For the Love of Food Allergies

When my son, Logan, was diagnosed with food sensitives several years ago, our world suddenly changed and it felt like I was on a deserted island with nothing to eat in very unfamiliar territory. "What do we cook now?" heck, "What do we even buy now?" were questions that first came to mind.  Although initially, we found out that dairy wrecked havoc on Logan's belly, and boy did I fight that one, we quickly learned that wheat, eggs, tomato and soy were culprits back then too. I mean, who is going to tell me that I can't have pizza, or Gouda and Havarti (Gasp!). However, I knew it was critical at the time because as soon as I stopped eating just dairy (I was nursing at the time), Logan's horrible, blood curdling screams at night, distended belly, re-flux and raging colic and recurring ear infections ended immediately.  And after those very long 6 months we all finally slept! It was heavenly. Then once I removed the rest of the culprits, other symptoms disappeared too such as horrible "diaper rashes" that were fire engine red and sometimes would even blister. I give a huge sigh of relief just thinking about it, and that was more than 7 years ago.

Daddy holding Logan as a colicky baby

My goal in blogging is to create a "village" to help support you through these difficult times when raising a family and provide new, allergy-friendly food ideas to try with your child.  It often feels very isolating traveling down this path with food allergies and sensitivities (yes, I found out I have some too!). We all need to support each other and show our kids that they are not alone in this journey.

In case your kids are not in grade school yet, let me just share that peer pressure and fitting in can really mess with kids who have food allergies or sensitivities (yes there is a difference and yes both are just as serious in different ways). It's just plain hard!

Why Wednesdays?

Logan and I have special time together every Wednesday afternoon because his amazing Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school is a half day on Wednesday and his sister is at preschool. Logan is excited to share his choice of recipes and ideas each week! Let the journey begin!

Our Inspiration

Most recently we have been inspired by several incredible blogs such as The Paleo Mom and cookbooks such as Eat Like a Dinosaur by The Paleo Parents and are so grateful that these resources exist. They have already helped us feel a little more "normal.". ;) 

In our blog you will find a collection of all different kinds of allergy friendly kid recipes that will always be gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, dairy-free and most likely nut-free too. Overall, if I had to put a label on the "diet" that we lean toward, it would be Paleo (did you know we eat a TON of greens on paleo?), but my kids eat some grains which is what I often use when baking for them.

A little bit of Truth

I'll be honest, I've needed an outlet for my frustration with our food allergies/sensitivities (we all have some in our family) but also to share my passion for healthy living through food. It's a love/hate relationship over here, that's for sure! I'm sure many of you can relate. Being able to share our journey will be healing for us and hopefully for you too. So come join our village and lets have a little fun along the way.