Emily's Allergies: Favorite Banana Pancakes on Fathers Day

It's Father's Day and there is nothing like a great breakfast with that special lady in your life. I love pancakes. I can eat stacks of them. Emily loves bananas as well; she would have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if she could. Her allergies to milk and eggs make it impossible for her to enjoy pancakes outside of the house, which is a bummer because I would have loved to take her to some of my favorite diners for breakfast.

For this recipe, I picked up some Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams Pancake Mix at Whole Foods. It's dairy, nut, and egg free. I love this stuff. I just followed the directions on the box. Next, I chopped up 2 large bananas - one for the mix itself and the other for topping. They suggest rice milk, but I used Vanilla soy milk instead. I also added a pinch of cinnamon and sugar to go with the banana. Emily had a blast mixing for me. You can see the focus in her face.



She ate most of the bananas in the preparation process; so by the time I served her the pancakes, she only ate a few pieces. That's O.k. Dada is always there to "clean up" after her. After she was done, it was time for drawing before we headed out to Central Park to play and get wet. That's where my cell phone tragically leapt into a watery grave. I hope all the Dads out there (mothers also) had a wonderful Father's Day. I know I did.

Day at the Museum for Emily's Allergies

For my thursday dinner with my princess I switched it up. So my lovely friend Jennifer from Jen Eats Life and Tasty Memories told me she once was a tour guide at the American Museum of Natural History and had a hide and seek tour I told her she had to take us. Me and Emily got to the museum around 3:45pm Jen was running a little late :) its ok though. The food truck outside the museum had "Fench Fies" on the menu and Emily wanted some. So after checking if the food was prepared with other foods that contain dairy, eggs or nuts to set off her food allergies we got a order of fries to share. Jen came not to long after and took us in and showed us all the secret things of the museum. The meaning of the fire burning in the background meant on one display or how the Male Guerilla in another display was killed by the curator. He didn't want to kill the Guerilla it was about to attack him so he had to. He felt so bad that in his will he stated he wanted to be buried where he shot down the Guerrilla. It was amazing Emily loved every moment except the rainforest part she isn't to fond of dark places. We found Po from Kung Fu Panda sat in a giant Oyster saw the T-Rex she laid down for a quick rest and we played hide and seek but her spot wasn't so good. At the end of our tour we got to take some pics with our Dino friends. After we went to Hampton Chutney. I have never been to this place They are Allergy friendly. Emily and Jen had Dosa with chicken spinach and sun dried tomatoes. I had classic Mosala Dosa. It was great along with the mango chutney it came with.

Weekender on Emily's Allergies

Memorial Day weekend oh how I love you and so does Emily. We had a very nice weekend Friday we spent time in Queens with old friends Saturday we headed over to BoBoos (my mothers) house Sunday went to a family barbeque. They even prepared Allergy friendly dishes for Emily :) after the BBQ we headed to see Jen from Tasty Memories and Jen Eats Life to film and make Pizza's on the Grill it was a first time for me preparing them that way. There was no cheese Just veggies tomato, sweet red peppers, onions and cauliflower nothing that would trigger her food allergies (dairy, eggs or nuts).The sauce Jen made was superb. Made a simple dough of flour, water and yeast. Emily loved rolling the dough and beating it. She was such a good little helper. The pizza came out spectacular and Emily LOVED!! it. Can't wait to show the vlog and future collaborations. Monday we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2. That movie was awesome saw it in IMAX and Princess was blown away. She wants a baby panda now :) so DaDa has to get one.  

                                        SKADOOSH!!!!!

Emily wants Broccoli in hers please!!

