Food Allergy Awareness Week: Check Out FAAN's Guest Bloggers!

I'll admit I'm going to be a little lazy today (because it is my birthday) and let others do the blogging for me today. :)

Have you checked out FAAN's new blog? This week, in honor of Food Allergy Awareness Week, FAAN featured five bloggers who I am lucky to have met personally and/or communicated with online. Each of them shares their perspectives on living with food allergies, both from a parenting perspective and a personal one. You'll even find yummy recipes from Kelly Rudnicki of Food Allergy Mama and cookbook author Cybele Pascale!

You'll also hear from Sloane Miller of Allergic Girl, Gina Clowes of Allergy Moms and Jennifer B of Food Allergy Buzz.

I enjoyed each entry and I think you will, too.

I hope everyone has spread awareness in some way for FAAW and remember, it's something we do all year. So be proud of what you've accomplished in terms of educating your friends, family and communities about food allergies.

Next week, I've got a new product review from Enjoy Life Foods. I can give you one hint: Chocolate!

Happy Friday the 13th everybody!

Food Allergy Awareness Week: Advice from a Medical Expert

Many times I'm asked questions that are health or medical in nature and I always refer these questions to an allergist. Of course, you should always speak to your own doctors about your specific needs, but I want to introduce you to a terrific allergist who has his own web site and book that answers many of the questions we have about food allergies: Dr. Robert Wood.

Dr. Wood is a world-renowned allergist and a medical advisor to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. He is also a lifelong peanut allergy sufferer. His best-selling book "Food Allergies for Dummies" combines medical knowledge and facts with tips handling any food allergy. He also has written helpful articles that educate others such as one that addresses commonly-held beliefs and myths about food allergies.

Food Allergies for Dummies and Dr. Wood's web site have been two of my favorite resources over the years. If you don't own the book, get it. It's a great one to share with friends and family, too.

As a parent I feel that I'm an involuntary "expert" on many of the lifestyle issues that affect us all. However, Dr. Wood's website is the one I turn to time and again for solid medical facts about nut allergies.

Food Allergy Awareness Week is all about spreading awareness and accurate food allergy information. I hope you'll check out this site and share it with friends and family members.

Food Allergies for Mother's Day: Welcome to Mom's Diner!

You'd think we'd get out of cooking one day a year, but if your child has severe food allergies, forget it. Actually, the traditional Mother's Day brunch, served buffet style, can be hazardous for many types of food allergies. In my family, we've never gone to big Mother's Day meals in a restaurant since so many breakfast foods have some type of tree nuts due to all of the baked goods and cross-contact. For those of you who deal with egg, dairy and/or wheat allergies, you know how difficult it is to locate an allergy-friendly brunch.

For me, this state of affairs means a lot of cooking and/or baking at home. Often, I prefer it--personally it's not relaxing for me to bring my child to high-risk restaurant situations. I'd rather go eat with the family during a "safe" restaurants downtime when they are more likely to pay attention to special food requests.

Last year, I baked a coffee cake and brought it to a brunch. This year I plan to make the same cake because my family loves it and it looks impressive (streaked with two layers of cinnamon/brown sugar filling) even though it is relatively easy to make. I assume I will be cooking throughout the day even though my husband volunteered to grill at night, as he usually does on the weekends.

Somewhere along the line, I just accepted that I would be doing most of the cooking, when possible. That's been OK for the most part. I've had a lot more control over ingredients and my kids have enjoyed a pretty healthy diet. When I cook, I have the added pleasure of knowing that I am providing some love along with the meals. As my favorite food writer M.F.K. Fisher put it: "One of the pleasantest of all emotions is to know that I, I with my brain and my hands, have nourished my beloved few... to sustain them truly against the hungers of the world."

It is in this spirit that I once spent 6 hours making and decorating birthday cakes for my daughter's first big birthday party. She was in kindergarten and had invited every girl in her class plus a few more friends. She wanted a "Groovy Girl" theme -- if you have daughters you've probably seen these colorful, fashionable dolls -- and I needed to create orange, pink, black, purple and yellow frosting. This took me awhile. I also had trouble with the cake writing, since I'm not very good at it and the miniature Groovy Girl dolls I bought for the cake kept sinking into the frosting. Since they were not "true" cake toppers, they were too heavy.

I was exhausted and covered in frosting by the time I finished but I didn't think much about the time it had taken. I shared this story with one of my friends recently and she said "Wow, you must really love your daughter!"

