Allergy Alert Recall

Tofutti has issued a precautionary recall of 12 pallets of Vanilla Cuties. Read about it here.

WholeFoods was out of my usual SO brand of soy ice cream sandwiches (the vanilla taste like the real thing, the chocolate and Neapolitan flavors are AWFUL). So I picked up mint chocolate chip tofutti cuties today. I will be calling their hotline just to make sure it's ok to eat them, and I'll check back in with you to let you know if they were any good!

when life hands you lemons, make lemon zest...

Another food test:
Deli ham : Yes!
This was something I could eat as a kid (AND LOVED), but was forced to give up when I went through food testing. Deli meats in general have a ton of preservatives and spices, and tend to be discouraged for the allergic community. Case in point: Did you know a good portion of deli turkey has milk infused in it? Read the labels sometime, it's a real eye-opener.
I can't seem to digest meat flavored to taste like other meat, such as turkey bologna or turkey ham, but regular deli ham was o.k. That may seem like a weird comment (meat flavored to taste like other meat), so if you need me to explain, let me know.

Meanwhile, confessions of the allergic and unemployed?
I can food test without having to worry, because I'm in a safe environment.
If my allergies bother me, I can take medicine without having to worry that I will be unable to function at work. The low-dose allergy medicine never worked while I was out in the world (my work environment was not allergy-friendly), and the strong allergy medicine always made me feel like I was chewing on my tongue (thereby rendering me not productive). Unemployment: the solution to one's allergy problems! I am kidding, of course, but if ever there had to be a silver lining, I'm o.k. with this one.

Off to chase that whole "relaxation" thing that everyone keeps talking about...

More food test results...

Pumpkin and nutmeg: YAY!
This post brought to you by non-allergic mom's amazing pumpkin bread. YUM!

Thank you!
~Allergic Diner

This time, camera in hand!

I am here with pictures of that fantastic chicken, referenced in the previous post. About a week ago, I had a package of chicken with which I knew not what to do. NAH kindly suggested, "You know that chicken you made that you said was orange chicken, but doesn't taste like fruit at all? Let's have that." It was Sunday, ergo, I bring to you, Sunday Chicken...

In the pan...

And on the plate! Served over couscous with broccoli......YUM!

Happy allergy-free eating,

Your allergic diner

It doesn't have a fruity taste, which is wierd, right?

So when life hands you lemons, make lemon rind (right, K?). A good friend of mine considers that the foodie's guide to life. Lemonade is apparently just too easy.
I stumbled across a recipe on one of my many cooking sites I've been visiting in my newly found spare time (lemons) that I tweaked until it was allergic-diner friendly (lemon rind!).
How good was it? I wasn't allowed to throw away the last, lonely piece of chicken (we had devoured his friends and were just too full). It was removed from the fridge this a.m. when I went looking to take its picture. Sorry about that. This may be one of the greatest things I've ever made!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of chicken thighs, bone-in
1 cup of orange juice
2 to 3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 envelope of onion soup mix
2 Tbsp. of garlic powder
1.5 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp. of ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse chicken thoroughly (LEAVE SKIN ON) and place in 9x13 Pyrex dish. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl, and pour over chicken. Bake for 1.5 hours. The chicken will brown, the skin will crisp, and this will be quite tasty! YOU MUST MAKE SURE YOU CHECK AND BASTE THE CHICKEN OFTEN.

We had ours with couscous and broccoli, and used the extra chicken sauce to pour over everything. It was scrumptious! Promises for a picture next time (which will be soon).

Best,
AD

The following is not an allergy post....

Well, my friends, it looks like I will now have ample time to write to you. I was laid off this week. I'm angry, I'm frightened, and I'm now a statistic in this fantastic economy.

