Bright Beginnings

It has been a while...sorry. Just wanted to tell you about a new product we are using.

Bright Beginnings is a soy based pediatric drink similar to pediasure. It acts as a fabulous supplement for allergy kids (those who tolerate soy, of course). Allergy Kid drinks about four cans a day in addition to his solid food. Since he started using it, he has finally started to gain weight at levels comparable to when he was still nursing.

Bright Beginnings is not available in stores (at least not around here), and is somewhat pricey. However, it is WIC eligible, though you may need a prescription to get it through WIC.

Also--this should NOT be used as a formula replacement unless approved by your pediatrician first.

Cracker Barrel

Well, here's one that wasn't as great as it could have been. We went to the local Cracker Barrel for dinner the other night. We asked our server is there was an allergy-friendly menu and she told us there was not. Usually we would ask the manager, but we had packed plenty of food for Allergy Kid, so we weren't too worried.

:(

-Allergy Dad

Mimi's Cafe

Well, some friends of ours asked us to go out to dinner with them tonight. We were a little wary as we have not had a lot of success with restaurants of late (Allergy Kid has puked 3 of the last four times we have eaten out). Mimi's Cafe was suggested so my wife called to find out if they had an allergy-friendly menu. The hostess said that she didn't think they had anything but offered to get the manager. The manager told us that, yes, in fact, they did have allergy-friendly menus and to ask for him when we arrived.

When we arrived, we asked the hostess to let the manager know that we were there. She returned a few minutes later with a copy of the menu that listed each item and what potential allergens were in it. This was a very simple table layout...we simply looked up an item and could see that it contained, for example: wheat, milk, eggs, and soy. By far the easiest menu we have seen.

When we were seated, we explained our situation to our server and gave him a copy of Allergy Kid's chef card. He went back and spoke with the cook and returned to assure us that Allergy Kid's grill chicken breast and steamed broccoli were being prepared with the utmost caution. Our server made sure to place items on the table far enough away from Allergy Kid that he couldn't reach them and he brought out Allergy Kid's plate separately from the others.

We were extremely impressed with the way that Mimi's treated us and since Allergy Kid did not vomit or show any other signs of exposure, we must assume they did an excellent job keeping his food isolated. They get a very strong recommendation from us!

The only other place that has offered us service even close to this level (that is, to bring out a separate menu) was a Chili's location we visited some time ago. I'll write about that in a separate post.

-Allergy Dad

Blueberry Muffin Mix

I wanted to share with you another muffin mix that we've been using for Allergy Kid. This one is a Blueberry Muffin Mix from the Chelsea Milling Company and sold under the brandname "Jiffy". This mix works well for us--the only listed potential allergen is wheat, but it does contain artificial flavors, so be careful.

This mix needs eggs and milk--we use soy milk and just skip the eggs. The muffins cook up just fine and Allergy Kid loves them. The other upside to these mixes is that we can get them at Albertsons on sale for like $0.69 a box. A lot cheaper than some of the other mixes that we've found.

Try this one and let us know what you think.

-Allergy Dad

Chocolate Chip Muffins

My wife's cousin gave us a box of Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix a couple of weeks ago. We finally tried it, and boy does Allergy Kid love them!

The mix is from Cherrybrook Kitchen and states on the box that it is peanut, dairy, egg, and nut free. We add soy milk (you can use rice or regular milk depending on allergies) and canola oil (you can use a soy margarine or any type of oil) to make the mix. We found the mix at our local Good Earth store. They are a little expensive--nearly $5.00 a box, but since Allergy Kid loves them so much we got more. We also bought a box of Cherrybrook Kitchen's pancake mix to try out as well. We will let you know as soon as we try it.

-Allergy Dad

Meet Us

We are the parents of a child with multiple food allergies. While we have known about his milk allergy since he was very young, we only discovered his other allergies after a visit with an allergist. The last couple of months have been something of a roller-coaster. We have learned so much that we need to change about the way we cook and eat. We have also realized that there it can be very difficult to find information for parents of children with multiple food allergies (well, unless you can afford to buy crazy expensive cookbooks...).

We decided that we could share the things that we learn with anyone who cares to look. And if you have some advice or feedback, please, let us know!

-Allergy Dad