Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Little Red Riding Hood (aka Bella).

Stay safe tonight and remember not to take any spooky treats from strangers!

Living 'Free'

Notmartha has a great post today. She's a stop on Gluten Free Girl's virtual book tour. Instead of just reviewing the book, she decided to live gluten free for the day.

It's amazing how similar her challenges are to those of us who need to live nut free (or soy free or egg free, etc. etc.). Take a look. I know it will be very familiar to you ALL.

It would have been an interesting experiment to document our old life compared to how it is now. I remember feeling so overwhelmed at first, but now, it's just life.

How about you? Isn't there anything you still haven't gotten used to avoiding?

NEW Product: Batter Blaster

I thought you'd all get a kick out this product that I heard about via Daily Candy.

It's Organic Batter Blaster! Pancake batter in a can. Ready at a moment's notice for when you are REALLY craving pancakes. It's like whipped cream, but it's pancake batter. Actually, if you watch the demo (click the link at the bottom left of the home page), it looks kinda gross - put it this way, it isn't all fluffy and tasty looking like whipped cream.

Nutritional Information Here. Looks like it contains wheat, eggs, and soy. I am tempted to buy it just to see what it tastes like. Bella loves pancakes, but part of me keeps saying "just make the darn batter yourself and stick it in a squeeze bottle!". But, boy would this be handy on a Sunday morning...

Mock Pies?

Have any of you out there made the Ritz Mock Apple Pie recipe?

I am starting to think of baking for the holidays and may try it (mainly because I am curious - not because of allergies).

But seeing this recipe made me curious about mock Pecan Pie. Growing up, pecan pie was my absolute favorite! But Bella can't have it (even though she's not allergic to pecans - can't have that cross contamination risk though). But I do want her to experience even a fraction of the joy of this taste sensation, so I am going to do my best to recreate it safely.

I've seen two versions online. One with oats and one with pinto beans (which sounds horrendous, but hey so does a pie full of crackers and people seem to love it).

But I have a few ideas on how to make a nut-free pecan pie up my sleeve and I'll post my findings soon.

Come to think of it, are there any recipes that have nuts (or other allergen) that you wish you could make nut free? Maybe I can take a stab at those too! Leave me a comment -

Watch It This Week: Edible Enemies

Found on the peanutallergy.com boards. I'll definitely be watching this (an excuse to watch Food Network? nope, don't need one). I guess it aired yesterday but we missed it (damn that fresh air we went out to get!). Have any of you seen it?

Food Network Specials
Episode AXSP01

AIR TIME: October 19, 2007 10:00 AM ET/PT

Edible Enemies
Edible Enemies is a one-hour special report that looks at the mysterious increase in both the number and the severity of food allergies in the United States. 12 million Americans now have food allergies. There is no cure. There is no treatment, other than a shot of epinephrine in an emergency. We will hear from the parents of small children, and from teenagers and adults living with life-threatening food allergies

Guest Blog: Revolution Health

The folks at Revolution Health flattered the heck out of me by asking me to guest blog this week.
Their allergy resource section is full of good information for folks with food allergies (or those taking care of them) as well as loads of other health-related information.

Check it out here.

They're having an "Ask the Expert" session with Dr. Wesley Burks from Duke. If you don't know who he is, then you need to read this. He offers tremendous hope for anyone suffering from a peanut allergy. Submit a question for him here. Answers will be posted on October 22.

A Peanut Free Birthday Party

So how does a PA 3 Year Old celebrate her birthday?

Well, if you want to do it right, you do it with:

• 12 friends (and their parents and some siblings)
• a bouncy house with a slide, ladder, and basketball hoop (whew!)
  
• a wiggles cd on continuous repeat
• lots of balloons
• a sandbox filled with hidden treasure to find (fake coins! and shells!)
• an art easel for bursts of artistic inspiration
  
• cupcakes with Elmo decorations
• dirt cups (quite possibly the most white trash food i've ever made - no offense to anyone out there - pudding+cool whip+oreos+gummi worms=heaven) here's the recipe. try it.
  