Rather than mope (too much), I am attempting to search for the good in this. All I've been saying for the last 6 months is how I've had writer's block, and would like more time to write. So my question to you is this, can anyone point me in the direction of some freelance work? I write, I edit, and I am incredible on paper (if I do say so myself). I've been laid off for 48 hours and already submitted two articles for publication. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, I am going to do the unthinkable. LEARN TO RELAX (no laughing, you family members reading this!!)....we'll see if the adage about the old dog actually holds...

Best,
Your allergic diner

A Great Loss

Harry, we will miss you!

Shortest post ever

Food allergy test result:
Tangerines - YAY!


I've been sidelined. Will resume posting when I resume cooking. Though NAH does make some darn good allergy-free meals (THANK YOU!)

puppies and kiwis, oh my!

Well, it's been awhile. My apologies. I'm busy with work, and in this economy, I'm very, very, very thankful to be able to say that.

Here's an interesting tidbit: My dentist has a new puppy.

How is that allergy-blog related? Well, I'm so glad you asked. When I went for my appointment this week, I found out about the puppy. SHE BRINGS THE PUPPY TO THE OFFICE. Now as an allergy-phobe, this presents a whole set of problems, no? Also, just from a cleanliness standpoint, this is kind of unnerving.
I was very upfront about insisting she wash her hands (I saw her handle a freaking dog toy), and don the latex-free gloves. But I think I'll be switching dentists soon.

Good grief! In other not-s0-fun news, Kiwi Food Test? Bad. Didn't eat enough for a full-blown reaction, just enough to be very uncomfortable for a while. You know what, though? I'm still glad I tried!

Your Allergic Diner

Happy Accident (or the adventures of the teeny-tiny chicken), whichever suits your fancy

I'm a creative cook, but I also love the basics. One of my favorite meals is a stuffed, roasted chicken.

Several weeks ago, I purchased a teeny-tiny roaster chicken for my crockpot. I chopped two baked potatoes (peeled, of course) into the bottom of the crockpot, chopped up an onion and placed it in the chicken's cavity (after I had rinsed the whole thing), and then lovingly sprinkled some garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper on top. 1/4 cup of water went in the crockpot, and then I lined the top with fresh carrots.

Typically, slow cooker recipes suggest 6-8 hours for a roast chicken. Not a problem. Anal-retentive cook that I am, At 4 hours I went in to flip the chicken, so that it would cook evenly on both sides. My first clue that something was going to go wrong was that when I flipped it, the wings came loose. Or rather, came right off. I was not using much force (it was a 4 lb chicken, after all), so I was simply pleased that it was cooking that well, and decided it would just be a rather juicy chicken.

HAH. When I went back 2 1/2 hours later, and poked the chicken, it FELL APART. Not kidding, it shredded in the pot. I'd never seen this happen, and I momentarily freaked. Then I checked the remaining contents of the pot. I removed all the chicken (an arduous process if you've ever seen one fall apart). Picked all of the bones out and threw the chicken back in, but there was a lot of liquid. Thinking fast, I glanced in the cupboard and pulled out the whole wheat couscous. Added about 1 cup (it absorbs liquid as it cooks). Yum - but no color outside of some carrots - I now had somewhat-passable chicken MUSH. I reached into the freezer and pulled out a steam-in-bag broccoli and cauliflower, microwaved it, and then added it to the MUSH. Presto change-o, the mush became stew, I had salvaged the meal, super-hero style, and NAH LOVED the CHICKEN STEW!! (I even had about 3 cups of cooked chicken left over for chicken salad, an allergic diner fav.)

It was so darn good, in fact, that I replicated it yesterday. And this time I took pictures.....and the cost?About $10. And we have leftovers for at least another night. About $10 for two nights for two people. Three servings of vegetables, 1 of whole grains, and a lean protein. No dairy, no allergic ingredients....what a happy accident!

The adventures of 1, teeny-tiny chicken...

Start with an Allergic Diner's best friend....

Take 1 teeny, tiny chicken, 3 baking potatoes (added an additional one this week), 1 cup fresh carrots, 1 cup of fresh mushrooms and 1 onion. Sprinkle with seasoning....

