The "Blended" Family
2008-03-05 12:01:00
I was recently talking to a close friend of mine with Celiac's Disease. She has 3 boys and a husband that do not have celiac's or at least haven't been diagnosed as of yet. She cooks her meals separately so the others in the house can eat the things they like. Her biggest problem with just serving gluten free foods, is that she is still learning and her food doesn't ever seem to come out right.Lots of us have families where food allergies exist in some but not in others, or are different in each child, and surely we don't put the whole family on a diet. If it is a single food allergy, we may, but certainly we would not consider putting our family on a diet that eliminates 5 different food products if only one child is allergic to three of them. Maybe I am wrong and I hope others will share
Read more: Family
HEADS UP! Herr's Snack Porducts! Allergen Friendly!
2008-03-03 09:02:00
I am posting this as a special post! I thought that everyone would be happy to know that Herr's, the maker of Potato chips and other snack foods, has a wonderful allergy aware section on their website! Located under Product info, then Allergen info is a list of all products that are dairy free, then gluten free, soy free, MSG Free and on the bottom, a list of products that contain peanuts. All this information can be found easily on Herr's Allergen Info page. If you click on a product in any of these lists, it will take you to a picture of that product, making it easier to know what you are looking for. I hope more food companies will follow Herr's lead!
Read more: Snack
, Friendly
Food Allergy Support Group of Tidewater
2008-02-26 10:06:00
The Food Allergy
Support
Group
of Tidewater held its first meeting in January. The support group is one of the first in the area and is maintained by Michelle Hoang. Meetings are held five times a year. Membership is $20.00 per family and you are welcome to attend one meeting free. This group is fairly new so please show your support. More information is available at Food Allergy Support Group of Tidewater's website. The website can also be found in my blog roll.
Navan Foods - Tidewater/Hampton Roads Food Allergy Store!
2008-02-26 09:41:00
I am so happy to announce that a local Virginia Beach Resident is opening a Food Allergy
Store
. It is not open right now but Navan Foods
will be opening in May 2008 for Tidewater/Hampton
Roads
residents! The store owner is a mom of a food allergic child herself which will provide families dealing with food allergies for the first time, some assistance they can trust. You can visit the website at www.navanfoods.com, and sign up for the newsletter. The website can also be found in my blog roll.
Oh, He can't have......?
2008-02-25 08:58:00
We have all heard this at some point in time. If you have just begun your battle with food allergies, you may relish this attention. You probably feel like they get it. Somehow these people actually get how hard this is! Right?Wrong. They don't get it. They actually feel sorry for your child. They think she is missing out. The worst part about this attitude is that it is highly contagious. Your child picks up on this and then feels like she is missing out. This is a recipe for disaster! While it may be hard to see now, later on, if your child has this attitude, she may be tempted to try foods she cannot have, or even to be ashamed that she has an allergy! I have a five year old son allergic to dairy and the following suggestions have proved to work for us! I hope they will help others.Nip
HEADS UP! WENDY'S
2008-02-25 08:56:00
I gave up on McDonald's after yet another incident at the McDonald's on Little Creek Rd & Shore Drive in Norfolk.I went right down the street to the Wendy's located on Little Creek Rd. Of course before I did, I visited their website. I am really impressed! Not only does their website offer an easy to read list of what has what in it, but they also have a special gluten free list that is up to date as of December 2007! Their allergen menu includes egg, milk, wheat, fish, tree nuts, peanuts, and soy.Their employees are friendly and helpful too! They were happy to accommodate my sons food allergy! The knew where to find information on the allergens in the food as well! The service was fast, the food was fresh, and there are a lot more dairy free items on their menu. I love that I was able
HEADS UP! CHEF BOYARDEE MINI PASTA SHELLS AND MEATBALLS!
