Archive for May, 2012

AFW: Chipotle Bacon Guacamole, Chicken Cacciatore, Root-Beer Cupcakes

 

Chipotle Bacon Guacamole, Oven- Baked Chicken Cacciatore and Root-Beer Cupcakes – yes, please!  It’s my favorite time of the week!  I love peeking into your kitchen and seeing what you are cooking.

 

You can find all of my past allergy-free favorites (top 8 free) on my Pinterest board called Allergy Free Wednesdays Favorites.   You don’t have to have a Pinterest account to see it, but if you do have a Pinterest account make sure you are following the new board!  Here are this weeks favorites:

 

My allergy-free (top 8 free) favorites:


 

Reader Favorites:

 

 

Be sure to stop by the other hosts’ blogs and check out their favorites!

I’m hosting this party with six fabulous bloggers: Tessa@Tessa Domestic DivaMichelle@The Willing CookLaura@Gluten Free PantryAmber@The Tasty AlternativeJanelle @ Gluten Freely Frugal and Adrienne@Whole New Mom.

 

A few things to remember when linking up:

  • Recipes/articles do not have to be completely allergen free, just allergen free in some way.  It would be helpful if you could note what your recipe is free of in the title.  For example: Italian Sausage and Summer Squash Skillet (top 8 free)
  • Please link back to this party.  You can grab the badge in the bottom of the right sidebar if you wish.  Remember, your link will show up on all 7 blogs!

Please read the full list of rules here.

 

Could the Problem be Eosinophilic Esophagitis?

 

 

Please join me in welcoming Colette Martin, the blogger behind Learning to Eat Allergy-Free.  I met several children with Eosinophilic Esophagitis at National Jewish Health.  These kids are amazing!  Many of them can eat only a handful of foods or less, but with the miracles of science, they are living a normal life.

******************************************************************

When my son was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EE, or EoE) in 2001, doctors understood very little about the disease. It was his gastrointestinal specialist who initially made the diagnosis, following an endoscopy of his esophagus. The inflammation was clear, but not the cause.

 

The road to Patrick’s EE diagnosis was long and stressful. It was a bit like an episode of House, where the doctors treat for everything they can think of, the patient gets a little bit better, then worse yet again. As an infant, Patrick was treated for colic. In elementary school he was tested for lactose intolerance and indeed determined to be intolerant. But just avoiding milk didn’t resolve his symptoms. Next it was acid reflux; the purple pills seemed to help for a while, but masked the real problem. It wasn’t until we determined that he was allergic to milk, wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, and eliminated those foods, that he started to get better.

 

When my son’s GI specialist suggested it could be EE, I started researching. The little information I could find talked about children with feeding tubes (in the most extreme cases of EE the patient can’t tolerate any protein at all), but we also found some descriptions where allergies to a limited list of foods would trigger the EE. When we read how patients described the disease we both said, “Ah ha! That’s the answer.”

 

Because the disease is unlike any other, the symptoms can be very telling. Kids will say things like, “It feels like something is stuck in my throat, ” or, “My throat is closing up, ” or, “My throat feels fuzzy.” But you may not hear any complaints at all, because this is just normal for your child.

 

EE sufferers may cough or gag to try to get the food unstuck. During what I call an EE episode, a child may hold their chest, or complain that their chest hurts.

 

Children with EE may eat slowly – not because they aren’t hungry or are picky – but simply because it’s hard for them to get the food down an inflamed esophagus. Your child may be the last to leave the table or leave their meal unfinished. They may require a great deal more liquid to get the food down, especially with certain foods. My son found lettuce extremely difficult to swallow, whereas mashed potatoes would go down easily.

 

With an EE reaction, the esophagus becomes inflamed. Imagine a rash up and down the esophagus that causes it to swell and close up. And when the esophagus swells, food gets stuck and it can be very painful. Another key symptom is vomiting – when the esophagus closes up there is no place for the food to go but up.

