Keeping it Real

When we first discovered the severity of our daughter's food allergies, there was a period of emotional adjustment for me.  Knowing that your child could die from eating standard American food staples is a big pill to swallow.  There is a period of mental, emotional, and spiritual adjustment. One of my favorite bible verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9:

'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.'

This verse suddenly became very real to me, as a mom who felt powerless. Eventually, I took refuge in the fact that God created her perfectly, and something good would come out of it.  

There are several great websites and support groups for parents of children with food allergies.  I checked them all out and spent some time perusing the many forums.  While it was helpful to know that other parents were facing the same challenges, something about these forums didn't sit well with me.  Many of the loving, vigilant parents were letting their child's food allergies take over their life and making it the focus of their family.  They were totally removing any food allergens from the house. Don't get me wrong - I understand the need for vigilance, but I don't want to make things bigger than they need to be.  For that reason, I decided to NOT remove dairy, eggs and nuts from our house.  The rest of us could eat these items, and I didn't see the need to totally take them out of everyone's diet. Instead, I decided to educate my daughter about what she could and couldn't eat, to read labels, and to always ask questions.  In my opinion, this approach will help her function in the real world, where she will constantly be exposed to various food allergens.   

That being said, for my sanity, I DO tend to cook dinners that we can all eat.  These include meat, chicken, fish, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. And when I bake for the family, I typically bake without eggs, dairy, nuts, and most recently wheat. I thought I would show a picture of my typical weekly shopping trip.  If you look closely, you'll see items like almond butter, milk, eggs, and yogurt. What you don't see here is very much meat, but only because my freezer is full of lots of local grass-fed beef.:


You can also see some allergy-free items such as Cliff Bars, Miso ramen soup, coconut milk, and Earth Balance margarine.  If you are new to all of this, be encouraged - you can do this!


Grace Laced Mondays
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5 comments:

  1. Great idea to blog your experiences and recipes. As you said in your introduction-something good eill come of it. This blog may just be one of those "Things". Good luck and Ilook forward to your posts and recipes. You are a wonderful mother and great cook.

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  2. Your tip about flaxseed-for-eggs has become a lifesaver in our house! Thanks for this great blog, I'm looking forward to more posts.

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    1. I'm so glad that's worked for you, Stephanie! Plus, it's very healthy!

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  3. I agree with you for the most part. We have regular peanut butter, cheese, eggs, among other allergens in our home. However, 2 years ago we decided to take milk out of our home. Somehow, my son drank cow's milk and went into anaphylactic shock, that also went into a secondary reaction within 8 hours. Because the distinction between milks was too high and the risk certainly too high, we switched to almond & rice milk. Now, I do buy the small cartons of regular milk for my daughter to take to school in her lunch. I can't say that we've really missed it because we still have regular yogurt and cheese.

    On a daily basis, I typically cook to all the allergy needs in our home, so having one thing or another is rarely an issue. Perhaps a little extra work, but very much worth it!

    Thank you so much for including The Willing Cook in your blog roll! You have a beautiful blog here and I look forward to seeing more of it.

    Michelle @ Willingcook.com

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    1. What a scary experience, Michelle! I can totally understand the need to get rid of milk in that case. I totally get that everyone is vigilant in their own way and do what is best for their family. You sound like such a caring, creative, wonderful mom, and I'm thrilled to share our experiences!

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