Help with Food Allergies - Miami,FL

The holiday Passover is coming up. This is the only time of year you can find soy free margarines that are dairy free too. Soy is not kosher for passover. When my son was allergic to soy, I stocked up and froze sticks and tubs of margarine to use throughout the year. Great for baking. Also get ener-g egg replacer from whole foods. You are just going to have to spend a lot of time walking around the aisles of stores like whole foods reading lots and lots of labels. Good luck.

When you buy more natural, whole/unprocessed foods it is easier to find stuff without eggs or soy added. Whole Foods market has a variety of breads that don't contain eggs or soy, pastas as well. You can also find these items online at Amazon.com
You may want to look into some energy medicine therapies that can help clear/neutralize allergies. IMO allergies are increasing a lot due to environmental toxins and stresses which includes vaccinations that confuse the immune system rather than supporting the immune system. Chemicals in food and genetic modification of food also add to the problem. I've worked with some mind-body and energetic therapies that can help clear allergic responses, which is what is ideal for the long term so that the kids don't end up spending the rest of their lives being vigilant about avoiding particular common food components.

www.foodallergy.org

The food allergy network was a real help for me, especially at the beginning when we first discovered my daughters were allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and one is also allergic to fish, seafood, milk and wheat. She outgrew her egg allergy. I'm allergic to soy.

You'd think there would be nothing I could cook that we all could eat but I have quite a repertoire of meals that are safe for all of us. Here is how I plan meals:

Meat: I keep it simple, roast beef chicken, turkey or ham with spices. Sauces are usually a problem for one of us and are served on the side. Sometimes I pan fry meat and dredge it in rice flour rather than wheat.

Starch: Potatoes, rice, rice pasta, corn tortillas. You could also make things like biscuits since it looks like you all can eat wheat. How allergic is your child to egg? If it is not a life threatening allergy, you may be able to use products made in a facility that processes egg since there is only a slight chance that a tiny bit of egg could get into another product. If in doubt, you can email the manufacturer. Often they are careful about cleaning the machinery between batches, but have to put the warning on the label just in case.

Vegies: I usually stir fry using canola oil and some salt and pepper.

The key for me is to cook from scratch using plain, natural foods rather than processed foods from a can or package. It takes some getting used to but is not difficut. I buy alot of food from Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Costco. You might need to find a Natural Food store to get products that are free from soy and egg.

You might need to buy a bread machine. I am sensitive to Corn so high fructose CORN syrup is a big no-no. I have had to just bake my own a lot.

King Arthur Flour has different flour blends and baking mixes for sale. I've only noticed the gluten-free stuff since that's what one family member deals with, but maybe they have something that fits what you need. They have a website but I've also noticed some of their products in my local grocery stores.

The brand "Enjoy Life" is free of the most common food allergens. http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/

The Food Allergy Awareness Network (FAAN) has lots of good info, and I think they have a recipes section (some are free, others you have to get membership for in order to get access to).

I hate paying the $$$ for a box of peanut-free granola bars, and after much searching, found a recipe, which I "tweaked":
Easy Granola Bars
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx
By: Aliceyn Fokuhl
"Fantastic bars that have a lot of flexibility - adapt them to your liking! They store well. Use any combination of chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, pecans, almond slices, or any other tidbits you'd like in a granola bar."

Ingredients
* 3 cups quick-cooking oats
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted (use real dairy butter)
* ½ to 1 cup flaked coconut, optional
* 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips or butterscotch chips
* 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries or raisins or blueberries, etc.
* 1 cup of rice crispies
* 1/2 cup wheat germ or whey powder, optional (whey powder will add protein, wheat germ will add vitamins/minerals)
* 1/2 cup ground flax seed (good source of omega 3 fatty acids)
* 1 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Place the unopened can of condensed milk in a bowl of hot water. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, put oats, coconuts, rice crispies, choc or butterscotch chips, and wheat germ, whey powder and/or flax seed. Mix with a wooden spoon until blended.
3. Melt the butter in a microwave safe, medium sized bowl. Add the condensed milk and stir, then add the vanilla and stir again.
4. Add condensed milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon until well blended.
5. Spoon "batter" into baking pan. Use sheet of wax paper or well oiled hands to press mixture flat into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, turn on to rack, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.
7. Store in a Ziploc bag.

There is a yahoo group called foodlab and they post recipes and substitutes for ingredients as it's for families who have allergies, all types. They are a great group and helped me figure out my dd intolerances.

We have food allergies in our family and I've found that sometimes you just have to make your own stuff! I stopped buying cake mixes and we just make our own from plain ingredients. It's also much healthier that way since they put so many preservatives in boxed foods.

As for the eggs, I'm allergic to eggs but I've found that I can eat pasta that has been processed in a facility that also processes egg products. It all depends on how allergic your children are. I use Creamette Pasta all the time and I've never had an issue. Same with Prince brand. If your children are very allergic then you can try Spaghetti Squash spaghetti or make your own noodles from flour and water.

I love the book "What's to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook" which you can find on amazon.com. All the recipes I've tried have been delicious! There are recipes there for all meals and desserts. The dessert part is what sold me since it's so hard to eat dessert without eggs! Just watch the recipes for soy because the book is not soy-free.

Your best bet are the simple foods. We eat meat (chicken, beef, pork) as the main part of our meal. We eat a vegetable and some kind of starch like rice, pasta or potatoes. We go simple with the potatoes, butter is good!

Applesauce works great as an egg substitute in muffins. I recently made cupcakes with mashed-up banana instead of eggs and a cream cheese frosting and took them to a kids' party. My cupcakes disappeared immediately, with moms asking me for the recipe!

Feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to email you some of my favorite recipes.

Once you get used to it, you'll wonder why you ever ate eggs, nuts, strawberries and soy in the first place!

Find yourself a NAET practitioner and ELIMINATE their food allergies!! There is someone in Plantation who will do the testing for free! Let me know and I can get you the number. It works and that way you don't have to keep your kids on these silly diets! Their behavior will improve as well.

I have recently been diagnosed as allergic to gluten, which is in everything! I'm not sure what stores you have where you are, but Wholefoods and Chamberlains are great. Also, Publix has started labeling some of their Gluten free and allergy free products. Glutenfreemall.com has many diffrent types of items that they will deliver to your door! This works great for me since I am the only one with this allergy and my family does not want ANYthing to do with a gluten free diet. They offer foods for all types of allergies.

nothing helped me find foods appropriate for my family's allergies except hours and hours of my own research and label reading. depending on how bad the allergy is a little lecithin may not be awful
ronzoni healthy harvest whole wheat pasta. at whole foods you can find Rudi's brand bread that is free of all that stuff, also whole foods brand bread should be good for that as well. rice chex, cheerios, back to nature saltine crackers, back to nature graham stick cookies, clif bar fruit stick chews, good seasons italian dressing that you mix together.
use more potatoes, brown rice, and oatmeal. chicken, beef, fish, turkey. add a veggie and fruit and you have a balanced meal.
just remember other people have it much worse.

Feingold is the standard- check it out, as they also support groups. Dr Feingold figured this out a long time ago, so they have years of practical
advise.
I'd also check out WestonPrice- and Nourshing Traditions cookbook.
This will be an adventure. And you kids will be much healthier-not children should have soy, so this is all good.
Best, K