More snacks - dairy free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free

Wow, I'm delighted to list our latest snack-time discoveries. It really does take some time to find products that are suitable for our son given he has such severe food allergies, but when I do, it's like finding treasure! I'm quite impressed at this list - just goes to show that life isn't all bad (tell that to my last post!)

Sorry, but if I was really keen I'd put proper links, but my in-laws are in town, so there's no time... hope you can manage to find these in your local supermarkets too. If you know of other allergy-free snacks, I'd love to know them! (I'll let you in on a secret... I'm currently contemplating giving our son cubes of sugar as a lolly/candy alternative... I haven't consulted my husband... I know what his answer will be. We haven't bought any normal sweets yet because I think our son is also anaphylactic to rockmelon/canteloupe. We haven't tried any foods with mixed fruit flavours in case this is a fruit they use. Do you think there's a difference between eating a cube of sugar compared to having any other lolly? It's Ok, I don't think my husband reads my blog, so it'll stay our secret!)

Here's the list that doesn't include cubes of sugar:


Red Rock Deli  Sea salt flavour- plain potato crisps fried in sunflower oil and of course salt. Oh so yummy for kiddies and adults alike.

Doritos Original - corn chips - a little harder for the little ones to digest, but yummy too. Just make sure you check the packaging each time because I can imagine that they might start manufacturing these on the same equipment as the cheese flavoured chips at some stage - making it prone to contamination.

Parker's Baked Wheat Twists - oven-baked pretzels - this is one for American and Aussie readers alike! I think the novelty is their shape and of course those rather large salt crytals sprinkled all over them.

Dried fruit - there are so many dried fruits available these days, apart from the usual sultanas. Dried fruit, snap dried fruit, freeze dried fruit - each of them have a different texture and taste, so if you're limited in fruit choices, try the same fruits, dried in a different manner. You will be pleasantly surprised! Grapes, strawberries, apples - just check the packaging to make sure all the ingredients are safe for you.


Cereal - packaged cereal makes a great snack when you're out and about. They keep well in small containers, so you can keep them in the bags for longer (if your kids don't find them first!) Examples include: Nutrigrain, Honey O's, Corn puffs, Fruit loops (from the health section), even corn flakes!

Tinned food -  tinned food is great for travelling. Small tins of corn, chick peas or kidney beans can keep a child amused and fed for some time.

When searching for more snack or food ideas, don't forget to try different aisles. Apart from the health food aisle, sometime there are treasure in the baby food aisle that can still be suitable for older children. The pureed fruits are a great option in the baby aisle, but contain fewer additives and sugar than the pureed fruit in the normal aisles.

Happy shopping and happy snacking!

If you have a favourite, please let us know.

Not quite so simple

This is another one of my favourites from Tiffany's blog at FoodAllergyFun.

Most people we come across are genuine in their concern for our son when they hear about his life-threatening allergies. Many presume to understand our situation, with comments like "Oh yes, there are so many kids these days who can't even touch a peanut." Yes, that's our son... except he can't touch milk, eggs, all sorts of nuts including peanuts, oats and shellfish. When he was younger, he couldn't touch wheat. "Oh well, as long as they are epi-pen trained." Well actually, that is the absolute minimum of what is required. Training needs to go so much further than what to do in an emergency situation.

I have to admit that I'm in a particularly bad mood today. Be warned.

Most days I deal with our son's allergies in a proactive, pragmatic fashion. Some days, like today, the frustration boils over, and as I drop my cooking utensil onto the floor... BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEP!

Why the hell do I have to cook two meals all the time? Why do I have to turn off the other pot, just so there's no splatter into our son's food? Why? Why? Why?

Oh well, before I get a chance to answer those questions, better quickly clean up the splattered mess on the floor before our son walks in.

So no, life is not that simple. The answers I seek are not that simple. Anyway, even if I knew these answers, would it change anything? Probably not.

Deal with it, you're a mum now... maybe it is that simple.

Very fancy fish and chips

This is our version of fish and chips. I'm not sure if our son can eat other types of fish or not - early on we were told not to try white fish since he was probably allergic. Salmon and tuna are apparently the least likely to cause allergies. Fresh tuna is hard to come by and our son isn't too keen on tinned plain tuna. So, we basically have pan fried salmon on a regular basis. I've also stopped buying salmon from the local fish shop since there's a high chance of contamination from other white fish or prawns (which we know are a no no). So, my solution is to buy pre-packaged salmon fillets that are hopefully cut on a mass scale and less likely to be contaminated. So far so good.

So here we have, very fancy fish and chips - basically pan fried salmon fillets served with home made potatoe chips fried in sunflower oil. A light sprinkling of salt or a little bit of soy sauce and voila! Talk about spoilt!