Our son is about to turn two and my brain is trying to get into party mode. The great news is that we've had considerable success with some party foods. If anyone has more ideas, please let me know!
Sweet William dairy free chocolate! These come in handy little packs and are packed full of calories :-) Our son's record is two packs in one sitting. You would think chocolate gets messy, but our son seems to lick his fingers totally clean!
Aeroplane Jelly - strawberry, orange and lime flavours have all been officially tested over a few days and no adverse effects. I'm thinking traffic light jelly cups.
Popcorn - either covered with melted Nuttelex or perhaps caramel.
Fruit kebabs - skewered fruit with possibly a toffee coating, depending how much time we have in the morning of the party.
And of course the main event... one motorbike birthday cake coming up!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Vegan, alllergy free cake - Egg, Dairy and Soy free... and still yum!
Our son is turning two and so I've been searching out good recipes for the party. This cake tastes great and is super moist and super light. I first made it in small paper cupcake liners. This turned out great, but only cook it for 15 mins or so since it will cook quicker. Our son has loved peeling off the "skin" and the variety of colours we've had by doing it this way.
I've also frozen some for a quick snack and they still taste quite nice. Keep an eye out for another post of his real birthday cake. I'm undecided whether to go for a motorbike shape, or perhaps just decorate it like the cakes we see in story books so our son feels like every other kid for once. Either way, I'm sure he'll eat the icing first and then chomp through the rest.
As with everything else, there's always a special twist when it comes to multiple allergy kids: I come from Chinese heritage, so as I grew up, scrimping and saving has been the order of the day. So, apart from saving wrapping paper, we also save birthday candles. Afterall, you only light them for a few seconds... and why waste? Well, as with so many of my other ideas... from now on, it's new everytime! I wanted our son to practise blowing out candles, for the perfect birthday photo of course. But just as I went to insert the candles, I realised the base of the candles were probably contaminated with who knows what. So, cleverly, I must boast, I quickly wrapped a small amount of glad wrap around the base before inserting the candle. Problem solved, and one happy boy equals one happy mum.
2015 POSTSCRIPT: Our son is now 6, he has a younger brother who is 3. Our cakes have gone from strength to strength while still being completely free from dairy, eggs and all nuts. We still use this recipe as a base cake for most parties - it is just so easy and quick to make, and still tastes lovely. For these fondant cakes, I've used Satin Ice Rolled Fondant, available at Spotlight. It is dairy, egg, nut free and easy to use - just like playdoh. Make sure you check the ingredients yourself each time, just in case. The last cake was made for friend's party, so my boys could both enjoy a slice too :-)
I've also frozen some for a quick snack and they still taste quite nice. Keep an eye out for another post of his real birthday cake. I'm undecided whether to go for a motorbike shape, or perhaps just decorate it like the cakes we see in story books so our son feels like every other kid for once. Either way, I'm sure he'll eat the icing first and then chomp through the rest.
As with everything else, there's always a special twist when it comes to multiple allergy kids: I come from Chinese heritage, so as I grew up, scrimping and saving has been the order of the day. So, apart from saving wrapping paper, we also save birthday candles. Afterall, you only light them for a few seconds... and why waste? Well, as with so many of my other ideas... from now on, it's new everytime! I wanted our son to practise blowing out candles, for the perfect birthday photo of course. But just as I went to insert the candles, I realised the base of the candles were probably contaminated with who knows what. So, cleverly, I must boast, I quickly wrapped a small amount of glad wrap around the base before inserting the candle. Problem solved, and one happy boy equals one happy mum.