 

It is especially hard to determine what foods cause this autoimmune reaction, because it may not be an immediate reaction and it may take days for the esophagus to clear up once it swells. My son didn’t react at all to scratch tests; it was a combination of blood tests and observed reactions to food that allowed us to confirm his food allergies.

 

If you suspect your child has EE, you aren’t alone. Approximately one in every 2000 people suffer from EE. Traditional food allergy symptoms include rashes, gastro-intestinal symptoms, and – in the most severe cases – anaphylaxis. With EE the primary symptom is inflammation in the esophagus.

 

Organizations including the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders support the community and fund research to find a cure.  I urge you to visit their site to find out more. You can also learn more about my family’s journey with EE at Learning to Eat Allergy-Free.

******************************************************************

Colette Martin is a food allergy mom, an allergen-free baker, and author of Learning to Bake Allergen-Free: A Crash Course for Busy Parents on Baking Without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts. When her son was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis in 2001, triggered by allergies to wheat, milk, eggs, soy and peanuts, she had to reinvent how her family ate. Having first learned to bake in her grandmother’s kitchen with wheat, butter, milk, and eggs, Colette understands first-hand what it means to transform her kitchen to accommodate multiple food allergies. As she modified her recipes to eliminate the top eight food allergens and gluten, she discovered her own intolerances to wheat and soy.

Slow-Cooker Barbecue Beef Brisket

 

 

“This is the best brisket I’ve ever eaten, and I’m 50 years old!” That’s what a guest said when I served this slow cooker barbecue beef brisket earlier this week.  Hop on over to Stacy Makes Cents to see the recipe.

Find more allergy-friendly crock-pot meals here.

 

Allergy-Free Wednesday: Pumpkin Black Bean Brownie Ice Cream, “Cream Cheese” Frosting and “Cappuccino”

Happy Allergy-Free Wednesday!  I love all of the allergy-free creativity shared at these parties.  I mean seriously, Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Black Bean Brownie Ice Cream?  I’ll take a double scoop!

You can find all of my past allergy-free favorites (top 8 free) on my Pinterest board called Allergy Free Wednesdays Favorites.   You don’t have to have a Pinterest account to see it, but if you do have a Pinterest account make sure you are following the new board!  Here are this weeks favorites:

My allergy-free (top 8 free) favorites:

Most Popular:


 

Be sure to stop by the other hosts’ blogs and check out their favorites!
I’m hosting this party with six fabulous bloggers: Tessa@Tessa Domestic DivaMichelle@The Willing CookLaura@Gluten Free PantryAmber@The Tasty AlternativeJanelle @ Gluten Freely FrugalandAdrienne@Whole New Mom.
A few things to remember when linking up:

  • Recipes/articles do not have to be completely allergen free, just allergen free in some way.  It would be helpful if you could note what your recipe is free of in the title.  For example: Italian Sausage and Summer Squash Skillet (top 8 free)
  • Please link back to this party.  You can grab the badge in the bottom of the right sidebar if you wish.  Remember, your link will show up on all 7 blogs!

Please read the full list of rules here.


 

Italian Roasted Chicken and Potatoes One Dish Dinner

 

Looking for a delicious one dish dinner?  This simple chicken and potato dinner is full of Italian flavor.  It reminds me of marinated grilled chicken with roasted potatoes but with a lot less fuss.  Add a salad and you have a complete meal the whole family will love.

Italian Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken Breasts, cut into large bite size pieces
  • 6 Red Potatoes, chopped into large bite size pieces
  • 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Basil
  • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
  • Pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400.
  2. Place chicken pieces in bottom of 9 X 13 pan.   Place chopped potatoes on top of chicken.
  3. Drizzle heavily with olive oil and stir until all potatoes are coated in oil.
  4. Sprinkle remaining ingredients on top.
  5. Gently stir to evenly coat chicken and potatoes with seasoning.
  6. Roast 45 minutes or until chicken is done and potatoes begin to brown.

You may also enjoy:

National Jewish Health, Day 8

Previous: National Jewish Health, Day 7

If you are new here, you can find all of the posts in our Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here to get caught up!

