Were You Thankful for Thanksgiving?

How did your Thanksgiving go? Did you leave it, wishing the Pilgrims that started it all had stayed on their side of the "pond"or did you leave with more confidence and security in handling your child's peanut allergy?

I love to cook so my volunteering to cook for the 12 people in our family who would be celebrating shocked no one. My mother in law who cooks sometimes understands food allergies so her cooking would not stress me out.

Our family get togethers are "nutty" but never involve actual nuts. In our family, 4 people (including Tyler) are allergic to tree nuts. (Can you "genetics??") Tyler is also allergic to peanuts and coconut. It might seem intimidating to cook for that many people with life-threatening food allergies but it is so "normal" to us, I rarely even give it a second thought.

Here is what I served:
Roasted Turkey
Stuffing (made by my mother in law)
Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Turkey Gravy
Macaroni & Cheese
Green Bean Casserole
Corn
Sweet Potato Casserole (brought by my mother in law)
Fresh Pineapple
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Deviled Eggs (made by my mother in law)

Desserts (my fav part!)
Pumpkin Pie
Sunbutter Cookies
Cookies & Cupcakes (brought by my sister in law)

The funniest thing was the fact everyone said how the Sunbutter cookies tasted better than peanut butter cookies!!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Here's hoping you have a reaction-free holiday!!

Free Food Allergy Guide

The is a free food allergy guide called "From Confusion to Confidence" available at Kids With Food Allergies. You can download it here.

While you are there, you might want to check out the website. They have a few membership options. An "Associate Membership" is free and give you access to several of their resources. For $25, you can have a "Family Membership" that gives you even more resources.

I can't think of a better time of the year to offer this guide than right on eve of the holidays and lots and lots of holiday food.

H1N1 Scare & the PA Kid

If you have watched two seconds of news in the last couple of months, chances are you have been bombarded with H1N1 news. A year ago, we would have said, "H what?" Today, however, it is as if a plague has struck our country!

Our home is no different. In fact, one of our members had this dreaded illness: my husband. For the better part of a month, he has dealt with either H1N1 itself or an awful secondary infection it caused that left him with pneumonia like symptoms.

You might think that every member of our house would be struck at one point or another. Based on the media reports it sounds impossible not to catch it if you are exposed.

Yet, my husband (whose job takes him into a hospital with the sick nearly every week) is the only one who caught it. My boys and I are as strong as ever. If you followed my blog early this year, you probably remember when one person got sick, we all got sick.

This summer I was determined to change that. And, it appears that I did. If your allergic child has a compromised immune system, you may appreciate what I did that kept Tyler (and the rest of us) H1N1 free.

• Probiotics. I have written on this before here. These wonderful supplements put healthy bacteria in the intestines. Since 70% of our immune system is in our intestines, putting "good stuff" into them keeps them healthy and allows them to fight off infection. My boys take these and I take these. My husband opted not to take any. :(
  

• Large doses of vitamin C. The concept of vitamin C boosting the immune system has been around for years. There's a reason: it works! With my pediatrician's approval, I gave the boys 1-2 of these drinks a day while my husband appeared contagious. They are fizzy and they loved them! (In addition to Amazon, most stores like Wal-Mart or Target carries these.)

• No Vaccine. I know this one is very, very controversial. I am not trying to influence my readers one way or the other. But, based on my previous experience with Tyler' first flu shot last year (an allergy prevented it in previous years), the vaccine itself seemed to weaken his overall immune system and keep him sick all winter. Instead, this year, I felt he would fare better with his own natural defenses like he had in previous years. It appears he did! Plus, since his body fought it off, he should now be immune naturally!
  

• Lots of Rest. I did not do a lot outside of the home (ironic since the virus was in the home!) so that we did not get overly tired or stressed. Even if Tyler did not nap, he had "down time" every day where his body rested. I don't nap much during the week, but I did during that week!

I did all of the above for myself, plus I took these.They say they are safe for children 3 and above so I could have given them to the boys. And I might have if one had really seemed to be struggling. Yet, that never happened.

There is no "one fits all" solution to avoid H1N1. This is not a prevention method that is an automatic "free pass" if you are exposed. But I felt it might help someone else if this illness is an unwelcome house guest for you this flu season.

After one week of no one getting else getting sick, I felt like a victor after war!!

