It’s back-to-school time! If your child has food allergies, now is the time to be pro-active and get your plans and snacks in place. Here’s how we prepare: Contact the school nurse/office and keep an EPI-PEN on file at the front desk. Make sure all medical forms are filled out and complete with the front office. Know your school’s allergy policy. Make sure there is an allergy policy. Make contact with the child’s teacher (s) and make sure they all know about your child’s allergy, and what the steps are to keep him/her safe. Keep it simple here. Talk to your child about saying “no” to all classroom treats. This…
Vacation Preparation Tips
Did you know that using hand sanitizer does NOT remove allergens from your hands or any other surface? It basically moves the allergen around. The only way to remove an allergen is by washing it away with soap and water or by using a sanitizing wipe. I’ve started to think about what we’re going to be doing on our vacation and the types of bags I’ll be carrying around with my kids. For day-time I’m going to be doing a lot of walking with them, so I usually pick a light-weight cross body bag so that my hands are free to hold theirs (awwwwwwwe). If we’re going to be out…
Cilantro Lime Chicken (Crock pot)
Cilantro Lime Chicken did not disappoint last week – and the good news is that it made a lot of food to eat several different ways. We had two dinners from it and lunch leftovers. This dish can be eaten plain, over jasmine rice, with tortillas chips, as a huge nacho plate with extra olives, cheese and fixins, as burritos, tacos, and quesadillas with red onion and sour cream. This recipe is flexible. It can be frozen for a few weeks if you’re planning on making this ahead of time. Our family loves easy slow cooker meals that are full of flavor. Clean up is simple and I didn’t have…
NYT Rhubarb Crisp
My sweet sweet neighbor Maryellen gave me a TON of fresh rhubarb last week. We love rhubarb season. Today’s cookout was the perfect opportunity to debut this New York Times Rhubarb Crisp recipe. (I LOVE the New York Times recipes, they ALWAYS are fabulous. And I love reading the paper. A dead medium, I know. But it’s relaxing to me). Usually during this time of year we make rhubarb cake, but I wanted something a little lighter, faster and less cakey. Needless to say, this crisp was a crowd pleaser. My only regret is that I didn’t make a double batch to share with more friends! This dish is a…
Nut-free Ice Cream + 1 Year Anniversary of Anaphylactic Episode
Well duh, most ice creams without nuts are nut-free, right? Wrong. If you have looked at the ingredient label of your ice cream lately, you’ve probably noticed a change in the label. All labels have to clearly state if an allergen is present. The top 8 allergens are: Milk Eggs Peanuts Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts) Fish (such as bass, cod, flounder) Shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp) Soy Wheat There are MANY other allergies besides these, but these are the most common. What manufacturers do NOT HAVE TO STATE is whether or not the facility in which the ice cream is made contains nuts. This is a…
Chipotle Chicken Bowls
The end of the school year is quickly approaching and I feel like my organizational skills are in a downward spiral. Food menu planning is sporadic at best, our calendars are jammed full of activities, get-togethers, parties, volunteer activities, the list goes on. All fun stuff, just a lot all at once. This week my body has been mad at me for having so much going on – and I could tell. I’ve had a dull headache for two days that turned into a full blown migraine late last night that kept me awake until 3am. I haven’t been eating right, I’ve been working out too hard, too fast, and…
Comfort Food for a Full Moon
When you work in healthcare, you know that a full moon is like Friday the 13th. The crazy come out of the woodwork. So what better to have for dinner, after a super long day, than a comforting meal of homemade meatloaf, sauteed parmesan zucchini and creamy mashed potatoes?! Nothing. There is nothing better. This is the kind of heavy meal that fills in all the cracks and does not need dessert to follow. Everyone cleared their plates, Carter had 3rds, and there are zero left overs. I have meat and potatoes kinds of kids. Meatloaf Ingredients: 1 pound grass fed organic beef 1 palm full of Penzeys powdered garlic…
Red Pepper Couscous