Surprise! Bella woke up whining about her nose wash. I had to drag her out of bed. We had our morning bath in our room. This is the new plan now that we are pros – ha!

I let her play with the nasal wash in the bathtub last night and again this morning. Last night she had fun squirting water on the ceiling and getting me all wet. This morning she actually put it up to her face and squirted. We are making progress!

Once we got to the hospital she said she wanted to try to do the nasal wash by herself. She actually got one side pretty well. She missed the other side and shot herself in the eye. We all did a happy dance. Normally, we would have let that be enough, but since her nose is so blocked up, we decided she still needed the nurses to give it a good flush. It only took two nurses to hold her and one to squirt. They told me they practiced how to hold her after we left last night. They are amazed at how strong she is.

After the wash, Bella did her Nasacort by herself. This is big progress as she wouldn’t even hold it up to her nose before.

Today we challenged eggs in the form of french toast. She loved it and she passed! This means she is now clear to eat eggs in any form, even though she still tests allergic to them.

We started Prevacid today for her reflux. The doctors reminded me to follow up with an ENT at home. They are very interested in whether or not the large tonsils and adenoids could be contributing to the reflux.

 

 

Her skin is still eczema clear. She has developed what looks like pimples up and down her legs. They said it is normal. They don’t know why it happens but they will go away in a couple of weeks. There are two spots that look angry. They have prescribed a topical antibiotic to be applied three times per day to those spots. We are not to cover those spots in our wraps. They need to breath.

We had group therapy again today. There was a new dad that just came in this morning. It was interesting to hear his perspective. Sometimes I forget that helplessly watching your child suffer is just as hard on the dad as it is the mom. I noticed on another day that one of the dads was more worried about his totally stressed out wife than he was his kid. I am thankful for and miss my strong and supportive husband. I can’t wait for him to see the progress we’ve made here.

After group, Bella and I introduced ourselves to the newest Atopic Dermatitis patient, a 7 month old girl. It was so fun to show off Bella’s new skin and encourage her parents. I’m so happy they found this place while their baby is young.

The psychologist spent 30 minutes alone with Bella today. She let Bella lead her in play. She said Bella spent the whole time caring for a stuffed dog. Lots of notes were taken and several doses of medicine and nose washes were administered. The doctor was pleased with Bella’s progress.

As we left today, we realized that this was our last time to see the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday staff. We said goodbye to our favorite nurse, Beth Ann. She has been our biggest cheerleader. She has been working here for over 25 years. She was the one that took care of us the first few rough days and almost completely healed her skin. She has known when to be gentle and when to be assertive with Bella. She has been a wealth of knowledge. In fact, she is the one that taught the one hour lecture on Atopic Dermatitis. I hugged her and cried. She has no idea how she has changed our life.

After we left the hospital we met up with Bella’s little angel, the local girl who helped us so much last week. They took us up to red rocks. Her mom is really into archaeology so it was like having a private tour.

After playing in the red rocks we took the girls to Red Robin for dinner. We were pretty comical. Bella asked for spaghetti. I asked if they had gluten-free pasta. After the waitress went to the kitchen to check (no, they don’t) I remembered Bella can have wheat now! Oh, but not cheese. Does the sauce have cheese in it? She went to check and said no. So I ordered spaghetti for Bella. When she brought the food, the spaghetti had cheese on top! She felt so bad and brought her a new one right away.

Our sweet friend is extremely allergic to egg. After going back and forth with the waitress again we decided a grilled chicken sandwich and apple slices would be safest for her.

We were enjoying dinner when we both looked up and realized our sweet little friend was breaking out in hives. Can you believe neither one of us had any Benadryl? We couldn’t use it while at NJH because of allergy testing. We both had epi-pens, but we were hoping not to use them. So, I grabbed the keys to her car and ran as fast as I could to a local Target. Thankfully, the reaction was minor and she was fine.

We’ve really enjoyed getting to know our new friends. Saying goodbye was really hard. We’ll keep in touch on Facebook, but it won’t be the same. We will miss them so much!

