Food Allergy Live Chat on The Motherhood.com -- Here's a Recap!

If you missed our live chat yesterday on The Motherhood.com, you can still benefit from the discussion. Soon, a transcript will be available on The Motherhood site for you to use as a reference, but in the meantime, I encourage you to click the link and read the chat as it happened in real time.

Here's the link you need: http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/Navigating-Food-Allergies:-When-Family-Members-Don[*]t-Understand

We had some great tips, questions and "been there" advice from our panel of hosts and co-hosts, including the always wonderful Lori Sandler of Divvies and Emily McKhann from The Motherhood.com. Joining us were Kelly Rudnicki of Food Allergy Mama, Kim Lutz of Welcoming Kitchen and Elizabeth Goldenberg of Onespot Allergy.

www.themotherhood.com ... blockbuster parenting web site!
Learn "The Motherhood.com" philosphy here: http://www.themotherhood.com/main/about

We also had some wonderful questions and suggestions from active participants on the chat and we had many more who were participating as viewers. We hope that this chat provided some help and encouragement for you, especially during the holiday season where food is ever-present and family dynamics are an issue.

If you're looking for some food allergy-friendly gifts, I hope you'll click the links for each person above and visit their web sites and blogs as many of them have written cookbooks or offer great products for those with food allergies.

One of the things we spoke about during our chat yesterday was the need to bring our own food and be willing to host others. If you're looking for prepared foods to serve at your party or event, I hope you will take a look at the right sidebar of this site.

I am so happy to have several site supporters who offer fabulous nut-free (and other "free from") foods and sweet treats to make our lives easier and more tasty: Nutphree's Cupcakes, Skeeter Snacks, Vermont Nut Free Chocolates, Dean's Sweets, Cakes for Occasions, Surf Sweets, Sweet Alexis. Plus, if you're looking for medical ID jewelry that is both safety-conscious and stylish for all ages, Hope Paige Medical IDs is a great site to visit. To visit the web sites of each of these companies, please click their respective images to the right of this post. Scroll  down and explore them all! Each of these companies supports people with nut allergies, so I encourage us all to support them.

My e-book is a user-friendly guide to educating others about nut allergies and right now, it's at a reduced holiday price. This concise guide can help see you through the "nutty" holiday season--I've had readers tell me that they are also using it to help friends and relatives understand life with nut allergies. Check  it out today by clicking here.

Thanks once again to everyone who made yesterday's chat happen! We will have more live chats like this in coming months, so please check back to this site often for updates.

This Friday on The Nut-Free Mom blog: A sweet deal from Peanut Free Planet!

Don't miss this Friday's post, where you will learn about a special offer from Peanut Free Planet...just in time for the holidays! See you then.

Lauren's Hope Food Allergy Bracelet Giveaway Winner Announced! Plus, A Cake Gallery

Lindsey Karr, you are the winner of our Lauren' Hope Medical ID giveaway! The random drawing was held using Random.org. Congratulations! Lindsey, please e-mail me your address info and if you want a bracelet for a boy or girl, and I will forward it to Lauren's Hope! My e-mail is: nut-freemom@sbcglobal.net

 And a huge thank you to everyone who submitted cake photos for our first ever Nut-Free Mom blog Cake Gallery! Talk about love on a plate. What beautiful creations, what lucky kids, what great parents, friends and family who helped create wonderful birthday memories. I got a little teary-eyed looking at these masterpieces and especially the happy kids celebrating with these amazing cakes. I can't think of a better or more joyful way to honor Food Allergy Awareness Week.

This is a long post, due to all of the photos, so take your time, enjoy these photos and get inspired for your next baking task! If I missed someone's photo in this post, I apologize--I got so many responses one may have slipped by. You will be featured in the next Cake Gallery and thanks again!

Anne was the first to join the gallery with this Rice Krispie cake creation
for her daughter with multiple food allergies.

Noah blowing out the candles on his giant cupcake mom Cathering baked
using Cherrybrook Kitchens allergy-friendly mix.

Lissa's lawnmower cake for her two-year-old son who loves lawn mowers!

LeeAnne also made this Superman-themed cake for her son.

Jane Anne's Hot Wheels racetrack cake for her son, David, is a work of art.

Jamie's daughter enjoyed a pink cake for her birthday party!

A cookie cake from Jamie, for her younger son's 3rd birthday.

Homa made this chocolate strawberry cake for her daughter's birthday using two Cybele Pascal recipes.

Jamie made this Star Wars cake for her son's 6th birthday...all of her kids have tree nut allergies.

LeeAnne created this awesome rocket cake for her 4-year-old son.

Cecilia created this adorable b-day cake for her daughter who loves Elmo.

Ali's son got this sea-worthy creation for his birthday.

Laine made this cool rocket ship cake for her young son with multiple food allergies.

Mom Ali had her daughter's Grammy made this bunny cake for her birthday.

Crystal made this for her adult daughter (also Crystal) for her baby shower. She said
it was her first time using fondant icing--great looking cake!

LeeAnn had a talented friend make this My Little Pony cake for her daughter Rylie's birthday.

Because I had such a huge response, a Cake Gallery will be a regular feature of the blog. And don't worry if you're not a cake baker and decorator. Next week I will have updated list of allergy-friendly bakeries that will do the work for you.

Give Your Food Allergy Essentials a Spring Update!

As the school year winds down, now is a great time to check your food allergy medications, bracelets and other gear to make sure that everything is up to date and current. For example, I came across one of my daughter's many EpiPens only to find that it expires next month. Several others don't expire until next fall, but I definitely don't want any duds laying around.

What about you? For those of you with kids in school or daycare, now is a great time to check the dates of your child's prescriptions (if you don't have them filed away already), see if they're getting low on anything (asthma inhalers or other medications for example) and to make sure that medical I.D. allergy bracelets still fit.

Also, since summer is coming, now is a great time to get those all-important medical forms filled out by your allergist. Allergists will be super-busy for the next few months, so get your forms in early.

Some of you have probably heard of the Center for Anaphylactic Support--they are a great group that offers EpiPen video tutorials as well as a FREE EpiPen renewal reminder service. Check the site to find out more--it's also a great site for friends and relatives who want to learn more about severe allergies.

If your child has outgrown their Medical I.D. bracelet (either mentally or physically), check out some new designs on the Medic Alert website. The Kid Smart program comes with a discount for children 17 and under. New Medic Alert jewelry include girly beading (for young fashionistas) and shoe tags that boys may prefer to wear. (On a side note, you'll also see adorable Alexis Fellows, daughter of mom Michele who runs the fabulous dairy, egg and nut-free bakery Sweet Alexis, when you click on the site!)

Spring updates can be a chore, but don't forget to do a spring sweep of your child's allergy needs. Anything I forgot to mention? Share your spring updates with us!