Give it 4 hours, then flip. At 7 hours, remove whole chicken (CAREFULLY), and shred, removing bones. Add 1 cup of whole wheat couscous to pot, stir. Return chicken to pot. Microwave bag of cauliflower. Add to pot. Stir. Allow to simmer about 15 minutes. Chicken stew!!!

The BEFORE and AFTER...and while it may not look like much, it tastes incredible!

How am I so sure that it was about $10, you'd like to know?

Easy - teeny tiny chicken ($5.17); 1 onion ($0.69); 1 cup carrots ($0.67); 1 cup mushrooms ($0.79); 1 cup whole wheat couscous ($0.89); 3 baking potatoes ($1.45); cauliflower - steam in bag variety ($1.99) = $11.65 (ok, not $10 exactly, but pretty darn close!)

Evil Blob. Happy Ending

Last week, my allergic family all went to Restone American Grill in Marlton, NJ. We'd been there over the summer and had wonderful food and a nice dining experience, so I was confident in their abilities to handle my allergies.
When I ordered, I told our waitress to please "bring my salmon and baked potato as plain as possible, no dairy, no oil, no seasoning on anything, and please tell the chef to resist the urge to make it look pretty as it leaves the kitchen. Most importantly, the vegetable side with the tomato marmalade (coulis?) can not GO ANYWHERE NEAR/ON MY PLATE. I have terrible allergies (cue showing of med-alert bracelet here)"
The last time we went, I took pictures of how lovely the food looked. You'll note that there are no pictures this time. As everyone was handed their plates, mine was given to me by a different runner. It was evident that my plate had been kept separate so they could monitor it more carefully, and this made me very happy. Until I actually looked at my plate. There it was, about 2 inches wide. An evil red blob of tomato-ness. The waitress, who had come up behind the runner to check on our table caught my look of horror and said "is everything alright?"
"NO. There is tomato on the plate. I can't eat this. Please take it back."
Under my breath I muttered to NAH that I would simply eat at home, that after a mistake like this I wasn't feeling comfortable enough to eat.
She insisted upon having a new plate made for me.
ME: "You don't understand how serious this is. I appreciate that this isn't your fault, but I need you to make sure that the fish and potato aren't simply rinsed off and put on a clean plate. I also need you to make sure that the tomato isn't simply removed from the plate and the plate wiped clean. If you want to re-do this, please please please make sure it's a clean plate and brand new piece of fish and potato."
The manager comes over--the waitress disappears (I assure you I wasn't making a scene). He was alerted by the runner that there had been a problem. "What can I do to make this better?" Waitress reappears. I wanted to crawl into the nearby fireplace. Appetite was long gone, to say the least.
ME: "Honestly? I would like the same meal with the reassurance that it is a clean plate, new piece of fish, and new potato. I don't need anything other than that, honest."
Waitress: "I just went back there and personally disposed of both the fish and the potato, and put the plate in the dish pile. They're currently cooking you a new fish and potato, and they'll be fired and out here in 10 minutes."
Damn, was I impressed.
10 minutes later, brand new dinner, sparkling clean plate, no traces of butter,oil, or evil blobs. And I believed her, and trusted them, and ate it with no anxiety, and it was delicious.
As I was eating, Mr. Manager reappeared, leaned into my ear, and said very quietly "the house would like to treat you to your next glass of wine as an apology for what happened, and please let me know if there is anything else we can do to turn this experience around for you."
WOW. And completely unnecessary.
ME: "That's very sweet, but there is no way I can have a second glass of wine, and you don't need to comp me anything. I just needed a safe meal. I really appreciate your attention to all of this."
WOW.
Evil Blob. Happy Ending.
~TAD

This was news to me....

Did you know that in the City of New York, not all responding EMS ambulances have epinephrine available?

Rx for EMS Allergy Roulette: Mom urges city to put lifesaving remedy in all trucks

I wonder if this is the case in other cities as well. I will try to follow up and report back. Frightening. Make sure you carry an epi-pen and that your prescription is up-to-date.