A special note: We don't deal with asthma (well, I have a very mild case but no one in the home with allergies has it). This illness is further complicated when you deal with that. I don't blame anyone who got the vaccine, particularly if you deal with asthma, for getting it. For our circumstances, however, I think we stayed healthier without it.

photo courtesy of flickr

Thanksgiving Tips

This post was originally published November 24, 2008. It is so timely this time of year, I am reposting for my new readers who may be entering their first Thanksgiving with a peanut allergy.

Robyn, Any Thanksgiving words of wisdom for a PA newbie? Thanks!

In our family, I am very lucky that Tyler has always had me or my mother in law cook him Thanksgiving. My MIL has two other grandchildren that are 11 with tree nut allergy so she knows all about cooking and cross contamination issues. She knows what I trust. She usually lets me read ingredients, too, just so I feel even better.But I realize many when many others have a child diagnosed with PA, it is entirely new to the whole family. Here a few suggestions I would offer.

Stay simple. I don't know why Thanksgiving is so notorious for casseroles but it is. It's amazing how many ingredients can be in one casserole!! So, unless you can read every label and feel totally comfortable, I would avoid casseroles unless you cooked them yourself. It's my MIL's turn this year. She gave me the menu Friday night. We will only do one safe casserole. The rest will be Stove top stuffing, veggies, rolls, and turkey. We will only have a few safe desserts. Probably a pie and cookies. Nothing elaborate.

Bring your own food. This can be a little embarrassing, I admit. Particularly if your family thinks your child only needs to stay away from the actual peanut and has no clue about cross contamination. I'm a terrible people pleaser but had to get over it when Tyler was diagnosed with 3 food allergies. (Thankfully he outgrew milk and eggs earlier this year so we have a lot more "safe" foods this year.) I used to be notorious for bringing little bowls of safe food (and still do sometimes) in an insulated carrier. Most people (even if they didn't understand) were very nice about it.

If you're not cooking, talk to who is now. If you explain cross contamination to the cook (can't have anything processed in the same facility where there are peanuts,etc), they will hopefully be understanding. The earlier you address the issue, the better. You don't want to wait until the night before when the cook is stressed out.

Offer to bring things. If Thanksgiving is elaborate in your family, just offer to bring safe elaborate things. Plus, the cook will probably love the help.

Keep your child close at your side. I have a friend with a PA kid that has to watch her son like a hawk at family gatherings on her side of the family (her in-laws are much better). She said she has caught uncles and grandparents who know about her son's PA sneaking him cookies and other desserts with a "Don't tell mom" warning. The desserts are free of peanuts but not cross contamination issues! She has to watch him (he just turned 3) closely just in case someone does this.

If any of you other peanut allergy newbies have questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. I still get a little nervous and this is our third holiday season with PA. Chances are, if you have the question, others do too!

If you have survived other holidays awith PA nd have tips I have missed, please share them in the comments.

Photo courtesy of flickr

SunButter Cookies

A couple of months ago, a fellow peanut allergy mom friend of mine was ill. I asked what sounded really good to her so that I could cook it for her. She jokingly said, "Peanut butter cookies!" We both laughed because neither one of us allows peanuts in our home.

After I stopped laughing, I got one of those, "Here's my opportunity to kick this peanut allergy in the nose" moments. I was determined to figure out a way to make her something that tasted just like the real thing but was safe for both of our peanut allergy children.

I knew it wasn't as simple as substituting Sunbutter in a peanut butter cookie recipe since a friend of mine had tipped me off to the whole "your cookies might turn green" issue.

So I dug around and finally settled on something on the Sunbutter website. I figured if anyone knew how to make Sunbutter cookies without them turning green, it would be them!

Sunbutter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp.

Salt

1 cup

Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 cups

Creamy SunButter

1 1/2 cups

Sugar

1/2 cup

Brown Sugar

2	Eggs-Large Whole

3 tsp.

Vanilla Extract

3 1/4 cups

Flour

1 cup

Nonfat Dry Milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, dry milk and salt.
3. In a different bowl, blend margarine, SunButter®, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Take about 1 1/2 tbsp of cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place the ball onto a cookie sheet and flatten dough with a spatula. Repeat process for the rest of the dough.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown.
7. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet.

The verdict? I LOVED them! I could not stop eating them! My friend (who has known about her son's peanut allergy for about a year) said they tasted "almost" like the real thing. Since she has had the real thing more recently than myself, that made perfect sense to me.