2015 POSTSCRIPT: Our son is now 6, he has a younger brother who is 3. Our cakes have gone from strength to strength while still being completely free from dairy, eggs and all nuts. We still use this recipe as a base cake for most parties - it is just so easy and quick to make, and still tastes lovely. For these fondant cakes, I've used Satin Ice Rolled Fondant, available at Spotlight. It is dairy, egg, nut free and easy to use - just like playdoh. Make sure you check the ingredients yourself each time, just in case. The last cake was made for friend's party, so my boys could both enjoy a slice too :-)
Dairy, egg and soy free Cake
1¾ C plain flour
1 C sugar
¾ t baking powder
¾ t bicarbonate soda
½ t salt
1 C water
1/3 C sunflower oil
1 T white vinegar
1 t vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 175deg C. Line 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper to reduce chance of contamination. Grease and sprinkle lightly with flour.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the centre and add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Beat gently until smooth. Pour batter into pan.
3. Bake 30mins or till done. Allow to cool.
4. Decorate with frosting.
Frosting recipe
½ C Nuttelex
1 C pure icing sugar
A few drops of food colouring
Cream together the Nuttelex and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Addd food colouring one drop at a time until you get the colour you want. Spread over cooled cake.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Disinformation overload
Help!
I’ve just spent the last two hours trying to find some answers on the net. The result? So much typing, so much searching, so few answers.
Words that are now swirling around in my head? Allergy testing – Ige, Igg, blood tests, Rast tests, Nash tests… so many tests that are possible. Trying to sort through the information that is relevant for allergy immune responses as opposed to intestinal reactions. I’ve reasoned to myself now that when our son has an allergic immune reaction to a food, he gets a rash and diaorreah. When it is a gastro-intestinal/digestive problem, he just gets the runs. For the first, avoid this food – it goes to the very back of the list in terms of foods we try (in other words, probably not for a couple of years). The latter, our son’s body isn’t quite ready for this yet, but perhaps try it in 6 months time when his body is more developed. Examples? Rockmelon, oats and cucumbers have been our latest allergy failures. Rash and the runs after only two bites. Intestinal difficulty? Vegemite... actually that’s it.
I hear old wive's tales about giving kids small amounts over time and gradually their body will get used to it. This applies to intolerances, but DEFINITELY NOT to immune responses/allergies. In fact, if there is a true allergy, everytime you introduce that allergen/food to your kid, the allergic response increases! So although you might only get a rash the first time, the second time you could get a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Mind you, telling the difference between an intolerance and an allergy is tricky, and I'd definitely recommend a skin prick test for that one. As for the other tests... the jury is out on that one - there are sites that advocate all sorts of testing... usually they are linked financially to a company that does the test. The critics on the other hand are just as plentiful. It seems that the dispute arises from how many false negative and false positive results you end up with and which is more harmful.
I hear old wive's tales about giving kids small amounts over time and gradually their body will get used to it. This applies to intolerances, but DEFINITELY NOT to immune responses/allergies. In fact, if there is a true allergy, everytime you introduce that allergen/food to your kid, the allergic response increases! So although you might only get a rash the first time, the second time you could get a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Mind you, telling the difference between an intolerance and an allergy is tricky, and I'd definitely recommend a skin prick test for that one. As for the other tests... the jury is out on that one - there are sites that advocate all sorts of testing... usually they are linked financially to a company that does the test. The critics on the other hand are just as plentiful. It seems that the dispute arises from how many false negative and false positive results you end up with and which is more harmful.
Cross reactivity of protein allergens… what? I hear you say! Exactly my sentiment. I was trying to find a list of food groups that would help me determine which foods I should try next and which ones I should avoid knowing our son’s long list of food allergies. What I found, or rather what I got, was total confusion on my part. It is possible that because our son has an allergy to cucumber, he might also be allergic to latex. Actually, it’s the other way around. If you are allergic to latex, you could be allergic to cucumber because the pollens are similar. But if you cook the cucumber, the risk is reduced. Hmmm, interesting… now I should be wary of latex?
Ok, my brain is officially fried for today and probably the rest of the week. If anyone out there can help – either by reading through the info for me, or by posting a link of some useful sites, please do!
My conclusion? Stop looking on the net… ring our allergy dietician and book an appointment for a face to face chat with someone with real experience that comes with a helping hand.
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