- Yellow felt table cloth
- Paper pennants
- Biodegradable cups & straws
- Ice tea pitcher
- Organic lemonade & lemons.
- Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears
Several years ago I joined The No Nuts Moms Group which was founded by Lisa Rutter and a year ago I became a part of the Team as a Support Group Co-Leader. The NNMG has taught me a lot about how to navigate food allergies and keep my son that has a life-threatening allergy, safer. I have learned about several food products from the group, like Surf Sweets, a company that is dedicated to producing delicious, organic treats free of the 10 most common food allergens. The have been a go-to item for our kids school parties because of the multiple food allergies within the classroom, which makes them the perfect party treat to have a safe and inclusive celebration. These yummy treats sparked a fun idea for my friend, Michelle and I. What if we created an organic allergy friendly lemonade stand with Organic Sweets products?! Hosting an allergy friendly lemonade stand was a great interactive way to show how kids with food allergies can still enjoy the same things as other kids. To make the lemonade stand, I asked my husband, Scott, if he could make a cute lemonade stand out of pallets that I had seen on Pinterest. At first this sounded great but then we realized it wasn’t realistic because Scott had enough projects on his honey-do list, we had kids’ events to attend and homework to keep up on. Instead, I bought a few items at the store and grabbed some items from inside my home to create an organic, allergy friendly & rustic lemonade stand. The things I purchased from local stores consisted of: To create the table I used a folding table with a white bedsheet over it & then I put the yellow table cloth over the white sheet. Then I grabbed other items from around the house to give it a more rustic organic appearance. I created the sign from a simple poster board & poster board letters. All the neighborhood kids loved the Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears and lemonade. We even had our really good neighborhood friends join in and help us. My kids are excited to host a few more allergy friendly lemonade stands this summer. Next time we plan to raise money & support our favorite organization, FAACT (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis connection Team). Surf Sweets Giveaway: Surf Sweets wants you to have fun this summer making your own allergy friendly lemonade stand! Go to their Facebook page and comment on the post about the lemonade stand with your answer to the question, “how does your family celebrate summer?” They will pick 2 random winners to receive 50 packs of Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears candy and a Lemonade Stand Kit valued at $100. The kit may include: lemonade pitcher, bio-degradable cups, straws, table cover, chalkboard sign and a bowl or basket. Additionally, 5+ winners will receive Surf Sweets products! The giveaway will run from June 5 - June 12, so hurry up and enter! Website Links
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Therizinozoid ~ "And, like one in thirteen kids among him, he has life-threatening food allergies."5/22/2017 My son, a five year old paleontologist in the making, taught himself to read through his dinosaur books. Quite literally. It began with studious distinctions between “Allosaurus” and “Archaeopteryx,” then shifted into jokes that were almost professorial in cryptic tone: “Oh mom, that’s so Suchomimus of you.” For months he would prattle at length about the Therizinosaur, a deceptively nightmarish beast of the late Cretaceous period. He seemed most to appreciate its evolutionary twist from meat eater to herbivore, and the long monstrous claws it once upon a time used to dig up roots.
