Enjoy Life Foods

Enjoy Life Foods have a wonderful allergen free line of brownies, cookies, chocolate chips, granola, bagels and much more. The box of brownie cookies I just bought says that their products are free of all eight allergens and casein, potato, sesame and sulfites. The front of most of the boxes has a circle stating this, but as always please check all labels. I found them at Whole Foods and the worker who helped me highly recommended the brand. To add to their goodness they don't contain any trans fats or artificial flavorings! Compared to a lot of allergen free foods, they are very affordable. I can't wait to try the whole line!

New Aisle At Whole Foods!!!

Today while at Whole Foods I discovered a brand new gluten free aisle!! What I love about gluten free foods is that they are often free of a lot of other common allergens. They had egg and nut free pastas, cookies, brownies, granola and much more. Be sure to always check the labels though, because I noticed many items there that still contained egg, soy and milk. It was just nice to have a general area to look in. I was so excited to find many new options for my little man. Today we bought some brownies and next time we're going to try the granola. The manager also told me in an that they are trying to carry more safe foods for all allergens, not just gluten.

Egg Substitutions

There are many things that you can use to substitute eggs for in a recipe, here are a couple that I use. I find that it's trial and error, and usually works best when only one egg needs to be substituted for. (I tend to use the second one more often)

For every one egg:

1.) 1tsp baking powder (egg free), 1T water and 1T vinegar

2.) 1 1/2 T water 1 1/2 T allowed oil and 1 tsp baking powder (egg free)

Mix the ingredients together and add them when the recipe calls for the egg.

Chicken Puffs

We make these all the time for dinner, they are simple and delicious! I know that they are egg and peanut free, but the cresents do contain wheat and the cream cheese contains milk.

1 roll of pillsbury cresent rolls
1 8 oz. block of philadelphia cream cheese
1 T diced onion
1 T dried parsley
1 13oz. can chunk chicken breast, drained

In a bowl mix together the cream cheese, onion, dried parsley and chicken. Unroll the cresents and using two triangles form four rectangles. Divide the chicken mixture onto the rectangles. You can either bring up all four ends and seal, or you can fold it over and seal the ends. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until golden brown. Serve immediately.

STAT kids

I found this wonderful website that sells lots of neat health ID products. We were specifically looking for an allergy alert bracelet for our son, who is only two. I checked out so many other websites that had fancy, expensive ones. At STAT kids I found a peanut allergy bracelet that was perfect for my son's little arms. It's a stretchy, bright red and comfortable one! He wears it everywhere and it's waterproof. I bought him a size small and you get three in a pack for only $12.95. I like having extras just in case he looses one. I have so many people ask me at the allergy doctor's office where we got them. I feel better now that everyone around him knows about his allergy and he loves his cool new accessory!

Easy Egg Free White Bread

This recipe is for bread machine use. It is so simple, that I'm sure you already have these ingredients in your pantry!

1 c warm water
2T sugar
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 T allowed butter or margarine
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t dry active yeast

For use in a 1lb. machine. My machine can cook a loaf up to 2lbs. and this recipe works just fine in it. Layer in this order. I use the simple light bread setting and it takes 2 hours and 40 minutes. Stays fresh for about three days.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

My mother-in-law made these for my son and he loves them. They are really good egg-free cookies!

1 cup allowed butter or margarine, softened
confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 c allowed flour

In a bowl cream butter, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill for 30 minutes. Shape into balls or crescents and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. Remove and place on rack. Dust with confectioners sugar and cool.

Cherrybrook Kitchen

While shopping at Whole Foods, I noticed that they now sell pre-made cookies by Cherrybrook Kitchen. They are in the cookie and cracker aisle, not by their mixes. They had a couple flavors, vanilla and chocolate chip. They were under $4.00 a box. It's nice to know that they are available for the times that I don't feel like baking!

Some Safe Restaurants

While traveling this weekend we ate breakfast at a Crackle Barrel. The waiter overheard us talking about our son's food allergy with our family and notified us that they are "allergy aware". He brought out a very detailed and helpful menu, listing all the safe foods that could be eaten for each allergy. We don't know how brave we are at letting him eat out yet, we always bring his food. It is really nice to know that we have safe options for the future though.
My son's dietitian also informed me that Red Robin also has a similar menu and that many of her clients eat there.

