Category — Food Allergies

I certainly don’t want to say this too loudly, but watching snippets of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and seeing him on Oprah made me almost RELIEVED that peanut has so many food allergies.  Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t eat ONE item they were showcasing in the school cafeterias on the show.

As one of 5 siblings in my family growing up, my parents were always frugal.  We rarely went out to eat and my mother always packed a lunch for us.  I was often embarrassed by my whole wheat sandwich and fruit because I wanted to be like everyone else.  We longed for the processed cafeteria lunches : salisbury steak, chicken nuggets or soggy pizza.  And oh how we craved WHITE bread sandwiches with bologna and Velveeta that our friends were eating.

Of course I appreciate my homemade lunch upbringing now and hope to instill the same consciousness around food and health in my own family.

Nowadays, this is what I crave :

Birthday parties are hard when you have a child with a lot of food allergies.  Most kid parties include “kid friendly food” such as pizza, macaroni & cheese, chicken nuggets and THEN the cake and ice cream.  Peanut is allergic to every single one of those items (in their most popular and original forms, that is).  I usually pack a lunch (rice pasta with chicken! veggie stir fry! quinoa and fish!) and bring along a “special” cupcake that I’ve made ahead of time at home or one that I’ve purchased from The Sensitive Baker.

BUT, as excited as Peanut is about her cupcake, she’s also starting to realize that she’s not eating what the other kids are eating.  She’s not doing what the other kids are doing.  I know it’s going to be her journey for awhile (fingers crossed she outgrows these allergies), but as a Mom, I always want my little one to feel as included as possible.

This weekend, we made it possible!  It was my niece’s 3^rd birthday and we hosted a little party here, so I volunteered to make the cake.  It’s a gluten free vegan cake that Peanut can eat as well.  I’m so excited that I found some easy cake + frosting mixes from Cherrybrook Kitchen.   (I used rice milk and smart balance to avoid any dairy additions).

AND … please do not laugh at the finished product.  A baker, I am NOT.  But – voila!  Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free!  Peanut was so happy, and that’s what warms my Mama heart.