Little guy might have a new allergy

So this last week has been a bit tough on my little guy and myself. I had to rush him to the night time doctors and it was determined he had an allergic reaction, but not from dairy because he doesn't eat dairy, so the doctors have told me to go back to the allergist and get more test done.

It all started after dinner we removed his diaper and gave him a bath with his big sister(2.5 years and 17 months) he was fine dried him off and got him into a night time diaper and pjs. A few minutes later he started to cry and he had pooped himself, so my mom who was with me the whole time goes to change his diaper she then calls for me slightly panicked and told me something was not alright. my little guys rump was bright red, had lumps and white marks all over him. We quickly got him cleaned up a new diaper, I grabbed the diaper bag, his epi pens and ran to the doctors.

The first thing they did was check his oxygen levels to make sure he wasn't in any a serious medical state. When it was determined he was alright we were able to be slower and more medical with him.

Long story short, though it is already slightly long, he has a new allergy appointment next week and will be tested for bananas, red, yellow, and wheat.

New sandwich at Wendy's Possible Cross Contamination Issues

August 2014: Wendy's Introduces New Sandwich Containing Egg and Milk

These notices are distributed when food manufacturers provide information to FARE about upcoming changes in their products.

Wendy’s recently introduced a new limited time offer sandwich, the Smoked Gouda Chicken on Brioche. This product is served on a brioche bun that contains egg and milk and should be avoided by egg and milk allergic consumers. The bun is also topped with an egg glaze and is placed in the same toaster as our premium sandwich buns, which are used for our larger sandwiches. The brioche bun may be used for future products as well.

Each of our sandwiches are made to order, so please request your premium hamburger, chicken, or pretzel sandwich buns WITHOUT TOASTING if you have concerns about eggs and milk.

Contact Wendy’s Customer Service at (800)-443-7266 or consumer.relations@wendys.com with any additional questions.

Dinner impossible?

It has been 11 days since I have last posted, from the kids being sick to me going back to work it has been really crazy here. Today I am just going to talk about what happened yesterday and if the kids allow me to later today I will post past recipes that were a success and some that were more misses with the kids but me and the husband enjoyed.

Yesterday was Sunday. I had plans to actually go out with some other moms for lunch, the kids were staying with my husband since it was leaving during nap/quiet time I thought everything would be alright. My mom said she was going to make dinner since after my "play date" I was taking the kids to lil 500 which is a local go kart track that has a set up for little kids to ride with their parents and they wont crowd the track when they are young.

My mom has made this dish since I was a little kid and everyone in my family including my husband loves it. It is called Turkey Loaf found at Walmart in the freezer isle. Well my daughter hates turkey but my mom was like why not try it, plus I didn't have to cook so i was happy. When my mom brought it over I did a quick glance at the ingredients, something that seems like 2nd nature now that I have been doing it for almost 4 months. Right there in BOLD letters were the 2 words I dread seeing Contains Milk. So now everyone is sitting down to dinner and I have no food for my boy. Luckily, my mom also made DF mashed potatoes and had cranberry sauce which my kids love. So, while my little guy was eating cranberry sauce I quickly heated up some DF waffles that were previously made and frozen in my freezer. Crisis diverted, I was just so happy I looked at the ingredients.

ALWAYS CHECK WHAT IS IN YOUR FOOD EVERY TIME!

Dairy free in the kitchen

My husband has been back to work now for a week. With the company he works for he can be home anywhere from 5 to 8pm and sometimes though not many even later. I remember one time before he deployed he came home after 10pm. Anyway, due to his work eating out is not as easy as it was before he went back to work. It has made me cook a lot more at home then ever before. It is more then that though, I now spend a minimum of an hour at the grocery store most of the time I am reading labels, of some of our old staples then standing their in the store trying to figure out how to make my husband's favorite foods into something our son can eat. This is not easy. I wish that there was an app that you could just scan the barcode of and it would flash green for its dairy free, yellow if it is used on shared lines or in a place that has dairy and red for it has dairy in it. To bad i am not in anyway techie enough to do this.

