Thursday, September 24, 2009

Healthy Eating!

One of the phrases I heard a lot as a kid was something along the lines of, "Poor thing, you can't enjoy any foods!" It's amazing how some people know exactly what wrong things to say to children. =/ In all honesty, a child with food allergies can be a good thing, a GREAT thing even. Look around at the average kid today, and see what they're consuming: fast food, pizza, ice cream and cookies. Of course, this is all good in moderation, but it seems as though parents are getting too lazy to introduce healthy options to their children. I won't deny it, I myself eat a lot of cookies and ice cream and junk food here and there, but I will never say its a good thing.

According to Kidshealth.org, "The percentage of overweight children in the United States is growing at an alarming rate, with 1 out of 3 kids now considered overweight or obese."

So look at the upside of dealing with food allergies: in a sense it forces you to feed your child healthy options! Believe me, it IS possible for your child to love fruits and vegetables. Jacob's favorite food of all time is butternut squash, and he'd eat a whole squash if I let him. =)

Tonight's dinner recipe for Jacob:
Stir Fried Ground Lamb and Asparagus
Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

DeBoles Penne Rice Pasta

All kiddos love spaghetti right? Too bad most pasta noodles are made out of wheat! Tonight I tried DeBoles Penne Rice Pasta, and I must say it's pretty good. It also cooks a bit faster than the average pasta (about 5-7 minutes). I tossed the rice pasta with some ground beef and tomato sauce, and it made a simple meal. I will most likely throw in some veggies next time. DeBoles, you get two thumbs up! They also offer a lot of other gluten-free options, like quinoa, amaranth and corn.

Introduction

When I first got pregnant with my son, one of my biggest worries was, "will he have allergies like me?" I did so much research, and one of the main tips was to exclusively breastfeed until age one. We had him allergy tested at 9 months with a skin prick test, and unfortunately we found out that he indeed had quite a few food allergies, just like me. My son is now almost 13 months old, and has had some allergic reactions already. I am hoping though that because he was breastfed, he will at least outgrow his allergies earlier than I did.

Just a little background on myself, I was born with A LOT of food allergies. I was allergic to all of the common allergens like wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, seafood and nuts, and a few items here and there (so my mom says). I remember how difficult it was as a kid to have to ask "what's in this?" and have people pity you that you couldn't eat anything. Thankfully, I have outgrown all of my allergies except nuts. I still get reactions to certain things but for the most part, I can enjoy almost everything. For those of you who are new to the concept of food allergies, don't lose heart. You might have just found out one of your kids is allergic to everything and are confused because you and your spouse don't have allergies. It can hit anyone; it's not always hereditary. But seriously, it's not the end of the world, and it doesn't have to be!

Since food allergies are so common nowadays, it's so much easier to cope with. Restaurants now have full menus with ingredients and allergy warnings, and markets like Whole Foods offer a wide range of allergen free items. They didn't have all this when I was a kid. I remember resorting to Top Ramen, Spam and Instant Lunch because they were "safe." While I am still armed with Benadryl and an Epi-Pen, it's good to know that food allergy awareness is on the rise. Be encouraged, and stay tuned to my blog! Even though I have a lot of food allergies experience, I am still new to all of the food options that are available now, and will keep you all updated with my findings. This is actually kind of exciting to me because I have always liked to cook. I now have a new challenge on my hands, and that is to make awesome meals for my son to enjoy. I am confident that one day he will outgrow some, if not all his allergies, but in the meantime, I might as well have fun in this adventure of cooking!