Love is In the Air… Valentine Ideas for Your Food Allergic Child

Great ideas from Guest Blogger, Melanie Potock of MyMunchbug.com.

Allergen-free Cookies from Cybele Pascal

Recipe from Cybele Pascal

This weekend,  kitchen tables everywhere will be piled high with home-made Valentine cards or frosted with flour and cookie cut-outs as everyone prepares for the traditional Valentine’s Day Party at school. For kids with food allergies or sensitivities, new ideas for alternative crafts or treats are plenty and I’d love to share some of them here with you!

Let’s get right to it: cookies, that is.  I mean, you have to have a heart shaped cookie on Valentine’s Day…I’m pretty sure there’s a law about that.  When I laid eyes on these delectable allergen-free “melt in your mouth” cookies from Cybele Pascal, I knew I had found the perfect little hearts to share with you. 

Fun Valentine Cards & Activities

MAMAGAGA

Speaking of little hearts, here’s a clever idea for a Valentine’s Day card that is not only from your child’s heart, but direct from his tiny hand!  Mamagaga.com created this easy tutorial where you take a photo of your child with their hand reaching toward the camera and then simply put the token of your choice in his hand as a special Valentine treat!  Allergy free options might include an organic lollypop, a Starbuck’s card (for teacher!) or a one-word, handwritten message in your child’s own lettering, such as “KISS”.

DOTTY VALENTINE

Another option for cards takes a bit more time and definitely adult supervision, but I loved these “dotty valentines” using precision Q-tips™.  The Crafty Crow recommends acrylic or tempura paints (contains egg) but another option would be Allergen Free Non-toxic finger paints either homemade or from  India Tree Natural Decorating Colors , which are made from vegetables.  As always, check ingredients to ensure that your child is safe and consult with kidswithfoodallergies.org for craft supplies that may contain allergens.

DEVELOP MOTOR SKILLS

Continue to challenge your kiddo’s fine motor skills with this lacing activity! Looking for an inexpensive class activity that doesn’t involve scooping up as much sugar and candy as little fists can hold and then piling it all on top of a processed cookie in less than 15 seconds?  This Valentine craft will keep tiny hands busy and the poor teacher won’t have to deal with 25 kids in a sugar coma after the party has ended.

Cupcakes!  GF, DF, Egg-free, Nut-free, Soy-free

Let’s do the teacher, the kids and the other parents a favor and bring in a sweet pink treat that can’t be beat…wait for it…yes, “Beet-iful Cupcakes” by Gluten Free Gigi.  Bright reddish-pink cushions of heaven, thanks to the natural color of a roasted beet!  These are gluten, dairy, egg, soy and nut free, sweetened with honey and delish!

Gifts of Service

What I loved most as I explored all the options for Valentine’s Day, was this post that I felt gave the best examples of how we can express our love, even to those that we have yet to know.  Reach out to an army family, visit a nursing home, bring art supplies for Valentines to your local children’s hospital or write a message to the kids to help them heal... just like someone did here in the freshly fallen snow in Colorado!

It will warm your heart…and theirs.  

"Get Well Kids" written in the snow....

Happy Valentine’s Day Tender Foodies!

About Melanie

Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLPMelanie is speech language pathologist who specializes in feeding.  Her work brings her into the homes and schools of her clients, kids, who for various reasons have difficulty with food or with eating. She works with kids and their parents to develop effective strategies that help children become “more adventurous eaters”.  At least 50% of her clients have food allergies or intolerances, and for them, “adventurous eating” takes on a special meaning.  Melanie is also the author of Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids” and the executive producer of “Dancing in the Kitchen.”

More Posts from Melanie

How Can Parents Feel Less Stress with a Food Allergic Child in School?

Review:  The Magic of the BellyFULL Kit from the Hopeful Company

RECIPE: Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup (Vegan, DF, GF, Nut-free, Soy-free)

Here is another great recipe from Chef Jenny Brewer, that uses the winter powerhouse called "Sweet Potato".  Chef Jenny will start guest blogging for us in March (2012), with cooking tips and recipes for Tender Foodies of all kinds.  I'm very excited to have Chef Jenny lending her expertise! 

Prep

Serves 6-8
Preparation Time:  
20 mins
Cooking time:  
35 mins

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 anaheim pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lbs),peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 28-can whole plum tomatoes

1 cup water or vegetable stock

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained

1 dried chipotle pepper (smoked jalepeno), seeded and chopped (easiest to do with scissors)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Recipe

Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion, pepper, garlic, and sweet potato chunks. Saute, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon.  Add water or stock, beans, chipotle, cumin, and chili powder, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.  Stir in cilantro and serve.

About Chef Jenny Brewer

Jenny Brewer is a nutritionist and chef who believes eating healthy should be easy, delicious and fun! She inspires individuals to stay committed to eating healthy with her free healthy eating resource, Tasty Bites with Chef Jenny available at www.jennybrewer.com.

