A Minor Freak Out - Please Share This Message!

Yesterday was Sunday. Just in case you didn't know. Because it was Sunday, we went to church, and at our church we have a big group meeting and then everyone splits into different classes. Sweetheart goes to Primary, and I take Princess with me into the Nursery, where I am one of the teachers. When church was over and the first of the parents came to collect their Nursery kids, I glanced out the door to see kids from Primary going down the hallway, their hands full of cookies. They were sharing these cookies with their siblings as they found them, and also with pretty much any kid that walked by. They were being good kids and were sharing their bounty. 

And I freaked out. The cookies were Nutter Butters, which, if you don't know, are the most delicious peanut butter sandwich cookies ever. 

I couldn't see Sweetheart, I couldn't see if she had been handed one yet, but I knew that if she had, she wouldn't have any idea that this was something that she shouldn't eat. I also knew that just having one in her hand, even for a second, would give her an allergic reaction. Marquis walked up right then and I quickly sent him to find her. Luckily she was still in her classroom where there were no cookies, and Marquis was able to get her into the Nursery room quickly where we hid until the hallway had cleared of kids. Everything was completely fine. I talked to the Primary President shortly after and she was, of course, very understanding and will talk to people to see if this can be avoided in the future. 

In situations like this, the comment I hear the most is, "I didn't even think about that." Of course not, why would you? Most people don't think about things like this until it affects them directly, and that is normal! My purpose in writing this post is not to blame anyone, to tell anyone they did something wrong, or to make anyone feel bad. In fact, I know several people from my church who read this blog, and I really hope that I don't offend anyone and that if the people who brought the cookies find this that they don't feel bad. They were simply giving the kids a treat, and Nutter Butters are super yummy, so why not? I'm sure they didn't even think about it. I get that. 

Instead, my purpose in writing this post is to hopefully get people everywhere to think about this stuff. There has been a near explosion of peanut (and other food) allergies in recent years. I think you would be hard pressed to find a school, church, or other large group of people that isn't affected in some way, and the number of people with an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts is growing at an alarming rate, especially in little kids too young to know they shouldn't take the cookie handed them in the hallway.

So what I am asking is this. Please pass this message on, get people thinking about this issue. My hope is that someone who is buying a treat for a group of kids will look at all the many choices available in the cookie aisle, think about this growing problem, and choose something without nuts of any kind. If the cookies in the hallway would have been cookies with no nuts but instead with eggs, which Sweetheart is also allergic to, it would have been no big deal. Yes, she would have gotten really sick from eating one, but we would not have had to worry about anaphylaxis and possibly death. I suggest Oreos as a great option. They contain wheat and soy, neither of which typically causes anaphylaxis. Other good options are fruit snacks or fruit leather. Who doesn't love fruit snacks? There are so many nut-free options out there. I can't beg you enough, please think about these things before you feed other people's children! You just never know, and the cost is too great. 

Sorry for the long rant, now back to your regularly scheduled programming. 

The Best Way to Eat an Oreo

I am about to change your life forever. I used to find it impossible to eat an Oreo without either getting my fingers all milky or having part of my cookie be too crunchy. I know, it's the kind of problem to keep you awake at night, right? 

The solution? I now eat my Oreos with a fork. 

This is a trick a friend told me about (thanks Melissa!), and I have to admit that it is pure genius. You push the fork into the cream filling, and then you can submerge the entire Oreo for equal soakedness (not really a word, I know), all without getting your fingers wet!

Yum! Another fun fact about Oreos? No eggs, nuts or dairy in sight. Allergy friendly! (Of course with the exception of the glass of milk for dipping.)

Egg-Free Ginger Cookies

Yep, another recipe. I know, weird, but I'm also hoping to get my egg-free sugar cookie recipe up here before Christmas, so don't be too surprised. 

Christmas makes me want cookies, especially the ginger/molasses kind. I'm not really a fun of the crunchy gingerbread stuff, but these are perfectly soft and delicious. Yum! Perfect to leave out for Santa. 

