There are many things I grieved for when I discovered my son had allergies and one of the silliest was probably that he would never have certain foods like ice cream and fudge but boy was I wrong!
Today he had both. I made my second batch of chocolate ice cream using coconut cream and I made my first ever batch of chocolate fudge- dairy free! I was worried that it would be sugary and a bit yuck but it is divine although very sweet. I adapted the recipe from another chocolate fudge recipe and it works perfectly.
So here it is:
Dairy Free, soy free (Vegan) Chocolate Fudge
½ cup rice milk
1¼ cups sugar
40ml rice bran oil
1 block of Kinnertons egg, nut, dairy free chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
Put the rice milk and sugar in a large pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 7 minutes. Stirring continuously.
Remove from the heat; immediately add the oil, broken up chocolate, and vanilla. Stir until chocolate has melted, then beat for a couple of minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Line a dish with baking paper and pour in. Refrigerate overnight, then cut into squares.
Nom, nom, nom.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Travelling with an allergy child
Wow, in less than five days we will be making the jump over the ditch for good. While it is very scary leaving behind all of our support system, including the places we know to go to get great allergy friendly foods it is kind of exciting knowing that we will be finding new places that are great for allergy free foods.
My son is 5 years old and a bottomless pit at this point in time. We are flying Emirates and while they have a jaw dropping range of meals available for different dietary needs they do also have a statement on their webpage that they can not cater for peanut allergies as other people may bring nuts on board etc. I understand that they need to cover themselves and after all, we do need to take responsibility of these allergies and not rely on others if we are to live as normal a life as possible. The Autumn Allergy NZ magazine had a great article on travelling with allergy children and I used a lot of their advice.
1) We bought a Skip_Hop insulated lunch bag to put the kids meals in. We also bought two foo go storage containers which keep food hot or cold for certain lengths of time. I cooked the kids their favourite food (chicken sausages from WestLynn Organic Butchers in Richmond Rd, Auckland), with some Orgran pasta and popped these into the FooGo containers. I also packed some of their other favourites and a staple in our allergy lives some Natureland baby pouches. This meant that we wouldn't forget about any stray pieces of fruit in our bags but the kids were still getting that necessary Vitamin C and other nutrients.
2) I bought some Janola wipes to wipe down the back of seats, arm rests and tray tables. While waiting to board the plane I asked the attendant if we could be allowed to board amongst the first passengers so that I could wipe down these surfaces. They were more than happy for this to happen.
3) I made sure my epipen/anapen hadn't expired and practiced with our trainer so I had the instructions fresh and clear in my head.
4) While it wasn't necessary I asked and was provided with a letter from my son's GP that explained the allergy situation. We didn't need to use it but it was nice knowing it was there if we needed it.
5) Spoke to every single staff member we came into contact with about my son's allergies, from the person who helped us book it, the person at the check out counter, customs officials everyone. In fact one of the customs official wrote down the name of the cream we use for my son because he had very dry skin on his fingers. While some had more understanding of our situation than others I couldn't fault any of them.
When we landed in Melbourne I was terrified of what would be waiting for us going through their customs as we had declared so much stuff, foods, medicines, etc. Both my husband and I were quite thrown off when we were asked a couple of brief questions by a customs officials and were then allowed to go straight through. It really does pay to be honest!
6) Asked the pharmacist to give us a 50ml bottle to carry some antihistamine on board the plane in. This now stays in my son's kit with a syringe and has been used a couple of times, although not on the flights.
To finish this post I have added a dairy and egg free custard recipe. Cold or hot this is something you could put in the kids Foogo or thermos flask for lunches.
Dairy and Egg Free Custard
1 cup of rice milk
1/8 cup of rice milk (extra)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of natural maple syrup (the real stuff)
1 heaped Tablespoon of corn starch (we use Ceres)
In a pot pour in the cup of rice milk.
Add the vanilla and maple syrup and heat through.
While waiting put the cornstarch in with the extra rice milk and mix together, making sure there are no lumps.
When the milk in the pot is hot but not boiling add the milk/cornstarch mix.