So, if you loved peanut butter cookies before your child was diagnosed with a peanut allergy, you simply must try these!!

Kid Friendly Sunbutter Kisses

If you have read this blog for long, you probably know that I love to cook! I rarely meet a cooking challenge that I am not up to trying. Like most cooks, however, I did not start out that way.

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my mother's parents. In fact, they were like second parents to me. Sadly, they are both gone now. But my first memory of "cooking" was at their house. I was in grade school and was always anxious to try my hand at anything that required "ingredients."

My grandfather was a baker and he recognized my love of cooking. But he also cherished his kitchen. So we compromised. When I wanted to cook, he let me do something that required no baking. Just mixing a few things together and I had "cooked" without any heat involved. I loved it!

Wouldn't you know they involved peanut butter?

I was sad when we discovered Tyler's peanut allergy that he would never get to try my beloved "peanut butter kisses" that I loved so much as a child.

When we learned that Tyler could eat Sunbutter, it probably won't take you very long to guess the first thing I made for him. I just subbed Sunbutter where peanut butter was called for.

Sunbutter Kisses
1 cup cup powdered milk
3/4 cup Sunbutter
3/4 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix ingredients well. Roll the kisses into bite-size pieces. (A word of warning, the powdered milk seems to never fully incorporate with the Sunbutter substitution but it does not affect the flavor one bit!)

The best thing is they don't have to be baked! I like these after they have been refrigerated but Tyler prefers them at room temp.

These were such a heavenly treat that made me swear I was sitting back in my Granddaddy's kitchen! Plus, they are so easy for kid to make that Tyler made them! (See below)

Here are your ingredients:


Tyler did most of the work!






Tyler loved rolling them into balls!



(Note his medical bracelet as he grabs the dough! I didn't plan that.)







The end result was yummy, yummy Sunbutter kisses! (Tyler helped roll the balls so they are uneven. Doesn't that make them cute?)




Since I did not post these yesterday, as I had planned, I will have another post tomorrow. Those are for my "to die for" Sunbutter cookies!!

Green Cooking with Sunbutter?

I bet you thought when you read my title you thought I was going to talk about environmentally friendly cooking, didn't you?

While I am very environmentally conscious in my kitchen, this post all about Sunbutter. The next two days I will be posting about cooking with Sunbutter. But I have to start out with a warning today: if you are not careful when you cook with Sunbutter, your food can and will turn green!

Yes, I have your attention, don't I?

A reader tipped me off to this when I first started cooking with Sunbutter. I am so glad she did because I am pretty sure I would have cried if my Sunbutter cookies had turned green!

So what in the world is that all about?

According to ochef.com

All plants contain chlorogenic acid, mostly in the stems and leaves, but sunflowers also have it in the seeds.

A spokeswoman for Sunbutter says that it does indeed turn cookies and other baked products green as they cool. The solution, she says, is to reduce the amount of baking soda or baking powder in your recipe by almost half, which balances the acidity of the ingredients and keeps them from changing color.

Whether your cookies will rise adequately with half the leaven is a good question, but she says some people who have gotten in touch with the company say they don't notice any difference. Adding a bit of lemon juice to your dough or batter can also help maintain expected colors.

You learn something new every day don't you?

I wanted to issue this disclaimer of sort before I start talking about cooking with Sunbutter. Because, well, I don't want your cookies to turn green!

So before you start experimenting with recipes involving Sunbutter, keep this little tidbit in mind. I think, in the long run, you will be glad you did!

Tyler & Sunbutter...The Saga Continues

A few weeks ago we finally found out the news I had hoped for: Tyler is not allergic to sunflower seeds! This was exciting news around here. But it was not met without a lot of anxiety. Doesn't anything involve new foods, particularly those resembling nuts, involve a healthy dose of anxiety?

Why did this create so my anxiety for our family? Determining Tyler was truly not allergic to sunflower seeds involved a food challenge. Food challenges are scary for us since Tyler's last one involved an anaphylacitc reaction and a visit to our local ER.

So, understandably we were nervous. He had a negative skin test for sunflower seeds a few months before. But, our allergist is like me, very, very cautious. An oral challenge in the office is the only way to be 100% sure that there is no true allergy.

I spent the week or two before the challenge explaining to Tyler what would happen. He remembered his failed last challenge but seemed excited at the prospect of adding a once forbidden food.

