The coolest medical alert jewelry, but will he wear it?

Finally, I have discovered a company that makes very stylish medical alert jewelry. Check out Lauren's Hope. This jewelry is so stylish for both boys and girls.

We have never required that our son wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace. Since he is getting older and spending more time out of the home, between school and sports, I am wondering if this would be a good time to introduce this to him. Probably should have done it sooner and hopefully it's not too late and he'll be open to this.

Our son's allergist highly recommends that he wear an alert bracelet or necklace. As he gets older and starts to take on the responsibility of reading labels and making choices on his own, the thought of him having this alert information on him does give me comfort that should he need medical attention, his allergies will immediately be identified.

I would love to get some feedback from my allergy moms out there and what you do?  Does your child wear medical alert jewelry? Let me know!

You're Gonna Miss This

Every parent should listen to this song, You're Gonna Miss This, by Trace Adkins.  I'm more of a Black Eyed Peas kind of girl and don't usually like country music.  There is something about this song that is quite moving and fitting for a parent trying to juggle all the responsibilities that go along with not only dealing with a child's allergies and the holidays but just having a family in general and dealing with the day to day stress.

Even more fitting is the fact that Trace Adkins serves as the National Honorary Chair of the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward a Cure.  Trace Adkins' daughter has several food allergies, including peanuts, milk and eggs.

If you have never heard the song, You're Gonna Miss This, then you should take a minute to listen.



Here is a link to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIBediEAcUQ

Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats

My boys had a lot of fun helping me make these marshmallow pilgrim hats.  We found this easy holiday idea on the Family Fun website.  We had to make a few adjustments to the ingredients to make it milk-free and safe for our son.  Instead of using shortbread cookies, we used our supermarket's (Safeway) brand of cookie called Tuxedos.  Tuxedos are very similar to an Oreo cookie. Then we simply melted our milk free chocolate chips in the microwave, dipped the marshmallows in the melted chocolate, and popped them on top of the cookies.  A half hour in the freezer, a little yellow icing, and we had a fun, and very messy, dessert.  Enjoy!

For more information go to the Family Fun website.

Food Allergies and The Holidays

Check out Whole Food's Blog and the recent article about managing the holidays with food allergies.  Within the article there is a link to a collection of holiday recipes.  There are enough recipe ideas for everyone, whether you have allergies or not and are broken down by allergy, if you are looking to avoid an allergen specifically.

Here is the link to the Whole Foods Blog:  Food Allergies and The Holidays.

Happy Holidays~

And for dessert.....

....a chocolate cake from a box.  Yes,  that's right, from a box.   Cherrybrook Kitchen makes a chocolate cake mix that is egg, dairy and nut free and tastes like a chocolate molten cake.  It is amazing.  Of  course, I add chocolate chips, like Tropical Source or Ghiradelli dairy free chocolate chips to the batter before baking.  The more chocolate the better.  My boys actually suggested that I put the cake mix on the blog, they liked it so much.  I have not tried any of Cherrybrook's frostings yet.  Instead, I make a quick glaze by mixing about two cups of powdered sugar with one to two tablespoons of soy milk (Silk Vanilla Soy Milk).


So if you are looking for a quick dessert and especially if you have food allergies, you might like this cake from Cherrybrook Kitchen.

What's for dinner?

How about Italian Turkey Meatballs for dinner served over your favorite pasta.  This is such an easy dinner.  It takes under 30 minutes!

Finally, I think I have come up with a turkey meatball recipe that everyone in my family likes.  Every time I make meatballs, I wing it and each time change the recipe a little.  This time, everyone liked the recipe and I remembered to write down what I did.  Here is the link for the recipe:  Turkey Meatballs filed on the Milk-Free Recipes Page.  Hope you like them.

Bella's Bakery caters to people with allergies!

If you happen to be in NJ, check out Bella's Bakery~nut free and dairy free treats! This bakery caters to children with allergies. We need more people like you, Janet Antico. Thank you!!

Click here for the link ~ Bella's Bakery.

What's for dinner?

Thought I would kick off November with a warm chili recipe.  This is a very hearty chili with three different kinds of beans and loaded with vegetables.  It has lots of ingredients but it is very easy to make and makes a lot.  Freeze the leftovers or enjoy it for a couple days.  We had this last year on Halloween and had leftovers and still enough to freeze after feeding four adults and two children.  Everyone loved it.  A friend gave me this recipe and found it in the Cooking Light magazine.  Click on Milk Free Recipes for the recipe and for the link to Cooking Light magazine.