll even offer up advice or site an article they read…but you know they’ll never truly relate. It’s like losing a close loved one – if you haven’t lived through it, you just can’t live through it through someone else. Writing is my panacea. Spilling my thoughts and my fillings on paper, seem to absorb the impact.