I am so frustrated with my kid's food allergies! I've been on a bit of a cooking strike because I just cannot figure out what to make for dinner.
First I have to deal with Lydia's peanut allergy. Of course, that's a terrifying allergy in itself. Just head to your pantry and check out your food for peanut warnings and you will see how much it limits my choices. And don't get me started about how dangerous it is to go out to eat at restaurants.
THEN....I have to deal with Collin's MILK ALLERGY! It didn't used to be so bad as I would just feed him baby food. Now he wants what we have and is heartbroken when he doesn't get it. And I don't want to make two separate meals anyway.
Imagine. Nothing made with milk, CHEESE of any kind, butter, cream of anything soup, sour cream, or yogurt. No pizza, no mac and cheese, no lasagna, no grilled cheese sandwiches, no parmesan roasted veggies (our favorite.) No chocolate, no peanut butter, no ice cream. No Mexican restaurants, no Asian restaurants. Flying is terrifying. Imagine taking your child in a huge metal trap filled with anthrax. For us it's tiny peanut packages. (Even smelling peanut can be fatal.)
80% of the food I like to make is now off limits between the two allergies. Shane mentioned once he thought we should try being vegetarians for a while. I could scarce catch my breath I laughed so hard. Sure. Let's cut out wheat too. Just for kicks. I'll just serve you guys huge plates of unsalted broccoli with some gum on the side.
I'm trying to make this work. I've been trying to feed Collin soy cheese, but it smells like a dirty diaper and tastes about the same. I've gone through my cook books and found lot's of recipes that will work. The problem is, they all take a lot of effort. I'm a busy mom with two little kids. I want some of the easy stuff! (Though I still refuse to make frozen chicken nuggets. The thought makes me gag.)
Sorry. I just needed to get that out. I think I'll go eat a coconut milk ice cream bar to cheer me up. Or the stack of 25 chocolate bars taken from Lydia's halloween sack because they were "processed on equipment that also processes peanuts." ARGH!!!!
**************
Now- I thought I would answer the three questions everyone asks when food allergies are brought up.
1. Does anyone else in your family have allergies?
*** No. Neither Shane nor I nor anyone in our immediate families have food allergies.
2. How did you find out about Lydia's allergy?
*** When Lydia was 6 months old I was eating peanuts. She was crawling around in a diaper and I went to pick her up. Almost immediately her skin broke out into horrible hives. We took her to an allergist the next day and was diagnosed. We feel very blessed it happened this way as she is so allergic, she probably would not have survived her first contact with ingesting peanut.
3. Will they out-grown them?
*** Collin has a good chance of outgrowing his in the next few years. Lydia does not. Neither my allergist or my pediatrician have ever heard of someone out-growing their peanut allergy when it was as severe as Lydia's when diagnosed. They gave me about a 2% chance. Still praying for it though. Everyday.