Seems like every second person has a food allergy these days. Either itʼs gluten, wheat, lactose, or peanuts…but everyone knows SOMEONE these days with a sensitivity.
In October I found myself not feeling well. I was constantly bloated (ok I looked very very pregnant at times), nauseous, and couldnʼt even exercise. I really didnʼt feel well. I had a gluten test and it came back negative. But I still didnʼt feel well. I soon figured it out that it was LACTOSE that was bothering me. Even a small amount in my morning Tim Hortons coffee, put me over the edge. Now I donʼt go anywhere without my Lactaid pills. They are in my car (for drive thruʼs), my purse and in my kitchen.
Fast forward to April…and I stumble across an old classmate on Facebook. Shirley (who I remember with pig tails) is now a successful author of a cookbook called “Finally…Food I Can Eat” Itʼs a food guide AND a cookbook for people who have multiple food allergies. Plus she is a nutritional consultant in Ottawa. Busy Chic!!
When we met (for the first time in over 20 years) at the T & T Supermarket Twitter Tour….she was kind enough to bring me her cookbook AND she offered one for a contest.
The cookbook is perfect for moms’ who have children with food allergies. There’s recipes for birthday cakes, pizza and more. The feedback that Shirley has received from the cookbook has been fantastic!!
I wanted to add something else to the basket so I mentioned this to my (nice) boss at work. Michael quickly offered to provide a basket of gluten-free, sugar-free, peanut-free goodies that DSM Foodsʼ distributes along with the cookbook.
The basket we will be giving away will contain: Aunt Gussies (sugar free cookies), Touche Bakery (peanut free) biscotti and Sensible Portions Miners Gold Cheddar Cheese Puffs(gluten free) along with Shirleyʼs Cookbook “Finally..Food I Can Eat”.
All you have to do is answer this question: Has it been a challenge to find recipes or foods for your particular allergy (or your child’s)?
Approximate value: $75
For more information about Shirley, check out her website: www.deliciousalternatives.com
The contest closes on June 7, 2010.
Remember;
only urbanmoms.ca members are eligible to win so don’t forget to sign
in. Not a member yet? Click
here
to join!
Click here for
contest Rules and Regulations.
Eat More, Weigh Less by Dr. Ornish. Primarily vegetarian fare and strictly low-fat. Gives the go signal on the “glow” foods but warns to watch it on non-fat dairy and egg whites. This diet is poor in calcium and retricts consumption of healthy foods like seafoods and lean poultry.
11) Eat at least once in a day a vegetable soap or Thai soup too as much as u can but no corn flour in it.
I am sensitive to sulphites too. What happens to you if you eat sulphites? My eyes swell up (brutally) and it takes about 5 to 7 days for the swelling to come down. When the swelling does come down my eyes crack and bleed. It makes me feel tired and depressed too. I don’t know anybody else that is sensitive to sulphites and I’m curious about what your reaction is?
Hmmmm, let’s see, Celiac so no gluten, milk allergies so nothing with milk, cream. cheese. Yep I’d say it is difficult finding foods (that don’t taste like cardboard) without milk or wheat as fillers in most bought foods. As for restaurants, that’s pretty much a dead zone so help off any kind would be appreciated.
Gluten, gluten, gluten! It is so many things, I had no idea!! When I found out I was gluten sensitive it turned my world upside down for a while! I was scared to try anything new or even eat out! It has been a number of years now and I have learned a great deal about making many delicious gluten free meals and goodies (even my kids like some of them!) But is always wonderful to find a good recipe book that provides you with new ideas!
My daughter is allergic to milk and to soy. It is very hard to find recipes without these two ingredients.
My son and I have a nut allergy, my nephew has celiac..Im always looking for new reciepes for us
It is hard to find good recipes! Especially in the baked goods category!
I am Lactose Intolerant as well and for other reasons cannot take Lactaid type products so finding recipes that I can make has really been a challenge. Almost everything we eat has some dairy product in it and I simply love, love, love cheese! I look for recipes all the time and try any new ones that I come across.
My Mom has a gluten allergy as well as being diabetic. I sure gets hard sometimes to find meals we all enjoy!