This past week I have made a number of dairy free meals some keepers some tweaks and some never again. So far my greatest success has been the chocolate pudding.

Using nothing but 1/4c sugar, 1/2c dark chocolate Hersey's cocoa powder and 1 box of silken tofu. All you have to do is put it in a blender and then let it sit in the fridge. Everyone loved this, my daughter a picky 2 year old, my son the dairy allergy child, myself, my mom and my dad. The only one who did not like it was my even pickier husband. After a quick consult with my vegetarian best friend, I figured out that the "sour" taste he was having was due to his not liking of dark chocolate. He is willing to try it again but with a "milk" chocolate substituted for the dark. I like dark chocolate, so if you do to then you should really try this delicious dairy free dessert.

I know think I am going to post some of my more fun meals once a week. Maybe tasty Tuesdays or something like that.

Jeremiah's Italian Ice ~ DON'T EAT list

Jeremiah's is a homemade Italian ice and and gelatio establishment. This place has a bit of a different list for their allergens. Since they make so many flavors they found it easier to list what you can not eat as opposed to what you can eat.

So this list that follows are the flavors you CAN NOT eat. Repeat do not eat these flavors if you have an allergy to dairy.

• All Ice Cream & Gelatis
• Cafe Latte
• Cake Batter
• Chocolate Chips (in chocolate ice)
• Cookies & Cream
• Scoop Froggy Frog
• Mochaccino
• Pumpkin Pie
• Bahama Freeze
• Coconut
• Key West Tropical 
• Parrothead Paradise
• Pina Colada 

It is still important to let the makers know that you have a dairy allergy in case there are new flavors that are introduced. Remember do not eat this flavors listed above. If you have  a place you would like me to try to find the information to please let me know in the comments below.

Mother's Day Resturant Food List ~ Boston Market

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Today myself, kids, my mom and my dad went to Boston's Market for the Mother's special. If you don't know what that is. It is where the moms get to eat for free as long as someone is paying for their meals. So my dad and my daughter paid for food and myself and my mom where free. My son is the one with dairy allergies. So I made sure to get my chicken on its own plate so he could have some food.

They only have 4 items which he can have so here is the list of dairy free items that you can have at the restaurant.

• Rotisserie Chicken
• Rotisserie Turkey
• Steamed Vegetables
• Cinnamon Apples

Even though they veggies and apples are dairy free they are in the same area as the other dairy containing foods. The meats are kept separate and that is why I found it okay to share my chicken with him, and he loved it. 

Our 1st major issue while eatting out

Today we went to Applebee's. As you know if you have been reading my blog I did a food list of this restaurant so how could I follow the list and still my son have problems when he ate there. Simple, Cross Contamination of the FRYER OIL!

I gave him 2 chips from the chips and salsa he proceeded to vomit this horribly thick goop. I picked him up out of the high chair and rushed him into the bathroom to make sure he didn't vomit anymore in front of other customers again.

The waitress, food runner, manager, and hostess all came over to see what happened and if he was okay, since we had said that he was allergic to dairy and had checked to make sure that there was no butter or anything on his food. What we were told was that the fryer oil is shared with anything that needs to be fried. Things like Mozzarella sticks and pot stickers all go into the same oil.

The staff apologized profusely. Everyone kept coming over to make sure he was alright, I luckily did not have to epi him since he got it out of him so fast is my thought.

So remember if it is fried always ask if there is a separate fryer and separate oil. If the answer is no, I would say stay away.

Milk Allergy Alert: Noh Foods of Hawaii

    
NOH FOODS OF HAWAII, of Honolulu, HI and Gardena, CA is voluntarily recalling its 2 ounce, 4 ounce, and 3 lb. (48 oz) packages of “Hawaiian Coconut Pudding” because they may contain undeclared dairy product.

People who have allergies to milk or dairy products run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product.

