Happy Blogiversary

"He Can't Eat That" is ONE year old. I can hardly believe it!!! It seems like just yesterday I wrote "Hello." And while sometimes (okay, lots of times), I've been remiss in writing, I have REALLY enjoyed this experience.

I definitely met the goal I set for myself, "to connect with other parents who also have kids with food allergies. I'd like to share what has worked for me and I'd like to hear other people's stories when they have had to tell someone "he can't eat that!"

It has been so heartwarming and energizing to meet so many other parents though this blog and blogging in general.

As part of my blogiversary, I would like to challenge any and ALL readers to post a comment!! I am asking all the lurkers (maybe there are only 1 or 2), but anyone to -- as they say in hide-and-seek -- come out, come out wherever you are!!!

If you have never posted a comment, just click Comments and you can fill out an online form. When asked to pick an identify, you can choose Anonymous if you don't want to fill out an account.

I think the most comments ANY post I put up was 6. So, help me out friends .... let's get that number up!

I survived a year. I made friends. I found out Little Guy CAN eat wheat. I dealt with hives and "throw-ups." I started posting photos. I met a lot of supportive folks who love their kids and are dealing with similar issues. Or met other people who can relate on other levels.

So, give out a shout!!

Thanks!!

Anne D

I lost my power

No, the title of this post does not refer to feeling helpless and lost or at the mercy of someone else's whims (someone under 6 years old and weighing less than 40 pounds).

No, I literally lost power for 3 days this weekend ... no electricity .... no TV, no internet, no CD player or lamps. There was a BIG storm here on Thursday and the power went out around 5:30 p.m. We FINALLY got it back at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

We were very lucky -- no flooding in the basement. And we were able to save that expensive soy ice cream because my parents had (1) power and (2) a chest freezer in their basement, amongst lots of other food of course. But when my husband was packing up the coolers, I made sure to tell him "don't forget all the soy stuff, it is costly!"

So, now we have power and I can check email and blogs again. Hurrah!

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.

Food Allergy Clothing … Next Hot Item on the Runway?

Hey! This blog thing is working! What do I mean? I mean that thanks to this blog I have gotten hooked into other web sites and blogs that deal with food allergies through comments like this to my posts.

And like everything on the web, once you start clicking on one site it takes you to 10 more cool related (or unrelated, but interesting) sites.

So, now I have a plethora of things to blog about, but for this post, I want to focus on the allergy clothing that is out there. Who knew? Not me!

Liz at Mom-101 showed me these items at her other site, Cool Mom Picks. And thanks to Ria for the comment that led me to her site Check My Tag where they sell clothing that alerts people to the fact that your child has a food allergy and what to do if they eat something off-limits. And then through all that clicking around, I found the patches would require that my guys wear 4 patches … isn’t that a bit much??

Anyway, for fun today I showed Big Guy the different sites and his reaction to the Allergators, “That’s silly. Alligators don’t have allergies.” And the shirt at jeeto that he liked best was the dinosaur one. Go figure!

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or experiences on using these types of clothes, please ler me know!!

"March"ing Along

Wow! It is already MARCH!!!!

It has been awhile (again) since I last posted. I have to admit I am not always feeling it. I do enjoy reading other people's blogs, and I was sad to see a much more experienced blogging mom decide to take a permanent break.

But, like most mothers, I feel pulled in so many directions. It's hard to find time for this creative outlet. Mary at Mom Writes talked about slowing down in the blogging world too. And being somewhat of a perfectionist, I always think I need to have a really funny or meaningful thing to say. But that's not really true in blogland, right? I also get down by the lack of comments, but I shouldn't because I read lots of blogs and don't comment ... I think that is called "lurking."

Also, recently I was inspired by the Lazy Organizer blog and my mom, who has been organizing her whole house. So, last week I cleaned out the pantry/extra dishes/vases/etc. closet in the basement and made that look purdy. AND I cleaned out the medicine/shampoo/everything else closet in my bathroom. Those two feats took professional help (aka my mom came over and cheered me on).

But this weekend I cleaned out Little Guy's closet ... how many diaper bags do I need???? And today I cleaned out the frig ....how many jars of salsa do I need??? And I did those two cleaning jobs on my OWN! So, needless to say, keeping my home from turning into a pigsty also takes up blogging time. (Not to mention my pesky job!)

Also, I have been reading "Surrendering to Motherhood" a book my friend recommended. It really gets you thinking about what is important. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, while I am blogging here today, Big Guy was drawing. Below is his masterpiece, titled, "Bat." Enjoy!



P.S. The words at the top are a result of his interest in letters and copying the letters in the book we read, "Bats at the Beach" that sparked his interest in drawing the bat in the first place.

I’m FAMOUS – at least in the blog-o-sphere

Today, my blog was featured as the cooking blog of the week on Ann-Marie’s blog, This Mama Cooks! Anne-Marie writes several blogs, so I am thrilled that she thought enough of mine to feature it on her blog.

I first found one of Anne-Marie’s other blogs, A Readable Feast, when I was searching for an egg-less meatloaf recipe.

I am learning that writing a blog takes a lot of patience – which if you ask my friends, I don’t have a lot of. I tell people: I had no patience before I had my kids and now all my patience goes to them. But it takes time for people to discover your blog. And so I am so grateful that Anne-Marie chose to highlight my blog. I really think it will help get the word out to other moms who are dealing with food allergies (or anyone else, for that matter).

Since it is after 4 p.m. here I better start thinking about what to make for dinner … not my favorite subject. Maybe I can go to This Mama Cooks! for some inspiration!!