Food Allergies in the Classroom

Our school is not peanut free - nor does it make the classrooms peanut free where there are children who are allergic. Snack for kindergarten are eaten at their seats - on the tables that they use for work. So - there is a higher risk for cross contamination if a parent is sending in crackers with peanut butter, even if my child isn't sitting with that child. The vice principal does not see this as a problem - and the teacher feels she can manage it in her classroom. My worry is that as time goes on - and there isn't a reaction, she will become complacent.

In our state, a food allergy could be considered a disability. And, under that disability they are required to make modifications that ensure the safety and needs of a child with disabilities that do not isolate the child. Wouldn't a reasonable modification be to make her classroom an allergy free place for her - and ask parents not to bring in peanut butter for snack? Ideally - shouldn't they also exclude milk and egg too?

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

First Day of Kindergarten

I still don't have a fridge - so dinner tonight was rice pasta and a pumpkin sauce. I thought it was pretty tasty, but the girls wouldn't touch it. (they ate pankcakes again!). No pretty pictures tonight.

I wanted to share my experience of our first day of kindergarten.

Prior to our first day....
At the end of the school year prior to Lilly attending kindergarten I met with the principal, vice principal, kindergarten teachers, and nurse. We had an in-depth discussion of Lilly's needs to keep her safe - and a plan to start with.....Or, so I thought.

The week before school
We were on vacation - so we did not receive our class list or teacher. Which to my surprise was a new teacher to accomodate the large kindergarten class. She was the only teacher who had not completed training for using an epi-pen. Could we change her class. Nope. We had to have another meeting the day before class started with everyone, again. Hmmm, nothing like being prepared.

The first day of school
I cried. Not because my baby was going to kindergarten....But, because while we were in the gym listing to pta announcements - and then they told us our children would be going to the cafeteria for a chocolate chip cookie. I wasn't told about this treat in advance. I didn't bring "an alternate" for her. Who would be sitting with her. Would she be at an allergy table? I went and found her in the hall on her way - and we left....I wanted to take her out of school right then and there. I think this is probably why many parents of allergic children home school....

Really - is it crucial to my childs education to feed them junk - to give them a warm and fuzzy feeling about school? Well in our case it caused nothing but anxiety.....

More later on this......

No Refrigerator - for two weeks.....

Ok - like anything, after such a long break I feel like I am starting over....It was a spring of non-stop asthma, eczema, chicken pox, and a febrile seizure to top it off.

Then it was summer - time to relax and veg at the beach. Eating nothing but broccoli, chicken nuggets and palapas.

Then we started kindergarten....and suddenly, not only was my childs' physical health at risk - but we as a family were emotionally exposed trying to educate and convince these new people in our lives the reality and severity of our daughters food allergies. Recapping this experience is going to take a couple of posts - so I'll get to that later. I'm pretty sure that I am not the only parent of a food allergic child that feels completely vulnerable sending their child to school for the first time.....

So, now we're back to food - in the absence of a refrigerator.

(It is less than a year old, and one repair man said he was not qualified to fix it and the one that is qualified has basically never shown up for the scheduled two service calls. It is a frigidaire - and their customer service has been deplorable. Buyer Beware)

What I did learn from not having anywhere to store fresh food is this:

1. My daughter could and can probably cook for herself with a dorm sized refrigerator, hot plate and a toaster oven if she never outgrows her milk, egg and nut allergy. (allergist is not optimistic - her RAST is still over 100 and she is almost five years old). She can go to college and not live at home - and probably do as well if not better than any college aged kid trying to feed oneself.

I know that sounds strange - but these are the things I think about as she grows. How will she navigate her allergies until she makes a home for herself. What is going to happen when she starts dating. Eating out is not a possibility because of the severity of her reaction - and it just isn't enjoyable given the risk. And the dorm fridge made me feel that sense of - hey this might work.

2. Pancakes with garbanzo bean flour is technically a complete protein.

3. Tarragon, Basil, Oregano and Thyme can substitute as a green vegetable (I know I am stretching it here - but we are desperate)

4. All the late harvest tomatoes that I thought would go bad because there were so many - are almost all gone.

5. If your children are hungry enough - they will eat anything. Even a two year old will eat raw Escarole with olive oil and vinegar for instance.

That being said - I am so outside my kitchen routines and I don't know what to do. Usually I spend an hour and half once a week shopping and label reading. I am shopping every other day at different supermarkets that are closer - and I feel a little panicked. I am buying items that are new to us - where I haven't contacted the manufacturer- and I'm worried. Each night though has been fine. And, again I think. Ok, this is ok, she will be ok.

Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Chip Cookies

So these were suppose to be chocolate chip cookies - but I didn't read the directions properly....So they became chocolate cookies after I melted the shortening - it was HOT and I added it to the mix and melted all the chocolate chips.

With that said, we really enjoy Cherrybrook Kitchen products. What's not to like. A dedicated allergen free (dairy, peanut, egg and many gluten free products) company that makes treats that we can share with our non-allergic friends. It is easier to make with the kids than starting a recipe from scratch - just read the directions as part of the experience.

The chocolate chip cookies do contain soy lecithin. If you are avoiding soy - check out their other products.

Rice Spaghetti with a Ragu Sauce

Tonight was a quickie. I started to boil the water while I made the sauce. I added an onion, three garlic cloves, ground turkey, and a 15oz can of crushed tomatoes. On the side we had spinach. And for dessert - watermelon Palapas. I think we like saying palapa as much as we like eating them.

Overall, ladybug ate everything and even asked to have her spinach added to her sauce. This way she wouldn't taste it. Hey she ate it. Little ladybug picked at her meal. She hasn't eaten dinner for weeks. I think she could live on avocado alone which she eats at lunch everyday! Hubby took his to work the next day too. This is a meal that we make about twice a month.

What's for Dinner? (when you have multiple food allergies)

Stirfry tonight.

We used frozen tenderloin chicken that I cooked in Olive Oil in a pan on the stove while I showered the the ladybugs (it cooked for about 20 minutes on the stove because I didn't defrost it). Add a bag of mixed vegetable stirfry. I used Trader Joe's Bejing vegetables that had shitake mushrooms, baby corn, water chestnuts, carrots, snow peas, green beans broccolli and red peppers. We didn't use the soy sauce - (I generally stay away from prepared sauces) and served it over rice..

This makes an interesting soy sauce substitute

Ingredients
8fl.oz (1 cup) Molasses (use blackstrap for extra iron)
3fl.oz. (about 1/3 cup) Balsamic Vinegar
Sugar to taste

Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended.

Ladybug tried each of the vegetables and ate the chicken and rice. She liked it. Little ladybug only ate the chicken - she didn't even touch the broccolli. Overall it was just ok - I would probably try again in the Spring and add avocado to it.