He also always beelines for the muddiest puddles, he cries when there’s water in his eyes, and he’s terrified of bee stings. And he is really truly unbelievably kind to his baby sister. And then there are moments when time cracks open in a ray of opalescent light, like one recent morning at our place of worship, when the teacher asked for volunteers and there he was, catapulting over the stairs, and next, in an elegant ellipsis of poised stutters and vowels, and in the most deliberate of tiny voices, he read a paragraph aloud about a man that found G-d by gazing at the stars. This kid, who we couldn’t even afford to send to preschool. He’s also beautiful: shaggy hair, big hazel eyes, the paws of a miniature quarterback. And, like one in thirteen kids among him, he has life-threatening food allergies. It is not only fear of the hard end line potentiality of food allergies, anaphylaxis, that loops through the consciousness of almost all allergen families, but the cavalier nature of reactions themselves. The standard reaction is one or more of the following: hives, swelling, violent, mucousy white projectile vomiting, itchy tongue, throat, and mouth, difficulty breathing, drop in blood pressure -- and the odd and terrible (not unlike many of my son’s favorite dinosaurs, which I only add because I imagine he’d appreciate the mention)-- sensations of profound doom. The signs can be violent, sometimes erratic, literally as incorrigible as the devil: my son finds a stray sesame seed on his bagel, has a momentary itchiness of throat, then two hours later spikes a high note fever and vomits all through the night. The next day he is articulate, sweet as always, but wheezy, and his energy vaporous. Then, for the next two days he acts quiet and vacant, his body easily breathless, and we tend to him with albuterol treatment, quietly poised to call 911. A retired labor and delivery nurse once told me, squinting into my face while rage seemed to literally run out the sides of her eyes: “How dare they take away peanut butter and jelly lunches, the most beloved food of all children?” Verbatim. And then: “How many people die of food allergies a year in anyhow? Four? Five? That’s nothing.” The number in fact being in the hundreds, a statistic best reflective not of its potential for fatality, which is very real, but rather the eternal vigilance of preventative care. A detail sometimes lost in the mix of general misinformation. My former sister-in-law once, for example, took my son out of her car and placed him heavily on the floor with a slap of his epinephrine to say "Fuck his epis. I’m not taking him with me anymore." And then in an exhale of anger: “Fuck your allergists. He doesn’t need them.” To them, to the others who hiccup down tunnel-vision passages of “well that’s not my child,” I ask, but what if it was? What if it was your child that you saw swollen and struggling to breathe and were forced to confront the question “is this it?,” had to inject a needle in a swoop to the thigh, to next ride in an ambulance with a smirky non-plussed paramedic through 20 minutes of heavy traffic otherwise averted if the driver had just put the siren on, hating yourself for not demanding it while your child's eyes roll forward and back, finally dragging the paramedic back who responds with the resistance of a wet cat to check on your child and then condescendingly states; “He’s fine. Kids always get hyper from the epi.” “But he’s not hyper. He’s – “; cut-off to discover at the ER that your child may have gone biphasic and now has a collapsed right lung –. Or another occasion, when your six year old wakes you up in the middle of the night, screaming between pitches of croup, and you run into the bathroom to see him trying to throw up, face red, wheezing, revelation hitting like a meteor “oh my G-d he’s having a delayed reaction,” and the first round of epinephrine and three puffs of asthma medication only subtly work, until the paramedics arrive oxygen tank in tow, “we’ve got this mom,” and in a blink you are in the back of the ambulance again, but this time it’s a year later, and past midnight, and a young paramedic with powder blue eyes and a thick Philadelphian accent holds your son’s quivering hands (a side effect of the medication) while he still wheezes strider breathes, and he calms him down talking about video games and basketball (“he’s a daddy too), all the time your son’s eyes bursting with bigness over the nebulizer mask, an image burned like an arson into your heart. Hours later there is a formal diagnosis: throat constriction, definitive ANA, conclusively made after a second shot of epi is given hours later into the already dead late night, and only after then, does the wheezing finally, finally subside. The source remains idiopathic, unknown. And then the following days of guilt and your little person continuing to mentally roll around the perception of their own mortality like it was some marble half smashed in their hand, acting out with childish misdemeanors because Christ, they’re five, because where in the world are the words they might have for what happened, and so they're breaking things and not smiling for seven days straight and will not, adamantly will not be hugged. And you, mom, or emotionally repressed dad, are vanquished. Because no one else understands the particular treasure of this child like you do. The bravery. The unreal courageousness of that body, that tiny-housed soul. When we returned from the hospital after our first stay, my son insisted I make a cut out of his hand and glue it to the wall with a message splayed across the palm, stating, “I am grateful.” The episode had been around Thanksgiving, and as one can imagine, nothing exemplified the feelings of immense love and gratitude more than the semiotics of that little paper hand. For my son had indeed brushed against death during that episode, he told me so himself while holding his throat and asking, “where did grandpa go again? That’s right, Heaven. That’s where I’m going right now;” shortly later crumpling on his bed. For the most part, we have been blessed by a community village that if not fully comprehending the nuances of food allergies, genuinely tries, and cares. And for that we are immensely thankful. But sometimes, it seems there is still so much unfortunately willful ignorance. And when someone says something callous at best and pathological at worst, and murder and fear tighten my heart; or alternately something so absurd it literally stings my mouth to respond – (because he is little, and who else does he have but me to come to his defense) -- I stop, and