Have a Happy, Allergy-Free Halloween!!!

Today can be a scary day for those of us who have food-allergic kids, but we can still have a great time. I'm having a Halloween Open House for our new neighbors tonight and my daughter is really looking forward to that. Forgive me if this is short---I've got Guacamole with Monster Eyeballs (olives) to prepare!



If you decide to go Trick or Treating, just remember to bring two bags--one for the obviously nutty stuff like Snickers and Reese's and one for the possibly safe candy you can sort out later. We usually end up pitching most of the candy and sending it to my husband's office or giving it away to friends and my daughter doesn't mind--she just likes dressing up and going out. Plus, she gets a goody bag filled with Vermont Nut Free Halloween chocolates--and let me tell you, that stuff is good.


Also, if you have a FAAN Trick or Treat for food allergy box, don't forget to bring it along! Even if you don't Trick or Treat, consider sending a donation to FAAN--clearly, we still need a lot of education and research regarding food allergies.


Carry your EpiPens and be prepared, but most of all have fun! And if you decide to skip Trick or Treating, you can still have fun with non-food activities like age-appropriate Halloween movies and games.

Whatever your family is up to today, I hope you have a great, SAFE time. Please be sure to share your Halloween stories with us! I hope they're only scary in a good way!

Nut-Free Halloween Recipe: Frankestein Monster Toes Cookies

As I searched for treats to serve at our Halloween Open House I found these cookies in the Pillsbury Halloween recipe magazine.

The recipe originally suggested dyed almonds for the "toenails" and almond extract as a flavoring. Of course, I nixed all of that and used safe Mike and Ike brand jelly beans for the toenails and substituted vanilla for the almond extract.


The recipe I'm listing below is certainly "nut-free" but it is based on a Betty Crocker cookie mix recipe (I'm all about "from scratch" but I'm having time issues!), and so it does contain other allergens. If your child has allergies to dairy or wheat, just use your favorite allergy-free sugar cookie recipe and be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour.


Here's the recipe:


Frankenstein Monster's Toes

Ingredients:

1 pouch (I lb. 1.5 oz Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use McCormick)
7 drops NEON green food color (again, I use McCormick)
36 Mike and Ike or other "safe" jelly beans


Method:


1. In large bowl stir cookie mix, flour , melted butter, egg, vanilla and green food color until soft dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.


2. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. For each cookie, roll heaping teaspoons of dough into 2-1/2-inch finger shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place shapes 2 inches apart. (A word to the wise: don't make the rolls too big or flat. This dough spreads quite a bit!)


3. About 1 inch from the end of each "toe" squeeze dough slightly; with knife, gently make lines in dough to look like knuckles.


4. Bake 6-8 minutes until set. The edges of cookies should not be at all brown. While still on cookie sheet and working quickly before cookies cool, gently but firmly press a jelly bean into the edge of each "toe" for the fingernail. Cool cookies one minute; remove to cooling racks. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes.


Enjoy!

Nut-Free, Mom-Free Success Story

When my daughter was first diagnosed with her severe allergy to nuts, I was so concerned about how she would fare without me when she got older. It isn't possible to follow your child around their whole life, keeping them safe from allergens and in any case, who would want to? We moms have things to do and places to go and it's good for kids to be independent, right?

Right. Except I still had that lingering anxiety about my daughter's health and safety when I'm not there to monitor the food. And I still do. But I want to report that last Friday, my 8-year-old daughter successfully dealt with a potentially tricky food situation with no help from me. And what a relief that is!

Here's what happened: as all of you dealing with this know, you go over "safe treats" with everyone who cares for your child. And you go over it with your child. But you wonder if what you're saying sticks or not.

Well, this time it did--with my daughter anyway. At Girl Scouts last Friday, she was offered what were purportedly "safe" cookies and other treats. She was told stringently that the treats were "nut-free." (I think most of us know what a slippery slope that term can be.) But ---insert scary music--the food came in, as my daughter described them "plain white bakery-looking boxes" and when she asked for original packaging, there wasn't any. She also told me that the cookies looked like the kind I've served her before. But without a label, she was hesitant to indulge.

Now she was faced with a decision. Should she trust that the food was safe and eat it? Or should she stick with her intuition that told her it might not be safe? I'm happy to say that she held fast to our family's official motto: "When in doubt do without." She gave her share of the goodies to her allergy-free friends and went on with her meeting. I detected no stress, sadness or irritation from her. It was just another day in 3rd grade.