So we went to the office for the challenge. I whipped out the Sunbutter he had seen before and placed it on a cracker. He freaked out. I feel certain he had flash backs from last year.

I begged and pleaded for him to try something that looked like peanut butter but was not. He would not budge. Really, I don't blame him.

The allergist had other patients to see. He left me alone in the room to beg and plead on my own. I offered money. I offered candy. It seems cruel but I wanted this challenge to be done in the office. I did not want to go through rescheduling and possibly repeating the process all over again.

I admit I felt like an awful parent at moments. But it was for Tyler's safety. It also opened the door for him to have some other nutritious food options. (Yes, sunflower seeds are good for you!)

Finally I spoke his language. I offered him a train of his choice at the store. (Note: He loves Thomas the Tank Engine! Here is what he picked.)

He took one bite and LOVED it!! He wanted more but we needed to wait for several minutes to make sure he did not react. And then he ate more and more. He begged for more and more!

After 4 or 5 feedings with absolutely no reaction, he was deemed by the allergist to have no sunflower seed allergy. I can't tell you the weight I felt lifted off of me!

After a few days of eating it, he decided he didn't like it. Weird, but I accepted that. He was not allergic and that was all that mattered. Plus, I can't imagine how odd it must be to eat something that looks like the thing that sent you to the hospital the year before.

In the last few weeks, I now always offer a Sunbutter sandwich to both kids if they don't like the other lunch options. At first both kids (Dylan follows suit with whatever Tyler does) did not want it. That was fine. But I hoped eventually both boys would eventually learn to like it.

In the last week or so, however, they both love them! When offered, they frequently pick the Sunbutter sandwich. Now everyone in the house loves them!

It may not sound like much but this whole process has been a big victory for me. Sunbutter is king in our home just like peanut butter was in the days before Tyler's peanut allergy diagnosis. We all love it and the whole "peanut allergy" thing seems less of a big deal. (Read: its still a big deal, just not within our kitchen anymore.)

What has your Peanut Allergy Kid's feelings been about Sunbutter (or soynut butter)? We would love to hear in the comments.

photo credit: flickr

I {Heart} Sunbutter!

Yes, I actually took a picture of myself hugging my Sunbutter!

When I sat in the allergist's office in February 2006 and learned the awful news that Tyler was very, very allergic to peanuts, I thought my days of peanut butter were over.

I grieved. Obviously I was broken up over the fact that my child had a life-threatening food allergy. But there was also a small part of me that was sad for well....me! I loved peanut butter and was sad that I would probably never eat it again. I had no idea the last time I ate would be the last time I ever ate it.

Enter the world of Sunbutter! It tastes, to me, just like peanut butter. I tried it last fall and LOVED it! But I was worried about Tyler trying it with his list of allergies. A month or so ago we did a food challenge in the doctor's office to make sure he had no allergy. And, yea!, he doesn't.

So this week I will be celebrating Sunbutter on this blog! Each post this week will be dedicated to it. I'll share some experiences we have had and some recipes that honestly make me feel like I am sinning by eating peanut butter. (Don't worry, if your child has a sunflower seed allergy, you can use Soynut Butter instead!)

Feel free today (or any day this week) to share your own Sunbutter story (or obsession, in my case!) in the comments section. We would all love to hear how much you love it, too!!

And, in case you are wondering, no, its not natural for a girl to love Sunbutter as much as I do!

**For those of you wondering where I got such a big jar of my Sunbutter, it was at Peanut Free Planet. We use it so much, I ordered the 5lb tub here. With shipping, I paid $21.36. (Thanks to reader Angie H. for letting me know such a bucket of glory existed!)**

Review of N-Style ID Medical ID Bracelet

Two thumbs up from "The Peanut Allergy Kid"

I have talked before about how important I think it is for children with a peanut allergy (or any life-threatening allergy) to wear a medical ID bracelet. It helps identify their allergy to the world around them, and in the event of a serious emergency, to medical personnel.

Another benefit that I was not expecting is the fact that it is a great conversation starter about Tyler's allergy! People will ask us what his medical condition is. It opens the door for us to talk about it. It also allows me to educate those who show an interest about the seriousness of it and even issues like cross contamination. In fact, children in Tyler's preschool class have even asked him what it is for. He loves to tell the other 4 year-olds about his peanut allergy.