Last week Wednesday I asked the Twitterverse where should I take Princess tomorrow for dinner? I was answered by Tamara Wudinich who runs the blog Serendipindots if Emily Likes Mac n' Cheese. She heard of S'Mac in NY and that it was a good Food Allergy friendly place. I have heard of S'mac before and even tasted some of their Mac n' Cheese at a street fair a long time ago. So the decision was made. My co worker and good friend Kim who runs the site Virago Inc. (This one is for the grown ups;) One of the many people who kidnap my princess whenever I bring her into the office treated me and Emily to S'mac once I told her about the place. We stopped to get some Vegan Chocolate cake before getting to S'mac.  I asked princess what she wanted in her Mac n' Cheese and gave her the choices of hamburger meat, broccoli or chicken to go in her vegan noch size pan of mac n' cheese. She chose the Broccoli. I love that she loves it as much as I do. Kim got vegan mac n' cheese with Spinach and Garlic and I got American and cheddar cheese with broccoli and mushrooms. You have to be careful the pans they bring out your orders in are very HOT! So let them cool a bit before digging in. Emily Loved her order but then saw the "Ketsup" sitting on the table and wanted some on hers. I put a tiny bit at first to see how she would like it. Of course she loved it and made me put it on the whole thing. After eating this Delish! Mac n Cheese Dinner it was time for Cake! I must say this cake was a little sweeter than the other one we had before. Emily went through it like no tomorrow afterwards Jetting out of S'mac! She was on a sugar rush running and climbing every set of steps spinning and jumping. It was toddler Parkour. 

Emily's Allergies Chocolate Bliss

OK so every weekend I have with princess is always a great one. We had a great time at my my mothers (booboos) house for her Birthday. Ate until we all dropped, But the highlight of the weekend for Emily was Death by Chocolate Cake! I have had my fair share of chocolate cakes but nothing like this. We went to Atlas Cafe. A vegan and non vegan hole in the wall Mecca. They get there desserts from Vegan Treats in Bethlehem, PA. A co worker of mine put me on to them and Atlas Cafe. So I had to share this with Princess. I ordered a Vegan Philly Cheese Steak and a piece of Death by Chocolate Cake. Emily went straight for the cake :) I have to admit I was skeptical at first thinking how could something be soooooo god and vegan. So watching Emily indulge herself in this chocolate paradise looking at her face waiting for her to break out from an Allergic reaction. Nothing happened thankfully she ate some sandwich also but was more into the cake. They have a variety of treats from Strawberry Shortcake to Coconut Cake :) I recommend Atlas Cafe to anyone for a good meal (vegan or not) and make sure you save room for Desert! Princess always has room.    

Miss Emi Mac Mac n Cheese (No food allergies here)

Baked Mac and Cheese is one of my favorite things to eat. I felt bad last Thanksgiving when I had to deprive Emily of Mac n Cheese because of her dairy allergy. Dada would fix that though :) I Looked up vegan mac n cheese but nothing I was to amazed of. Thinking of how we made baked mac n cheese I just started replacing Ingredients.

Thus the creation of Miss Emi's Mac n Cheese.
I know it's corny but I thought it was catchy.

I made some Gluten free macaroni according to the box instructions.

• 2 cups of soy milk (rice or coconut)
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 2 packs of Daiya cheese (cheddar and mozzarella)
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup of Earth Balance original buttery spread

Pre heat the oven 350°
Add soy milk, flour and salt to taste in a large bowl and whisk until thickened. Stir in 1 1/2 pack of cheese, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and macaroni into the mixture.
Add the mixture into a lightly greased baking dish and on the top sprinkle the remaining cheese and bread crumbs and drizzle melted butter over the top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is slightly golden. (you don't want the cheese on top to overcook) It will turn into a hard layer of burnt cheese if you don't keep an eye on it.
This is a great side dish or can even be a main dish if you just want some mack n cheese.
I also need to apologize I have no pictures of these creations. I have a composition notebook with my recipes and didn't think to take pics while making them. In the future from here on I will start taking pictures of princess enjoying all the things i make for her.

April Food Allergy Fools! (My Weekender)

Soooooo yesterday was April first (April Fools) I made some delish Vegan sugar cookies for Emily. She loved them so much. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them by her standards but there was something a little deceiving about them. Maybe it was the cauliflower i steamed and pureed and added to the batter ;)
Yes i did it i added veggies to my princesses yummy treat. Even though it wasn't a really good april fools attempt. I still liked the fact she was fooled by thinking she was just getting a treat that was just something sweet to eat. I used a simple recipe you can find here.  Just break off about 2 bulbs of cauliflower steam them puree and add to the batter. It doesn't change the taste at all. If it did Emily's picky tongue would figure it out. I say give it a shot. Maybe add it to a cake. And if you don't want to use an egg replacer like Ener-G you can always use a banana smashed and mix it in with the batter. I hope you all had a great april fools.