instead think of him objectively, and in reverse, seen far away like a brilliant star found at the end of a telescope. I imagine him and his honey smell and his perfect little fingers, as he pages through a well-worn book. And I imagine, if one were to ask him his opinion on these things, about the people who seem to think the parents of these literally millions of diagnosed children are just being dramatic, or who simply just don’t care, strangers who buttress themselves with narratives like “keep your kids at home,” “helicopter parenting,” or the markedly heinous, “it’s nature’s way of thinning the herd”-- I know in a heartbeat, for he is heart of my heart, how he would respond. It would be with one simple word: “Therizinosaurus.” Evolve. Dig deep. Hi! My name is Maddox, I am 8 years old, and I am MADD ABOUT FOOD ALLERGIES! When I was a year old, I was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. Luckily, my reaction was not life threatening. My parents gave me a peanut butter cracker and being 1 years old, I was more interested in smearing it on my face than eating it. I’m glad I didn’t eat it, because my skin quickly broke out into hives. My Dad quickly reacted and gave me a dose of Benadryl and everything seem to be ok after taking it. We visited my pediatrician the next week, who referred us to an allergist. This is when we found out that I was highly allergic to ALL nuts and from that point on I needed to carry EpiPen’s with me. This isn’t where my story ends. Did you know behind this boy-like face, I am a super hero? The irony to my story is that I love someone with Food Allergies. Nope, not myself. This is my little sister Skylar. This picture says it all, she is full of life and the silliest girl I know. Since we found out I was allergic to nuts, our home has always been nut free. My parents often checked with the allergist to see if we could test my sister, but we were under the impression the longer we waited the less likely she would be to have the allergy. We started the discussions, but just were too nervous to give her anything. We didn’t think much more about it until the day came to us I am a pretty big basketball fan, so the sport I love playing the most is basketball. My favorite team is the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. GO DEACS! January 30, 2016, was a typical Saturday morning. I had a basketball game at the D-1 sports complex, so I grabbed my EpiPen sports belt and we headed to the gym. About mid-ways through my game, I noticed a bit of commotion in the stands. Not long after that, I saw my Dad race out the door. What I learned is my sister shared a granola bar snack with a friend that included nuts. Do you still wonder how I saved my sister’s life? What I learned, is my Dad grabbed MY EpiPen sports belt at that very moment and raced outside to give her a shot of epinephrine and drive her to the hospital, which was directly across the road. Everything was happening really fast. My Mom made sure my grandparents knew to stay with me so she could follow my Dad and sister to the ER. Once my Mom got to the hospital and was with my sister she called me to let me know things seem to be ok. Whew, thank goodness! Have you ever wondered why there are two EpiPen’s in a pack? Have you ever split them up? We found out that day, that not having them together could have been fatal for my sister. Things quickly turned for the worse after that phone call from my Mom. My sister experienced rebound anaphylaxis 45 minutes after the first dose of epinephrine, which is rare but can happen 20% of the time, and she began to go into shock again. That’s when you would need that second EpiPen……if you were not at the hospital yet. Skylar’s body quickly broke out into hives and her breathing became shallow and labored, doctors began to work on her to pump her with 3 more doses of epinephrine, antihistamines, and steroids. As my sister was becoming very distressed they tried tubing her, but couldn’t with how fast her throat was swelling. After so much medicine her body finally started to react positively to it and from what I know deflated like a balloon releasing its air. They transported my sister to a children’s hospital nearby to monitor her. She finally came home the next morning. I worried so much about her hoping that nothing tragic would happen after learning all the series of events. If she had not had that first EpiPen at the gym, I might be telling a different story. SO! This is my person. This is someone I love who has Food Allergies. I want to help kids cope and understand their allergies to stay safe during the hustle and bustle of everyday life. There is A LOT of planning that goes into any type of day/event and the more we talk about it, the safer we will be. I want to start the conversation. I am not ashamed of my allergy and I am not embarrassed of my allergy. Please check out my YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook to follow my journey! This is me Maddox, The Real MADDSKYE, MADD ABOUT FOOD ALLERGIES! I am so excited to have recently learned about Corso's Cookies and share with all of you. The company reached out to me and sent me a Valentine's Day Cookie Bouquet. When my cookie bouquet arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by how adorable the presentation was. The bouquet was very cute with iced cookies shaped and decorated into hearts and owls. A perfect Valentine's Day bouquet for anyone. The best thing about these cookies is they are free of peanuts and tree-nuts. I can certainly find peanut and nut free cookies nowadays at the grocery store, but these are a great option because this is the first of its kind that would be safe for our family. Prior to having kids, I often ordered cookie bouquets from another popular cookie bouquet company, however, once food allergies entered my world, I completely stopped ordering from this place. I absolutely loved those cookies too, but they were not peanut and nut free and were no longer a safe choice for our family. These Corso's Cookies are delicious and I couldn't stop eating them. They are baked with a buttery shortbread recipe and decorated with vanilla royal icing. I also love that these are individually wrapped with an expiration date. The cookies I received were dated to be good until December 2018. Usually these types of cookies do not have a very long shelf life, so I really like that these last for a while. Unfortunately, I could not refrain from having one every day and they are now gone, but others with more restraint will like that they last long and there's no need to freeze them in order to preserve.