A couple of weeks ago I knew we needed to replace his old bracelet. We had added a new allergy and his old one (from a company I won't name!) was well past its prime.

About a year ago, I started endorsing N-Style ID on this website. So there was little question who I would order from.

Can I just say something? I absolutely love his new bracelet! The quality was actually better than I expected. (I wasn't expecting anything bad but it exceeded my expectations.) And Tyler loves it!

What I love about the bracelet is the fact that the metal ID can be interchangeable with other bands. Tyler picked out the sports band and a plain black band. Depending on his mood or clothing, we decide which band to put the ID on. Plus, the band is adjustable for his little wrist.

Here is the black band:



and the sports band:

The medical alert symbol is on the front. On the back I engraved the following:

NUT ALLERGY
USE EPIPEN THEN CALL 911

I encourage you to check out this great company if you are (or will be) in the market for a medical alert bracelet. There are a lot of low quality ones out there but this one is first class. Their prices are very reasonable. The purpose this bracelet provides is worth a million bucks to me!

So what did we do with his old, outdated band?

Dylan has been asking to wear Tyler's medical bracelet lately. (He also asks me if foods are safe for him...remember he has no food allergies!). It's so cute watching him wanting to be just like his big brother. So I passed on the old, outdated band to him! Its just for around the house (wearing it outside of the house would not be good!). He is as proud of it as Tyler of his bracelet!

Help! My Child is in a Class with a PA Kid...

I received the following question from a reader. I am posting it because I want to encourage those of you who have children in school that there are other non-PA parents who truly do want to keep our kids safe!

Hi, my 8 year old son in the 4th grade, and there is child in his class with a severe peanut allergy. I am looking for a good website that can give me a list of non-peanut product snacks as my son is in the "Peanut free" classroom.

First of all, let me tell you how lucky that peanut allergic child is to have your son in his or her class!! I can promise you they have had parents groan about their presence so the fact that you are taking a real interest to get educated is such a breath of fresh air to PA parents everywhere!

Every parent has their level of comfort with what they want they want their child to eat. In fact, most of us just send snacks with their PA kids so we know they have safe treats.

First, I would encourage you if your child's teacher can help you connect with the parent of the parent allergic child. I bet they would love to know you want to keep their child safe. They will also be able to give you a list of the treats they feel comfortable with. If a parent did this for my son,

If you cannot connect with the parent for some reason, here a few places you can go of a list of snacks that myself and other PA parents let their PA kids have:

Peanut Allergy Kid
Ask About My Peanut Allergy
Nut Free Mom
A Pennsylvania school district

I hope this helps you a little bit know what snacks are safe for PA children.

Living with Food Allergies Video

Once in a while I think it is helpful to post a link to a video about food allergies. This gives you an opportunity to hear another perspective (i.e. a break from mine!). It also gives you something visual you can email to family and friends. Its a non "in your face" way to educate those in your PA kid's life about his or her food allergies.

Why is it that some people don't take us PA moms entirely seriously until they hear the information from a stranger? I don't have the answer to that, but here's your message. Email away!

What Does PA Have to Do with the Muppets?

Do you remember "The Muppet Show" from the 1970's? Well, you would never know it is 2009 in our home!

My husband was a big fan. (Read: borderline obsession!) I was more of a Sesame Street kind of gal. But my husband wanted to pass on his love of the Muppets and bought the boys "The Muppet Show" on DVD for Christmas last year.

Much to his delight, he has successfully passed on his passion for this show to the boys, especially Dylan.

So, when I asked Dylan what Birthday cake he wanted a couple of months ago and his reply was "Beaker!" I couldn't help but laugh. Where in the world would I find a pattern for Beaker in 2009?!?

Don't you love the Internet? I looked and looked and looked and found one pattern. One. That's it. So I used it!

It was time consuming, but here is what I came up with!


Dylan was so excited. He looked forward to his cake more than any other part of his Birthday. The boys enjoyed watching Beaker "come to life" as I created him.

I realized making cakes for my boys goes much deeper than just making "safe cakes." It is about making memories they will always have of their Birthdays.

When I was growing up we had no food allergies in our house but I had a wonderful aunt who loved to make Birthday cakes for us. I always got to pick what I wanted, too. My aunt Merrilyn passed away in 1992 of brain cancer. But, some of my favorite memories of her were of those cakes! I can't help but smile when I think I am passing on that legacy in my own family.