I wont let Food Allergies stop the goodness.

Having a child with food allergies can be hard sometimes. You want them to enjoy all the things you did when you where a kid. When i was little one of my favorite things to eat was Banana Pudding. Oh gosh how i loved it so much. I got sick one time from eating it so much :) I took princess to my grandmothers house and my grandma wanted an old fashioned Banana Pudding. You know the cooked pudding the Nilla wafers and the whipped egg whites all layered up and baked so the top is a little brown. Well its a tasty banana pudding but i felt sooo bad because princess wouldn't be able to enjoy the goodness. I had to figure out a way to make a banana pudding for my Emily to enjoy. I found out that the Jell-O brand instant pudding mix didn't have any protein allergens in the ingredient list and i know that Oreos are safe for princess to eat also the golden ones. Nilla Wafers contain milk and eggs.So making the mix using soy milk i started splitting oreos. I didn't want to make it super sweet so i removed the cream and lined the baking pan with the cookie. I needed a cream to layer with the cookies and bananas. I found a recipe for Vegan Coconut cream. I mean wow this banana pudding was amazing. Using these simple replacements Emily got to enjoy a great treat. She wanted more and more but I didn't want her to get a tummy ache like i did when I was young. It was a great desert. Nothing special make it just how you would any other banana pudding.

Peanut Allergy label list.

When shopping for foods for a child with food allergies you would think that reading labels would be straight forward and have in bold letters CONTAINS PEANUTS! Some do but not all and you have to be aware of what your purchasing. So I am providing a list of things that have Peanut Protein in them. Food Allergy Books by Linda Coss gave me some good insight I found very useful.

Arachic oil                                                              
Arachis 
Arachis hypogaea 
Artificial nuts 
Beer nuts 
Boiled peanuts 

Cold pressed, extruded, or expelled peanut oil 

Crushed nuts, crushed peanuts 
Dry roasted peanuts 
Earth nuts 
Goober peas 
Goobers 
Ground nuts, ground peanuts 
Hydrolyzed peanut protein
Hypogaeic acid
Mandelonas
Mixed nuts
Monkey nuts
Nu nuts flavored nuts
Nut pieces
Nutmeat 

Peanuts, peanut butter, peanut butter chips, peanut butter morsels 

Peanut flour
Peanut paste
Peanuts sauce, peanut syrup
Spanish peanuts
Virginia peanuts 








You can find this information online this is from my own online research i am just bringing it to you in one place so you wont go insane looking and always look out for what the product was produced on. The slightest trace of peanuts could be harmful to someone with a severe allergy.

That swing may hurt.

A few months ago i was doing something Emily Loves to do. Swinging her by her hands could be going up and down stairs or just walking with another person holding her other hand. I didn't feel anything but she was complaining her arm was hurting after swinging so I just thought it was stretched to much or just her muscle hurts I told her to move it up and down so it could feel better. She didn't want to. She was in pain but not extreme pain so I didn't think it was dislocated but we took a trip to the ER because I didn't see her feeling any better. The Dr. took a look at it and told us it was Nursemaids Elbow. A very common injury in toddlers caused from a jerking of the arm. Like when swinging by the hands.  The ligaments are looser and the bones arn't fully developed. So the Radius slips out of place causing an uncomfortable pain when the arm is moved. Something so fun and enjoyable can hurt our little ones. The Dr. did two simple movements to make sure it was back in place and princess was fine 30 minutes later. Forgetting about the arm. I was shocked because she still wants band aids on Booboos from a month ago. This is my Public Service Announcement to parents. Be careful kids love to swing. It can even happen while walking and your little one trips and you pull them back up by the hand. So parents be careful.

What does Milk mean to you?

Yesterday I listed the names of ingredients on labels that you may not understand what they are and they contained egg protein. its the protein that trigger allergic reactions when the immune system produces antibodies and histamines to fight off the foreign body. Thus causing maybe a breakout or itchy eyes or throat or even Anaphylaxis. I'm listing ingredients on labels that contain Milk Protein in them so you know what to look out for.