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

3 Tablespoons hot water

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup butter (to make these dairy-free you can use dairy-free margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 cup molasses

White sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the often to 350 degrees.

2. Mix the flax and hot water. Set aside. (More info about using flax this way here.)

3. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. 

4. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until it is fluffy. Add the flax mixture and beat until combined. Then add molasses and water. Gradually add in the dry ingredients until everything is combined.

5. Roll dough into balls, about 2 inches each. Dip each ball into some sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Makes about 2 dozen. 

Breastmilk Cookies

 Alternate recipe title: Awesomest Ever Egg-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These are my most favorite cookies of all time, I like them even more than regular ones made with eggs. These are the reason that I have lost very, very little baby weight since Princess was born. Oops! And today I decided to share the goodness with you. These cookies do contain a very special top secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint, it's not breastmilk. (I'll tell you why I call these Breastmilk Cookies in just a minute.) The secret ingredient is (drum roll, please)...

Flaxseed! Have you heard about this stuff? Not only is it super good for you and all that jazz, but it is an awesome egg substitute. I use it all the time in baking, and we can go through a whole 1 pound bag in a month sometimes. I also think it's quite yummy. I can find it in most grocery stores in the baking aisle. 

On to the recipe:

Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter 

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

10 tablespoons hot water

4 tablespoons flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Mix together the flaxseed and the hot water and set aside for 3-5 minutes. Letting it sit makes it all gluey, which is what makes it such a great egg substitute (see the picture above). In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add flaxseed mixture and vanilla and beat until blended. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda and mix with butter mixture. Stir in the oats and then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on cookie size. If you want to make these dairy free, just use dairy free margarine and chocolate chips and you should be good to go!

With the flax/water mixture, I realize that 4 tablespoons is the same as 1/4 cup, but for some reason if I measure it that way (like I did today) I mess it up somehow and the cookies turn out just wrong. Which is why there is a stock photo at the top of this post, instead of a pic of my own sad, flat, yet delicious cookies. 

This cookie dough also freezes really well. Between working two jobs while taking care of a house and husband and two very creatively active little girls, I don't have much free time, so rather than taking a lot of time cooking a ton of cookies at once, I will cook one dozen of these when I first make the dough, then put the rest in some plastic wrap like so:

I throw it in the freezer and then later when I still have no time but want some cookies, I can just cut off some slices and bake them. But let's be honest, most of the time I just cut of slices and eat them raw, yum! And no eggs means no salmonella danger!

But why do I call these breastmilk cookies? Two reasons: 1. When you say that that is what they are called right as someone is taking a bite, it's hilarious to watch their face. 2. If you happen to be a breastfeeding mom, the oats and flax in these babies will cause a nice boost in your milk supply. (Don't worry, if you are not currently lactating, these cookies will not cause you to start.) 

A common nursing problem fixed by the most delicious cookies ever? You're welcome! 

Why Halloween Terrifies Me

What is the scariest part about Halloween for you? Is it the haunted houses? The creepy decorations people put in their yards? The gory costumes? For me, the scariest part about Halloween looks just like this:

I really think is the unofficial candy of Halloween. And why shouldn't it be? Does it really get better than peanut butter and chocolate together? Not on this planet. Some other yummy runners up include Butterfinger and Snickers. These used to be my favorite candy bars, and Marquis was trained very well to bring one home whenever I was having "lady troubles."

But now? It's really hard not to see this when I run across one with Sweetheart nearby:

Because really, when it comes to my Sweetheart, there isn't much difference, except it's mixed with sugar and coated in chocolate. And on Halloween we run from house to house, letting people throw them in her bucket with all her other candy. I hover with every muscle tensed, watching every move she makes because I don't want her to grab one and eat it not knowing what it is or what it will do to her. I have nightmares of giving the EpiPen there in the middle of the street with everyone standing around in their various costumes because I just wasn't watching closely enough. 