Sincerely,
Your Allergic Diner

Food Boredom 2

I wanted to take a picture of the bright orange color of these perfectly glazed carrots. I really, really did. And then NAH and I ate the WHOLE thing. 8 oz of carrots per person. If we keep this up, we will have superhero vision. Or we'll turn orange, as one of my friends had happen to her palms growing up. To be fair, she ate so many carrots we used to joke about her previous life as a rabbit. Anyway...

The recipe (sans picture, my apologies)...

Glazed Mini Carrots (to make dairy-free, substitute soy butter!). Eating Well is 2 for 2 in my book.

The Internet is the best cookbook EVER!
Your allergic diner

Food boredom

Ever get tired of cooking the same things? Or eating the same things? As someone with allergies and an extraordinary amount of limitations on things I cannot eat (seriously, no tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, anything heavily dairy, and the list goes on), I find that 'food boredom' occurs several times a year. I have about 20 allergy free meals that I can cook rather well, and I'm proud of that. The challenge is always to find more. I've previously admitted to being a cooking nerd, but the fascination with all things culinary was born out of a necessity not to eat the same safe foods all the time. I did that during my "food testing/allergy diagnosis/7 million doctor visits until it was determined that it was allergies making me ill" years, and I never want to eat that many turkey sandwiches again. I just don't.

Here's an easy, allergy-free (FOR ME - this is NOT gluten free) recipe to share. I adapted it from an Eating Well recipe.

"New side dish NAH will eat and then finish off b/c he enjoyed it so much"

1/2 cup of whole wheat couscous

3/4 cup of chicken broth

1/2 cup of chopped scallions

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. onion powder

dash white pepper

It's this simple: bring to a boil all seasonings, chicken broth, and scallions. Stir in couscous and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes (in which it absorbs all broth - like magic!). Fluff with fork. Serve.

I give him credit for trying something new. It certainly helps alleviate my food boredom!
I hope you enjoy this as well.
Your allergic diner

REALLY?

This, my friends, is obviously a sign that the end of the world is upon us. I need a panic room.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3862216

Enough said, no?

New Year, New Look

You may have noticed the drastic new look. If you didn't notice, the allergic diner blog has a drastic new look. I'd love your thoughts. This is what happens when I have to stay put too long (yes, I'm referencing the below). If you're new to the site, welcome!
~TAD

Getting sauced

I have two small confessions to make here in blogland. One, I have an extraordinarily hard time staying put for long periods of time. Two, and not to make my other kitchen appliances jealous, I LOVE my crockpot. I'm actually aiming to be the first woman to need a replacement crockpot as a result of overuse in the first several years of marriage.
When you combine both of the above you're left with a house that always smells fantastic. As a food nerd, I'm always cooking something. I prefer to be doing so in the crockpot, so that I may do several other things at once.

Last week I hit the mothership of all food blogs, at least for myself. A Year of Crockpotting. I won't fill you in too much, but it's a lady who loves her crockpot and uses it everyday. I could tout her virtues, or the treasure trove of recipes on the site (some for us food-intolerant folk), but instead, I will give you this. This, reprinted with her permission, is the world's greatest crockpot applesauce recipe. I love applesauce, and I love my crockpot (have I mentioned that?). This will make your house smell as if you're baking a dozen apple pies....and it's incredibly tasty as well! And healthy! Thank you, crockpot lady!

This makes enough for 4 people. If you would like to freeze or can, use more apples.

--4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters

--juice from 1 lemon

--1/2 tsp cinnamon

--1 tsp vanilla

--1 T brown sugar

--1/4 cup H20

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla (I used imitation--we were out of the good stuff), and add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. My apples were very tender after 6 hours, and I used a fork.

Now, she made hers in a 4-quart crockpot, while I used my 6-quart and it was finished a little quicker (about 4 hours). I added raisins and extra cinnamon to the finished product, but it was FANTASTIC on it's own. I cannot stop eating this!

