Food Allergy Product News: Nut-Free Chocolate for Mother's Day! Get Exclusive Coupon Code Here!

Yes, Easter just ended but Mother's Day is right around the corner! What better way to celebrate than with chocolate?

I'm so happy to share that my friends at Vermont Nut-Free Chocolates, my all-time fave nut-free chocolate maker, is offering Nut-Free Mom blog readers an exclusive coupon for one week only!

Here is a link to some of the great Mother's Day gift ideas that Vermont Nut Free has on offer.

Nut-Free Mom blog readers will receive a 10% discount on all items in the order, excluding shipping charges. This coupon is effective April 28th through May 6th. Enter NFM10 at the top of the shopping cart in the keycode box. It is not case-sensitive.

Because many of us do not want any foods that contain peanuts or tree nuts in our homes, and because we like to share with our family and friends, this is a great gift for us moms, so start hinting now! You can also ask for favorite baking stock-up items like delicious nut-free chocolate chips and baking bars. Please visit the website to see all the chocolatey and scrumptious options.

I know that Vermont Nut-Free gets busy at every holiday, so order now! I hope someone in my family reads this...I love the truffles and chocolate chips! ;)

Nut-Free Pretzel Bakery Kim & Scott's Introduce a New Gluten-Free Gourmet Pretzel!

When Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels contacted me about their new Gluten-Free Pretzels, I was very interested to try them. I've been a fan of Kim & Scott's for years and have enjoyed their pretzels, available in the frozen section at the supermarket (check their web site for stores) and also fresh from their nut-free bakery in Chicago called Cafe Twist, which I visit often with my family. You can read a review of that restaurant here.

My family avoids all baked goods that are nut-free, but because we don't cope with either celiac disease or wheat allergy, we have not sought out gluten-free baked goods. I was curious to see what these would taste like and what my kids would think. They are serious fans of the "regular" Kim & Scott's pretzels so how would they feel about gluten-free?

Turns out that they LOVED them. My youngest daughter ate her first gluten-free Bavarian pretzel as an after school snack and that one was soon followed by her second. I told her that it was gluten-free and asked if she could tell the difference. She said no. I grabbed a bite of my own pretzel. Amazingly, to me these taste like Kim & Scott's regular Bavarian pretzels (my personal favorite). If anything, they are slightly sweeter with a very slightly different texture than the wheat variety. But if you were to give me a gluten-free Kim & Scott's pretzel and not tell me, I don't think I would have known the difference. In a word: delicious.

My oldest daughter is the one with the nut-allergy, so she has always appreciated the nut-free aspects of Kim & Scott's pretzels and she informed me that "Kim & Scott's makes gluten-free taste good." I heartily agree.

It is very difficult to find products that are both gluten-free AND made in a nut-free facility. How wonderful that there is now a great new snack option for those of us who need nut-free bakery items as well as gluten-free.

If you would like more information about this product or other Kim & Scott's products, please visit their web site for details.

FTC note: I received food samples, but no $$ compensation for this review.

Food Allergies and Seasonal/Pet Allergies...Triple Whammy

Even though I've been dealing with my daughter's food allergies and seasonal allergies for years, I still find myself having to make tough calls about her health vs. socializing. We are fortunate to have so many understanding friends and neighbors but sometimes we just have to say "no" to one thing and find a different solution. And that doesn't have to be tragic.

I want to share a quick story because I sometimes feel that parents beat themselves up over the things their kids have to "miss out on" due to food allergies or other allergies.

My daughter and her really good friend have been trying to arrange a sleepover at the friend's house for several weeks now. This was supposed to take place this coming weekend. Well, right now, seasonal allergies are really taking a toll on my daughter's health. She's on medication but the pollen count is giving her a lot of stuffiness and breathing problems.

Last week, she hung out at her friend's house (the one who wanted to host the sleepover) and when she got home, she was stuffy, wheezing and needed her asthma inhaler. Turns out that the seasonal allergies that already existed were being aggravated even more by an apparent allergy to her friend's pet guinea pigs.

What to do? The date was arranged, the plans had been made, the hosting family couldn't be nicer or more accommodating with our daughter's food allergies.

I decided that we needed to host the sleepover at our house and try again at the friend's home when spring is over and the pollen count subsides. (My daughter is a lot better in the summer than the spring). My daughter has hung out with the guinea pigs in the past and not suffered intense symptoms, so I figured she just couldn't take the pet allergies and seasonal allergies all at once. I worried a little bit about offending the parents of my daughter's friend, but knew I needed to make the call.

Well, when my daughter came home for lunch, she had already taken care of it. She spoke to her friend, explained the problem and they decided the sleepover should be at our house. I didn't even need to sweat this. Obviously, it's no fun for a kid to have an asthma attack, so my daughter advocated for her own situation and it was resolved.

Everyone knows that it is more fun to attend a sleepover at someone else's house, so I did feel a little bit bad that my daughter couldn't do that this time. But you know what? She was OK with it.

I frequently hear from parents who are really sad that their child can't visit an ice cream shop like they, the parent, used to do as as a child. Or they worry that depriving their child of a treat at a birthday party will damage their child's self-esteem. I'm not saying that this can't happen, but kids are smart and resilient. Don't make a big deal about it and there's a good chance they might not, either.

