It's a small, small (blog) world

Sarah at No Whey Mama clued me in to the Vegan Lunchbox and Shmooed Food in her comment to my last post.

At the same time, my mother-in-law was busy making "muffins" with Big and Little Guy.

Not exactly their best glamour shots, but you might be able to tell that they do really enjoy these muffins. Okay, you probably can't tell from Big Guy's photo (on the right). He looks sorta confused or worried.

Grandma lets them take a cheese spreader and add their own frosting to the "muffin

So, I asked her if I could get a copy of the recipe. And she sent me an email to let me know she found it on the Vegan Lunchbox site and it was actually the Fluffy While Cupcakes recipe. The first time she made them she didn't include the coconut extract. The second time she used lemon extract because it was what she had in the cupboard.

Smart Grandma! She knew all about that great site long before I did. But isn't it cool? I found about it through my new blog friends

Speaking of new friends, check out Karen's blog, Because I Said So. Her son has egg and peanut allergies and one of the many things she blogs about is dealing with these allergies. She shares a heartbreaking story about what happened to her son when he ate a homemade cookie ... luckily it didn't result in a trip to the ER, but definitely was a difficult experience for her son.

All this talk of baking (not to mention 3 brown squishy bananas sitting on my counter) inspired me to make banana bread with the boys.

Here is the recipe ...

Banana Bread

3 large ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 egg -- I use Energ-G egg replacer
4 T.
butter or margarine
1 1/2
cup flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Heat oven to 325
Grease
9x5 loaf pan
Mash bananas, beat in sugar, egg, butter
Stir in remaining ingredients until just moistened
Pour in pan
Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean

Yummmy! Enjoy.

Filling the Pantry

I am including a new section to my blog called “Filling the Pantry.” See it on the right-hand side below the blog archive.

I was inspired when I saw the “Foods” section in No Whey Mama’s blog . By the way she has posted some good-looking recipes. I want to try the Monkey cookies -- I’ll just need to use the egg replacer and skip the nuts.

Anyway, when I started this blog I wanted it to be a humorous (on the rare good day) resource for people and place to share experiences and tips. I have always said that dealing with food allergies is MUCH easier once you know how to fill your pantry with various “safe” things that your child can eat.

I have included lots of references to different products we like at our house, like here and here. But I thought listing cool products on the right would make it a lot easier for the “hordes” of people that read this blog.

When I was roaming other blogs, I did find a reference to Divvies. But I need to see them kid-tested by Big Guy and Little Guy before I will post it on the Filling the Pantry section. They look yummy. Has any one tried any of these out?

Also, let me know if you have any other good food suggestions.

Thanks!

First Step Towards Kindergarten

One small step for Big Guy ... one giant leap for Mommy!

Earlier this week I signed up Big Guy for kindergarten. I absolutely think he is ready, so I'm not too freaked out about my "baby" going to school, but it is a lot to take in. And of course, on top of everything else, I need to think about the food allergy thing.

I filled out the forms and listed all of his allergies (luckily there is a looong blank line on the form!) and mentioned it to the mom-volunteer at registration. She said, "oh, they are really good here for kids with food allergies, they even have their own table in the cafeteria."

Oh.

I guess that is good news.

Right?

Because every mom dreams of having their child ostracized and forced to sit away from everyone else. Right?

There aren't enough other things that make kids feel worried and bad about themselves. When I was in 3rd grade, Adam G. teased me every day on the bus about my hairy arms and told me I looked like a gorilla. Hi ... nearly 30 years later and I still feel a teeny-tiny bit self-conscious about my arms. (Note: they are hairy, but they are blonde hairs and not too unusual.)

I digress. I KNOW it is a good thing to protect the kids. I KNOW there are kids out there who have severe food allergies. But evidently, I'm not alone in this fear. Check out this "Allergy Nation" article, especially the section on School Rules. I found it on Check My Tag. Thanks, Ria.

We have the kindergarten parent's night on April 30, so I'm sure I'll learn more there. Big Guy can, luckily, tolerate a lot more of the food that used to make him sick. He now eats regular yogurt and cheese. He knows not to eat peanuts and other nuts. And he is fine being near peanut products. For example, I eat a peanut butter sandwich right next to him while he eats the Sunbutter sandwich.

So, I don't really think he needs to be at a seperate table. Espescially because kindergarten is only 2 1/2 hours long, so the whole issue of eating in the cafeteria won't come up until first grade.

I'm sure there will be LOTS more to blog about on this subject.

Anyone else have experience with starting your allergy kid at regular "big kid" school??

Easter Bunny

Whew ... I just finished putting out the spoils from the Easter Bunny. As you might imagine, there are many treats that are not available to me for my kids. No chocolate bunnies or Cadbury eggs. However, they can eat jelly beans, hurrah!

Also, there are very cute Sweet Tart eggs with stickers so you can decorate the plastic eggs with eyes, nose and a face and create your very own egg family. These treats are okay for my boys to eat. And I found new candy-coated licorice that is delish!

Evidently there are other parents who want alternatives to candy to give their kids on Easter morning ... I found a package of plastic eggs filled with various morning cartoon characters: Dora, Boots, Diego, Blue, SpongeBob and Patrick. No candy, just more little toys to litter my house.

Overall, I think the boys will be happy and have fun looking for the eggs. Frankly, any kid is happy getting CANDY before breakfast, whether it be Sweet Tarts or a gigantic chocolate bunny.

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back!

I know it has been ages (in blog time, at least) since I last wrote. And just as things were sorta heating up at "He Can't Eat That!" My last post about the food allergy clothing generated several great comments. So, thank you!

And it elicited a "lurker" and fellow mom of a food allergy kid to say hello. Sarah, at "No Whey, Mama" posted a comment to let me know that she listed "He Can't Eat That!" in her blog roll. Cool!!! I think that might be a first. Hurrah! And I'd love to return the favor, so I am adding Sarah's blog to my Mommy Blogger list.

As a result, I've checked out her blog and it is a good read. I can relate to her entry about her daughter's note to anyone watching her about what she can't eat. Little Guy regularly tells me "I can't eat that Mommy. It has eggs in it and makes me sick."

And as I think I wrote earlier every once in a while we play "What will you say if someone gives you ....?" This game involves me saying to the boys, "Pretend I am a friend at school and I tell you 'Hey, try these peanut candies. They are great!'" And then, Big Guy says "No thank you. I'm allergic to peanuts." And Little Guy puts his mouth into my outstretched hand and pretends to eat up the pretend candies. And he laughs hysterically. Hmmmm. I'm not too worried about this killer behaviour because he is my little ham and comic and I'm pretty sure he is doing this for the laugh. The fact that in real situations he asks me if he can eat things leads me to believe he sorta gets it. Plus he is younger and doesn't eat food without me or one of the grandparents around.

Anyway, the point is that even at a young age, these kids get it.

Well, tomorrow is Easter. A VERY interesting holiday for kids with egg allergies. I'll be back very soon with more on how we are handling a holiday that revolves around eggs!