Another thing I'm scared of? Sharing. 

We all know it's important to teach kids to share. So how do you teach the difference, that it's ok to share toys or crayons, but food is a big no-no? And that it's just with some kids that you have to be careful sharing, and just with some foods? The simple answer is this, kids are smart. The hardest times I've had when it comes to Sweetheart's allergies have been from adults, not kids. Every kid I've ever explained it to has been instantly accepting, and incredibly helpful. For example, last year at Halloween we went to my brother's house, went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and then back to his house to check out the haul and hang out. My little niece was wonderful at asking me or her dad if certain pieces of candy were ok to share with Sweetheart. And when she opened a Snickers and ate it, she kept it far away from Sweetheart, and then immediately ran to wash her hands when she was finished so she could play with Sweetheart again. There was no whining, no complaining, just acceptance. 

Still, there are many days I wish I could make Sweetheart wear one of these so no one will feed her.

(Found here. Pretty cute, huh?)

So what is my point? I promise I have one. What I would love is to help people think about this, just for a few minutes. As adults, we need to be careful who we are sharing food with, too. More than once in church or out and about, a well meaning person has tried to share their snack with Sweetheart, without even asking us if it was ok. Thankfully we've caught it every time and have been able to go over our food allergy spiel, but what if we had missed it? How awful would that person feel as we were calling 911? So especially now that food allergies are quickly becoming more rampant, and at Halloween when we are passing potential poison out at the door, please don't assume that any kid out there is "normal." It's not hard to ask before you give a child some food.

Please pass the message on to others! Most people (including me!) never have thought about food allergies until they or someone close to them was personally affected. After all, Halloween should be the fun kind of scary, not the sad kind!

Nut-Free Pesto - The Unrecipe

I adore basil. I love basil so much that I have even eaten it in ice cream and loved it. Which means it probably won't surprise you that I love, love, love pesto. You can throw pesto on pretty much anything and I will happily eat it. But there is just one problem. Do you know that pesto has nuts in it? My poor nut-allergy girl can never have real pesto because of those pesky (yet delicious!) pine nuts. In my desperation for some good pesto we have tried many different experiments over the years, and this is the best that I have been able to come up with. (As a side note, sunflower seeds absolutely do not work in place of the pine nuts. At all.)

This is not a recipe, sorry. When I married Marquis, I was the kind of girl who could (barely) follow a recipe and have stuff turn out decent most of the time, but any deviations were pretty disastrous. After 12 years of being his sous chef and watching lots of Food Network, I now consider myself a halfway decent cook, I don't always use recipes, and most of the time the food comes out edible. So this unrecipe will be in the form of "some of this" and "a few of that."  I have included some of what I think would be the approximate measurements, but don't hold me to it because I honestly don't know. 

Since that is way more than enough babbling, on to the unrecipe! 

Nut-Free Pesto

Ingredients:

Basil - about 1 cup

Parmesan cheese - about 1/2 cup grated

2 cloves garlic, peeled

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

First, wash some basil and throw it in a food processor or blender. I buy the big bag of basil at Sunflower Market. Grate a bunch of Parmesan cheese and throw that in there, too. Peel 2 garlic cloves and throw those in, then sprinkle in some kosher salt and grind in some fresh pepper. Turn the food processor or blender on and drizzle in the olive oil while it mixes. When it looks like pesto, you are done!

Of course, the pesto is good on pasta, but the last time I made this we actually had it on pizza. We had homemade crust, pesto for the sauce, some leftover grilled chicken from the night before, diced tomatoes, and grated mozzarella and Parmesan. Yum!! I was going to get a picture of that, too, but well, it didn't last long.

I have to add the disclaimer that if you are a pesto aficionado, this is definitely not the same. But it's really pretty darn yummy stuff and a good replacement for when you can't have the real thing.