One of my granddaughters is allergic to milk and peanuts. It is a bit difficult to find foods for her. It is surprising how many products do contain milk or may contain traces of nuts if you read the labels. I would like to bake her cookies but I find it difficult to find recipes that she likes.
I don’t eat pork and sometimes it is challenging to find foods and recipes without it.
I would love this. We entertain alot. Having food allergies is quite the task when cooking for others.
I think with awareness being more than ever before and having access to the web its not as hard now as it was when I was a kid to prepare foods and avoid certain items. Plus most kids are a bit picky anthow, making feeding them at all challenging lol
We have loads of allergies in our house and its a real challenge, starting with mine I am allergic to all the fruit you eat the skin with with rasberries as an exception, i can only melons and oranges, im allergic to nuts and peas and corn, sesame and dairy as well. My girls are intollerant to dairy (can handle a little bit) and allergic to soya and one is also allergic to strawberries, cranberries and nuts. To top it off my daughters boyfriend is a celiac…so it is a huge ordeal making meals. I don’t even bother anymore with prepackaged anything, its all fresh food with no additives…which in guess is better for you anyways. We have had these for a long time and now have become used to it, sometimes having to make several dishes to accomodate everyone and i am always looking for different recipies. I have done alot of experimenting and have come up with good alternatives for things which you wouldn’t think of.
I have been really lucky to be free of food allergys but my daughter suffers with them. Everyday is a challenge but todays foods seem to cater better to food allergies so we manage well.
It is such a struggle to come up with new and exciting recipes for my two boys, 9 and 11. My boys both have peanut and nut allergies. My boys have such a gusto for food. They love food and love to try new and different foods but so many cultural foods incorporate nuts into their recipes that it makes it difficult for them to just try the food. I have to find new ways of preparing the same foods minus the nut products. It is nice to see manufacturers are starting to cater for allergy afflicted individuals more and more.
I look after children in my home and he is allergic to nuts. I have to be very careful in preparing foods for lunches for him that no buts cross contaminate his food.
My daughter needs help desperately, she has F/M, MS, CELIAC AND IS DIABETIC. FOOD AND RECIPES ARE A GREAT CHALLENGE. PLEASE HELP ME AS I AM THE CAREGIVER and am becoming more frustrated.
No one in my immediate family has allergies but it is becoming a more common aliment. My brothers girlfriend is allergic to almost everything but some of the items are actually realted to brands. Certain brands of chocolate milk give her hives and others don’t which is quite frightening to think about. There are so many additives to what we buy that we really need to make a concious decision when we are groery shopping and examin everything we injest.
Very very difficult to find foods that are sodium free.The prices of organic foods in Canada are crazy so as a family we keep close check on everything we consume.
Yes it has been very hard to find foods that have 0 sodium or very very low sodium. I cannot have more than 2000 mg a day and even that amount I can get very sick. I am recovering from congestive heart failure from the birth of my daughter 7 mnths ago. I never realized how much salt was in food until now. It is something that I will have to follow for my life and moniter my childrens sodium content to try to keep their heart healthy.
In my family there are nut allergies. I also find certain foods help to bring on migraines so we are constantly looking for a variety of tasty recipes.
Yes it is way too hard to find thigs for my daughter. She is on a sodium reduced diet as well as she is allergice to cumin and is lactose intollerant.
It hasn’t been a challenge to find recipies, but sometimes it is a challenge to find the products to make gluten free items in a small town!! I have found Bette Hagman’s cookbooks very helpful, but I am always on the look out for new books!!
My husband & son are allergic to garlic & msg. Now this sounds innocent enough but it basically means that any prepackaged foods are out. Just about everything has garlic or msg in it -if not both. This means I have to make all foods from scratch including pasta sauce, pizza etc.They even have msg in some ice creams.
No food allergies in this house but when I have to make lunches for kids to take to school its a challenge. The no peanut zone at schools makes affordable lunches tough.
Finding that if I stick with organic foods, especially fruits and veg, I have no problems. If I don’t, tend to have sensitivity to foods.
My wife has had trouble, she is allergic to mould, so breads and wine are usually out, as well as mushrooms, and a lot of other things she used to like.