 

• Butter 

 Any type of butter that you see on a label. From Butter fat oil to Natural Butter Flavor.

• Casein & Caseinates 

Anything with these words in it has Milk Protein in it. Casein is a bonding agent that's used for things like cheese. But it can also be found in cosmetic products some pants and adhesive products.

• Cheese

  All types. Even cheese flavor (artificial and natural), Vegetarian cheeses have casein. So i use Vegan cheese like Daiya.

• Cream, whipped cream

• Curds

• Custard

• Dairy product solids

• Galactose

• Ghee

• Half & Half

• Hydrolysates 

• Ice cream, ice milk, sherbet

• Lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate

• Lactate solids

• Lactyc yeast

• Lactitol monohydrate

• Lactoglobulin

• Lactose

• Lactulose

• Nisin preparation

• Nougat

• Pudding

• Quark

• Recaldent

• Rennet casein or Rennet

• Simplesse is a fat replacer

• Whey 

• Yogurt 

There are vegan products you can buy so your child doesn't have to be deprived of tasty treats in life.

Warm up to Cauliflower

 I have hardly had problems with Emily eating her veggies. She sees me enjoying them and she wants to do the same thing and feel as good as "Dada" does when he eats his veggies. But she is a toddler and she has her moments where she doesn't want anything to do with veggies. So I have to disguise whats good for her so she will eat it. Princess loves mashed potatoes but they have little nutritional value. In steps the MIGHTY CAULIFLOWER! I use a simple for Cauliflower mashed potatoes you can look at here. And Cauliflower comes in different colors like purple, orange, and green. So you can have fun with it. Maybe a purple Cauliflower soup with a orange swirl. Cauliflower is also great to cook into other things like cakes, cookies, and brownies to give them some nutritional value. Cauliflower is a great source of Vitamin C

Do you know?

When reading labels to make sure none of your child's allergens are in the ingredients do you know what all of those long words mean or if they have the allergen in them. My princess is allergic to eggs plus other things but today i want to list how they may label egg ingredients.  All of what im listing contain egg protein in them.

•  Albumin
• Apovitellin
• Cholesterol free egg substitute
• dried egg
• egg, egg whites
• yolk 
• egg wash 
• eggnog
• fat substitute
• globulin
• livetin 
• lysozyme 
• mayonnaise
• meringue powder
• ovalbumin
• ovoglobulin
• ovomucin
• ovomucoid
• ovotransferrin
• ovovitelia  
• ovovitellin
• powdered eggs 
• silici albuminate 
• simplesse
• trailblazer 
• vitellin

Disability WAH!?

Today i'm going to dedicate this post to a woman that shows true strength and being able to beat all the odds. Helen Keller was born on June 27th 1880 (Emily's was born on the same day). She was an American Arthur, Political activist and lecturer. If you have only heard of her and not know who she was and why she is considered a Great woman in history. Well at nineteen months old Helen Keller was diagnosed as the doctors describes "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain" which most likely was scarlet fever or meningitis. This left her blind deaf and mute. Frustration made her destructive and a wild child. Her mother sent for a special teacher. The teacher was Anne Sullivan a 20 year old  visually impaired former student of The Perkins Institute for the Blind. She taught Helen to spell by using her finger in her palm first learning to spell "d-o-l-l" for the doll she had bought Keller as a meeting gift. Helen got frustrated often in the beginning actually getting so upset trying to learn the word "mug" she ended up breaking the doll Anne got for her. A breakthrough came when Anne was running Helen's hand under water with one hand and on the other hand spelling out the word water. After that she wanted to become familiar with other objects almost exhausting Sullivan. Helen was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree she wrote a total of 12 published books. The earliest when 11 was The Frost King. At the age of 22 she published her autobiography, The Story of My Life in 1903 while in college. She became an advocate for persons with disabilities. Along with being a suffragist, a pacifist, a radical socialist, a supporter of birth control and an opponent to Woodrow Wilson. To me that's beyond greatness not letting so called "Disabilities" stop her from breaking boundaries. As parents we have to teach our kids to break boundaries. I am the best father i can be i go above an beyond but i want my daughter to be ten times greater than i am and not let anything hold her back. So parents of kids with food allergies or anything that a doctor may consider a "disability' or "different" take a long look at Miss Keller and other like her and make sure your little ones know they are GREAT!    