**After I wrote this and before it actually posted (yes, I blog ahead of time, so sue me), my sister informed me that if you bruise the basil before you blend it, it lets out more flavor. More flavor means even more yummy pesto! So smack that basil around first, take out some aggression.

More Allergy Stuff - Let's Talk Cookies!

Having an egg allergy is nothing short of a pain in the butt. The peanut stuff is scary, but they are way easier to avoid. Eggs? They are in everything. Have you eaten ice cream, cookies, cake, bread, rolls or any other baked good recently? Then you have probably eaten eggs. Pretty much anything dessert-ish is loaded with them. My poor Sweetheart!!

At our house, I will sometimes make cookies or cake with my modified recipes, but not very often because really, who has time? Not long ago a friend of mine came to visit and brought a special treat she had found.

I think my favorite word in the world is free, and that even counts when it is talking about all the high-allergen foods that are not in these brownies. Sweetheart quickly made her way through two big brownies.

And they have cookie mixes, too!

I think that smile says it all. I got a little teary when Sweetheart was talking to me about this after my friend had left. Everyone wants their kid to be "normal." I know it's hard on Sweetheart when everyone around her has treats and she can't have any. She was telling me about these and saying things like, "Look, no nuts, Mom! And no eggs! It's a special treat just for me!"

So check out Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes. They also have cake and pancake mixes. My friend bought these at Whole Foods, and I found their website here.

*Disclaimer* Cherrybrook Kitchen has no idea I am posting this, and have given me nothing except a happy child and a little peace of mind.

An Allergy Friendly Review - Cold Stone

I was impressed recently and so I just have to share it. With Sweetheart's allergies we find it is much easier (and way cheaper, and most of the time yummier) to just fix our own food at home. Food places out in the big, wide world are getting better about working with people with food allergies, but it can still be such a pain that we don't venture out much.

Recently we wanted an ice cream fix, and so we decided to brave Cold Stone. I've been there plenty before but had never tried to take Sweetheart there. I went to their website before we left and was able to print off a list of all their flavors and what allergens each contains. There were surprisingly quite a few that she could eat, but I was still worried about the mix-ins. Of course we wouldn't choose any peanut containing mix-ins for her, but what if there was some left on the counter? Or, they use the same scoops for everyone, what if some is left on one of the scoops? Even a teeny bit would mean a trip to the emergency room, so I decided to just ask and see if they had something special they did for allergy people.

I have to say that I was so impressed. When it was my turn, all I had to say was, "She has a peanut allergy," and before I could finish asking if there was something special they did, the lady was already in the back grabbing some clean scoops and a clean tray to mix it on. This is probably old news to a lot of food allergy people, I know that the world is becoming more aware and doing lots of things to help with the problem, but it was so great not to have them look at me like I was nuts (Haha, get it? You laughed, you know it.) for worrying about a teeny bit of peanut getting in my daughter's food.

So hooray for Cold Stone! Thank you for being so awesome, for educating your people and for taking it seriously. Sweetheart thought going out for ice cream was the best thing ever, and it was wonderful that we didn't have to worry about a possible exposure. Hooray for no trip to the emergency room!

*Disclaimer - Cold Stone has no idea I'm writing this post. I just like to pass on when I see something awesome!

Lessons in Irony, aka Decorating Easter Eggs

Does anyone else find it ironic that my sweet Sweetheart just loves to decorate eggs for Easter?

It's only if she eats them that she has an allergic reaction, but it's almost like I'm letting my child play with poison. And then I take pictures.

And she is so happy about it! Although, it makes me wonder if I am using the word "ironic" correctly. Is this really ironic, or is it like that song by Alanis Morissette, where nothing she talks about is actually ironic at all?

Either way, Princess had a good time, too. She just can't wait until next year when I will let her dive in and play.

Thinking about that Alanis Morissette song reminded me of another one of hers that I haven't heard in forever, do you remember this one? I love the line at about 2:20, "Dear Marcus, you rock my world!" (Or Marquis, whichever.)