So, as the title asked, "What does PA have to do with the Muppets?" Well, everything when you children love the show and you want to have a "safe cake" that they will always remember!

(A special note: The cake on my last post was not mine! I got a few comments complimenting me. The photo credit was inadvertently left off. Like many bloggers, I use many photos from flickr. I do try to always give credit when I do that. So please forgive me for forgetting on this lovely one! For the record, Beaker is mine!!)

Birthdays in our Home

Birthdays are one of the hardest times for dealing with PA. In my opinion, bakery cakes are never safe. There are nuts all over the place and the fact that a tiny speck could creep into a cake makes me way too uncomfortable!

So, what happens when you need a Birthday cake for your PA child?

That was a question I dealt with last year. On Tyler's 3rd Birthday I decorated his cake with fruit snacks! I knew this would not work when he got older. After all, he wanted "fun" cakes like everyone else had.

Last fall I decided to take a cake decorating class. I am the least artistic person on the planet! So there certainly was a bit of irony in my decision. But, I was determined to learn what I could to help my kids have cakes that rival their non-PA friends. (Even though my younger child is not PA, I want Tyler to be able to eat his cakes.)

To my shock, I found something I enjoyed and was rather decent at! (You can read posts about this from last year here and here.)

The deal in my house is the boys can pick any cartoon character they want and I will attempt to make a cake of it. So far, I haven't failed.

The fun part about it is the boys talk all year about what kind of cake they want for their birthday. Its something they look forward to. Even though Tyler's birthday is in January, yet he picked what birthday cake he wanted last spring. He has stuck with his request so I have a feeling that is what I will be doing! (Here is the character he chose.)

To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous about this one! Last year, however, Dylan requested Thomas the Tank Engine and here is what I did. For Tyler's cake this year I'm going to make the same cake pattern but change the colors and add the claw at the top.

Cake decorating classes are offered at most cakes shops. If you are interested in learning, call one in your area. If they don't offer one, they should be able to tell you where you can find one.

A word of caution: I enjoy being in the kitchen and really challenging myself. I spend about 5 or 6 hours on each cake but I attempt pretty elaborate ones. By the end of it, I question my sanity, of course! But, if you hate baking and standing in the kitchen, you might be better asking friends if they know how to decorate cakes and see if they will bake one for your PA kid.

Last week was Dylan's 3rd Birthday. Tomorrow I will share pictures of our cake and the online instructions that I used.

Photo credit: irresistibledesserts

Recipe Rx - Just What the Doctor Ordered!

Do you deal with multiple food allergies? Before Tyler outgrew his milk and egg allergy I had a 4 week menu that I repeated over and over. We had such few food choices this was the only way I could effectively manage his multiple food allergies.

If you do, RecipeRx might be just what the doctor ordered! This amazing free website allows you put all kinds of health information and it generates recipes that cater to those needs.

The only downside (and it seems ironic I would be even talking about this on a nut free blog) is that it doesn't allow you to enter nut allergies. The website is still a work in progress so I'm guessing this is coming soon. But, avoiding nuts when cooking from scratch is rather easy. Just don't add them and use products (flour, oil, etc) that you already know are safe.

Not only does the website allow you enter a number of food allergie, you can also enter things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low carb preferences, sugar free...the list goes on and on.

If you are only dealing with nut allergies in your home, this website might not be extremely helpful for your family. If, however, you dealing with multiple food allergies and/or other non food allergy related problems, this might be a very helpful resource! Check it out here.

Disney Vaction: The Happiest Nut-Free Place on Earth!

The following is a guest post by my friend and blog reader, Angie. She recently visited allergy-friendly Disney World. I asked her to share her wonderful experience with you...

Angie's son, Spencer, eating "safe" ice cream at Disney World

This past summer, my husband and I decided to take our boys to Disney World. I had major concerns about vacationing with our three year old, who has a peanut allergy. I just couldn’t imagine finding safe restaurants to eat all our meals at. Then there was the airplane to worry about. Could we find a safe flight to and from Disney World?

After a lot of research and several phone calls, we got our flight booked and reservations made to Disney World. We decided to fly with Air Tran because they didn’t serve peanuts on the plane, but there was the potential for another passenger to carry on a snack with peanuts in it.

