Happy New Year everyone!

It's a little late... perhaps Happy Chinese New Year is more appropriate now?

We have been on holidays, but I have also been taking a lot more rests during our toddler's nap time, which hasn't left much time to sit on a computer. What's with all the resting? Well, our little family will be getting bigger by one when June comes around. We are all excited and I'm not completely sure how we're going to do it all... I'm sure every mother has these thoughts every time, and yet we still have more!

The question of allergies comes up often - we've been told there is a 1 in 3 or 4 chances that our next child will have allergies of some sort. Whether it is to food, pollens or animals is unknown. So am I doing anything different? Not too much... oh except for running around after a super energetic toddler! The interesting thing is that our obstetrician, who looks after the pregnancy has nothing to do with our allergy specialist, so neither can really comment can they?

Anyway, with a new year comes new ideas and new year's resolutions. My husband's new idea is that our son should eat at the dinner table with us at meal times, rather than being turned around to the TV. Ugh... that was my basic reaction. As I've put in another post, there are very good reasons for having him watch TV... But, of course, my dear husband is right, there are more good reasons for him to join us at the dinner table, especially now he is turning 3.

So, on return from holidays, we begin our new standard of dining. Initially, I told my husband that we can eat together on weekends when I can plan a dinner that we all share. Afterall, it's unfair to make our toddler watch us always eat food he can't eat. Well, we're nearing the end of January, and surprisingly, everything is progressing smoothly! We actually eat breakfast and dinner together nearly every day. Plus, it's made me put more effort into trying to come up with meals suitable for the whole family. This has led to less cooking and less washing up... who knew?!? Oh, and of course less TV time which is always a good thing :-)

I'll have to put together some more recipes, but so far we've had Roast Chicken and Roast Veg, Chicken soup and pasta, Beef Stir fries, Marinated Lamb cutlets, Sushi ... just to name a few.

So 2012 has gone off to a good start, and there is so much more to come... May your year be filled with love, laughter and adventure.

What are your New Year's Resolutions??

Food allergy interview - Today Tonight

What a way to finish off this year - it's been just a year since I started on this blogging adventure and out of the blue, I received an email from a TV program here in Australia asking for an interview. Excited only describes one part of how I felt... there was also fear, anticipation and the realisation that my house needed urgent tidying!

Today Tonight interview

I must say that we were delighted with the final product - we had been told that the program was about food allergies in children, but we had no expectation that our gorgeous boy would feature in such a major way. Especially since our interview was done just the day before the program went to air. I must also say a big Thank You to Jackie the interviewer and her crew for their patience during the interview and also their generosity in terms of putting the best of our son out there for all to see. They really are quite clever!

For those of us who live with food anaphylaxis, this program doesn't really bring any huge revelations. But for the general public, I think when more air time is given to this issue, it helps those of us who live with it day in and day out.

I feel I should add that when they say I believe genetics are to blame it sounds a bit depressing. The basis of the comment is that I don't believe our son's allergies are due to being too clean or a result of what I did or did not eat during pregnancy, or a result of not introducing certain foods early enough. The idea of distance from the equator was interesting - I've never heard of that before. Also, the idea that perhaps our immunisations and use of antibiotics could also contribute, was interesting. From our personal history, I probably ate way too many antibiotics as a child, while my husband probably never had any medication until his teens... so we're from quite different medical histories... I don't think it's conclusive.

From a parent's point of view - which parent wouldn't be glowing with pride and telling every living person about this interview! What a star of a boy :-)

Lamb roast and pasta for the whole family - allergy free

When cooking for a child with multiple food allergies, finding meals that the whole family can eat and enjoy is like finding gold! There aren't any new ingredients in this one, but with a clever twist, we've managed to come up with a dish that is quite delicious for young and old. Oh, did I forget to mention it's dead easy?! If you have a slow cooker, you can also do this in there, but I'm too worried that our slow cooker is already contaminated with other ingredients, so I've used a corningware dish that can be put on the stove top then into the oven for slow cooking.

So here's the actual recipe:

800g of lamb, cut into pieces. I used lamb chops with bones in it to add flavour to the meal. You can use a cheap cut of lamb since the slow cooking makes the meat very tender and easy to chew. Also, the meat just falls off the bones when you serve it, so there's no need to be pedantic about your chopping.

400g tin of tomatoes

2T tomato paste

1 onion, sliced

2 or 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks

1 large handful of red grapes - this is my secret ingredient! Our son still can't have meat stock cubes, nor can we add wine (which may contain traces of egg due to processing), so grapes is actually a sensible alternative, and definitely gives it a taste of sophistication.

300g dried pasta

1. Use medium heat for the corning ware dish on the stove. Then add oil and brown the lamb.

2. Add onions and saute slightly.

3. Add tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, carrots and grapes. You could also add mushrooms or any other vegetable you fancy. Stir, bring to the boil then turn off and put the lid on.

4. Transfer to the oven, set at 180deg celsius and cook for about an hour or more if you have time. The longer you cook, the tastier and the more tender. But probably no more than 3 hours.

5. Add about 300g of your favourite pasta - we used Coles Organic Penne pasta. Stir in well. Make sure all your pasta is covered in juice. If it isn't, simply add enough hot water to cover the pasta and stir it through. Cook another 30 mins in the oven with the lid on.

Voila! ready to serve. Season with salt. You could garnish it with chopped parsley or even a dollop of greek yoghurt for those who aren't allergic to dairy.

Sadly I've since discovered that the ingredients used in the tomato paste that I used to use in a squeeze pack has changed. Suddenly they have all these other ingredients I guess to help with the sqeezability. Oh well, just as well I checked the packaging - it's back to the old jars for me - just pure tomatoes, the good old fashioned way. Just a reminder that we need to check the labels every time we buy something, so don't get lazy! 

Happy eating!