Today I’m the founder of a blog for teens and adults with food allergies (Everyday Allergen-Free), the author and food photographer of an allergen-free cookbook, and a freelance writer and food photographer. But years ago, I was struggling to fit in socially and manage the anxiety that came with having severe allergies. It was in learning to deal with these challenges that I found my voice and decided to begin my career as an allergy awareness advocate.
As a baby, I was diagnosed with anaphylactic allergies to peanuts, nuts, dairy, egg, soy and all legumes, chicken, and certain fruits. My older brother was diagnosed with a peanut and nut allergy around the same time. And as I’m sure you can guess, our family’s whole way of life suddenly shifted. This was pre-internet and free-from food brands, so my mom spent a lot of time researching what exactly allergies were, how she could keep us healthy, and finding recipes that were safe. I eventually grew out of several allergies but I’m still anaphylactic to dairy, nuts, peanuts, and legumes. It’s shaped so many of my character and personality attributes and I think it’s now, as an adult, that I’m really appreciating this. Years of sitting alone at the peanut-free table were isolating, but also taught me the importance of inclusion and independence. Standing on the sidelines during social situations (like birthdays or class parties) has taught me the value of good friends. And my collective experiences related to having an invisible disability have instilled in me a great sense of empathy towards others. My site is geared towards teens and adults because my teenage years and early twenties were the most challenging in terms of dealing with my allergies. I was always searching for articles about people in my phase of life and I didn’t find much out there so I decided to create my own. I like to keep the site very positive and real, engaging, and of course humorous. My hope is that I’ll help empower and inspire confidence in people like myself who are dealing with the challenges of navigating their allergic life. Hello! My name is Alannah! I am 10 years old, I am in 5th grade and I am a girl boss. I am working on writing my very first cookbook. Want to know why? Because my little brother is allergic to five of the top eight food allergens. He can’t drink milk! He can’t eat eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, or soy. He also can’t eat foods with sesame seeds or pork. It’s a lot and it makes me so sad when he can’t eat things that I like to eat. I love to eat dessert, especially cupcakes! My brother used to miss out on a lot of desserts because they were made with ingredients he couldn't have. With the help of my mom, I learned how to make desserts and snacks for him and now I come up with my own recipes. It's so much fun! I am working hard to self-publish my cookbook, called Dance Like a Cupcake! I love when I eat a dessert that's so good, it makes you start dancing! Sometimes it's hard to have a brother with food allergies because there are times when it's hard to find a restaurant to eat in, especially because we live overseas. I also worry about him staying safe. When he has a reaction to food, I feel scared. I want to keep him safe and I can help do that for him and other kids by sharing my recipes. Although my brother isn't allergic to gluten or wheat, I am trying to make all the recipes in my cookbook easy to make gluten free. My cookbook will be out early next year and I am super excited! I want to bring awareness to people, bring families together and make everyone Dance Like a Cupcake!! Visit my website www.DanceLikeACupcake.com and contribute to my cookbook publishing process at https://www.gofundme.com/DanceLikeACupcake. Before I go, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with you. Super Yummy Banana Nice Cream Sundae Ingredients: 4 frozen bananas (cut each banana into 3 pieces) 2 tsp of vanilla rice or flax milk 1 tsp of vanilla 5 tbsp of dairy free mini chocolate chips 3-4 tbsp of sunflower seed butter Directions:
And remember to Dance Like A Cupcake!