I was so happy that she was looking out for herself so well that I almost ran out and bought her a puppy! (Note, "almost.")

The bottom line of this story, for me, is that some of the burden was lifted from me that day. Of course, I'm going to follow up with the GS leaders (and provide my daughter with her own "back-up" snack for meetings) but I know that my daughter is doing the right thing without supervision. She's been listening. She gets it. She even sounds like she's over it, a little bit. (Years of not eating what other kids are probably immunes you to this after a while.)

So for all of you who have little ones and are worrying about the same things I do, hang in there. Keep teaching them how to check food labels and if necessary, refuse food politely. Role playing is very good. We still do this. And if you keep reinforcing the message, you'll have your own success story. I'm sure a lot of you do already! Kids are smart.

Now about that puppy--I'll have to see about that one.

A Great Idea for the Little Ones: ALERT Clothing Company

I usually leave the allergy-related product reviews to fellow food allergy blogger Jennifer B. on her excellent blog Food Allergy Buzz. But when I got this e-mail the other day from Rebecca Nelson, founder of the ALERT Clothing Company, I just had to share. Click the link to visit her web site and I have also listed a link to the company at the right of my blog.

I know that many of my readers have very young kids, so this company may be just what you've been looking for. They make adorable T-shirts, etc. for food-allergic kids with great, colorful designs. The best part--each shirt clearly states that the wearer has a food allergy with statements like: "Food Allergy Alert: No Food Sharing at School, Please." What a great benefit if your child is very young and unable to express themselves yet about their food allergy!

I can think of many situations where these shirts would come in handy: day care, pre-school, family reunion, Halloween, Thanksgiving, a day at the zoo or amusement park....I'm sure you can think of some too.

I wish I had known about this place sooner! If any of you end up ordering a shirt, let us know how it works out for you.

Help Linda Coss, National Food Allergy Expert, Get on the Tube!!!

I recently received an e-mail from Linda Coss, noted food allergy expert and author, and I am displaying it below. Basically, she wants us to e-mail talk shows to help get her on TV to spread the word about food allergies.

I know many of you out there appreciate her work, so of course we want to help her get on TV and make our concerns known to the nation!! At the bottom of her statements are several links you can follow that will help promote her with national talk shows.

All of you with food allergy blogs, please help Linda spread the word!!

Here's what she had to say:

"Greater public awareness of the realities of life-threatening food allergies helps all of our children – and one of the best ways to reach the masses is through the most popular TV talk shows.

I’m writing today to ask for your help. I’d like to start a grass roots campaign to get a few of the big shows to invite me to come on as a guest to discuss life-threatening food allergies. As the author of 3 books on food allergies, including a cookbook that is still considered to be “brand new” (an important consideration in the publicity world), I believe I am just the sort of “expert” that TV shows like to have as a guest. Plus, now that I’ve had a successful appearance on local TV (you can view the video at http://www.foodallergybooks.com/), I’ve gotten over my fear of the camera!

I’m asking you, your readers, and anyone else you can get to participate to go online to the shows’ “suggest a topic” pages and recommend that the program does a segment on life-threatening food allergies, with Food Allergy Author Linda Coss as the guest expert. You can say something from your heart about why they should cover this topic, and then say something about why you’re recommending Linda Coss as the guest expert. Possibilities here include the facts that I’m the articulate author of 3 food allergy books, a former support group leader with over 13 years of experience, the parent of a college-age child with multiple life-threatening allergies, and one of the “pioneers” in the food allergy world.

Here are links to the first 3 shows I’m targeting:

§ Oprah: https://www.oprah.com/ord/plugform.jsp?plugId=216
§ Rachael Ray: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show-info/be-on-the-show/
o Scroll down to the bottom to the “Anything Goes” section and then click on “Hey you…what’s on your mind?”
o Be sure to click on the “pass it on” button and give them my email, Linda@FoodAllergyBooks.com
§ Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/affiliateinfo
o Click on “Email Martha” on the left-hand side of the page

Of course, I’m open to suggestions for other shows that would be likely to present food allergies in a sympathetic light.

Thank you in advance for your help and support!"

Linda Coss