In Case You Missed It: September Food Allergy Blog Carnival

When I started this blog nearly five years ago, there weren't many of us writing about our food allergy experiences. I am now honored to be among the company of so many talented and knowledgeable bloggers. 

In case you missed the most recent Food Allergy Blog Carnival, head on over to the site of our September host, Grateful Foodie, and read up on what's happening in the food allergy world. Everything from recipes to the latest information on Auvi-Q to dating with food allergies can be found among the many and varied articles. 

Great work y'all!

Planning Ahead for Thanksgiving Dinner

Food holidays are always challenging when you need to plan around food allergies. By keeping things simple and planning ahead a delicious holiday meal is easy to achieve. Here are some tried and true Thanksgiving tips and recipes:

• I always brine our Thanksgiving turkey. Honestly, this will be the moistest, most flavorful turkey you've ever had. Check out my article, "How to Brine a Turkey".
• Our side dishes are simple. For mashed potatoes, I reserve some of the potato water to beat back into the boiled, softened potatoes. Dairy-free margarine, a little seasoned salt and some pepper and we're good to go. We enjoy my sweet potato recipe and I serve a variety of vegetables like green beans, corn and raw veggies including red pepper, carrots and grape tomatoes. 
• I usually make bread in the bread machine or serve biscuits. Homemade stuffing isn't too tough to tackle. Follow this Cook's.com recipe using safe bread and margarine.
• It's always fun to make a few dessert selections. I have some of our favorites under the recipe tab of foodallergyassistant.com if you're looking for new dairy, egg, peanut and nut-free ideas.

Start gathering recipes and planning now for a low(er)-stress holiday meal. I'd love to hear how you've adapted some of your family favorites to accommodate food allergies!

Peanut Allergy: What Do You Think of Banning Peanuts?

http://foodallergyassistant.blogspot.com/2010/11/food-allergy-news-from-annual.htmlOh, Dr. Bahna, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), has sure stirred up a pot of trouble. As mentioned in a previous post, the ACAAI has been conducting their annual meeting over the past few days. Perhaps the most publicized information coming out of the meeting, has been comments about peanut bans made by Dr. Bahna. Check out this report from NPR's Health Blog. Of particular interest to me are the dozens of comments which rest on both sides of the issue.
 
I don't know if it's because we were originally dealing with nearly ten different food allergens, but I've never been an advocate of food bans. However, I am an advocate of making reasonable accommodations for medical needs. Therefore, when I contact an airline and request that peanuts not be served on our flight due to a peanut allergy, I expect that reasonable request to be honored. If suddenly those orange cheese curls became the popular in-air snack, I'd be just as adamant that those snacks not be served on our flight either. Imagine a huge cloud of cheese dust circling over my milk allergic's child head- a nightmare!

I am in favor of school cafeterias providing safe places for all children to eat lunch. If that means a separate safe table for my child, I want to be able to make that reasonable request.

Yes, the topic of food allergies can cause great debate, but for those of us who live with a food allergy, there is no debate. Anaphylaxis can be fatal and we should expect reasonable accommodations to be made to prevent a reaction.