Next: National Jewish Health, Day 9

You can read all of the posts in the Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here.

National Jewish Health, Day 7


Previous: National Jewish Health, Day 6

If you are new here, you can find all of the posts in our Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here to get caught up!

Bella is still sleeping through the night with clonodine. She did some sleep talking last night, but nothing that disturbed either of us.

We had our second attempt at an upper GI this morning. This time Courtney from child life went with us.  It took some serious encouragement to get Bella to lie down on the table.  The radiologist and his assistant told us to give up twice.  They more or less told us this isn’t going to work, but Courtney just smiled at them and continued coaching Bella.  She was great!  I had given up hope myself, when finally, Courtney gently pushed Bella down from sitting position to lying on the table and she stayed there.  Bella asked me to taste the grape flavored juice (barium) before she would try it.  It was actually not bad.  It tasted like grape flavored tylenol.  Bella drank it like a champ.

The doctor’s were right.  Bella does have reflux! We have asked her several times if she has any of the symptoms, and she always says no. They want me to follow up with ENT at home.  They want him to look closely at her vocal chords, her tonsils and adenoids.  Her tonsils are always huge and could be contributing to the problem.  If the ENT says they are not, we are to follow up with a gastroenterologist.

After the GI, Bella got to get a special prize from Courtney’s office.  It was a huge Barbie Glam Bedroom set.  I don’t know how I am going to pack all the prizes this kid has earned!

Once back on the pediatric floor, the doctors checked Bella’s skin and said to continue baths and wraps as we have been (2 baths per day, Morning = vanicream on body and protopic on hands and feet with dry wraps/clothes/socks.  Evening =  Vanicream on body with dry wraps/clothes and steroids and wet socks on hands and feet).  After meeting with the doctors, she went straight to the tub.

After the bath, we started the baked egg challenge. The egg was baked into a muffin/cupcake just like the baked milk challenge.  She is served a little bit at a time all day long.  She passed!!!

In case you didn’t get that, she passed wheat, baked milk and baked egg!  That means she can eat most “normal” baked foods! Tonight she ate a hot dog that volunteers grilled with a bun!

While Bella was working on her food challenge, I had parent group therapy.  The theme was hopes and fears.  All of the other parents were new to the program.  I tell you, I have so much to be thankful for. These kids have many more problems than Bella.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Tomorrow we will challenge non-baked egg. I wasn’t sure if she’d like scrambled eggs, so she will eat it in the form of French toast.  Yum!

Next: National Jewish Health, Day 8

You can read all of the posts in the Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here.

National Jewish Health, Day 6

Previous: National Jewish Health, Day 5

If you are new here, you can find all of the posts in our Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here to get caught up!

We had a wonderful weekend here in Denver. We had so much fun at the aquarium on Friday that we went back with my friend and her little boy on Saturday. On Sunday we joined our friends at their church and spent the afternoon at the Ronald McDonald House playground. I was proud because I was able to give Bella a bath and wrap (cover) her hands and feet and still get to church on time. My church family at home will never believe this!

Isabella slept well all weekend. Sleep feels so good! Just before bed on Sunday night she got itchy. It was the first time since early in the week. I immediately started questioning everything and blaming myself. Is it because I let her play outside all afternoon? If that’s the case, I’m in trouble when I go home. Did I not put enough vanicream on her throughout the day?  Was it the cookies I let her eat?  They had milk in them.  Maybe they weren’t baked long enough.  Is she itchy because she didn’t have a nasal wash all weekend and she has been snotting all over herself?  There are red spots on her face now obviously from snot getting smeared on her face. I should have taken her into the hospital for a nasal wash. There was no way I was going to try to do one by myself!  Her bath and wraps cured her and she woke up with just a few red non-itchy spots on her face.

Speaking of nasal washes, she woke up Sunday morning in tears because she knew she only had one more day until she had to get a nasal wash. It was short lived because we were going to do some fun stuff, but Monday morning was a little more difficult. I had to pretty much drag her to the car.