2008-02-25 08:55:00
Chef Boyardee has a canned product out that doesn't contain milk! It does contain egg, soy & wheat however. Chef Boyardee Mini Bites Mini Pasta Shells & Meatballs is dairy free. This product is manufactured by Conagra.I have had prior experience with ConAgra foods and found that they are uncooperative at best in answering allergy questions. However, in their defense, many of their products comply with the FDA, stating clearly underneath the ingredients, which, if any, of the top eight allergens the product contains. In this respect, at least when I purchase foods manufactured by Conagra, I know I don't have to meticulously scan the label for hidden milk ingredients. I am disappointed that neither Conagra nor Chef Boyardee list ingredients on their websites.It is an exciting moment
HEADS UP! DUNCAN HINES CAKE MIX!
2008-02-25 08:55:00
After hearing a rumor the other day that Duncan Hines cakes were made without dairy, I decided to find out for myself. Apparently this is true but not for all of Duncan Hines cakes. I got the following letter from Pinnacle Foods.Feb 14, 2008Dear Ms Long:Thank you for taking the time to contact us about the kosher status of our Duncan Hines products. In response to the many consumers who contacted us over the past year requesting that we go back to the prior formula, we have changed the production location where we make some, to allow us to offer several cakes that are dairy free. The dairy free cakes have pareve status and are identified by a U in a circle or Pareve on the label. Production on these items started in September 2007 and began hitting the store shelves around Novemeber 2007.
Allergic to ??
2008-02-25 08:54:00
I went in his room to wake him to go potty and discovered his lips were all swollen and blistered looking. He was scratching madly at his arms and neck, and his face was red. His breathing seemed rather wheezy so I gave him a treatment and a teaspoon of Benadryl, waited a half hour, and saw that all the above symptoms were gone as quickly as they had appeared.Now I am puzzled. He did not have anything new last night. He has had a runny nose getting progressively worse over the past 2 days. I also caught him chewing his tongue for the past 2 days but thought it was due to a cold. However, I know his lips would not be swollen like they were last night with sickness.This was a classic allergic reaction, but to what? Could it be a reaction had been building for a couple days and just got bad e
Read more: Allergic
Heads Up! Hunts Lemon Meringue Pudding Snack Pack
2008-02-25 08:53:00
Hunts Lemon
Meringue Pudding
Snack
Packs made by Conagra does not contain any dairy! While I find that a little bit gross, my son loves them and they allow him to have snack packs like every other child! I would recommend checking the container from time to time to make sure they don't change that though!
Read more: Heads
Thank Goodness for Food Allergies!
2008-02-25 08:51:00
Having a child with food allergies, or having food allergies yourself, is never easy. In fact, it's expensive, frustrating, and sometimes it's a downright pain in the butt.When my son was diagnosed allergic to dairy, I went through a wide range of emotions as well as months of financial hardship. I was suddenly able to understand why some people chose to expose themselves or their children to their allergen providing of course, that the allergy wasn't life-threatening. Often times, if an allergy isn't life threatening, it is still serious, and still requires that you take care with what products you consume.My son is dairy allergic and there are so many things we would normally just buy, that now require us to read the label or call the company. Many hot dogs, for instance, contain milk as
Read more: Thank
, Goodness
, Allergies
My Dairy Free Cake!
2008-02-14 07:36:00
I made my very first ever, totally from scratch, dairy free cake with dairy free icing! As you can see the cupcakes were pretty flat and they aren't the most decorative cupcakes but I think I did pretty good for a first timer.I used the butter cream icing recipe from AllergyMom and a 2 bowl cake from some website. I did alter both recipes slightly because I didn't have vanilla soy milk for the icing, and I added more cocoa to the cake. For the most part it came out really good! Or so says my husband, who ate two of the cupcakes! Damian has ended up being sick again so he isn't in the mood to eat cupcakes. Anyway I just wanted to share! Will keep ya posted!
Read more: Dairy
Hampton Roads Food Allergy Connection - Mothersclick.com - How cool is this?
2008-02-11 09:25:00
I have explored the possibility of meeting other moms and getting together in the past. I started with Meetup.com but they charge membership dues which I simply cannot afford to pay. Then I was searching different possibilities when I fell upon MothersClick.com ! This site is solely for moms! They are so many thing you can do here, including having your own blog, asking questions of other mothers, writing product reviews, and creating your own meet up group!I created Hampton
Roads
Food Allergy
Connection hoping that there are other mommies in my area with food allergic children who may want to get together and have allergen free play dates and such! Of course, the message board is open to anyone, and you are welcome to travel clear across the country for a scheduled meet up if this group i
Heads Up!
