Our entire family was looking forward to "the day the truck brings the chocolate." Miss M asked about several trucks we saw while out and about - "Is that the truck with my chocolate?" Of course we couldn't wait to dig in when the chocolate (and other items) arrived!
We had our order shipped in a cooler because, until the day it arrived, the weather had been quite warm. We certainly didn't want our chocolate melted when we opened it!Big J was very excited about the chocolate bars - and this one is huge! Also, it's delicious!
I wanted to get something special for Miss M, since she is the one that misses out on the most due to her food allergies. This chocolate unicorn fit the bill - perfectly girly, and I love that it comes tied with ribbon!
We also miss out on many granola bars, trail mixes, and cereals due to peanut/nut ingredients and potential cross-contamination. Most packs of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds that you find in grocery stores also carry a peanut/nut warning. I can't tell you how exciting it is to have two pounds of safe sunflower seeds and a huge assortment of snack-size packs of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and soy nuts on hand now. The kids nearly inhaled this bag of pumpkin seeds!
Notice the tear on the left side of the bag.... They let me taste a few - yum! I'm really looking forward to adding the sunflower seeds to salads and homemade granola bars. I just wish the pumpkin seeds came in larger packages!This is just a portion of what we received (between our actual order and all of the samples). I'll be glad to include a list if anyone is interested in more details. We haven't yet tried everything, but so far we have enjoyed everything that we have tried.
One thing I'm really looking forward to is trying out the marshmallow fluff! The kind in the regular grocery has egg, and Miss M hasn't been cleared for eggs. Of course, now that I have it in hand, what to make? Wonder if Mom's Fantasy Fudge recipe will work... Fluffernutters? Of course, they'd be fluffer no-nutters here! A friend has a yummy apple dip that calls for cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, and caramel dip. The kids would probably eat it by the spoonful!!!
We also received several samples of peanut butter replacements. I'm planning to taste-test these with the kids and write up a post with the results. We currently use soy butter, but not the same brand that was included in the samples. We will also try sunflower seed butter and pea butter (made from, you guessed it, peas!). I'm very interested to sample the products, and I hope the kids will enjoy helping me with the tasting.
Just a little over a month to go until Miss M's next appointment with the allergist. While I'm not looking forward to the appointment - it's time for retesting for her allergies - I am looking forward to the results. I'm hopeful that we'll find out that Miss M has outgrown the egg allergy, but I don't want to get too optimistic. On the flip side, I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I do have to be realistic. The chance of outgrowing the egg allergy is pretty good. The chance of outgrowing the peanut allergy is small. Still, I hope for good news.
This post is also linked to Food on Fridays hosted by Ann Kroeker.
4 comments:
Can't wait to hear how the taste-tests continue. Crossing fingers on egg being out of the picture for you. It helps so much to narrow the worry down to one kind of food!
I'm new to your blog, so I don't know your daughter's allergy story.
That said, have you talked to your allergist about 'building up her tolerance' to peanuts? I've read a lot of research that shows little-by-little exposure can help kids' food allergies become less severe (or eliminate them completely in light cases).
The idea is sort of like getting immunizations, I guess--their bodies start to get accustomed to the allergy food and stop overreacting with time.
Thanks for participating in the Freelings fundraiser for Kids With Food Allergies! I am glad you are liking the products Peanut Free Planet sent to you.
I found your post through google alerts, so thought I'd drop by to say thank you.
As for the comment above regarding desensitization for peanut allergy, that treatment is still being done only in the research setting at university medical centers and is not being done in clinical practice (except in a few places). Allergy researchers warn that it's still considered experimental and is definitely not something to try at home.
Hopefully within a few years, we will have treatments available everywhere, and someday soon, a cure!
Until then, strict avoidance is the key.
Best regards,
Lynda Mitchell
Kids With Food Allergies
Susan - Thanks for the good wishes!
Anon - I have heard of those studies. Unfortunately, we are a couple hours' drive from the nearest desensitization study site, even if we were to consider participation.
Lynda - Thanks so much for dropping by!
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