More Recipes from Chef Jenny

Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart (super allergen-free, healthy & delish, delish, delish)

RECIPE: Roast Chicken with Figs, Thyme, Garlic, & Sweet Potatoes

Thyme from the garden - picked in Michigan in January.

Thyme in January

When I first moved to Michigan 6 years ago, thyme was one of the first herbs I planted.  I was so grateful to have dirt to play in (15 years in the concrete jungle makes you appreciate stuff like that), that even in winter, I stepped out to stare at my garden and plan for the coming summer.  To my surprise, the thyme was thriving under the snow.  It had also turned a deeper green, and the most exposed leaves sported a beautiful hue of purple. 

Thyme and roast chicken are a classic combination winter-wise.  But since it stops growing when Jack Frost comes to town, I only harvest a few sprigs during its dormancy.  So one day in January,  I made an unusual garden trek in my wellies, without a coat, and on an unseasonably warm day...to pick some thyme. Then stuffed the butt of an organic chicken with this precious herb, along wtih lime, figs, and garlic.

Thyme grows best in July and August, so during the summer I put it into glass jars or ziploc bags, then "just" cover the thyme with olive oil, and freeze.  When I remove from the freezer, I use the infused olive oil as well as the thyme for diferent dishes.  This recipe has become a favorite means of making beta-carotene loving sweet potatoes as well.  They soak up the chicken juices and the beta carotene is activated by the olive oil.

 

Ingredients

1 -- 5-6 lb organic, roaster chicken (choose organic to be sure that the chicken has not been injected with a gluten-based solution)

CHEF TIP:  one method to get the skin crispy when roasting is to place it in the refrigerator prepared in the pan and leave uncovered for a few hours.  This gets the excess moisture out of the skin which helps it brown.

2 cups of organic parsnips (rough chopped into 2 inch pieces)

2 cups of organic carrots (rough chopped into 2 inch pieces)

3- 4 sweet potatoes (ends sliced off, and chopped into 1 inch x 2 inch pieces)

1 head of garlic (root sliced off, head rough chopped in half)

1 lime (or lemon), cut in half

Dried figs  (stems chopped off, 5 per chicken butt, 1 handful to mix with veggies)

25 sprigs of thyme (20 per chicken butt, 5 with veggies)

*if you don't have thyme, this recipe actually works well without it, too.

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees.  Place the racks low in the oven so the roaster can fit.  

Vegetables:  Spread the carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and figs along the bottom of the pan.  The veggies act as a rack for your chicken.  Sprinkle the 5 thyme sprigs throughout.  Place about 1 TBS of olive oil and 1-2 tsp. of salt into your hands and toss the vegetables with it. 

Giblets:  Pull out the giblets and neck and throw into a hot pan with a little olive oil.  Fry them up (brown on all sides) and put aside for another use (the cat likes them).  I use the neck and carcass of the chicken in the Nourished Kitchen's slow cooking, immune-building bone broth, a recipe I have come to love and use often.  Pan-fry the neck as well and refrigerate overnight and then toss it into the bone broth the next day with the left over chicken and bones.

Frying Giblets

Chicken:  Rinse the chicken inside and out and remove any pin feathers.  Cut excess flabby fat from the chicken, but leave the skin on.  Pat the skin dry with a paper towel.  I always rinse my chicken, however, I've noticed that not all chefs do this.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, and salt the outside and the inside of the chicken.

Stuff the chicken cavity (the butt end) with the 20 sprigs of thyme, 5 or 6 figs and the whole head of halved garlic, and the halved lime (or lemon).  Then place on the vegetables and tuck the wings under its body (or they could overcook).

CHEF TIP:  one method to get the skin crispy when roasting is to place it in the refrigerator prepared in the pan and leave uncovered for a few hours.  This gets the excess moisture out of the skin which helps it brown.

Place the roaster in the oven at 425 degrees F for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When the juices between the leg and the thigh run clear (not bloody or thick), your chick is done.

Remove from the oven and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes before carving. 

Joy!

Serve a Healthy Dessert

Serve the 14-Allergen-Free, Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart for dessert.  MMM.

 Not Your Mamma's Chocolate Mousse Tart is Nut-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Sesame-Free, Oat-free, Egg-free, Corn-free, Coconut-free, & Soy-free...

Love & The Tender Foodie. First Dates.

As seen on p. 18 in the February issue of Women's Lifestyle Magazine

Dating.  We know we need to put our best foot forward when the latest Mr. Right asks us out, but food allergies, sensitivities, intolerances . . . can make us feel like we are an alien from another planet.   A first date equals a new, unknown person to trust with private information.   We have to answer a list of embarrassing questions and risk appearing “odd”.  We also have to confront and change a set of social standards that have been in place for generations.  

