food allergies

Brands We Love

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Nearly two years ago as I cleared out our pantry shelves, emptied the freezers, dumped, and donated 75% of our food; surely I thought; “I’ve I lost my marbles” occurred more than a few times. What were we going to eat? What would I feed my family of five {soon to be six}? 


Thankfully several friends served as a guiding light in many ways; they shared stories of baking triumphs and failures. They led me to brands their families enjoy and the stores that carry them. It quickly became clear that I was out of my normal shopping zone and I hope if you are making a switch that this can in some small way serve as your light. Those days of purging food were dark and having hands to hold got me through it.

 A typical shopping trip for me once included mostly organic foods (crackers, snacks, pastas, sauces, etc.) fruit and veggies were ordered from Door2Door Organics or the local farmers market, and all meat was ordered from an area farm. How was I to know that just because it’s “organic” the first ingredients were still wheat flour? If the flour used was wheat regardless of the non-chemically altered state it was no longer going to work in our home. I needed wheat, barley, rye, and oat free. Organic or not my list was vastly different.

In fact did you know you know that shopping the outskirts of your grocery store is actually the only part you really need? The inner stocked shelves are mostly processed foods that our bodies have become overloaded with. Now, that said; balance is vital in a gluten free diet or any “diet” per say. Remember just because it’s a gluten free packaged item in no way does it make it healthier. Gluten free foods are typically not fortified with the added vitamins as it’s “normal” counterparts. Eating gluten free is not a weight loss diet either as many of the foods carry a higher sugar or fat content in order to compensate for the texture “loss” that gluten provides.  

Some products we use/enjoy;
Udi brand most anything (bread, bagels, cookies, and cinnamon rolls) 
Bobs Red Mill or Trader Joes GF oats
Trader Joe wheat less waffles
Glutino Pretzels

*I will continue to compile a list of products we use. Affiliate links are included for your convenience if a purchase should be made directly through these links a portion of the sale will help support my family.

Dirty Laundry

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Today’s post is going to stretch my abilities as I make an effort to stick with my 31days {Food Intolerance’s} and Five Minute Friday {fun}. Ha, nutrition and “laundry” {today’s prompt} I’ve got this,right? Here goes unedited, five minutes..

Go…
 I’m inviting you all to join me for a tasty treat. Sometimes life is full of ups and downs and we find ourselves carrying too many bags. Bags of dirty laundry; the kind filled with fear, tears, pain,stress, and heartache. The bags of lost loved ones, divorce, separation, and mangled friendships. These bags weigh us down. They keep us grounded. It is hard to breathe and lift our head above one more piece because surely if we move everything will come crashing. Spiraling out of control; feelings of hurt, pain, and fear all surface as we sort. We begin to sort; treating the stains worth keeping. One bag at a time we begin to see the bottom again, but this time although the bag may appear empty it is in fact very full; perseverance, hard work, trust, love, and friendship sit nicely folded until the next turn of the basket. Life gets messy and the laundry consumes us and sometimes we just need to know when to get away from it all; hang up the clothes, breathe and walk away. Seek comfort in the things that bring us the most joy; our families, good fellowship, and you know, chocolate chip cookies. The laundry won’t fold its self, and the stains need treating. However, today enjoy a treat on me. 

 Chocolate Chip Cookies 

*We made ours gluten free and they can easily be made dairy free using a product like Earthbalance. 

Ingredients

1 C. butter or alternative
1 C. white sugar
1 C. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. all purpose flour (or GF flour mixture)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. Chocolate chips
1 C. walnuts (we used oats)

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  • Direction
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
  2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking soda and salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. {we subbed the nuts for oats}. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
  3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Dairy, Oh’Dairy

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When people find out we are a gluten and dairy free house they are very quick to have pity on our gluten sensitivity issues. However, I’m all about honesty here and the truth is gluten alternatives are not bad {some are quite yummy}. Dairy on the other hand is far more difficult to sub out; how do you make cheese taste like cheese when it’s made with flour and cellulose? You don’t. Dairy is also far more complex {I think} to understand. Did you know we are the only animal to ingest another animals milk? We don’t see goats nurse off of cows or vice versa now do we? 

Milk allergies; occur when the immune system mistakenly sees the protein in milk as an enemy and as something it should fight off. Milk allergies can cause irritability, bloating, discomfort, rashes, and respiratory  problems. Many children but not all will outgrow their milk allergy between 3-5 years of age. 

Is a milk allergy the same as being lactose intolerant? No, lactose intolerance is typically seen in adults and older children only. It is the inability to digest the sugar lactose that is present in milk. Where as most young children are in fact reacting to the proteins {whey and/or casein}. 

With dairy it is not uncommon to have a slower onset before seeing a reaction {7-12 days} from consumption. This making dairy very difficult to pin point as a problem at times. Although, please note some children react immediately. Some symptoms but not all include; loose stools {k.bears colored poop}, gagging, unexplained vomiting, congestion, eczema type rash, wheezing and in severe cases even anaphylaxis can occur. 
If you suspect that your infant or child is allergic to milk, as with anything I advise calling your doctor.  Testing/diagnosing for dairy reactions; There’s no single lab test to accurately diagnose a milk allergy at this time. Therefore, your doctor might order several tests to make a diagnosis. He/she will use a process of elimination in order to rule out any other health problems as well. A stool test, blood work up, and an allergy skin test may all be administered. If your child is showing signs of a milk allergy response you maybe advised to avoid it altogether.
*Remember dairy stays in our systems for quite sometime eliminating dairy for a few days will not likely show any change/improvement. 
Photo credit; Dr.Akirah