I laughed because a) I guess I do and b) when a 6-hour cake prep doesn't faze you, that's when you know you've got a child with food allergies.

Last week I was reading a newspaper article in advance of Mother's Day that asked authors to chime in with their favorite advice from their mom. My favorite was this quote, taken from Baha'i writings: "When there is love, nothing is too much trouble and there is always time."

That's how I feel about being "forced" to cook on Mother's Day. Kids with food allergies have to be so careful of what they eat, all the time. If I can give my daughter something delicious, something safe so that she can be included with all of us, her happiness makes me happy. It's a gift that keeps on giving, not just on Mother's Day, but all year.

Peanut Allergy Safe Doughnuts! You've Got To Try This Nut-Free Recipe....

Sometimes it's a good idea to bring your kids to Crate and Barrel. I know, sounds counter intuitive but if I hadn't had my little eagle-eyed 11-year-old with me recently, I never would have seen this awesome doughnut pan! I've been meaning to get one of these for years so that I could make nut allergy-safe doughnuts, but the pans available had always been so expensive at $30 or so that I always saved it for another day. Being unable to visit doughnut shops due to all of the cross-contact risk is an adjustment that we've had to make, so I've always been on the lookout for ways to make our own at home.

This great pan pictured above was $10.95 at Crate and Barrel. You can also order it from www.wilton.com. They also have mini-doughnut pans available, especially nice since Hostess Donettes are not longer an option for our family--they now carry tree nut allergy warnings.

Best of all, the doughnut pan comes with a simple recipe that I altered just a bit. You could also do some variations like adding a few tablespoons of cocoa powder and a little more canola oil for a chocolate cake donut. Or add a nice spring-y touch with some lemon or orange zest to the batter. I also remember some amazing apple doughnuts that we used to buy, pre-nut allergy, at a farm bakery store that were seriously amazing. So you could grate some apple into the batter, add some cinnamon and roll them in cinnamon sugar for apple doughnuts. The possibilities are endless!

Baking doughnuts does change their taste a little bit. Let's face it, fried foods are the bomb! But baking doughnuts does make them healthier and I found the taste delicious. My kids LOVED them. They couldn't believe it one Saturday morning when they awoke to fresh powdered sugar doughnuts.

This pan makes a great Mother's Day gift, too if you're looking for last-minute ideas.

The following recipe is just an example of the great things cooking next week during the Food Allergy Recipe Swap live chat at The Motherhood. Please join us if you can--May 10, 1 pm EST. Lori Sandler of Divvies will be our host! You can share your own recipes along with pictures of the finished product. I hope you can be there!


Nut-Free Powdered Sugar Cake Donuts
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray pan with nonstick baking spray (such as Pam). In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Add vanilla and beat until just combined; do not over beat. Fill each doughnut cup about 2/3 full--any more and you won't end up with that nice doughnut shape.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Color on tops is no indication of doneness-they will be more golden on the bottom.

Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts by placing them, one at a time, in a resealable bag filled with 2/3 of powdered sugar. Close the bag and shake gently to coat.

Makes 12 doughnuts.

Food Allergy Awareness Week Recipe Swap on The Motherhood!

Next week on May 10, I will be joining in the chat at The Motherhood where we will share our favorite allergy-friendly recipes! I have a few I'm thinking of right now, sond I hope you will gather some of your favorites and join us at The Motherhood Recipe Swap.

This is part of the Cooking Connections series hosted by Lori Sandler of Divvies, and so far the chats have been wonderfully entertaining and informative. Lori is such a warm and knowledgeable food allergy advocate -- she is doing a great job with these chats, so join us!

Here's how the chats work: you register for the chat on The Motherhood web site and then post questions, comments and in this case, recipes and photos of our creations during the live chat.

Parents of kids with food allergies tend to be accomplished cooks and bakers by necessity so please join us on May 10, 1 pm EST, at The Motherhood for what is sure to be a fun and delicious chat experience.

Vermont Nut-Free Coupon Code news:
Also, Friday, May 6 is the last day to use your Vermont Nut-Free Chocolates coupon code exclusively for Nut-Free Mom blog readers. Nut-Free Mom blog readers will receive a 10% discount on all items in the order, excluding shipping charges. Enter NFM10 at the top of the shopping cart in the keycode box. It is not case-sensitive.

Use code and save 10% off your purchase today!