Mac is Back!

Finding myself in the world of allergies and dietary restrictions I thought my days of quick, "easy" meals were over. We've been eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and cooking most meals from scratch. One thing I've really missed is pasta. Spaghetti and mac & cheese were my go-to meals on those days I just didn't feel like cooking and didn't have a lot of time. Don't get me wrong - we've loved eating spaghetti squash - it just takes a little bit longer to prepare than throwing noodles into the boiling water. Well, try finding pasta that has not been made with eggs, and if you do... try finding it manufactured on equipment that does not also process egg products - pretty much impossible. So, since I'd been missing pasta I decided to get online and figure out how to make pasta without eggs - I found that there is actually a town in Italy famous for their "eggless" pasta - it's made from durum wheat. So I've found a local store down the road in Gilbert where I can purchase my durum wheat... but I haven't made it there yet.

Just the other day my busy little boy found this box of mac & cheese stuffed way in the back of the cupboard.

I'd never even thought twice about eating mac & cheese, our allergist right off the bat said it was on the "no-no" list.

Well, I started reading the label and guess what? Fry's brand Macaroni & Cheese is made with durum wheat and no eggs. And there were no warnings on the label that it had been processed on the same equipment as eggs. So, I thought we'd try it out...

not a reaction in sight :)

I'll be putting mac back on my shelves - it's nice to have a least one thing I can fix in a pinch!

(Of course, I'll have to check out the white mac & cheese first... turns out the regular stuff contains yellow 6 & yellow 5... please let the white cheese have no egg products... please, please, please, please... please!)

Which First... the Chicken or the Egg?

For Junior the choice is clearly chicken!

Yes, he is allergic to eggs, too!

Originally, we thought he was able to tolerate eggs that had been cooked into foods like pancakes, or banana bread - but, over the last month we have realized how wrong we were. Now, that we have been removing allergens from our home it has become painfully obvious that when Junior eats pancakes his face is red and blotchy within minutes and the other day when we tried boiling eggs his eyes began to water and his nose started to run... we haven't cooked with an egg in two weeks.

Let's just say, we are very glad we never invested in the chickens we were thinking about buying last year :)

So what do we do with egg allergies?

Read the Label!

Key Words in the Ingredient Lists are:

albumin or albumen, egg (dried, powdered, solids, white & yolk), eggnog, lysozyme, mayonnaise, meringue and surimi

Foods the Doctor Suggested We Avoid:

egg flavoring (natural & artificial)

lecithin

macaroni

marzipan

marshmallows

nougat

pasta

This allergy is definitely taking some getting used to - no more marshmallows, miracle whip and cheap pasta from the store.

Did you know candy corn contains eggs? Well you do now!

Now everything is made from scratch and I'm experimenting with ingredients I can substitute for eggs. Luckily, my eggless pancakes have been a success - Junior loves them so much he talks about them in his sleep!

Now if I can just figure out how to make eggplant parmigiana without eggs we'll be okay!

My New Allergy World - It's Way More Than a Sneeze

This September Junior tasted his first and last lick of peanut butter sandwich. After taking the tiniest lick of peanut butter I've ever seen, he pushed his sandwich away and wouldn't eat anymore. Five minutes later he had hives going down the back of his neck, his face was swelling, and he started having trouble breathing.

The ER pumped him full of Benadryl, steroids and epinephrine... after several hours of observation we were able to leave with the advice that we contact an allergist and pick up an Epipen as soon as possible.

We've met with the allergist and boy have our lives changed!

Junior is highly allergic to...

peanuts

and

eggs

and mildly allergic to most

tree nuts.

So, now a visit with us is going to be even more exciting than it already was. I promise I will try not to be a nag, but I will have to ask about every product used in the cooking process... right down to your butter - some use peanut oils instead of vegetable.

But, I'll start you off with the basics, so you'll know what to expect.

Peanuts:

Always read every label to see if peanuts are listed in the ingredients.

Always read the label to see if the product was made in a factory that also processes peanuts - if this is the case it's still a "no-no."

Key words in ingredient lists would be:

artificial nuts, beer nuts, cold pressed - expelled - extruded peanut oil, goobers, ground nuts, mixed nuts, monkey nuts, nutmeat, nut pieces, peanut, peanut butter and peanut flour.

Foods that the doctor suggested we avoid (unless we make it at home - completely from scratch - and know every ingredient) include:

African, Asian (esp. Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese), and Mexican dishes

(So glad Korean food isn't on the list - but I can make it from scratch and I've never used peanut oil in what I make)

baked goods (pastries, cookies, etc. - Handsome Hubby is really gonna miss his early morning donut runs for the kids)

candy (especially chocolates)

chili (who knew they used peanuts to thicken chili? I didn't until I came home and found out how deadly it could be to someone with a peanut allergy)

egg rolls

enchilada sauce

peanut flavorings - natural and artificial

nougat

And really there's more, but I think that's enough for day one.

In fact, I thought I'd share my information for each allergy today, but now I see separate posts will be much better.

So, tune in next week for everything you ever wanted to know about egg allergies - some of the info will shock you! It did me :)