My eldest child has dairy, egg, nut, sesame, cat, dust, moulds and grass allergies. He is also intolerant of tomatoes, citrus, olive oil, wheat, banana, and we avoid all other seeds, preservatives, additives and food colourings that aren't natural. He also suffers from eczema and has asthma. My youngest child also has asthma, I'm not too sure if she has any other allergies as she has dairy very rarely and eggs are no longer a staple in our house. She has never tried a nut. I know this is not the perfect scenario in her case but after my son was born our whole diet, if not lifestyle was turned topsy turvy.
This blog has been named Cotton Wool Kids primarily because when my son was first diagnosed with allergies the reactions we received particularly from some immediate family members was that my husband and I were over reacting. In fact one family member was encouraging me to eat foods that contained dairy while breast feeding, even though I had been specifically told by specialists that I was to remove all traces of the allergens from my diet. As he has grown older and a couple of moderate reactions later and most members of my family have realised that we weren't making his allergies up, there are some foods he can't eat for safety reasons and that actually we aren't as psychotic as they all originally thought we were. This reaction from family members made us feel very alone for a while there but time and experience as well as meeting a group of other people who understood what we were going through helped a great deal. As he is only five at this time there are certainly many times ahead where I will worry about my son (as any parent does) but having this support certainly makes a difference.
This brings me to the reasons for this blog:
1) A place for me to rant or share fabulous tips, advice, foods, websites, lotions and potions, recipes, clothing and books I have come across that may help someone else.
2) A place to meet others who are on a similar journey.
3) A place for others to share their journeys and ideas.
If you stumble across this blog please feel free to place feedback or ask questions. Places to find fabulous allergy friendly goods are always gratefully received.
So to set the ball rolling here is the first of many allergy friendly recipes. Many of these will be adaptations of recipes I have stumbled across and look easy to adapt, or they will be recipes that I have found invaluable. Wherever I have pinched a recipe I will note where I got it from so that you can explore further for yourselves.
An adaptation of Jamie Oliver's Mushroom soup
We had this for dinner last night and with the wild Auckland weather blowing a gale outside it was just divine!
Rice Bran Oil
750g button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
salt and pepper
1 litre of vegetable stock (allergy friendly, we use Massel stock powder)
Rice milk
Prepare the mushrooms (wipe with damp cloth and then chop, destalk if you wish) and put in a frypan or saucepan with a good glug of rice bran oil. Stir around very quickly for a minute, then add your garlic, onion, butter and a small amount of seasoning. After about a minute you'll probably notice moisture cooking out of the mushrooms this is what should be happening. Carry on cooking for about 20 minutes until most of the moisture disappears. If you wish tip out excess moisture, I did and it didn't do any harm.
Add your stock and season to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. I then put it in the kitchen whizz and whizzed it to desired consistency, I like it a bit chunky still, but you could have it smooth if you wish. At the very end I added between 50-100mls of rice milk to give it a creamy finish.
Served with fresh rolls or gluten free scones and it was absolutely scrummy. It was a hit with hubby too. Thanks Jamie!!
Oh Kat that sounds delicious. My boys like mushrooms so maybe they'd be into it too.
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