I have a sensitivity to some preservatives like sulphites and nitrites, found in wine and processed meats. It is hard to find recipes,because many foods have them and they are not always listed in the ingredients.
yes, it has/is hard to find good recipes!
It can be frustrating because my mom is allergic to caffeine in all its forms, strawberries and fish. You would be amazed at how many recipes contain at least one of these ingredients! I’m also trying to follow a gluten-free diet because they suspect I have an allergy and that is even tougher!
Yes, we have to be very very aware of food allergies in our house. All of us have some sort of sensitivity or allergy. They run the range: Sulphites, msg, Tree nuts, gluten. I’ve seen the book in the stores before. There are lots of great recipes in there. I would love to win the book and cook up some new meals for the family!
Yes it has been difficult to find food that doesn’t upset my stomach.
Yes, lactose intolerance. It’s rough.
I have lactose intolerance and I had been compensating by eating too many tomato based products which then upset my digestive system. I am also reducing my consumption of sugar for health reasons. It is always a challenge to find delicious recipes.
It has been a nightmare! I need gluten free, msg free and dairy free. Hubby needs pork-free. Our son can’t eat shell fish, peanuts,celery, bell peppers, parsnips, broccoli, corn and rutabaga. Between the three of us, trying to put a meal on the table that is safe for everyone is a real challenge.
I love to cook and bake. Finding the right foods and recipes that we can all enjoy would be wonderful.
MSG is a problem for me but my mother has so many food allergies! It is very hard to cook for her but baking is next to impossible. She is so sensitive to additives and it is unbelievable how many hidden ingredients are in food products. They can put one ingredient down because they added it to their product, but it may contain other ingredients within it. It is like being a detective.
finding for celiac diease
I have to be extremely careful. I am allergic to a food additive – citric acid. It’s in and on almost everything. fresh fruits and veggies, meats, store products. there’s few things I can eat. Look around you – your cupboards, the stores, etc.
I can eat fruits and veggies that I grow because i don’t add it. But other places do. They call it all natural because it is a natural additive. but is a lemon really natural to a strawberry or a cucumber?
I am also allergic to all citrus fruits, and shell fish, and have sensitivities to protein products and chocolate.
More and more people are getting food additive allergies. It’s time to convince companies not to use them.
I noticed McCain foods is starting to add less chemicals and additives. (they still have citric acid but they got rid of a lot of other things)
I just have to be extremely careful when reading labels!
My sister is allergic to all nuts so we can’t have any traces of any kind of nut in our food. Even if the packaging says “traces of nuts” we can’t bring it into the house (ie. cereal) so it has been quite difficult trying to cook things with products that don’t contain any traces of them.
No not that big adeal to find alternate foods
I stick to the basics when it comes to cooking – lean proteins, fresh veggies, whole grains and fresh fruit. Our biggest problems occur when we eat out. So home cooking is the safe bet for us
I am allergic to nuts so I watch what I buy and am careful with what I eat and what others make.
I do not have any food allergies. However, I work as a nurse and am very careful with all of my cooking for various events i.e. dinner parties. I like to find out what other people’s dietary needs are first before I begin to plan meals or appetizers.
I was so thrilled when my youngest child was ready to be introduced to formula. As a mom of 4 kids under 8, I thought that being able to hand some of the feeding duties to my husband would offer a little bit of a childcare respite. Not so. After a few tentative sips my daughter was covered in hives and wheezing like a 2 pack a day smoker. A trip to emerg. revealed that she was severely allergic to all dairy products.
From then on, the introducation of every new food was more anxiety provoking than the last. Over the course of her infant and toddler years we’ve discovered that she is allergic to more foods than you can shake a stick at. She’s now 9 and her list of anaphylaxtic causing foods now include beans, peas, tree nuts, peanuts, kiwi, strawberries, watermelon, cucumbers, fish, shellfish, and some red dyes.
My daughter carries an epi-pen with her where ever we go and reading labels and talking to restaurant staff is par for the course at mealtimes. I feel bad for my daughter because she never gets to eat the same commercial treats as her friends or siblings and the most exciting/exotic food item I can buy in our small town are a brand of nut free brownies (think hockey puck meets brown crayon). Making safe, quick, AND tasty meals for a busy family of 6 is definitely a challenge when there are food allergies involved!
