Travels of Food Allergic Tween

What does it take for a tween living with severe food allergies to travel?  Realistically, it means the responsible adult must be ready for anything.  Even with a responsible, well-adjusted, kid...

Vera Bradley Crossbody

1.  Be prepared!  Never allow your young child with food allergies to travel without an allergy pack (containing medical information, snacks, and just-in-case medications.)  This makes a HUGE difference down the road when your now tween balks and does not want to draw attention to being different.  Our tween has a collection of purses - most recently Vera Bradley crossbody and that helps somewhat.  Always carry.  No exceptions.
    

Twisted Fruit

2. Be Proactive!  My tween headed to Portland with extended family and packed extra milk-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free treats and snacks - just in case.  Sure enough, she reported those little extras - Cliff Organic Twisted Fruit helped make mornings special.
    

Salmon

3.  Be Open!  While in Portland, my tween reportedly tried different food options (fresh salmon, deconstructed mango salad, vegan strawberry cream cheese, crab) she knew were safe. She was thrilled and sent pictures to me via her cell phone (which, by the way, is NOT a substitute for carrying allergy pack).

Cuz you never know...At one of the vegan bakeries, an employee stuck a peanut donut in with an assortment.  Tween had a bite (not of the peanut one - thank goodness!) and her throat started to feel itchy.  Not wanting to make a scene, she mentioned it in passing to present adult.  The adult did not pick-up on the cue. 

The story ends without blame (ALWAYS!), 

but with a sober reminder and Benadryl.

FAAN

The Least I Can Do

The 12 Least Intrusive Ways to

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle 

in the Suburbs

(Because 12 is the new 10.)
(www.12most.com)

At least I can:

1. Feel guilty when I don't bring my own bags to the store. - Oh, the guilt when I forget and have too many items to carry out!  There I am, doing the walk of shame in the parking lot with two plastic bags in each hand.  Do most suburbanites tote their own totes?  I really try.

2. Live in awe of friends who have fruitful vegetable gardens right now. - We grew tomatoes in planters on the deck railing last year.  My tween really, really wanted to do a garden patch this year.  Because we didn't, I am relegated to viewing photos posted by successful gardeners on facebook, enjoying "fresh from the garden" salad at book club, and purchasing other people's homegrown bounty at the Farmer's Market.

3. Use cloth napkins. - This, my family does well.  I have a stash of paper napkins to cover food in the microwave, but the rest of the time we use cloth.  It has been over 2 years!  I even use cloth for entertaining kids, though often feel the need to explain, "Please do not throw the napkins away..."

4. Use cloth towels. - We do this well too.  No paper towels in this house - except for the roll in the far bottom cupboard behind the microwave paper napkins.  My sister left it when she visited.  Cloth kitchen towels just don't work for her, so she brings her own roll.  It's the least she can do.

5. Recycle, recycle, recycle! - Our suburb does not charge for recycling, so there is a monetary advantage here as well.  I pick paper out of a trash can in our house if my hubby or kids have dropped it in by mistake.  Recycling is more work - what with all the sorting of packaging, but it is the least I can do.

6. Hang to dry. - I never thought I would do this one, however...our dryer went on the fritz at the end of December 2010.  We hung clothes for a couple of days, and then a couple more days.  And then we worked out a system.  And then the weather got warmer.  And now here we are - over 6 months later.  Never got the dryer fixed and have only had to hit the laundromat (which is not spelled "laundrymat") twice for major bedding loads.  Gas and electric bill are each about 10% lower.

7. Wear less. - I have written about this on the blog before.  Back in September, I attempted the "Six Items or Less" clothing experiment.  Now, the average amount of clothing I keep in rotation is about 12 Items or Less - rotated monthly.  For example, instead of purchasing a new shirt for "The 4th of July," I purchased a shirt "For July."  I have 4 other shirts, 4 shorts, 1 pair of slacks, and one pair of jeans in rotation.  That's it (+ a cardigan to ward off air conditioning and an extra tank top or two to catch sweat)!  On August 1st, I will prepare another set of items.  It really works for me.  Oh, and I share clothes with my sister.

8. Avoid buying on impulse. - One of the most powerful weapons stores have is how they market items on the shelves.  Have you have ever been tempted to buy a soft blue blanket when walking past an endcap?  Remove it.  Carry it over to an aisle that has colors similar to the interior of a room in your home.  It doesn't look as good when it is not between the green and pink blankets does it?  The least you can do is resist the urge.  Put it back.  Reuse what you already own.

9. Reduce whining. - No means no.

10.  Resist spoiling my kids. - Proper nutrition, enough sleep, and plenty of time to play.  This is advice I can give other parents: Reduce the number of "outings" you take.  Kids don't need constant outside stimulation.  I recently read that boredom breeds creativity.  Reuse what you have.  For example: ball mismatched socks for rainy day sock wars, teach them card games, build forts with couch cushions...make sure they have chores, and teach them help with dinner.  You won't regret it.

11.  Learn. - Currently considering rain barrels, composting, and a garden plot (or, at least, an herb garden).

12.  Is have one responsible car. - Ok, so I drive a 2004 silver Honda Odyssey mini-van.  But our other car is a 2008 red Prius.  It's the least we can do.

I love creative solutions!

So tell me, "What kind of things do you do to 

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle?"

Fourth of July Pie

This Fourth of July Holiday, my multiple food allergic tween and I cobbled together a Milk-free, Egg-free, Nut-free berry pie.  We have made apple and berry pies before, but this one was special.  We didn't have enough cherries in our Farmer's Market stash, so we decided to add our Farmer's Market blueberries too.  It turned out berry delicious!  Recipe follows below:

Cherry-Blueberry Pie

Milk-free, Egg-free, Nut-free

The Flaky Pastry crust recipe is adapted from the 1982 edition of:
Sunset Easy Basics for Good Cooking

Flaky Pastry
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup solid shortening or lard
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt.  Cut shortening into flour until about pea-size.  Sprinkle water over mixture a little at a time - stirring lightly with a fork.  When just moistened, gather mixture into a ball.  Divide ball in half and flatten.  Wrap and leave in fridge for an hour.

Filling
4 cups pitted cherries
2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice 
2 tablespoons Smart Balance Light
2 tablespoons soymilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Sprinkle berries with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  Roll out bottom crust and fill with berry mixture. Dot around top with Smart Balance Light.  Roll out top crust and cut to create lattice effect.  Brush top lightly with soymilk. To prevent excess browning, place strips of foil around edges.  Place pie on baking sheet and bake on lowest rack for 30-35 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 25-30 more minutes.

Bring to picnic dinner at the fireworks!