The Holidays, Food Allergies, and Tips for Dealing with Both

I thought about using the title "Survival Guide to the Holidays with Food Allergies" but it seemed a little grim.  The holidays are fun and exciting, but they also present many challenges for those families with food allergies.  The only time I ever see peanut brittle is during Christmas, along with eggnog and a host of other foods laden with nuts, butter, and milk.  Couple that with Christmas parties, shopping, and to-do lists a mile long, and a family with food allergies is suddenly in a combat zone! 

To help make the season a little brighter and safer for those with food allergies, I am sharing a few of my tips, activities, and recipes.

Cookies and Christmas Baking:  Check out the Breads and Baking tab.  It has recipes for sweet breads, cookies, and scones.  All are egg and dairy free and can be made GF with a flour substitution.  Share your good with others.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels: 

We love this treat during the holidays.  Use chocolate bark coating if you do not have a dairy allergy, but if you need a dairy and GF option, try this:

12 oz. of allergen free chocolate (Enjoy Life chips)

1 TBSP of shortening (Earth Balance)

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks

A handful of crushed candy canes

Combine and melt the ingredients in a double boiler (or slowly in the microwave). Once the chocolate is melted, dip GF pretzels in the chocolate and then place on wax paper until chocolate is hardened.  Optional: roll in crushed candy canes.

Hot Chocolate:  Baby, it's cold outside and having hot chocolate options is a must!  Try Archer Farms Dark Chocolate mix (see picture) or Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.  Add Soya Too Rice Whip, marshmallows, and a candy cane.

Vegetables:  Substitute olive oil for butter on the vegetables and don't be afraid to ask your family to make this simple substitution during family meals.  You can also pull some food aside before the vegetables get served to help prevent cross contamination.

Special Cups and Dishes:  I learned this trick last Christmas Eve when I set the table for our meal and poured my kids their milk.  All of the cups were the same and my son rushed into the room and took a sip of cow milk without thinking.   Anaphylaxis on Christmas is never fun, so we instituted using different colored cups for our son with allergies.  This alerts him and others that something is different and helps prevent accidental exposure to allergens.

Mashed Potatoes and other sides:  Potatoes go with most every meal, try one of these dishes:

Mashed Potatoes:  Use your favorite recipe and substitute rice milk, chicken or vegetable broth for the liquids and dairy free ‘butter’ for cow milk butter.

Potato Casserole Original Recipe:  

4 potatoes                   

1 sweet potato

1 parsnip

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 6 oz. container of sour cream

Parboil potatoes, cool.  Shred potatoes and parsnip.  Combine the rest of the ingredients with the potatoes and bake for 45 min at 350 deg.  Thank you Ellen for this yummy dish!

Allergy Friendly Recipe:

Use the same amount of potatoes and cook as directed above and shred.  Combine two flax eggs, ¼ cup of GF flour, ¼ cup of rice milk, and 1 cup of Daiya shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake as directed above.

Crafts Instead of Cookies:  The holidays do not always need to be about food!  Making simple crafts like cutting snowflakes, coloring, making Santa beards with cotton balls, constructing nativities, making candy cane reindeer, stringing popcorn and cranberries.  I am not too crafty, but I know that there is a limitless supply of Christmas crafts just waiting to be done. No dishes to clean-added plus in my book.

Anticipation: Advent calendars are made with milk chocolate, so try making your own Advent calendar.  Google ‘reusable, handmade, DIY’ advent calendars for ideas.  Fill each day with a handwritten note about a special activity or treat for that day.

 

Prepare and Plan.  There are two parts to this ‘prepare’.  One piece is to prepare for events, activities, parties. Try these tips:

·   Have allergy friendly snacks and treats ready for home and school events.

·   Bring your own food to parties for your allergic children.

· Feed your kids before you go to the party.  When I do this, I get to relax more and I avoid being the boss of the buffet table to help avoid cross contamination with food.

The second piece of this is to prepare your heart for Christmas.  Show love and patience, give of your time, talents and treasures, and don’t run the red lights when out shopping!  Be your best self.

Merry Christmas

I LOVE NYC

I <3 NYC

View from Statue of Liberty

Since this is our year of travel, a trip to New York City was top on our list of destinations.  Traveling with food allergies presented its challenges, but the effort was worth the reward.  We used the tools in our toolbox and planned ahead for a fun vacation for the whole family.

My family had an offer to visit New York City by my sister's brother-in-law and sister-in-law.  They graciously offered for us to stay in their apartment as they knew having a kitchen would be extremely helpful for our family.  They also did some grocery shopping ahead of time so we would have some of my sons' food handy. 

 

We traveled by train from Virginia to Penn Station in New York City.  This was a 7 1/2 hour train ride and so we needed to plan for 1-2 meals on the train.  Amtrak does offer food, but it's limited and they do run out of food.  We chose to pack our meals for each direction of the trip. 

Rockefeller Center

 

We started out exploring the city by visiting Rockefeller Center and a Lego Store.  Madness!  We visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and had lunch in their great café.  We packed a lunch for our son and managed to find food for our daughter who is allergic to egg.

Fun in Central Park

 

Central Park was next on our journey through the city.  The kids played at playgrounds, climbed on rocks, strolled the park, and had a ride on the carousal.  Since it was about 35 degrees, we headed for a hot chocolate break.  Unfortunately, our son experienced an allergic reaction.  It was either to the aromas in the coffee beans, the peppermint tea, or by how the drink was prepared.  Standing on a street corner in New York with an allergy reaction was not in the plan, but after 2 doses of Benadryl, relaxing in the apartment, and calming down, all was well.  Our son did not make it to the American Museum of Natural History, but the rest of the group carried on and had a great time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next day of adventure included a trip to the Statue of Liberty, Tribeca, SoHo, and Little Italy.  Our hosts encouraged me to pack food for the whole day for our son, as this was going to be an all day affair. 

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island was a great tour with the kids and humbling reflection of the past.  Walking through the halls of Ellis Island, I thought of my family members who walked these same halls 100 years ago.  I also wondered if anyone had food allergies 100 years ago and made the journey to a new land.  I am not sure, but it does make me wonder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferrara's

With the thoughts of my Italian family members on my mind, we headed for Little Italy.  By this time in the day, our stomachs were grumbling and everyone was hungry.  We had a meal packed for our son, but we did need to find a restaurant that would have something for our daughter.  We focused on finding a place that would have pizza, as we thought the homemade pasta would be made with eggs.  After dinner, we walked down the street to the well known Ferrara's Bakery and Café.  An Italian café is not an allergy friendly destination, but my daughter was able to have sorbetto gelato.  I pray that someday my children will be able to delight in all of the food of Little Italy, because it was delicious!

 

 

The last day of our trip included a trip to the top of the Empire State Building.  The view from the top was enjoyable as we were able to view the city we had spent the previous two days exploring.  We grabbed some souvenirs and lunch at the Chipotle.  We headed to the train station by walking on 34th street, past Macy's and Madison Square Garden. 

Much thanks and appreciation to our hosts who guided us up and down streets and through subways.  They took us uptown, midtown, downtown, lower, and upper Manhattan. They pointed out great buildings across the skyline, the states in view of the Statue of Liberty, and the boroughs of New York City. 

We managed to enjoy the city that never sleeps, in spite of the limitations of food allergies.  Until next time...