Reintruducing milk day 1

with much discussion my husband and I have made the decision to try my daughter on milk again to see if perhaps she has an allergy to it or not. today we are going to call day one. Yesterday with much apprehension we gave her a rice cookie knowing that it contained not only milk product but also soy. it has now been over eight hours and their is no facial eczema. YAHOOO. I didn't think she got eczema from milk anyway, Wheat has always given her eczema on her face within eight hours of eating it. so far we don't see a reaction what so ever. this evening or perhaps tomorrow we will be adding just a bit of organic milk to her bottle and see how she does.
Our hopes are that she has grown out of her milk allergy or perhaps just built a tolerance to it. If we could add milk back into her diet slowly her options for food open up so much. not only could she enjoy ice cream and cheese but also get all the benefits and fat that milk has to offer!
I am trying not to get excited about the prospects of my daughter growing out of an allergy. I don't want to be disappointed if perhaps the challenge to feed her allergy free food continues. I have a sneaky feeling that she will be allergic to wheat perhaps for life or at least quite a long time. I am prepared for that. besides their is a world of food out their for wheat free people, its when you start adding milk, egg, and milk on top of the no no list that it begins to get overwhelming.
I have come along way in feeding my allergy child, no more do I feel like their is no option for her. I have learned so much about food, nutrition and learned a huge lesson in processed foods. I have learned more about allergies and food intolerance on my own with the help of the Internet than any one Dr had told me. I am proud to say that yes I have a child with food allergies, yes she eats good food, and yes you can do it! stay tuned for day#2

Allergen Free Chocolate Chip Cookie

Allergen Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Egg Free and Dairy Free

Here’s what you will need:

1/2 cup of shortening
(we use Spectrum brand made with 100% organic palm oil-alternatively 1/2 cup of safflower or canola oil would work as well)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
(you can also replace 1/2 cup of flour with oats or wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (omit if using oil instead of shortening)

1-2 tablespoons water (if needed)

1/2 cup shredded coconut
*(optional-FDA now considers coconut a tree nut and while rare,
some individuals are allergic)

6 ounce package of dark chocolate or dairy free chips of your choice
(Enjoy Life makes a dairy free chip, Vermont Nut Free also make a dark chocolate skipper which is an M&M replacement.) (Keep in mind that many chips contain soy lecithin though many individuals are not allergic.)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine shortening and/or oil, sugars, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Combine flour and baking soda in a separate bowl then add to wet mixture. Add optional coconut and stir. At this point mixture should be slightly moist, not dry or crumbly; add a small amount of water as necessary. Add chips and combine.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheets spaced 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies appear to be just barely set in the middle. These cookies will not brown like traditional cookies so be careful not to overcook.

Cool cookies on pan for 3 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool further. Yields approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Because they are preservative free, they are best eaten within the first few days of baking.

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food for thought

some interesting articles I found talking about blood testing being wrong or inaccurate for food allergies its worth a look. I will be retesting my daughter when she is two and will be starting the reintroduction of foods at that point.

Articles
Telling Food Allergies From False Alarms
blood tests for food allergies found inaccurate
Inaccurate blood tests could lead to allergy misdiagnosis

Meal plan for children with food allergies

In my endless hours of looking for recipes and meal plans for my daughter I come to one realization. They are just to far and few between. So in the interest of anyone looking to feed a child allergy free foods I offer up my meal plan for my daughter. I realize the difficulty of finding “safe foods” and just wished I could find a list of products and foods that I could either buy or make to have on hand. So for anyone interested what I feed my daughter here we go…….

egg, wheat, milk, soy, peanut FREE food

Breakfast

rolled oats, Oatmeal with or without vanilla rice milk and sugar or for a treat you can add a few chocolate chips from Enjoy life,

fruit, bananas, applesauce, grapes, peaches-Del Monte has fruit cups with no sugar added, any fruit really

oatmeal muffins, banana bread, zucchini bread, cranberry bread, pumpkin bread, oatmeal pancakes with or without blueberries, apple bread or muffins all recipes from Sofie safe cookbook from Emily Hendrix

to drink juice water or milk

Snack

Gerber offers freeze dried fruit in apple and strawberry banana. I don’t usually buy Gerber products because they are not allergy aware but they don’t seem to mess up fruit so I find them great snacks. Store brand is sometimes better anyway. Also Trader Joes has freeze dried strawberries that are yummy and melt in your mouth.

Baby MUM MUM and Toddler MUM MUM products are wonderful! they are rice crackers that are allergy free and really yummy! My daughter loves them we eat them everyday! its her favorite snack! they offer two types of crackers one baby friendly and one for toddlers for teeth! also have different flavors vegetable, banana, strawberry and now caramel they also offer organic products!

smoothies are always a hit with my daughter just blend up some fresh or frozen fruit and to make it a bit creamy add banana and rice milk to sweeten add juice instead of sugar. pour any remaining into a pop-cycle mold and they make a yummy ice cream later on, I also do this with juice and make my own pop-cycles

Frozen bananas in a baby feeder is a really good snack on a hot day and it was perfect for teething.

Good health Natural foods offers a wonderful variety of snacks. they are a very allergy aware company and offer a variety of chips safe for any child. My daughter loves the veggie chips and i feel confident giving them to her. When ever I shop I buy a few bags at a time because they are hard to find.

cookies are always a yummy snack and I have a few options for that as well. Enjoy life also offers cookies, and Nana’s cookie co offers yummy cookies but so far the best is always fresh from the oven. The best recipe I have found is this one so far, the search is always on!

Lunch

lunch at my house is usually leftovers from the night before but sometimes something fresh.