2008-02-09 16:01:00
Do you ever wish you could be put on a list with companies so they could call and give you a warning that they are adding an allergen to a food you use regularly? When Damian started showing more and more signs of a reaction to dairy, and I discovered that dairy had been added to his bread, I was wishing that! I would have never thought to look at the ingredients on the bread again. Nor would I have thought to call them! I mean, who changes the ingredients in bread, right? WRONG. I am still struggling to get rid of the Eczema rash that has taken over Damians skin due to a week of exposure! So, I have decided to try to do things a little different here on the site. Instead of simply writing articles about food allergies, I will also be adding brands and reviews of brands and products that
Read more: Heads
3 Cheers for Celiac Sufferers!
2008-02-09 12:48:00
Up to this point, I have been writing solely about my childs dairy allergy. The truth is food allergies come in all shapes and sizes. Celiac
Disease is a severe allergy to gluten. This particular allergy wreaks havoc on the body of the gluten allergic person, if ingested. A close friend of mine, along with a visitor on this blog, suffer this allergy and I just want to give some recognition. When I learned that Damian was allergic to dairy, it was hard. There were many mistakes that I myself made, that caused my child much discomfort. Over time, through many mistakes and hours and hours of phone calls to companies, I have learned to cope with food allergies and it is no longer such a huge hassle. So when a close friend of mine came home from the allergist with the diagnosis of a gluten all
Read more: Cheers
McDonald's - A Food Allergy Nightmare - Part I
2008-02-09 12:43:00
McDonald
’s is on my Ick List! This may already be the case for many people, especially parents. Their Happy Meal toys have gotten cheaper, and their employees dumber. My five year old, dairy allergic little boy loves them though. Just before Christmas, we went down to the Virginia Beach boardwalk, to see the Holiday Lights. We spent about an hour waiting to see the lights, and about 25 minutes driving through them. Naturally, my son was hungry afterwards, so we went to McDonald’s, located at 300 21st St, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Our sons safe food at McDonald’s is a Hamburger Happy Meal with Apple dippers and a juice box. Almost everything else has dairy in it. When the lady taking our order told us that she was all out of Apple Dippers, we simply explained that our son had food al
Read more: Allergy
, Nightmare
McDonald's - A food Allergy Nightmare - Part II
2008-02-09 12:42:00
It would be expected that after writing to McDonald
’s about the issues I have had in the past, that they would respond in an appropriate way. I received a response in the mail from Brittnay B Gaines, customer service representative, yesterday. The response was less than satisfying, stating briefly that she was sorry I had an issue but Thank-you for sharing your feedback. Enclosed was a coupon for 1 free dessert from McDonald’s. The letter is typed but there is no signature. It sounds automated and a coupon for a free dessert that my son cannot even eat seems like an inappropriate response.I think McDonald’s misunderstood my complaint. I was not complaining about the fifty cents an apple pie would cost me. I was complaining because my son is entitled to a complete happy meal, which h
Read more: Allergy
, Nightmare
McDonald's & Food Allergies - The Bottom Line
2008-02-09 12:41:00
I have written 2 articles about McDonald
’s and their sub-standard service for children with food allergies. Now I am updating after speaking personally with the owner of the restaurant in question. After I received the letter from Corporate McDonald’s, I received a letter from the owner of the store itself. The letter stated that he apologized for the problematic service and that he was addressing the issue with the management of this store. He also sent me to certificates for free happy meals and left me his number to call if I had any further problems getting Damian’s food allergies acknowledged. I have returned to that particular McDonald’s and I was allowed to get the apple pie even though they had apple dippers. I am happy to be able to say that while Corporate McDonald’s f
Read more: Allergies
, Bottom
Food Allergies & Behaivoral Problems
2008-02-09 12:38:00
