Menu planning

This is the way to do it as a working mom to a kid with allergies.  essentially every meal we have is made from scratch, it's just the way it has to be.  Having a delicious allergy free meal cooked from scratch is certainly tasty and healthy.... I'm not complaining!  But it is time consuming, and as all my fellow full time working moms know, that is just something we don't have.  

I rely on my best friend.... My slow cooker.  I use it 4-5 times a week.  

Pre kason, I used to prep these meals in the morning.  Back to my point on time- this is not an option. My options are preparing every meal the night before after kason goes to bed or doing the 'freezer meal' thing.  Freezer meals mean that I prepare everything that will go into the slow cooker in advance, put it in a freezer bag and freeze it. I thaw it over night and simply dump it in the slow cooker in the morning.  I even thaw all the spices, water etc that will go into each recipe, to save time.  

I usually do this on the weekends- sure it's time consuming but if I do it during Kason's naps or when he is playing with Kelly- I don't feel like I am missing much, and I walk away from the weekend feeling very productive.  

Menu planning is key with this.  You have to know what you want to eat for the week on the weekend as you are planning.  You also have to have a small idea when you do your grocery shopping prior.  It takes organization.... Something I frequently lack.  It also takes improvisation- something I am pretty good at!  

Menu plan- November 2013

Monday- pot roast - onions, celery and sweet potatoes cut (and frozen if necessary) in advance.  Slow cooker on low the next day with pot roast seasoning pack

Tuesday- Hawaiian BBQ chicken 

I don't use minute rice but Uncle Bens Perfection or quinoia- so it's only about 20 mins max.  Or sometimes I make rice in advance and freeze it- it's just as good in my books!

Wednesday- chili- you know what's in chili!  It's all prepped in my freezer (seasonings and all).  

Thursday-  onion soup pork chops.  This is so easy I feel like I'm cheating.  I throw pork chops and any veggie I want into the slow cooker.  Mix package of onion soup mix with 2 c of water and pour overtop.  Moist, flavourful and so easy!  

Friday-free for all!  Sometimes Kelly and I give ourselves a break and pick up dinner, sometimes taco del rio, sometimes Calabria, sometimes a frozen pizza.  

For these days (and for lunches at daycare) I always freeze ahead little meals for kason.  If I am making spaghetti squash and meat sauce, I am making a lot extra so I can freeze in little portions and just pull out the individual meals.  This also works great if we are going out for dinner or to a friends place- either planned or spur of the moment.  This way kason doesn't have to have a crappy sandwich or something, since we really can not confidently get kason food at a restaurant safely, and most people might cook without peanuts, but not often without dairy and egg.  

All this planning plus lunches, making Kason's 'milk muffins' and allergen free cookies from scratch is a big job!  Worth every minute!  Happy meal planning!

Superhero mom

Sometimes I feel like a superhero and sometimes I feel like I can't do anything....

Label readers extraordinaire...

That is what Kelly & I thought we were... Get ready for us to jack it up to another level.

Who would have thought - bad things can happen when products that may contain peanuts, eggs and definitely dairy when you are transferring from 1 container to another.  We were putting some protein powder into another container in the kitchen while kason was eating lunch.  Some spilled and was in the air & after cleaning up and washing hands you would think we would be good.  Not 2 seconds later- kason was covered in hives.  I mean covered.  We gave him his Claritin- no change and not 15 minutes after the initial reaction- we were headed to the hospital.  

Here is the deal:

A) when in doubt- go to the hospital

B) don't hesitate- but drive safely

C) don't worry about over reacting with a kid with an allergy- there is no such thing

D) when in doubt give that epi pen- it buys you time to get to the hospital (we hesitated- luckily we live close to the hospital)

I've never skipped the line in the emergency room or seen a doctor within 15 mins- but we did.   By now Kason's eyes were red and with a runny nose- his neck was covered in huge hives, his face was so red it was frightening.  He was coughing but talking and alert.  At no point did he appear to have anaphylaxis- but the Claritin was not working.  

The doctor gave him epinephrine, prednisone and Benadryl.  Being overly cautious and we were glad.  Our very itchy boy went from red to kind of clear within 10 minutes.  We had to stay at the hospital for 2.5 more hours to make sure he cleared up and didn't have a residual reaction which can happen.  

He napped- finally

We watched him sleep for a full hour

I mean- we did not take our eyes off him

So where do you go from here?  How do you deal with this?  How do you take this incredibly scary and adrenaline filled moment, and make it a positive.  

First- you use this to educate.  A good friend of mine said "knowledge is power" when I told her about this and she is right.  The more people that understand what can happen from this very freaky incident, the less of a chance that this will happen again - to kason or anyone with food allergies.  

Learning to take out of this:

A) Label read/label read/label read - a 'may contain' warning is just as good as it containing it 

B) cross contamination is very serious-  you don't even have to ingest the product that was made in a facility that uses peanuts to get sick

C) take it very seriously people- that Reece's peanut butter cup is not worth someone's life

Our family have already said that this is an eye opening experience for them.  That's the best thing we can ask for - to make sure that ours and everyone else's eyes are open.

A great way to understand food allergies is by watching this documentary- it's difficult to watch (especially as a parent) but tells you how serious food allergies are and how reactions can be prevented by avoidance, diligence and awareness.  Please watch of you know someone with a life threatening food allergy.  

http://www.discoverychannelcme.com/patient-education/food-allergies

It's also narrated by Steve carrell.

Secondly - making your home peanut free means reading very label, throwing away anything even close or peanut related and excepting that it is just no longer a part of your diet.  I won't even touch peanuts while I am at work!!!  It's not worth it- not for one second. 

Today- kason is fine- completely back to normal and relatively rash free (considering he hasn't been rash free a day in his life) and loving his megablocks.  We even took him shopping and EVEN bought him some new cookies to try.... 

Big shout out to the staff in the emergency dept at Victoria Hospital- they were amazing and very considerate to us.  We hope we don't have to see them again.