FAAN Walk 2011

We were overwhelmed by the generous support of our friends and family, as we walked for FAAN on Saturday. 

Thank you to everyone who supported our team,

"James and His Anti-Nuts"

as we walked in the rain to support the

Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, 

working to keep children with food allergies a little safer!

Rain and all, the events went on... live bands, face painting, bouncy house and more!

We are looking forward to FAAN Walk 2012!

A granola recipe from the Peanut Allergy Kid

Just came across an excellent allergy blog called the Peanut Allergy Kid.  One particularly helpful post included a recipe for homemade peanut-free granola.  Yum!  Thank you Peanut Allergy Kid for sharing this recipe!  Check it out HERE


"Safe" Stovetop Granola

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups old fashioned oats (whole oats)
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-2 T wheat germ (optional)
• 1-2 T flax seed meal (optional)

Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oats and stir until they start browning and getting crisp, about 5 minutes. Towards the end of cooking time, add wheat germ and flax seed meal (Be careful not to burn oats! It happens quickly!) Remove from heat and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.

Melt the butter in the same pan over medium heat. Stir in the honey and brown sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Return the oats to the pan. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or so. Pour out onto the cookie sheet and spread to cool.

Once cool, transfer to an airtight container. You can also add dried fruit (raisins, Craisins, etc) at this time, too.

Periwinkle Waffles: Egg and Peanut Allergy Safe!

Periwinkle Waffles

...because the word "periwinkle" appeals to my children

more than the word "blueberry"

Sift together:

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

Combine and then stir into dry ingredients:

1-2 mashed bananas

1/4 cup oil or applesauce

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1 cup pureed blueberries

Bake in a hot waffle iron until lightly browned. 

Yields: 12 to 14 waffles





Direck Link: Ask the President to Declare May 8-14th National Food Allergy Awarness Week

Help raise awareness of food allergies by promoting a National Food Allergy Awareness Week. This will be another effective step in keeping children with food allergies safe! 

The following is a direct link that provides a pre-written email that can be signed and sent to the President, asking him to declare May 8-14, 2011 Food Allergy Awareness Week.

 

Ask the President to Declare May 8-14, 2011 Food Allergy Awareness Week

 

In 2010, FAAW was recognized in a RECORD 37 STATES but has never been recognized at the national level.

 

  Thank you for helping to raise food allergy awareness!

Thank you for caring about children with food allergies! 

 

 

Egg Free Muffins-JD Safe

 

Found this recipe at Food.com and then tweaked it just a little.  These are JD safe and they turned out moist and yummy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemons or 1 tablespoon oranges or 1 tablespoon pineapple juice
   
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• I also added 1 mashed banana from the variations below

Variations

• 1 -2 mashed banana
• 1/2 cup raisins with 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup blueberries or 1/2 cup fruit

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 25 mins

Light and Fluffy Egg Free Muffins from Food.com

1. Mix all ingredients until combined. Do not overmix!
2. Spoon into prepared muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20-35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
3. Makes 12 muffins

Veggie-Bean Quinoa, its nut free and egg free!

We continue to experiment with new recipes in our house as we attempt to find foods that are both appealing and allergy safe for our little man.  Found a dinner that was a success!  After trying a combination of three different recipes and tweaking it here and there to make it allergy safe, we created a recipe that pleased everyone!

Yummy!

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan.

Add 3 diced garlic cloves and 1/2 cup diced onion.

Heat for 5 minutes

Add 3 diced carrots, 2 stalks of celery diced, and 1 diced red pepper.

Heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup of quinoa, cover with 2 cups vegetable broth (I added one extra boullion cube).

Add 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp red pepper, and 1 tsp sea salt.

Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add in 1 cup frozen corn and 2 (15 oz) cans of kidney beans.

Stir in 1/4 cup Parsley.

Serve warm.

 

Was definitely a family favorite!

Nut & Egg Free Cookie Dough! Woo Hoo!

Baked goods can be particularly unsafe for children with nut and egg allergies.  I am so excited about this nut-&-egg allergy-safe cookie dough recipe!

Thank you Snow White and Frog Prince at

"Finding Joy in My Kitchen" for the great recipe! 

I can hardly wait to treat my little one with these special cookies!

Cookie Dough - Adapted from Kelly

1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2ish C dark chocolate chips
~2 T water
1/2 C oatmeal (optional)

Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Then, add in the flour, salt and stir to combine. Add in the vanilla and then, if necessary about 2 T water. Add the water 1 T at a time, stirring to see if you need more water. Then, stir in the chocolate chips.

At: Finding Joy in My Kitchen and you can too

What is a safe snack for children with peanut-allergies?

Peanut Free Snacks

A friend just shared this link with me: 11 peanut-free snack ideas for children

What a huge help for when people ask, "what can he have?"  Thanks Lisa!


Fresh Fruit
Pretzels
Goldfish
Mott’s Fruit Snacks
Oreo Cookies
Teddy Grahams
Raisins
Lay’s Chips
Sun Chips
Fruit Leather 
#11, Kashi TLC Cereal Bars. No traces of anything nut in those and lots of goodness!

Are Cheerios safe for a child with peanut allergies?

Are Cheerios safe for a child with peanut allergies or not?  According to the following letter from General Mills' Consumer Services, they should be.  The Allergy Warning identifies wheat as the only possible allergen.  So, it seems as though the Mulit-Grain Cheerios that we currently have in our cupboard should be peaunt-free.  Wondering how accurate this is?  Could these Cheerios still be cross-contaminated?

Cheerios Web Response regarding the use of the 8 allergens

Thank you for contacting General Mills concerning ingredients in our products. As manufacturers and consumers, we understand your concern about potential allergens in the foods you eat. Our primary goal is to provide accurate information; and we believe this is best accomplished by referring to the specific ingredients listed on each product package. This is the most current information for your needs.

If one of our products contains any of the top 8 allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, dairy products, eggs, soy, wheat, crustaceans, and fish) or if it contains sesame, sunflower or mollusks, that ingredient is always listed in the ingredient panel, and also in bold letters just below the list of ingredients. If a product is exposed to any of these allergens in the manufacturing facility the allergen will be listed in bold in the ‘Contains Statement’ just below the list of ingredients. This list is your ingredient assurance for that package. It is not intended for other packaging of the same product. Ingredients may vary from one package to another due to product reformulation. If you have allergy concerns, please read each package ingredient panel.

We hope this information helps you. You may also want to contact the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) at 1-800-929-4040, or visit their web site at www.foodallergy.org. Although they cannot provide specific ingredient information regarding a particular product, they are a good resource to help in the management of your allergies and sensitivities.

We appreciate your interest. Please contact us again with any further questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Deanna Walker
General Mills
Consumer Services