My son is a wonderful child. He is sweet, playful and affectionate. But if you give him dairy, he is a nightmare that hell itself could not compete with. His allergist says it is part of his allergic reaction. His doctor says behavioral issues are not related to allergies. His daddy says I am giving him an excuse to misbehave. For every person who believes that allergies contribute to behavioral issues, there are at least two people who do not. Ironically, these very people get irritated when they don’t feel good, yet find it impossible that a child would act up in the same situation. I have met people who have food allergies who will tsk at me when I say behavioral problems is a very large portion of my sons reaction. Apparently, if they haven’t experienced it, it simply cannot be tru
Read more: Allergies
Birthday Complications
2008-02-09 12:32:00
The rapid approach of Damian’s sixth birthday is bringing trepidation, complications, and plenty of children with no food allergies. Now that Damian is in school, he naturally wants every child in his class to come to his party. This raises numerous issues for me. First of all, our house isn’t that big. This means that I will have to choose a fun place other than my house. The leaders in birthday parties would be McDonald’s or ChuckE Cheese, but the places are a disaster waiting to happen for Damian. Kangaroo Jacks is wonderful and so is Jumpin’ Monkey but they both cost a fortune for a maximum of 2 hours. That isn’t including allergy friendly food either! So, my options are very limited. Perhaps a park? As long as it isn’t cold, but still we run the risk of weather changes cau
Read more: Birthday
Moving on...
2008-03-11 10:13:00
Hi everyone! I know I have quite a few readers and I appreciate all of you. Howver, blogger is not working for me. I simply don't get the traffic I would like. So, I am moving to blogdrive and hoping for a change. My new location is
Read more: Moving
THIS SITE HAS MOVED..........
2008-03-17 22:23:00
to www.allergic2food.blogsavy.com
Try this! Road’s End 123 Macaroni and Chreese
2008-04-11 16:31:38
I always hesitate to try anything that is supposed to be imitate Macaroni
and Cheese, be free of allergens and taste good. A friend gave us this to try and we aren’t sorry we did. Road’s End 123 Macaroni and Chreese is vegan, certified organic and free of dairy, casein, eggs, and nuts. They also [...]
The Moment - You’re gonna miss this
2008-04-08 12:14:51
It is profound the way children change your life. You wake up one day and realize that in the five years since you had your first child, you have completely rearranged yourself and your priorities. People you thought would be your friends forever have mysteriously gone from your life and been replaced by a group [...]
Read more: Moment
, gonna
Navan Foods: The Allergy Free Food Store
2008-04-08 10:13:23
Navan Foods
: The Allergy
Free Food Store
opens on May 1st! It is located at 4312 Holland Rd in Virginia Beach making it accessible to families in Virginia Beach as well as the surrounding areas. I got the opportunity to meet with Jennifer, the owner, and I wanted to share the exciting information about her [...]
**New Stuff Coming…
2008-04-05 15:27:46
Well everyone, I am back! I switched over to BlogSavy for a while but their server is going to be down and they are suggesting that people find another blog host while they work on script problems. I have decided that there will be no more moves for me. I am here for good. I [...]
Our Foods Wish List
2008-04-05 10:40:49
Amazon.com Widgets
Read more: Foods
Safe to eat? Or not?
2008-03-27 12:16:13
A close friend of mine has Celiac disease. Every time she needs to know if something contains gluten, she turns to the internet. It always ends fruitlessly, and after searching for way to long she usually gives up.
This problem doesn’t restrict itself to celiac sufferers either, and some people spend hours on the phone with [...]
Only if it doesn’t have milk in it.
2008-03-25 09:36:46
As parents we go through a lot of sleepless nights trying to teach our children everything they need to learn. And every parent faces it’s own unique challenges, be it overcoming the influence of the kids in the only neighborhood you can afford to live in, or teaching kindness in a world that seems to [...]
Easter with Food Allergies
2008-03-20 10:17:11
Easter poses some challenges for we food allergic families. My six year old is allergic to dairy so that rules out almost every easter candy out there unless I want to spend a small fortune on candy. Most food allergic families have their own, unique Easter traditions. Feel free to share yours in the comments [...]
Read more: Easter
, Allergies
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