Our Story

Since I've been introducing the new allergy cooks, I thought it would be appropriate to share a little bit of our story, too.

In October 2007, our youngest son (then 5 months old) had an anaphylactic reaction to his first bottle of milk-based baby formula. After allergy testing, a severe dairy allergy was confirmed as well as allergies to egg whites and egg yolks. Because his allergies were life threatening, we immediately began living as a dairy-free/egg-free family. A year later, peanuts were added to his list of allergens.

As I began making more and more from scratch, I found that it was often cheaper (and healthier) to make our own meals and not rely heavily on pre-packaged, processed foods. As I had the time, I recorded some of our favorite recipes here as a way to organize them. I had no idea that it would become a source to meet other allergy families, swap recipes, and share stories. Being in contact with other families has been such a blessing!

2009 began our intentional journey of integrating more whole foods while continuing the strict avoidance of his allergens. I began using more whole wheat flour, coconut oil, sucanat, and the like in our recipes during this time. Baby steps, as they say. :)

In December 2009 at his annual allergy testing, it was determined that our son's allergies had disappeared! All tests came back negative! Gone! God is so good! He passed the live milk challenge that was conducted under medical supervision. He has also passed at-home tests of baked-in egg. He won't touch a straight egg yet. LOL! We will do at-home testing for peanuts after he turns three in May 2010.

2010 will mark the beginning of learning how to cook without limitations of allergens, but within the limitations of nourishing foods. I've started a new recipe blog to organize the recipes I convert towards whole food and cook from scratch.

Although I won't have a lot more to add regarding DFEFPF recipes, there are still several recipes that we've tried but haven't gotten around to posting yet. I'm hoping that the addition of more allergy cooks to Must Follow Recipes will keep the recipes flowing. If you would like to include your family's recipes as well, please email me! {missbecky75 *at* gmail [dot] com}

If you would like to read our full story, feel free to visit us at Boys Rule My Life.

Welcome New Allergy Cook: The Snells

A little about our food journey...it started when my daughter was born last January. I felt from day 1 she had a MSPI (milk and soy protein intolerance) but her drs were quick to dismiss me. She was so sick for so many months :( She was diagnosed with reflux at 3mo and we were told to thicken her formula with rice cereal. This helped keep the formula down but worsened her allergy symptoms (mucusy diarrhea,eczema,bad stomach aches, off and on rashes, etc) Finally i went on my own and got some nutramigen formula which still didn't help so i went to Neocate (an elemental formula) and simply thick (an alternative to rice cereal to thicken with) and she was a happy baby again! From there we started to try foods. What a hard thing this has been!

We first did the rice cereal which was a no go :( Next I tried green beans and she liked the taste but she had a GI reaction so that was stopped as well. We then tried and failed sweet potatoes, squash, potatoes, zucchini, carrots,egg noodles and bananas. As of now she is almost 1 yr and can eat apples, pears, dairy/soy free puffs, dairy/soy free crackers, kix cereal, strawberries, grapes, neocate nutra (an elemental form of rice cereal) and can have pear, grape and apple juice. Since she has so many foods she has done poorly with it has made it very hard to find and make things she can eat. I shop a lot at whole foods and get mixes or "safe" alternative ingredients there. We have RAST testing coming up on the 26th of this month but unfortunately since that only tests for skin reactions we most likely wont have a better idea of what she is truly allergic to. Its mainly just trial and fail for us.As of now she has not had eggs or anything with egg in it nor has she had peanuts or anything of the like.

I hope that gives you a better idea of what we have been through and we are facing in the future. At this point our daughter will not be on cows milk until she is at least 2yrs so its going to be quite a challenge to find things she can have to get her the nutrients she needs to continue to grow and be healthy. Your blog gives me so much hope that I will have a bunch of different things we will be able to share with her. Right now we put her to bed and then eat dinner just because its so hard to have her watch us eat and know we cannot give her any. Before she was born I never had any idea on how hard this could be!

Welcome New Allergy Cook: Scottish Twins!

My son, Gabriel, had his first allergic reaction when he was 2 months old, after he had milk-based formula for the first time. While we were in the ER the doctors told us that he had a milk allergy and that we should only give him soy-based formulas. But, when we tried soy he had a similar reaction. Doctors confirmed his milk and soy allergies with blood tests and we thought surely he wouldn't be allergic to anything else.

When he was six months old we started introducing solid foods. We made sure to only try one food at a time and never introduce more than one new item in a week. It was through this process that we discovered his allergies to eggs, pineapple, and tomato. Then, around 14 months Gabe was accidentally given a cereal and we discovered his peanut allergy. By the time he was two years old blood and skin tests had confirmed his allergies to cow's milk, goat's milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, pineapple and tomato.

In December 2009, skin tests showed that he no longer had the tomato, pineapple, or soy allergies. Since I have a soy intolerance, most of my recipes still do not contain soy products.

Feeding Gabe has always been a challenge, but I have reached the point now where I can adapt just about any recipe to be safe for him. Our family focuses a lot on alternative health and whole foods, and we document our journey toward wellness at intendedtemple.blogspot.com. We like to avoid processed foods and many of my recipes reflect that.

Welcome New Allergy Cook: Melody!

I am a married mother of a 2-year-old girl who has allergies to milk, egg, peanut and other tree nuts. I hope to share my recipes that will help other families who have these challenges with allergies. I grew up with allergies to grass, mold, flowers, etc. Plus I am allergic to raw fruits and vegetables (although I could eat them all when I was pregnant!). So, I have great sympathy for those who have allergies. It's not always easy, in fact it's very frustrating. But you just have to channel your energy to see the positive.

I exclusively nursed my daughter for about 5 1/2 months. After her checkup, the doctor advised I start giving her cereal. I decided to give her cereal with a little bit of milk-based formula. She had less than a teaspoon of the cereal before she started rubbing her chin and crying. Her face nearly tripled in size. I didn't know what it was at first, so I was on the phone with a doctor who wasn't very helpful (one of many not so-helpful doctors). I was so concerned that she might stop breathing, and we lived twenty minutes from the hospital. I eventually recognized the rash as hives (from my own allergic reactions when I was a kid) and was able calm down some. I never imagined her first bites of "food" to be such a big deal.

From that moment I concluded that it was a milk allergy (one doctor said it might be the rice cereal, I disagreed). I didn't even know a baby could be allergic to formula or that formula was milk-based. Once she turned 1, I started her on soy milk and started making food without dairy. We did a blood test and concluded that she might have an egg allergy, too. At a year we did some testing at home, and we determined she is able to tolerate milk and egg in baked goods. Although I still limit that intake because there are no guarantees. At her 2-year-old checkup we tested for other allergens and found out she is allergic to peanuts and cashews, too. Some other tree nuts are questionable, so I avoid all nuts because most nut products are processed together.

We live in the dairy-state, so all I have ever known for cooking is dairy. I had to re-educate myself on how to cook without milk, cheese and a million other products. At first it was very challenging. We were living in an area that didn't have a Whole Foods nearby or any other grocery stores that supported alternative diets. Since January 2008 we have lived in a much larger city, and if I read about a product I would like to try I can usually find it. However, I don't always want to go out and buy what ends up to be expensive ingredients that may only be used once or twice. I really like recipes that are simple and contain ingredients I have in my pantry or refrigerator So I hope you find that my recipes are practical and tasty.

Here's a link to my blog, Life with a Dairy-Free Toddler.