In case you may not know… this week is the Food Allergy Awareness Week. It is a week and a topic that our whole family lives with every single day. It has become a lifestyle for us and sometimes I feel like I have lost touch with it. I say this because it is who we are now and I just don’t give it much thought in our home. I do however, give it a lot of thought when our little boy steps his tiny feet outside of our home.
It scares me so much.
I try to be prepared but inevitably there are times that cannot be planned for or packed for (as I usually try to do for him). I know it may be hard to comprehend for those who do not live with food allergies, but our E has never had an icecream cone from Dairy Queen, he cannot go to the movies without a packed bag of “his” popcorn and he will never be able to enjoy a class party or Birthday party without bringing his lunch box.
I think I get more “choked up” when I think about what he “cannot have” than he ever will. He just doesn’t know any different since he has had food allergies since he was a baby. SGD and I knew he had these food issues but it didn’t really sink-in until the day that I raced him to the emergency room because he was having an anaphylactic reaction and his lips were huge and swollen.
It then became so real. We knew his life depended on us to figure this whole nutrition/ingredients thing out…and let me tell you – it has not been easy. I have cried, I have felt sad, I have felt ticked-off, and after all of these depressing feelings…I came to accept and feel joyful. Say WHAT? Yes. It happened on the day that we had to take him to a local children’s hospital. We rode up the elevator to the allergy floor which just so happens to be the same floor as the children with Cancer. It broke my heart to see all of these itty-bitty children clinging to their mama’s and to their life.
I knew then that we could handle this and that Thank God we have a little boy who is alive and healthy. Yes, we have to read ingredients. Yes, we have to pack a lunch box with him. Yes, we have to monitor his every bite. But he is otherwise healthy and he has a life with so many possibilities ahead of him. Thank You God.
Please do not get me wrong on this friends…it is and can be a life-threatening diagnosis. It has taken the lives of children and adults-it is serious BUT it can be dealt with and hopefully prevented for so many others. I am thankful for the awareness that so many caring people are creating…working hard to make our lives safer and easier.
One such person who I just adore is Kelly Rudnicki who has created, out of the need and joy of living with her very own food allergic children, The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book. She has walked in the same steps that I have in trying to make life and the whole food experience “normal” for her kiddos. I struggled to find substitutions that would work and to create some (sometimes disgusting) muffins, breads, cookies or special treats that I knew my E could tolerate safely. That is no easy task!
The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book is fabulous and wonderful and everything good for not just the food allergic, but all of us! It is FULL of yummy “treats” and they are something I would, could and have gobbled up in a heart-beat! They taste like the “real thing” and you would never know they are nut, dairy and egg-free!
This Baking Book is FULL of amazing and delicious recipes that are simple to prepare and best of all – you can be sure that they are safe to eat! Kelly has made living with food allergies much easier to deal with through this great resource…it is truly a “must-have” if you have a child who suffers from food allergies. What child wants to feel left out or “different”…none that I know. I am so happy to have so many easy allergy free goodies to make for our E now…even if that means packing them!
Thank you so much Kelly for creating such a useful and important recipe book! Your treats are delish and certainly smiling green E approved!!! For more on Kelly, you can visit her awesome blog (where she shares some of her tasty recipes) at www.foodallergymama.com and The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book (112 pages) can be ordered for just 19.95.
Chances are that even if your child does not have food allergies, someone in his/her class at school, some at church, or someone that you know does! This book is such a gift as children with food allergies no longer have to be excluded as their little friends eat up all their special treats!
Thank you so very much Kelly 
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I can totaly relate to your article and think the Food allergy cookbook looks great. I’d like to tell you about NAET. It is an ALLERGY ELIMINATION treatment that is working for my son and family! It is using western and eastern medecine principles and accupressure. It is very nonevasive, safe and relativley cheap compared to all of the ER visits you will not have to go through after treatment. A regular allergy doctor will not tell you about it because they may think it’s crazy or maybe they are mad because they will lose you as a patient if you go to the NAET doctor! Check it out online.
Thanks for the info and for stopping by!
Our E has been through so much and thankfully his intolerances and Eczema have been helped dramatically from his Belly Boost probiotics! However, he does still have “allergies” and carries his Epi-pen. I will look into your suggestion – thank you so much. It is always so helpful when you hear about things that work for others 
kelly is awesome and so is her baking book! Thanks for sharing her with all your readers. She’s a real gem!