Apologies to all who follow this blog. I am the first to admit I'm a horrible blogger, but do realize that this may be an important resource for some and so I continue.

Living day to day with a food allergic child becomes second nature. Always reading labels at the grocer for fear that because the package has a new badge on it, that they've gone and changed the ingredient listing too. Always washing hands and face after every meal or cup of coffee. Never letting your guard down or getting too comfortable. SCCCCchhhhhrreeeeeeccccchhHHHH!

What was that I said? Never? Well, almost never. See when you're on vacation, your every being goes on vacation. I've come to learn that as long as we have reactions, I will never be on vacation from my son's food allergies. Mason is almost 2 now and I'd like to think that his father and I have a handle on what's safe and what isn't. What we've come to learn time and time again, is that we can never be perfect. We cannot protect him from everything. We cannot avoid exposures 100% of the time. Even we slip up.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we traveled to The Sea Ranch to enjoy the sand and sea with family. It was a very relaxing vacation, enjoyed by all. Especially Mason! He's enamoured with the Ocean. Couldn't get enough of watching the waves crash on the rocky shore.
Mark & I left Mason with his grandparents so we could have some quality time together, being thankful. As always, even though the grandparents are well aware of the "rules", we left the rules with them and flitted off into town for lunch. The time away was nice. We breathed sighs of sheer relaxation and before heading back, stopped into the local market to replenish snacks for the rest of our stay.
On more than one occasion I've picked up some Snap Crisps. The original version, I first found at our favorite - Trader Joe's. It's a salty, but milk free crunchy alternative to a cracker and delicious all on it's own.
Well, in my bliss of relaxation, I spotted some on the shelf at this small market and snatched them up, not realizing the packaging looked a little odd than I remembered, and home with us they went.
Fast forward to a few hours later & Mason was asking for a snack. I obliged happily as I served him a small bowl of Snap Crisps for us to share. I don't know what made me think twice, but after about 7 of them had made their way into his mouth, I decided to look at the bag one more time. Yup, I grabbed the Caesar variety, which wouldn't ya know, contains milk in the ingredient list. After a quick assessment of Mason for any signs of reaction (the salty residue was all over his face & fingers), and before the guilt for having such a cavalier lapse in judgement, we found no reaction at all.

You see, Mason's milk reaction is a little different than Joe Blow would assume. He doesn't experience upset stomach or lots of gas. His is a skin contact reaction. Where ever he is exposed to the ingredient, his skin reacts. It becomes puffy and red, eventually gets bumpy, then whiteheads appear - I'll spare you the rest, just trust me, it isn't pretty and it isn't comfortable. And because what goes in, must come out, we have the pleasure of treating two reactions with one exposure.

Back to the story. I figured playing with fire was dangerous enough and didn't allow Mason any more Caesar Snap Crisps. He wasn't too happy about it, but it was soon nap time. Time for him to rest and time for me to worry imagining the worst waiting for me come diaper change time. Mark & I decided that with such a small exposure and with plenty of Benadryl on hand, that we would treat this as a Food Challenge, so we did not dose him before his nap. Much to our surprise, grandparents included, there was no reaction in sight when he woke up. Nothing on his face, nothing in his diaper.
Whew! Crisis averted. Since then, I haven't been brave enough to challenge again. Especially not with pure dairy. I'll leave that up to his Pedi or Allergist. My heart can't take the stress I inflict upon myself.

So there's hope for the future. Lots of hope that Mason will grow out of his Dairy Allergy before he starts public school. Hope that his Peanut Allergy won't grow at all. Hope that we can eventually take that well deserved vacation from Food Allergies.

Until then, I've got big plans to help my Food Allergic community. Since our household is already set up and dealing with Dairy Allergies, and because I've always longed to stay at home with my children, I've found a way to use what we've got to suit my desire. I plan to open up and run a Family Childcare accommodating children with food allergies. It's so far been a long process, but that's my own doing. I'm never one to jump head first without a helmet and paramedics standing by, just in case. Considering the rising statistics of infants and toddlers with food allergies, I figure my target audience will be an appreciative one at the least.

I hope to continue posting here with our experiences. I hope that some will read and learn. I hope that some will read and know they aren't alone. I hope that some will read and teach me. I hope that some will read and I'll know we aren't alone.

Favorite Diary Free Snacks

Trying to come up with a variety of nutritious snacks for a toddler is a challenge when you're avoiding major ingredients like the plague. Heck, it's a challenge for any parent.



Here's a list of some of my favorite products. More importantly, they're Mason's favorites too.



*Brothers All Natural Fruit Crisps - A Costco find. A full serving of fruit in each pouch. They're light, sweet & crisp. The snap is so nice, Mason calls them Fruit Crackers.



*Whole Soy & Co. Yogurt - Blueberry seems to be the fan favorite, but all the flavors we've tried, including the plain are a treat. Peach, Strawberry, Raspberry, Straw-Banana, and Vanilla are common in our fridge. The Plain makes a great substitute for Sour Cream in most recipes.



*Bite Sized Veggies - Any veggie that can fit in a paw is perfect dairy free food. Baby Carrots, Cucumber wedges, cool Zucchini spears. If you can dip it in ranch, don't, but try it with your kid & some plain soy yogurt, with a squirt of lemon & a dash of dill for a dip.



*Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent Ice Cream - Really a Mommy favorite. You'd never know it didn't have traditional dairy product in it. So creamy, rich, but not overly sweet. The trick is the use of Coconut Milk. Genius! They've recently launched a line of Coconut Milk Yogurt, and I can only imagine it's just as fabulous.



*Tofutti Cheese Slices & Whole Wheat Crackers - Cheese & crackers is a quintessential snack for a toddler. Having to cut out dairy & find a cheese that's not like rubber in texture is difficult. Tofutti seems to come a close second. Mason enjoys it & I've got no objections. Cheese & crackers is always good followed with fresh fruit. Red Seedless Grapes are wonderful with the American Slices & a crisp White Peach goes wonderful with the Mozzarella version.

*Mac 'n Cheese - Speaking of Tofutti Cheese... some piping hot organic alphabet noodles from Trader Joes, lightly buttered and tossed with a broken up slice of Tofutti is better than no Mac'n Cheese at all.

*Fresh Fruit - We've already talked about Red Seedless Grapes, and White Peaches. Cantaloupe, apples & pears are also favorites in our family. Oh, and I can't forget Blueberries. We try our best to buy organic when the price isn't outrageous & you know we can't knock Frozen. Frozen fruits are great on a hot summer day or to plunk into the blender for a Soy Yogurt smoothie.

If I come across any more great products, because we all know a Grab & Go snack is a must with a toddler, I'll post them here.

A side note about the butter link above. We use Nucoa brand margarine. It's dairy free & has the closest taste & texture to real butter. It bakes well & fries well, not too much spatter, like some other "healthy" brands. I couldn't find a web link for the product, but the picture is exactly what it looks like on the shelf. It's relatively inexpensive & I've found it pretty much everywhere, Safeway, Raleys, Food Maxx, and those high end natural food stores too.