For instance, you may have to take some of the control away from the man, as well as some of the fun.  Your date can’t surprise you with the restaurant.  He can’t buy that big red box of nutty, milky chocolates.  And for some of the most sensitive Tender Foodies, he can’t eat peanuts before a good night kiss without an Epi-pen loaded, an ambulance waiting in the wings, and a high risk tolerance for life and death situations.  This is unusual, but true.

As with most things in life, however, a complicated scene can be simplified by starting with the truth.  
 
For me, there is always a shining moment where I set my jaw ever so slightly and tell it like it is.   Before this single Tender Foodie gives counsel, however, I crosschecked my methods with actual relationship experts, Jeff Gorter, MSW and Carolyn Aibel, Ph.D.

Both confirmed that being up front right away is the best solution and they helped me with a little action plan.

If you have to eat a big, hairy frog, you might as well eat it first thing in the morning and get it over with.  Unless, of course, you are frog intolerant.”  _Jeff Gorter, MSW

Be Confident in Your Character

Someone you like (we hope you like) is asking you out.  This is a beautiful thing.  With food allergies or any serious, chronic health condition, it is easy to let fear construct unnecessary obstacles.  But remember, your condition is not a reflection of your character and your food allergies are not who you are.  

“There is nothing shameful about it.  We all have our stuff.  A food allergy / sensitivity is just one of those things.”  _Carolyn Aibel, Ph.D.
 

Lead with Your Weakness

The perfect time to discuss your food allergies is right after you tell your date how happy you are that he asked you out.  Calmly say something like, “I would like you to know that I have some [pretty serious] food allergies.  Would it be OK if I chose the restaurant?  Not all restaurants know how to handle these allergies properly. And I’d rather just focus on getting to know each other and not have to worry about it during our date.”   

“If your thoughts are, “I don’t want him to think I’m weird” and you avoid telling him, you have automatically created a barrier to success.  You will then put your date in an awkward position when he does find out, and he won’t have the opportunity to make choices that are good for both of you.” _Jeff Gorter, MSW

Know Your Reactions to Food

I cannot stress this enough.  Talk to your doctor.  Know what you have and what the consequences are if a mistake is made.  Do you need an Epi-pen?  Can you kiss a guy right after he drinks a beer, downs a shrimp, or eats a peanut?  What is your action plan if you have a reaction?  If you have the delayed type of immune response, celiac disease, or a sensitivity don’t “suffer through” in order to avoid confrontation.  If you know what you need, it is much easier to communicate the right things to the people that need to know. To help, visit www.tenderpalate.com and visit “10 Steps to Get Started” & “What is a Food Allergy?”  

Rehearse Your Story

Inevitably, personal questions will come up, and I always dread them.  But questions are good because they usually indicate that your date is interested and cares.  The trick is to keep your answers informative and to the point, then move quickly to topics that are more fun and mutually interesting.  

“Your story needs to reflect your own comfort level and this takes some soul searching ahead of time.  Practice like you are giving an elevator speech.  You can’t expect someone else to be more comfortable with your story than you are.”  Jeff Gorter, MSW

Use The Food Allergy Filter

A few Tender Foodies on Facebook gave some great advice:

1) Food allergies can serve as a great filter for "insignificant others".  A good guy will seek to understand, care and learn.  A self-centered guy won’t.

2) If your date has been trained by other people before you . . . bonus!

3) Dump the date that takes you out, eats in front of you & makes you eat at the "next" place.  Yes, this really happened.

Leave Your Baggage at the Door

If you are tempted to over compensate, ask yourself “why”.  Your requests to protect your health are reasonable.  In reality, you haven’t really deprived your date of anything.  

“Really, what the food allergic person might be feeling is their own sense of deprivation that they are projecting onto the other person.  You’ve only given them a piece of information about you.  After all, food allergies are not contagious.”  _Carolyn Aibel, Ph.D

Now Go Have Fun!

Even though you must control your food, you don’t have to control your date.  Simply be aware of other areas in which you can be more flexible.  If you have a list of restaurants that can serve you, let him surprise you from that list.  If you can’t eat out at all, ask him if he has any non-food ideas like a museum or a sporting event, and tell him you will pack the lunch.  If your relationship is at a comfortable point, perhaps you can cook for him, or grocery shop and cook together.  (Now, how fun would that be!)

If we boil this down to the fundamentals, dating with food allergies is not so different from “regular dating.”  

Know yourself.  Be up front.  Choose your partners wisely.  Then be creative.  

And let him be creative back.  

About Our Expert Sources

Jeff Gorter, MSW, brings over 25 years of clinical experience including consultation and extensive on-site critical incident response to businesses and communities.  He is an account executive at Crisis Care Network in Grand Rapids, MI.  Carolyn Aibel, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Boulder, CO.  She specializes in treating individuals with eating issues.

Begin Again.

If you can't run to the end of the road, walk there.

If you need to rest, rest.

Then begin again.

It's your road.