I find it easier to find foods now at my local food retailers that cater to people with allergies because there is more awareness in society about food allergies.
Our family has not been officially diagnosed with allergies to foods but I do think that the problems with gas in the males in this house is directly due to the dairy. Hard to get used to this as so much of our diet has airy somewhere in it.
Hi my grandma has celiac- and has been gluten free for years, our daughter has had her blood tested seveal times without having a biopsy yet with lots of food issues. Apparently celiac disease can skip a generation. I am dairy free because of allergies but it does not seem to affect eithor of our kids. The new cook book looks great. Thanks for sharing the information about it.
OOOO Gluten free thats the diet my daughter is on ….NO GLUTEN!
Yes it has been a challenge to find recipes and foods for my intolerance to all fruits except bananas. I have I.B.S. It took awhile to find out which foods were causing my problem. I would love this cookbook not only for me but for others I know who are intolerant to certain foods.
It’s been really trying in our household. It took 2 years to find out that my daughter didn’t have colic, she was lactose intolerant. Then over the years new allergies popped up. Now we know she is allergic to almost every kind of plant, including nuts, fruits and vegetables. Many go alright when cooked, but she recently added a new challenge. She’s gone vegan, which is great but narrows the list of possible meals even further. Her stomach seems to be liking it but yes, it is difficult to find recipes that she can tolerate.
My 90 year old grandmother (who still lives on her own!) was diagnosed with celiac about 3 years ago, and has been gluten free ever since. However, last year she was still having problems, and didn’t know why, since she was being so careful with her diet. As it turns out, she is now also allergic to eggs, dairy, sugar and garlic! She needs some good recipes, because as you can imagine, it is very difficult to eat out!
We are lucky and we don’t have any allergies but I’m happy to cater to guest that do.
It would be nice if they would tell me before they arrive for dinner.
I once had a guest sit down for dinner and ask if there was any garlic.. because he was allergic. Well I know the dessert didn’t have it… but everything else pretty much did. Now when he comes for dinner I always make sure to have dishes without garlic that he can enjoy.
I’d love to win the cookbook so I can invite some friends over that have gluten allergies… I really need to learn how to cook for them.
Thanks
My daughter has a milk sensitivity. She seems alright with a bit of ice-cream but milk and cheese upset her stomach. We use soy beverages (Silk) which she uses on her cereal and she enjoys the taste. The challenges for use was finding a substitute for milk, so glad the they are making such tasty soy beverages that don’t taste beany 🙂
I don’t have a food allergy persay. I’m allergic to sulphites which is in alot of pre-packaged foods so I have to be vigilant and aware of foods for myself or I’ll be staying at home for a few days =(
But my nephew has a very very bad allergy to all nuts [but almonds he’s not allergic to …weird]. So it’s very hard to make any kind of dish especially baked goods. I use to buy my flour and other ingrediants at the bulk barn but now i can’t because it’s too risky with cross contamination. Lots of allergy cookbooks i buy want me to use weird items I can;t pronounce and have no clue where to buy aside from online [which i have no credit card for anyways=(].
And too boot he’s a massive picky eater and throws a huge fit everytime.
He’s even been pulled out of school [he’s 5 years old] because the school was lying to my sisterinlaw and not having teachers with him at all times holding his epi-pen! [they refused to do it! after saying they had teachers with him all the time holding his epi-pen] it’s a nightmare. School policy was to not have any nut products in the school yet kids had them and the lady that claimed she’s nut free was selling reese peanut butter cups to kids and teachers and nobody cared!
Anywho! My sister and I would love to have this book! it’ll make life a little easier.
I’ve recently been diagnosed with a lactose allergy. The rest of my family seem to be fine for now but it certainly makes meal preparation a challenge. And I sometimes feel like I am compromising on taste for nourishment.
Yes, Food allergies possess a huge challenge in my house. Two of my boys have food allergies, one has severe food allergies that require an epi pen. To find safe is always so difficult. I have had to start creating my own recipes and cooking from scratch just so my kids can eat a half balanced diet. It’s not easy!!!
Yes it has been a challenge to find recipes for my allergies.