Here's to allergy-free HEALTHY recipes!

Your allergic, crockpot-lovin' diner

File Under "B" for Bizarre

Dreams are a funny thing. Lately I've been having these fantastic dreams about places I like to go, and then I wake up, and I'm not on Main Street in Disney World, and I have to drag myself out of bed. It isn't that I don't want to get up, mind you, it's simply that I'd rather be waking up in a Disney Resort then heading out the door for a day of work. Who wouldn't?!

Anyway, back to dreams. As an allergic person I find that I dream about food, a lot. Usually its my anxiety manifesting itself in my sleep, as I accidentally ingest a teaspoon of celery seed and then can't find the epi-pen, or the Benadryl. Sometimes I dream that I'm catering a big, fancy dinner, and other times I just dream about missing ice cream. In the past few weeks, I've had this recurring dream with which I have no idea what to do: I'm eating spaghetti and meatballs, in red sauce (in case that isn't readily apparent).

Red sauce. The kind with chunks of tomato, oregano, and cheese. I sit, I eat the whole plate while I'm at dinner with NAH, and I'm fine. Completely fine. Is my subconscious trying to tell me I should try tomato again? Doubtful. In fact, I'd bet money on the fact that I'm just yearning to be a normal out-to-dinner person. However, it's got me thinking, and in the past week I've made a list of the foods I want to try (some of them fall in the 'again' category) this year. Some of them fall into the "is this too much lactose or spice for me to stomach" category.

kiwi

plums

pears (green and brown)

watermelon

pumpkin

pomegranate

butternut squash

goat cheese

blue cheese

refried beans

nutmeg

coconut

red velvet cake

There is a part of me that wants to try the tomato. I even know how to do it, as a processed, small bite, sitting outside of the hospital with NAH next to me and an epi-pen in hand. And really, that's enough to stop me, right there.

This past year I tried a few food tests, in a safe environment, and discovered this:
I'm highly allergic to fresh blueberries, but can eat raspberries without a problem. I am no longer allergic to pineapple. I still cannot eat fresh peaches, nectarines or apples, but I can eat any of them cooked (and especially in a pie!).

Thanks for listening,
Your allergic (tomato-free ) diner

REALLY?

Paul Blart, Mall Cop. Enough said.

A walk down memory lane...

Every once in awhile someone newly diagnosed with allergies will ask me about my experiences dealing, well, with idiots. That was part of the purpose in creating this blog. I wanted to help allergic patrons become proactive in their experiences. I also, secretly, wanted to help them in combat with the idiots.

As you've seen, I have my ups and downs in restaurants, just like the rest of you. One of my favorite stories, is from back when I was in college. This, my friends, is one of my favorite idiot experiences....

Allergic Mom and I were in Tysons Corner for a girls' weekend about 8 years ago. We stayed in a nice hotel and went to the in-hotel restaurant one day for lunch. Our waiter approached and began to tell us about the specials, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. One of the specials was tomato bisque. We politely said no thank you, and as allergic mom went to order, the gentleman asked us if we were sure we wouldn't reconsider, as tomatoes contain lycopene, which is important for health and combating diseases, especially cancer. I said, thank you, but I can't, I'm allergic to tomatoes. This man looked me right in the eye and said (I swear I'm not joking), "Well then you're going to get cancer!!!!"
WHO SAYS THINGS LIKE THAT??
Allergic mom and I were appalled, and it was perhaps the only time I can ever remember not leaving a 20% tip.

Anyway, I'm starting a new feature on this blog, which I will call, "REALLY?"
For all those moments in your life (like the above) where you wish you could pause what was going on, turn to your imaginary friend/viewing audience/coworkers/family members and say "Really?"
This is for you. It will NOT always have to do with allergies. Basically, I'm now going to use this blog for a little bit of snark in addition to all the fun anecdotes, reviews and information. Happy 2009!