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network

Not knowing exactly where to begin once receiving my son's diagnosis, his allergist suggested joining this network. It has been such a help for everything dealing with food allergies. For a small yearly fee you can become a member. They send out a very informative newsletter every so often that includes information on the newest research, recipes, advocacy, recalls and other parents stories. I also received just letters on recalls of contaminated foods. They have so much information about coping with food allergies and how to manage life with them. You can shop on the site for lots of different cookbooks, kids books, videos and so much more. When my son starts school I plan on using their school awareness books and PAL program for his classmates. It's not only a great place to start, but a good place to continue to trust for your allergy needs!

Egg Free Pancakes

I make these every weekend for my son and freeze them. When he wants them I just pop some in the microwave!

2 c flour
4 t baking allowed baking powder
2 t sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
2 c milk
2 T water
3 T allowed oil
1/4 t vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add milk, vanilla, oil and water. Mix until blended. May be a little lumpy. I usually make toddler size pancakes that he can easily hold them.

Egg Free Biscuits

These are really easy and taste just as good as store bought!

2 c flour
1 T allowed baking powder
1 t salt
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup allowed oil ( I always use canola oil)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine the oil and water. Add to the dry ingredients. Knead and roll out. Make the biscuits about 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick. I don't have a circle cutter, so I just used a small drinking glass. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden.

Shortbread Cookies

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law. I know it's egg and nut free, but it's also great for those who are allergic to other food allergens as well. It's so good and easy too!

1 1/2 sticks allowed butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 c flour

Mix butter and sugar together first. Then add the flour. Mix and knead until totally combined. Roll out to about 1/2" thick. Cut as desired. We do sticks and use cookie cutters. My kids like to dip the sticks in yogurt. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes on greased cookie sheet.

Easy pizza sauce recipe

You can modify this recipe to your liking, it's a good base.

8 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (I add a bit more)

Just stir together and you're ready!

egg free pizza

This is an easy egg free pizza crust recipe.

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (115 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 T allowed oil ( I use canola)
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in the warm water. In mixer bowl combine remaining ingredients. Pour in yeast mixture. Mix with dough attachments until combined. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Using floured hands, on a floured surface, knead. Stretch and smooth out dough on a greased pizza pan. It should make two pizzas (we sometimes make the dough into four or five little pizzas). Top as desired. Cook in preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Right after we found out about my son's allergies, he had his second birthday. We had no idea how to make an egg free birthday cake using the elmo mold that my mother-in-law had already bought. One day while shopping at whole foods I found a wonderful line of baking mixes, Cherrybrook Kitchen. Their cake mixes are egg, peanut and dairy free. We bought two boxes and my mother-in-law was able to make this wonderful cake. It is sooo good too! They are a great company that allows you to freshly bake allergen free cakes, cookies, brownies and cupcakes. Make sure to check all labels. I know the cake mixes do contain soy and wheat. Our whole family loves the chocolate chip cookies as well!

Our Story

Our experience with food allergies began when my son was only seven weeks old. He seemed like a happy, healthy baby boy until one day i went to change his diaper and there was blood in it, a lot. After two trips to the children's hospital the pediatric gastro specialist concluded that it was a food allergy to both milk and soy. I was breastfeeding at the time. I wish that doctors would tell parents that this was a sign of such an allergy. We thought our little bundle of joy had a serious health concern. I went on a strict diet, eliminating all allergens. Once our son was a year we introduced soy formula into his diet. A few months later we gave him cows milk. Luckily by this age most children who develop it so young outgrow it. We thought his troubles were over. Then he began to develop severe eczema all over his body. He went through so many different medicines and nothing seemed to clear it up, that is until we found a wonderful dermatologist! It never completely went away though. He also began to develop some breathing issues and now uses a nebulizer when he has trouble. With all of his history, we were sure that he would have more allergies to come. They all go hand in hand. Right before his second birthday we took him to get allergy tested. He had started to break out in hives all the time for no apparent reason. Sure enough the allergy tests revealed that he has a severe reaction to peanuts and eggs. We felt so many different emotions. We were worried, scared and sad for our little man. This began our journey with epipens, strict diets and allergy medication (including shots for seasonal allergies). I consumed myself with help books, allergen-free cookbooks and baking everything from scratch. We rarely eat out and we make everyone around him aware of his allergy. If I could only put him in a bubble! I feel like I've become a walking allergy textbook just to prepare our family! I don't ever want him to feel different and it's a challenge everyday. I decided to start this blog because I know that there are so many moms out there in my situation and if i could help make one of those mom's lives a little easier it would mean a lot. I know that I am always searching for good books, recipes, advice and recommendations! If you have any, please share and I will do the same!

starting up!

Hello! thanks for stopping by! I'm new to this and just getting things up and going! please visit again soon and i promise to have lots to share.