My biggest obstacle now: deciding on an appropriate movie for the girls to watch. That's OK. Sometimes it's nice to be faced with a parenting challenge that's non-allergy related.

Food Allergy Safe Easter Celebrations!

Easter will soon be here and so will family celebrations that naturally revolve around food! However, food allergy safe Easter celebrations are possible. I wanted to compile some of my best tips for holiday dining with the family.

Easter is tricky because a restaurant Easter Brunch is often part of the festivities. Please be extra careful at a "buffet" brunch. Risk of cross-contact is astronomical and many brunch dishes contain tree nuts. Sometimes bringing some safe foods for your child is the best thing you can do when faced with this issue. Don't take a chance at buffets. If you know you will be going to a brunch, call the restaurant now and see if you can have a "safe" item prepared separately in the kitchen.

Now, onto the at-home celebrations! Last year, I received the FAAN spring newsletter and I want to share a few of their allergy free Easter tips:

1. Instead of decorating real eggs, paint, decoupage or bead wooden eggs available at craft stores or online. Plastic eggs can also be decorated using stickers, ribbons and permanent markers.

2. Fill baskets with small toys, cars, dolls, crayons or mini stuffed animals, instead of putting the focus on food.

3. Organize an Easter egg hunt using plastic eggs. Fill them with coins or stickers or even coupons for activities such as roller skating or movies, instead of candy.

I also want to address family meals because of course, they are part of the fun but you've got to be careful. Here's what works for me:

1. Communicate about the allergy early and often. Whether you plan to attend a dinner outside of your home or you are the host family, you want to put the word out now about your nut allergy concerns. Things to discuss would be safe brands of bread for stuffing, gravy sauces or sauce enhancers or mixes, stuffing recipes in general (many contain pecans, pine nuts or other nuts), desserts and cross-contamination when cooking or baking. You want to give people plenty of notice about the food to help ensure safe choices. Many times people set their menus and decide what they plan to bring to a dinner early, so go on, make that call today!

2. Offer to provide safe alternatives to family favorites. Does someone always want to make pecan pie or peanut butter blossom cookies? See if you can make an alternative pie or offer to make the cookies using SunButter (sunflower seed butter) or soybutter. Or, introduce a new recipe that may become a nut-free family favorite.

3. Be careful at the buffet table. Buffet tables present cross-contact problems, since serving spoons may be used for more than one food. You may ask to serve your child first to prevent cross contact, or prepare a separate plate for your child in the kitchen.

4. Suggest an alternative to "mixed nuts in a bowl" and peanut-laden Chex mix-style snacks from the party. Yes, these are a big hit with many family members, but see if you can bring an alternative snack. These are particularly dangerous because younger allergic children may grab these items and eat them before you can stop them. Also, people spread the nut dust and residue around with these snacks. If your child touches the hands of someone who was recently snacking on this, and then eats something "safe," a reaction can occur because they will then ingest the nut allergen along with the "safe" food. This just happened to the child of a friend of mine, so be careful.

5. You bring (or make) dessert. Desserts are one of the top foods to cause allergic reactions, so don't chance it. You make the dessert. It may seem like a lot of work but honing your dessert-making skills is a must if you're a nut allergy caregiver. Also, everyone loves desserts, so if you make a good one you'll be one of the "heroes" of the dinner! :)

6. If you're really concerned, bring a safe meal for your child. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you may not feel the meal is safe enough for your child to eat. That's OK--it happens. Just bring something extra for them and serve it to them without a lot of fanfare. If anyone asks, use the situation to increase awareness: "Alex can't eat the dinner because of her nut allergy." You never know--this simple statement could result in more cooperation from others for the next celebration.

Happy Easter!!

Allergic Living Magazine--U.S. Version, Just Launched!

For those of you new to the world of food allergies and even to those of you who have been dealing with food allergies for awhile, I have to tell you about Allergic Living magazine. This amazing resource for people living with food allergies, environmental allergies and asthma, is chock-full information about all aspects of life with allergies. Unlike some other publications, it does not focus mainly on gluten-free living, but delves into life-threatening food allergies in greater detail than you'll find anywhere else. What's more, Allergic Living recently issued a U.S. edition (they are based in Canada) to deal directly with the many aspects of life with food allergies in the U.S.

Allergic Living's latest issue, the new U.S. edition, focuses on one of the toughest aspects of living with food allergies: dining out. With a feature article by Sloane Miller of Allergic Girl (the blog and the book), you'll find page after page of awesome advice and support, so don't miss out! This article also features tips from top chefs including Ming Tsai and Top Chef Masters' Susur Lee.

In addition, you'll find new monthly columns from FAAN CEO Julia Bradsher and also a column from Gina Clowes of AllergyMoms.

I had the pleasure of finally meeting Gwen Smith, editor of Allergic Living, (after e-mailing, Facebooking for months) at the recent FAAN conference in Chicago. (I'll post my conference recap later this week.) She is such a warm, bright and knowledgeable advocate for people living with food allergies and we had a great time chatting in between sessions. Gwen has food allergies herself so she knows what she's talking about!

It's rare that I've found a resource as complete as Allergic Living so I just wanted to share it with all of you. I hope you'll check it out! Let me know!