We had no complications on the way to Disney World, but coming home I noticed a passenger a few seats in front of us with a bag of Nutter Butter cookies. My husband explained our son’s allergy and politely asked her if she’d not eat them on the plane. Upon hearing this discussion, a flight attendant promised to announce over the intercom that there was a peanut allergy on board, but she never followed through. Otherwise, we were very pleased with our flight.

We arrived at our Disney Resort late in the afternoon, so one of the first things we did was eat dinner. We did use the dining plan and made all our dinner reservations before we left home. I felt very uneasy about my PA child eating out safely during our stay, but as I soon found out, there was no reason to worry; the restaurants were so accommodating!

When we went to a restaurant to eat, we let them know before we were even seated that our son had a peanut allergy. Before we were served anything, the chef came to our table and talked to us at every restaurant! He/she let us know what was on the menu that was unsafe and let us know the extra precautions that would be taken in the kitchen to ensure our son’s safety.

On our second day in Disney, we decided to eat lunch at Casey’s Corner. We were walking by right at opening time and when they opened their doors the employees came out singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and then started passing out bags of Cracker Jacks.

My husband and I looked at each other like maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, but we were assured that there were no other peanuts in the restaurant (besides the sealed bags of Cracker Jacks). We ordered our lunches which included hot dogs, fries, drinks and a dessert. The desserts they had in the restaurant were unsafe (cross-contamination issue), so an employee actually ran across the street to a bake shop and brought us sealed packages of peanut free brownies (French Meadow Bakery brand)!

Places we ate while staying in Disneyworld:

Liberty Tree Tavern

Casey’s Corner

The Garden Grill

The Contempo Café in the Contemporary Resort

The Coral Reef

The Whispering Canyon Café in the Wilderness Lodge

The Café in the All-Star Movies Resort

Our trip to Disneyworld was truly magical and amazing. Our PA child was able to enjoy Mickey Mouse waffles for breakfast, a popsicle to cool him off in the Magic Kingdom and even built his own ice cream sundae for dessert one night! Disney really gets food allergies! My husband talks about our next vacation being just a beach vacation, but my vote is for Disney World again!

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What Angie says is what I have heard from many other food allergic families. My sister in law took her two tree nut allergic children three years ago and her stories echoed Angie's. Maybe its true what they say: "Disney is the best place on earth!"

Halloween 2009 - Success!!

How did Halloween go for everyone? Since it was our first time actually "trick or treating" it was very exciting for the boys and quite nerve wracking for me!

Since we are in Michigan, it means it will be very cold. The boys were forced to wear coats under their costumes. I grew up in Oklahoma and didn't usually have to do that. So I thought that part was sad!

My husband took the boys (and Epi Pens!) to 7 houses. I stayed home and handed out safe Dum-Dum's. It was amazing how much candy the boys came home with in the few houses where they went.

When they got home, I grabbed their bags and did find a small package of candy that had been stapled shut, with several different types. One of them was Snickers! But, the wonderful thing was that it didn't touch the other loose candy since it was enclosed in its own bag.

My husband was careful to examine what people were giving out. (He missed the Snickers since it was in its own bag.) Our next door neighbor (who attends our church and knows all about Tyler's PA), had two bowls of treats. One had a bowl of peanut candy. The other one had bags of pretzels that stated they were made in a dedicated facility. I'm not sure if she selected the nut free pretzels on purpose but it was still very appreciated!

Tyler also received a bag full of Tootsie Roll products. I was sooo excited about that one! It was also in its own little bag with several different types "safe" candy. (Tootsie Rolls are safe, check out this post.)

In the end, there were a few things Tyler could eat. I also let the boys have one of our Dum Dum suckers. In the end, they were thrilled!

There was one issue: I was not anticipating any of the candy being within my comfort zone. So I had already promised the boys a trip to buy a toy of their choice (which always translates into a Thomas the Tank Engine train!!) in exchange for their candy bags. Since they ate some of the candy, we compromised and gave them $5 that they could put with their own money to purchase a train.

In the end, it was a great first year trick or treating! I am NOT looking forward to next year, though. I have decided Halloween is my least favorite holiday when it comes to managing PA!!

Halloween Buy Back Program

What do you do with Halloween candy that you have but is not safe for your PA kid? Sell it!

The Halloween Candy Buy Back will pair you up with a dentist in your area that will pay your child for any candy they can't eat or just don't want. What's even better? They send it to US troops overseas!

To find a local dentist in your area that participates in your area, click here.