Its not the Tacos its the Salsa

 My princess Loves tacos. I came across this Recipe for some good healthy fish tacos. Emily doesn't have Fish allergies but for parents who do have little ones with fish allergies u can always make it chicken or whatever replacement u prefer. Fish tacos remind me of a summer getaway. What did it for me in this recipe was the Mandarin Orange salsa. Made with cilantro a jar of mandarin oranges, red onions and salt. I left out the jalapeno I dont think princess would have been to fond of something  "Thpicey". I like to use Smart & Delicious Wraps. They came out great. I was skeptical about the Mandarin salsa at first but one I tasted it with the tacos my mouth lit up. Such a great Combination. I have used this Recipe a few times and there are very little tweeks I needed to do to make it for Emily to enjoy as well as an adult. Make your tweeks so your little ones can enjoy some healthy tacos.

Food Proofing

I have done Child Proofing before making sure window guards where in place sockets covered the wires where all managed and not everywhere sharp corners covered even installing a oven lock. Everything to a T in my home to make sure my princess was safe. But what about Food proofing your home of products containing the allergen your little one is allergic to? It may seem easy but there are factors you have to think about. Like how severe is the allergy? How many children are in your home and what are there ages? How will eliminating the food effect the other members of your house hold? They may be hard to eliminate all together but maybe placing foods with the allergens on a different shelf than foods without not to get them confused. I have taught my little one to always ask before eating something with a simple "can i eat this?" Learning how to read and decipher labels. All family members should wash there hands before and after eating just to make sure none of the allergens may come in contact with the person who has the allergy and the same goes for counters shelves and dishes. So these are things to think and to figure out what works best for you your little one and the entire family.

Good tips for shopping.

WPIX 11 had a good video on smart shopping for suffers of food allergies. Dr. Clifford Bassett (FAAAAI and FACAAI) of the Allergy and Asthma Care of New York shows what to watch out for while shopping. Its very informative make sure you check it out parents. 

Ohhhh yea its Fat Tuesday

Ok its a bummer I'm not in New Orleans Licking my fingers after a Crawfish Boil. But I'm not. ( insert sad face here). So I'm just going to share a recipe for some New Orleans Style Chicken. For me being a Vegetarian I use Light Life Chick'n Strips in which I love almost all there products. So thats what I replace the chicken in the recipe for and as for the cheese I use Daiya Vegan Cheese. The cheese has none of the common allergens in it but as for the Chick'n strips they contain soy. Those are my tweeks to a simple recipe.

Its Food Allergy Week.

WPIX Morning news is acknowledging Food allergy suffers this week. It excites me as a parent of a little one with food allergies that the media is trying to bring more light on the subject. Today they showed a great allergen free treat shop called Divvies. I have purchased there cookies at whole foods for princess and they are great. So check out Divvies and WPIX for more info.

Breakfast at Emily's

 Yesterday was a rainy day and the clouds were blocking the sun from shining but for me and princess it doesn't mean we can't have a good snack to bring in some light. I have been making making apple sauce for a long time now Emily loves it. We made some Banana Pancakes. This simple recipe is a cup of flour of your choice. (we use soy). 2 tbs of brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp olive oil and a cup of soy milk (or coconut milk for those with soy allergies). But this is not about the pancakes people. It's about the Apple Butter we ate with it. No it has no actual butter in it. Its called that because of the thickness. Apple butter is a concentrated form of apple sauce just cooked longer until the sugar in the apples caramelizes turning the apple butter brown. I like to take 10 honey crisp apples (peeled and cored) a cup of brown sugar a half cup of water and a tablespoon of cinnamon. Let simmer on medium low heat until the apples turn brown for about 2 hours. Remove from heat let cool and puree in a food processor. Traditional apple butter takes much much longer to make. So if you want to plan ahead you can add the ingredients into a slow cooker for 10-12 hours.