The recalled “Hawaiian Coconut Pudding” has been distributed nationwide in retail stores and through mail orders. The product comes in a 2 ounce, 4 ounce, and 48 ounce yellow and white package with the following UPC numbers:



073562000504 for the 2 oz package
073562000559 for the 4 oz package
073562000511 for the 48 oz package (3 lbs)
The company received a consumer complaint and although no serious injury or illness was reported, they have initiated a voluntary recall of this product or the concern only to those individuals who have allergies to dairy.
Concerned consumers who have purchased any of these items are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact NOH FOODS OF HAWAII at 808-944-0655 or 310-324-6770 between the hours of 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Production for the product has been corrected with notations “Contains: MILK”

Restaurant Food List ~ Mellow Mushroom

Today we tackle our favorite food to eat when your too tired to cook. That is right Pizza! But wait, how can we get pizza when we are to tired to cook it ourselves. The answer is Mellow Mushroom. Not only can you do dairy free their but they also have an amazing allergen sorting system that you can view here. This is a great tool if you have multiple food allergies.

Mellow Mushroom has been around a lot longer then you would think but I will admit I never knew they had a menu for the dairy free using Daiya Foods Cheeses.  As with all restaurants you still need to let the servers know that you have a dairy allergy even if you order the dairy free version of their food.

So here is the list of foods that Mellow Mushroom says is dairy free

• Tossed Salad
• Kids PB&J
• Kids Organic Apple
• Anchovies
• Andouille Sausage
• Applewood Smoked Bacon
• BBQ Chicken
• BBQ Tofu
• Buffalo Chicken
• Chicken Menu
• Crumbled Italian Sausage
• Curry Chicken
• Ground Beef
• Ham
• Herb Vinaigrette Chicken
• Jerk Chicken
• Jerk Shrimp
• Marinated Tempeh
• Pepperoni
• Salami
• Sausage Links
• Shrimp
• Steak
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Tofu
• VEGAN CHEESE
• Alfalfa Sprouts
• Artichoke Hearts
• Avocado
• Banana Peppers
• Black Olives
• Broccoli
• Caramelized Onions
• Caramelized Pecans
• Chives
• Cucumbers
• Dried Cherries
• Fresh Basil
• Garlic
• Green Olives
• Green Peppers
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Kalamata Olives
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Pepperoncini
• Pineapple
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Roasted Red Potatoes
• Roma Tomatoes
• Sun Dried Tomatoes
• Baked Pizza Crust
• Bavarian Sauerkraut
• Black Truffle Oil
• French Bread
• Multi Grain Bread
• Pretzel Bread
• Wheat Pullman Bread
• Bruschetta Tomato Topping
• Gluten Free Crust
• Italian Seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Romaine Lettuce
• Salad Mix
• Spinach
• Spring Mix
• BBQ Sauce
• Hot Sauce Swirl
• Jerk Sauce
• Mayo
• Red Sauce
• Sweet Chili Glaze
• Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
• Herb Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
• Esperanza Salad Dressing
• Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

Now some of these items are pretty obvious that they don't have dairy in it, but being a pizza based restaurant it is important to list all items that you can in fact put on your pizza. So instead of using orange to say the full meals it is going to be used to highlight the important aspects of the pizza you need to make sure you ask for. 

If you have a place you would like me to try to find the information for let me know in the comments.
Now, enjoy some pizza!

Unexpected benefits of being dairy free

So if your like me and have to now figure out how to take all the dairy out of your or your child's diet. I have been noticing that my child has started sleeping very quiet since I started taking dairy out of his diet. He used to snore and make these really weird noises while he slept and now it is so quiet and still that I have to check on him by putting my hand on his chest to feel him breathe. I wanted to know why, and after some research I found that when you remove dairy from your diet after having respiratory issues it lessens the problems rather quickly.

This got me thinking. What other benefits are associated with dairy free living.

1. The respiratory issues lessen rather quickly
2. loss of weight occurs
3. Your sense of taste will be stronger
4. decreased likelihood of developing osteoporosis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart disease

I am not a doctor or claim to be. I have done a lot of research on this through the Internet as well as contacting a professional nutritionist on the subject.