Guest Blog by Caitlin of Caity's Kitchen: Thriving with Food Allergies Friendsgivings, Christmas work parties, New Year's Eve parties - from November to January, our schedules are packed with holiday functions. While I do believe it is the most wonderful time of the year, this time of year also reminds me of how frustrating and difficult it can be to have severe food allergies. As a child growing up, my food allergy issues were intercepted by my parents before they could cause much of a problem to ruin my holidays. Fast forward a couple of decades, pass through college, a wedding, a few different jobs, and here I am, trying to manage Christmas work parties, holidays with in-laws, parties with different friends, and I can get a bit overwhelmed. As this new generation of allergic kids becoming allergic young adults, it can be tough to navigate these new, and unfamiliar, life experiences. In the past few years, I have better learned how to navigate these social functions where I am careful, but still able to enjoy myself. For these upcoming holidays, here are my tips and tricks to stay safe and enjoy the holidays!
Caitlin has grown up in Los Angeles acquiring food allergies, a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development, a loving husband, and an amazing job as a Children's Librarian. She enjoys spending time with family, trips to the beach with her husband, Sundays at church, and writing. Having food allergies is a struggle, but Caitlin hopes with more resources available, people can learn to thrive with food allergies. caityskitchen.com
Being an allergy mum is a whole new world, I’m not even sure I knew being an ‘allergy mum’ was a thing before I became one which is kinda crazy considering my brother is allergic to almonds which my mum discovered when he was around ten years old - so allergies aren’t exactly new to our family but my brother reacted with a rash which calmed down and then disappeared fully with some anti-histamines so it wasn’t really ‘a big deal’ or so we thought. He was advised to avoid nuts and did so with no reactions until he was 30 years old but then that reaction at age 30 was anaphylaxis meaning his airways started to close and it was life threatening, he now carry’s an auto injector with him ‘just in case’ he accidentally comes in to contact with nuts and has another life threatening allergic reaction. When my son was born in 2013 he was poorly and I didn’t know why, all of his symptoms such as colic, rash, back arching, reflux, sickness, diarrhea, blood in his stools, refusing feeds etc., can be diagnosed as individual problems but when baby has all of these symptoms together it can point towards an allergy. Getting my son diagnosed was extremely difficult and a lengthy process, it was heartbreaking watching my baby suffer and not being able to do anything about it - I was desperate, emotionally and physically exhausted but I didn’t give up! If there’s one thing I have learnt about allergy mums it’s that they’re fighters and we will fight for our children to get them what they need and ensure they don’t miss out! To cut a long story very short, in the early days when my son would scream in agony to the point where his head would turn purple and he’d be pouring with sweat - not to mention the blood all up his back… I did my own research and figured out he has a cow’s milk protein allergy, I conducted more research and realized he needed a hydrolyzed formula, I studied the different formulas suitable for a cow’s milk protein allergy and went to the children’s hospital armed with all of my information - I still had a huge fight on my hands and my son was 9 weeks old by the time I got him the formula he desperately needed but after just 12 hours of being on that formula his symptoms stopped - so yeah ‘mum knows best’. Unfortunately my story of struggling to get a diagnosis isn’t rare and that’s one of the reasons I created my blog, I don’t want any allergy parents and allergy baby’s to suffer like we did so I put everything I know online to help others. Today, I want to share my tips for new allergy mums:
I hope you have found my tips for new allergy mums helpful, if you’re in need of any allergy friendly recipes or shopping lists (UK & Australia) you can find them over on my blog ‘Living With CMPA’.