• goldfish!
• pretzels!
• sunchips!
  
• cheeze-it snack mix (i don't know what the little white balls in this mix are, but they might as well be crack to me)
  
• sliced apples (green + red)
  
• sliced melon
• veggies and dip
  
• fruitabu (thanks for the tip David!)
  
• juice boxes
• water
• lemonade
  
• wine and beer (for the grownups)
• kick a$$ goodie bags filled with: bubbles, candy necklace, fun-dip, tattoos (3 for each kid!), and a silly straw. ok, i know there are two super sugary treats in there, but hey - life is short!
  

I don't think we crammed enough into a two and a half hour party, do you?

One of the cutest things I did was portion out the snack mix and goldfish in these little containers (ironically called 'nut and party cups') to avoid what Mark calls "a big bowl of germs" (aka little hands rooting around in a bowl of snack mix) since we are entering cold and flu season.

Anyhoo - it was a ball. Once I get my act together, I'll post a shot or two of the festivities.

Allergy vs. Intolerance

Since Bella's PA diagnosis I've been super sensitive about allergies - making sure that I accommodate folks who come for meals and make sure snacks or treats I bring to daycare are safe for all the kids.

But I have also become more aware of folks who tell me how allergic they are to something when they really just have an intolerance. For example, someone I know gets a little crampy if they have a certain type of cheese - but she tells me she's allergic. It drives me a little crazy (ok I need to say it - it drives me nuts- hee hee). I think to myself - does she have any idea what being allergic really means?

But then I thought to myself - do I?

So I went a' searching and here's what I found, courtesy
of the Mayo Clinic:

Food intolerance vs. food allergy: What's the difference?

ANSWER
Although many people have adverse reactions to certain foods, true food allergy — a reaction triggered by the immune system — is uncommon. Only about 2 percent of adults and 6 percent of children have a true food allergy. Far more people have a food intolerance, unpleasant symptoms triggered by certain foods. Unlike a food allergy, a food intolerance doesn't involve the immune system.

Lactose intolerance is one example of a food intolerance. People with lactose intolerance lack the enzyme lactase needed to digest milk sugar (lactose) in milk and other dairy foods. This inability to break down lactose during digestion may cause diarrhea, gas, bloating and abdominal pain.

In a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly identifies a specific food or a component of a food as a harmful substance. Your immune system triggers certain cells to produce immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to fight the culprit food or food component. The next time you eat even the smallest amount of that food, the IgE antibodies sense it and signal your immune system to release histamine and other chemicals into your bloodstream. Signs and symptoms of a food allergy may include tingling in the mouth, hives, swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat, wheezing or breathing difficulties, and dizziness or fainting.

It's important to distinguish food intolerance from food allergy. If you have a food allergy, eating even the tiniest amount of the food may trigger a serious allergic reaction. By contrast, if you have a food intolerance, you usually can eat small amounts of the food without a reaction.

If you have a reaction to a particular food, tell your doctor about it. Tests can help determine whether you have a food allergy.

So now you know. Have you encountered folks saying they are allergic to something and they are really intolerant? Should we treat an intolerance with the same seriousness? Even though it bugs me a bit, I still respect it as I wouldn't want someone else to brush off Bella's true allergy (and by true I mean life threatening). But how would you respond to someone? I told my friend she had an intolerance and she was adamant she was allergic - ah well.

Peanutallergy.com

Anyone know what's up with peanutallergy.com's boards being down so long? I saw some rumblings last week about some unrest among posters - I hope they aren't down for good.

Let me know if you've heard anything!

Around here we're gearing up for someone's 3rd birthday (hmmmm, I wonder who?). There will be a bounce house! And sugar! And goodie bags! Oh my!

I'll post a peanut free party plan later this week....