Stir constantly, the liquid should start to thicken up straight away, if not give it some time and keep stirring.
Once it has thickened to the consistency you like remove from heat and either serve immediately (over a hot pudding) or wait until cool.
We wait until it is cool and grate fresh fruit over the top or serve with banana.
If it doesn't thicken up enough for your liking, add more cornstarch added to a touch of milk to prevent lumps.
If we don't have maple syrup we use sugar, preferably brown to give it that yellow colour.
If you have any difficulty making any of these recipes let me know and I can try and help you out.
My son is 5 years old and a bottomless pit at this point in time. We are flying Emirates and while they have a jaw dropping range of meals available for different dietary needs they do also have a statement on their webpage that they can not cater for peanut allergies as other people may bring nuts on board etc. I understand that they need to cover themselves and after all, we do need to take responsibility of these allergies and not rely on others if we are to live as normal a life as possible. The Autumn Allergy NZ magazine had a great article on travelling with allergy children and I used a lot of their advice.
1) We bought a Skip_Hop insulated lunch bag to put the kids meals in. We also bought two foo go storage containers which keep food hot or cold for certain lengths of time. I cooked the kids their favourite food (chicken sausages from WestLynn Organic Butchers in Richmond Rd, Auckland), with some Orgran pasta and popped these into the FooGo containers. I also packed some of their other favourites and a staple in our allergy lives some Natureland baby pouches. This meant that we wouldn't forget about any stray pieces of fruit in our bags but the kids were still getting that necessary Vitamin C and other nutrients.
2) I bought some Janola wipes to wipe down the back of seats, arm rests and tray tables. While waiting to board the plane I asked the attendant if we could be allowed to board amongst the first passengers so that I could wipe down these surfaces. They were more than happy for this to happen.
3) I made sure my epipen/anapen hadn't expired and practiced with our trainer so I had the instructions fresh and clear in my head.
4) While it wasn't necessary I asked and was provided with a letter from my son's GP that explained the allergy situation. We didn't need to use it but it was nice knowing it was there if we needed it.
5) Spoke to every single staff member we came into contact with about my son's allergies, from the person who helped us book it, the person at the check out counter, customs officials everyone. In fact one of the customs official wrote down the name of the cream we use for my son because he had very dry skin on his fingers. While some had more understanding of our situation than others I couldn't fault any of them.
When we landed in Melbourne I was terrified of what would be waiting for us going through their customs as we had declared so much stuff, foods, medicines, etc. Both my husband and I were quite thrown off when we were asked a couple of brief questions by a customs officials and were then allowed to go straight through. It really does pay to be honest!
6) Asked the pharmacist to give us a 50ml bottle to carry some antihistamine on board the plane in. This now stays in my son's kit with a syringe and has been used a couple of times, although not on the flights.
To finish this post I have added a dairy and egg free custard recipe. Cold or hot this is something you could put in the kids Foogo or thermos flask for lunches.
Dairy and Egg Free Custard
1 cup of rice milk
1/8 cup of rice milk (extra)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of natural maple syrup (the real stuff)
1 heaped Tablespoon of corn starch (we use Ceres)
In a pot pour in the cup of rice milk.
Add the vanilla and maple syrup and heat through.
While waiting put the cornstarch in with the extra rice milk and mix together, making sure there are no lumps.
When the milk in the pot is hot but not boiling add the milk/cornstarch mix.
Stir constantly, the liquid should start to thicken up straight away, if not give it some time and keep stirring.
Once it has thickened to the consistency you like remove from heat and either serve immediately (over a hot pudding) or wait until cool.
We wait until it is cool and grate fresh fruit over the top or serve with banana.
If it doesn't thicken up enough for your liking, add more cornstarch added to a touch of milk to prevent lumps.
If we don't have maple syrup we use sugar, preferably brown to give it that yellow colour.
If you have any difficulty making any of these recipes let me know and I can try and help you out.
Let me introduce myself
Hi and welcome to my new blog. I have had an allergy blog before but I was never happy about the name and this one sums up my allergy journey so far in several ways. I will be adding the posts I wrote for my first blog underneath this one so they are all together.
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!!
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!!
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