As a parent of young children, my life is now punctuated with fun milestone events throughout the year that bring my kids lots of unbridled joy. Holidays, summer time, and birthdays are awesome but almost nothing beats Halloween when I allow my kids to lose their minds and eat as much candy as they can. However, now that I am the parent of a child with a severe nut allergy, Halloween brings a lot less joy and a lot more fear because of all of the candy that could potentially harm my son. At almost four years old, it is hard for him to really comprehend why he can’t eat the candy that his sisters are allowed to have. He understands in concept that he is “allergic to peanuts” but that doesn’t translate to understanding why I have to take most candy away from him and his trick or treat bag. It stinks to see his little face fall when he resigns himself to not having the same things his friends and sisters are eating. Last year was particularly stressful during trick or treating because it was the first time that he was walking around our neighborhood and not strapped in to the stroller. It was also the first time that I let him walk from the sidewalk to my neighbor’s front doors to ring their doorbells and get candy on his own. I am sure as parents of kids with nut allergies, you can understand my fear. There are a million kids running around, it’s starting to get dark and it is really hard to read the teeny, tiny candy labels to determine what is safe to eat (why is my phone flashlight STILL not bright enough?). Also, all of the kids I know are walking and eating one piece of candy for every two they get! While there were definitely a small handful of sensitive friends and neighbors out there who were ready with some sort of treat he could eat, the vast majority of houses just weren’t safe because let’s face it - unless you have a child with an anaphylactic nut allergy and carry an Epipen for them like it’s your job, cross contamination from nuts is just not on your radar screen. So, while his friends were stuffing their faces with all sorts of chocolate, I was frantically pulling out all of the unsafe candy from his bag (while trying not to lose him in the crowd and keeping an eye on my other kids too) and replacing it with boring lollipops. He was disappointed and I was frustrated and sad. There were tears. A few of them were mine. Something had to give. That Halloween really pushed me to think about how I could make the world a slightly safer and better place for my son and other children in his situation. I discovered that another mother of a nut allergic child in my community felt the same way as me (don't we all?) and together we formed Bo & Ty Sweets, a nut-free candy company (all products are free from cross contamination with nuts and completely safe for nut allergy sufferers). Bo & Ty Sweets offers an assortment of chocolates, gummies and jelly beans in various sizes ranging from Mini jars (great for party favors) to Jumbo jars (keep them in your pantry and scoop out for occasional treats or use as party centerpieces). Our newest product, the “Dabs,” are single serving candy bags which are perfect to keep with you while trick or treating. For every Snickers or Reeses Peanut Butter Cup that goes into your little one’s bag, you can now replace it with a Dab from Bo & Ty Sweets! Your nut allergic child will be thrilled to be eating the same types of candy as his or her friends and will feel #safenotsingledout. And you’ll be much more relaxed. Trust me! Buy your Dabs now and receive 25% off your entire order (enter PROMO CODE: NONUTSMOM at checkout). Also, before you walk out the door this Halloween don't forget to check out our 5 Tips For Trick Or Treating With Your Nut Allergic Child.
Happy and safe Halloween to all! Every Halloween No Nuts Moms Group of Michigan hosts a food free Halloween party for all members and their siblings. In the past, we have rented out a local play place and had the children dress up and do an indoor trick or treating type activity with food free items. It has always been one of my favorite events for the group and so wonderful seeing the kids all play together without any worries. This year, we still want everyone to come dress-up in their Halloween costumes. However, instead of the traditional trick or treating we have decided to do a carnival type theme with games and food free prizes. In order to make this party a success, we are asking each family to create their own Halloween game and bring it along to share with the group. This event should be just as fun as previous years. FAACT will be our sponsor and because of their generosity the event will be free to the families. Oriental Trading Company has also been very kind in helping me out with this event by providing some of the Halloween games free of charge. This is so great and we are very thankful to FAACT and Oriental Trading Company for helping us make this event so special for the families. I have been ordering from Oriental Trading Company for years. When I started No Nuts Moms Group and hosted the first food free event, I knew where go to get all of our goodies. Oriental Trading Company carries a variety of fun Halloween items and most items are in bulk and inexpensive. They also have a line of food allergy awareness items in teal and you can even purchase a Teal Pumpkin through them. Here's a link to the teal products. If you are looking for food free toys and gadgets to give out on Halloween or you are organizing a kids party, Oriental Trading Company has some great options for all ages. They have fun games, crafts, stickers and much more. Disclaimer: Oriental Trading Company provided No Nuts Moms Group free product in exchange for this blog.
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