After we had our vitals taken Monday morning, I asked the nurses to just get the nasal wash over with. After two days with her nasty cold, she really needed one and I didn’t want her to be anxious about it all day. It took two nurses and me to hold her down while the third one squirted her nose. They said they have never had a child so scared and fight it as much as her. This time it got to me and I had a hard time choking back the tears.  It breaks my heart that she is so scared.

We started a nose spray (nasacort) to help her out with the cold.

After our bath, we challenged almond butter and she passed! Watching her try new food has been so much fun.

We spent an hour with the psychologist. She is going to make sure the child life time really works with us on the nasal washes and the upper GI.

We spent the afternoon challenging fish sticks. Again, she passed!

While she was challenging fish sticks, one of the volunteers brought Isabella some masks and dolls to color and decorate. When they were finished making them, they gave them each a real nasal wash in the bathroom. At first, Isabella would not even hold the squirter! Finally, she came around and had some fun with it. The nurses recommended that we let her play with one in the bath tub tonight.

We are scheduled for our second try at an Upper GI in the morning. One of the Child Life Specialists is going to go with us and try to get her to co-operate. She told Isabella to bring her baby doll. Please pray!!

Next: National Jewish Health, Day 7

You can read all of the posts in the Overcoming Eczema, Food Allergies and Night Terrors series here.

Allergy-Free Wednesday: Strawberry Pie, Coconut Rice and Red Velvet Cake

Wow!  Is it Wednesday already?  Thank you so much for stopping by for Allergy-Free Wednesday!  Here are the most popular recipes from last week’s party.

You can find all of my past allergy-free favorites (top 8 free) on my Pinterest board called Allergy Free Wednesdays Favorites.   You don’t have to have a Pinterest account to see it, but if you do have a Pinterest account make sure you are following the new board!  Here are this weeks favorites:

My allergy-free (top 8 free) favorites:

Most Popular:

 

 

Be sure to stop by the other hosts’ blogs and check out their favorites!
I’m hosting this party with six fabulous bloggers: Tessa@Tessa Domestic DivaMichelle@The Willing CookLaura@Gluten Free PantryAmber@The Tasty AlternativeJanelle @ Gluten Freely FrugalandAdrienne@Whole New Mom.
A few things to remember when linking up:

  • Recipes/articles do not have to be completely allergen free, just allergen free in some way.  It would be helpful if you could note what your recipe is free of in the title.  For example: Italian Sausage and Summer Squash Skillet (top 8 free)
  • Please link back to this party.  You can grab the badge in the bottom of the right sidebar if you wish.  Remember, your link will show up on all 7 blogs!

Please read the full list of rules here.

 

Allergy Free Wednesday: Herbed Chicken and Artichoke, Morning Glory Muffins, Peppermint Patties

Welcome back to Allergy-Free Wednesday – a weekly allergy-friendly party! I am so glad you are here!  Please forgive me!  I’ve been out of town and didn’t have time to bring a dish.  I’ll try to make up for it next week. 🙂

You can find all of my past allergy-free favorites (top 8 free) on my Pinterest board called Allergy Free Wednesdays Favorites.   You don’t have to have a Pinterest account to see it, but if you do have a Pinterest account make sure you are following the new board!  Here are this weeks favorites:

My allergy-free (top 8 free) favorites:

Reader favorites:

Be sure to stop by the other hosts’ blogs and check out their favorites!
I’m hosting this party with six fabulous bloggers: Tessa@Tessa Domestic DivaMichelle@The Willing CookLaura@Gluten Free PantryAmber@The Tasty AlternativeJanelle @ Gluten Freely FrugalandAdrienne@Whole New Mom.
A few things to remember when linking up:

  • Recipes/articles do not have to be completely allergen free, just allergen free in some way.  It would be helpful if you could note what your recipe is free of in the title.  For example: Italian Sausage and Summer Squash Skillet (top 8 free)
  • Please link back to this party.  You can grab the badge in the bottom of the right sidebar if you wish.  Remember, your link will show up on all 7 blogs!

Please read the full list of rules here.