My daughter tolerates deli meats and I am sure to check the ingredients but she loves them. I give her Ham, Turkey, Or chicken.

always a fruit is good with lunch, usually grapes.

veggie chips are a treat she like to dip them im humus. be sure to check your brand some have soy.

sweet potato fries are a hit. simply cut your sweet potato into fry strips place them in a bag and shake with olive oil and salt until they are covered. Place on parchment paper in your oven at 400degree and bake for 30+45 min flip every 15 min. they will not get golden brown or crispy but remove when soft. they are a sweet and fiber filled treat!

cut up fresh veggies and steamed veggies are always on the menu.

as always you can check your Sophie safe cookbook for lots of wonderful recipes!

Dinner

My daughter loves to see that she is eating the same things that her daddy and mommy are eating. I think its important that she not feel left out or different because of what she eats or cant eat. I simply keep in mind her allergies and adjust the recipe for her. Example, if I make mashed potatoes is always fresh and I put a bit of rice milk in hers to whip it and leave out the butter. I make her gravy with organic stock or drippings and just add corn starch to thicken any dish. She eats what we eat and everything i make is home-made. I find that processed food just has too many ingredients and the only way Im gonna know whats in it is to make it myself. I don’t use boxed food and rarely use caned.

A perfect pasta sub for my daughter is to use rice noodles. You can find them in the oriental section of your store they are really good made with only rice and take on the flavor of the dish. I use them to make spaghetti, bean Alfredo, chicken noodle and such.

Be creative and learn about food and the options become endless. just because she has to do without certain foods does not mean she has to live with less!

The call

I received the call sometime after breakfast. My daughters Dr. is a very nice lady and I enjoy her honesty and aggressive nature. I remember the first thing she said to me was
"you have a very allergic little girl." I was shocked but at the same time not, but it also left be bracing for the next words...
"she seems to be allergic to everything that we tested her for." My mouth dropped. she went on to explain to me that she was Highly allergic to wheat, and soy and was also showing marks in milk, eggs and peanuts. I was speechless. At this very moment my daughter looked up at me with a yogurt drop in her mouth happily munching away at her itchy snacks. I couldn't help but to laugh, not a its so funny laugh, but more of a relief i guess. I had been spending the last five months of my life fighting to find a resolution to my daughters eczema and now I had it. to my surprise i felt a seance of relief and a bit invigorated. because now i knew what what causing it and I could do something about it. I quickly cleaned out my cupboards and removed snacks with allergies. I was left with practically nothing, so off to the store i went with a seance of purpose and a list of allergens.

Then it happened, standing in the isle of the store putting the tenth box of food back on the shelf that the overwhelming feeling hit me. I was struck with the feeling of "what am I going to feed my baby" everything I had previously fed her was wrong. practically in tears I left the store empty handed. it was so much to take in. i had re-learn everything I ever knew about food. And the urgency was strong. So this started my journey to relearn what it is to have a child will allergies. To think about food in a whole new light. To become responsible for my daughters health and to take charge of her eczema.

Our story!

Malorie Rose was born November 22, 2008 she was a large healthy baby and on the surface everything seemed so normal and perfect. Little would I know that we would have a more than out of the ordinary adventure! Due to a list of reasons that I will not get into at the moment sadly I was unable to exclusively breastfeed my daughter and thus she was on formula. And so our journey began....

When Malorie was about four months old I noticed her face was covered in tiny bumps. Baby acne? allergic reaction to cotton? soap? lotion? perfume? I had no idea it was the Gerber brand cereal that I had just introduced...who puts soy in rice cereal?? I digress.

At this time her cradle cap had come back at full force and was causing her to be very itchy at night when we were all trying to sleep. Eventually all of this came to a point were it was very obvious that my daughter had developed eczema! The picture to the left was taken when My daughter was six months old. Her diet had increased and unfortunately so had her eczema. I had no idea it could be food allergies, I was feeding her baby food why would they put anything but fruit and veggies in baby food?! I was taking her to Dr. after Dr. and received so many different creams and shampoos but no one offered a blood test. I washed her ceremoniously and took so much care in what touched her skin. little did I know I was feeding her the cause of her pain. Besides I had tried to eliminate foods but nothing seemed to help. Little did I know she was not allergic to one particular thing but a many!!! A few months had passed with no relief and no sleep for mommy. She would wake up crying in the night every night itchy and bloody from scratching. I felt so helpless and sad that I couldn't help her. Their was nothing I could do to ease her pain and the rash seemed to spread and spread and spread. We had the diagnosis of eczema but was told they don't know why such things happen. And so the rash continued....

As a mother having a child with eczema was stressing. I felt as if I had failed her in someway. I could not help her when she cried and when her face hurt. I worried that this would be something that she would have to deal with her whole life. I was upset when people would talk about her or ask silly questions about her face.
Let me tell you the comments were endless. People would stop me in the store to ask me what was wrong with my baby. "Is her face dirty?" "ooh my did she get a burn?" Yes yes my child was horribly burned thank you for bringing up horrible memories.... Yes it got to that point. I was fed up and protective over her I hated the way people looked at her. All they saw and all they talked about was her skin and how her rash looked.

I had enough I was going to find answers. I spend hours on the Internet looking at pictures of other children that had the same condition as my daughter. I skimmed thew countless web sites claiming to heal her skin with magic and soap for only hundreds of dollars. I purchased countless bottles of lotion and bath soaps that claimed to help.

Finally I made another Dr appointment determined not to leave the office without a blood test, testing for food allergies. To my astonishment I didn't even have to ask my daughter was taken right away to have blood drawn. The procedure was a bit stressful but all survived it. Now all that was left to do was wait....