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!

Another Year of Trick or Treat

Another trick or treat night and all was fine. A few of the neighbors had special, safe treats set aside. I sent thank you e-mails the following day to them because it warms my heart that they get that this is a tough holiday for kids with food allergies.

My son separated his candy into safe and unsafe piles. The safe pile was considerably smaller. I swapped the unsafe pile with some chocolates I made in a Halloween Jell-O mold. I added crushed almonds to the chocolate because my nut allergic child can have almonds. They are a great protein source so I try to add them to baked goods when I can.

We head into the succession of food holidays- Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day. Along the way we'll deal with cooking in the school Family and consumer Science class, a family trip and an overnight school activity. Each event requires planning and a dose of anxiety, but as a family, we've got the hang of this food allergy thing pretty well now. I am excited to read your comments about successful milk desensitization programs for your kids and I'm thrilled that our allergist office will soon start a peanut desensitization program. Strict avoidance may be an out-dated recommendation in the coming years.

Now that would be a treat!

Food Allergy Jingle Raises Awareness About Safety During the Holidays

Two young girls, calling themselves the "Peanut Free Players" sing a holiday themed song about food allergies. Take a few moments away from your holiday planning, pull the kids up to the computer and enjoy this clever jingle.