Yes, I just publicly admitted to being an Alanis Morissette fan. Shh, don't tell anyone, k?

*Irony - An incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.

Fake Peanut Butter

When you are allergic to peanuts (and all other nuts, for that matter) you miss out on one of the best things about being a kid... peanut butter sandwiches! Thankfully someone out there decided to grind up sunflower seeds and see what happens, and the result was very similar to peanut butter. My sweet sister gave me some and I eagerly made Sweetheart a sandwich, which she loved!

I'm a sucker for kids with messy faces!

Dirty, Rotten Eggs!

You may remember the story in the previous post about Sweetheart throwing up her birthay cake, and me wondering if it was the eggs. Well, I decided to give her straight scrambled eggs, just to see what would happen. I just gave her a tiny bit, but she didn't throw up, so I thought we were in the clear! She played for a couple of hours after eating those eggs without a problem. I laid her down for her afternoon nap and she went right to sleep. When I went to check on her awhile later, I found a bright red baby!

These pictures really don't do it justice, she was so red and had hives on her cheeks around her eyes.

She also was acting really woozy. She would fall over as she was crawling around, and was having a hard time grabbing toys to play with. And that was about two seconds after I gave her the Benadryl, so I know it wasn't from the medicine. Poor kid! I'm so sorry baby! No more eggs for you, I promise. Not for a long time anyway!

Birthday Pictures!!

Marquis's parents were awesome and brought a CD to our house on Sunday with all the pictures of Sweetheart's first birthday party. Enjoy!

We had her party at a cute little neighborhood park that I just found not long ago. Our neighborhood is full of these little hidden parks tucked away behind houses, it is great! Here is everyone getting some grub. Marquis brought his grill over and everyone brought some potluck stuff to go with the meat. Talk about good eats!
Sweetheart discovered that she could grab her toes through the holes in the table. Pretty cute!

The playground at this park was a bit hit! The kids loved it. Here are Nathan and Olivia having a good time.

I love this picture because if you look closely, you can see that CG is giving her sister a quick kiss before she pushes her. Aaaawwwwwwww!!!

Sweetheart getting a good push from her daddy.

Uncle Mike helped the kids getting going really fast on this... thing. What in the world is this? Anyway, CG, Chelsey, Rylee, and Olivia loved it.
Nathan loved this! He called it "sitting in the moon" and didn't want to get out of it for dinner, presents, cake, or anything. And Tim was hamming it up in the background.

I love this picture, even though CG is doing something funny with her mouth. :) They just look so cute and comfortable with each other.

Ok, there is a story behind Sweetheart's cake. First of all, I went WAY overboard. I should have just bought a cake, or even just made a normal cake from a box with frosting from a tub. But no, I had to get crazy elaborate because I watch entirely too much food network!! I blame Marquis for that. The day before the party I made the cakes and gave Sweetheart a sample, because she has had problems with food in the past, and because I thought she'd like it. She did like it, at least until she threw up everywhere. Poor kid! No one wants to throw up at their birthday party, so we improvised by making a rice-crispie treat thingy, except made out of Cheerios. I then covered that in fondant, and put it on the top, making it a three tier cake. Three tiers for a one-year-old! Insane. Of course it wouldn't be complete without a tiara and lots of yummy, cherry-flavored pink fondant balls. And fancy sugar crystals. Did I mention that I went way overboard? We won't talk about the 2 tier chocolate cake that I also made for all the old people (me, Aunt Tommi, Uncle Mike, and Tim) that also had birthdays right around that same time.

She wore the tiara for about 2 seconds. See that lightning fast hand reaching up to yank it off?

Yum!! Cake! Or Cheerios, or whatever this thing is.

Time for presents! There really is a baby somewhere behind that big box.


Nathan finally was convinced to get out of the moon long enough to investigate Sweetheart's presents.

This is the noisiest toy ever! Thank goodness it has an off switch. Sweetheart loves it, though.

Thanks everyone for an awesome party and fun presents!