Have you ever had your credit card number compromised? I’m too familiar with this process. By now, I’m mostly annoyed. Last year our credit card number was stolen 4 times. This year, our bank has changed our number once already (last month) out of “an abundance of caution.” I’m super annoyed. Naturally, I make lists. However, I haven’t made a list, YET, for all of the vendors linked to automatic bill pay with this specific card. Now I am. The time it takes to re-enter all of my billing information for all of these companies blows my mind. Some websites are easier than others. But some are difficult to navigate…
Going Green Wraps
I live in wild college town, super hippy and very liberal, Madison, WI, and now I’m a tree hugger. It’s true. City girl turned into granola-hipster + Birkenstock lover. Most of the time, when I’m cooking especially, I pretend I’m in SoCal feeling the warm sun beaming down, smelling fresh, ocean breezes, and eating uber healthy like it’s affordable and around every corner. Truth. Most of our produce here in the mid-west is very expensive and it’s hard to keep up with which grocery store’s produce is the best each week and cost friendly. In addition, our local restaurants are mostly pubs that serve big burgers (nothing wrong with a…
Korean Beef Bowl
I decided to spice it up tonight for dinner – and it turned out to be a winner! My little guy has never eaten so fast, so I’m going to share what we made. Korean Beef Bowl Ingredients 1 cup brown rice 2 cups packed fresh spinach 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced 4 scallions 1 inch of fresh, peeled ginger, minced 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil 1 squirt of sriracha (the rooster, as my Dad calls it!) + extra for garnish 1 pound grass fed organic beef 4 eggs Directions In a non-stick sauce pan, prepare the brown rice according…
Easter Sunday Menu
This weekend we are prepping for our big Eater Party next weekend with family! How exciting. The kids are super into it too – Chloe is making center pieces out of peeps and daisies, Carter is working on decorating a cake with chocolate eggs. LOVE it. For the food – keeping it classic and simple. Here’s the menu with links for recipes. Easter Sunday Brunch: Slow cooker cheesy breakfast potatoes – Breakfast Potatoes Valentine Coffee – Valentine Giada homemade biscotti (making this 1 week in advance, store in air-tight container) – Giada’s Biscotti Fruit salad (whatever you have + 1 cup of plain greek yogurt, salt, pepper and dash of vanilla, stir stir…
Grocery store nut-free cookies!
It fills me with utter GLEE when I stumble upon new nut-free items at the grocery store! Lofthouse Bakery makes sweet treats in a nut-free facility. The two we decided to try for Easter are sugar cookies with sprinkles and chocolate layer, and lemon meltaway cookies. These sweet treats are so good and I actually prefer the lemon cookies. They melt in your mouth and have a very distinct ? flavor. So if you’re out and about looking for a “safe sharing snack” for school church, or play group, or just a desert among friends, Lofthouse Bakery is 100% nut-free! Lofthouse Bakery items can be found at Target and Metcalfes…
Weeknight Chicken Wraps
My Instagram has this weeks menu posted if you need some weeknight meal inspiration! Quick and easy stuff! The Chicken Wraps are a new favorite – we recently had them at a St.Patrick’s Day party and they were a (surprise to me!) huge hit with the kids, too. I’m so grateful for these two mamma friends in my life – the three of us have been friends since our girls were born 6 years ago. They know our nut allergies so well, and always do such a wonderful job of talking about food and labels in advance of our get-togethers. Sometimes, it is almost like they are reading my mind…
Allergy Free Popsicles!
As I was scouring the shelves at the newly renovated Pick N Save on Fish Hatch, I came across these popsicles in the freezer section. I’m very cautious about ice cream and popsicles since we had an anaphylactic reaction to Chocolate pudding pops last May. The popsicle was made in a facility where nuts were also processed, and that information was NOT on the box. These popsicles, their formal name is “Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit” are wonderful. They are non-dairy, GF, vegan, kosher and non-GMO. While the box does not say anything about nuts, they are nut-free. Originally I bought them as a joke, since my daughter’s name is Chloe…
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