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Liebster Award Recipiants – My List :-)


Thank you so much Susan, (a wonderful mom and the blogger at ‘The Food Allergy Chronicles‘) for listing ‘Allergy Foodie’ as one of the recipiants of the Leibster Award. It is truly an honor and I walked around with a goofy smile all day – that’s how happy it made me 🙂
 

Liebster is a German word for “Good Friend”. There is almost no one in my family or friend circle who face the health challenges my little one does but thanks to the camraderie of the food allergy blogging community, I find the energy to survive and thrive so this is such an appropriate award…

Here are the rules!!  There are rules to receiving and accepting this award.

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  3. Copy and Paste the Award to your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the word and love to other bloggers.
5. Have fun.

I follow quite a few food allergy blogs and have learnt a lot from each one of them. So, it is really tough picking out just 5 so, my list comprises those blogs that I enjoy because of the different perspectives they bring to food allergies. They are all moms of children dealing with food allergies, eczema, asthma and more.

And the winners are…(Drum roll please!)

  1. Life in a Joyful Chaos is an inspiring blog about a family’s journey circumventing food allergies, autism, homeschooling, adoption and more – all while managing an online business ‘Truly Pure and Natural’ – whoa!
  2. Colette Martin @ Learning to Eat Allergy-Free is a writer, baker and a food-allergy mom!  Her son was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, triggered by allergies to wheat, milk, eggs, soy and peanuts. Therein began her journey to learn to to eat allergy-friendly. At Learning to Eat Allergy-Free she shares research, recipes, products and tips on eating allergen-friendly and gluten-free.
  3. Allergy Shmallergy : This blog was ranked in the top-25 food-allergy mom blogs by Circle of Moms and rightly so. What I love most about her writing is the attitude behind it…’Living safely with food allergies doesn’t slow us down and I hope this blog makes it easier for you and your family as well’!
  4. Susan @ The Food Allergy Chronicles writes about ‘creating some magic in the kitchen’ despite restrictions imposed by food allergies. Her recipes are truly mouth-watering and she walks us through tough recipes in simple easy-to-follow steps. Between her two sons the family has to keep away from dairy, eggs, sesame, beef, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts and raspberries. Her sons also have asthma and one of them suffered from severe atopic dermatitis till recently. Her open spirit truly embodies the spirit of thriving and caring in the food allergy community.
  5. Rianne @ Art of Dessert followed her passion and became a pastry chef. Then she became mom to two beautiful sons – both of whom were diagnosed with multiple food allergies.  It was indeed an irony and as she puts it. ‘I bake so many delicious desserts but my own child couldn’t enjoy them.’ So, she spent hours experimenting with allergy-friendly baking. And, did she succeed or what?!? I have never seen desserts that look sooooo beautiful – truly an ‘art’.

Living with multiple food allergies, eczema and/or asthma are challenges wherein a mom dies a million deaths everyday with a smile. These blogs make that journey so much easier…anyone looking for answers and support in the world of food allergies, eczema and/or asthma should so check out these sites. 

I love what Susan of Food Allergy Chronicles said – ‘The thread that weaves between us all is the thread of hope. Passion keeps this hope alive…it is what fuels me everyday. ‘ Cheers to that and good health to all!

Congratulations to all the Leibster award winners 🙂 

Useful Links & Articles

EpiPen: How and When to use it?


Thanks to Elizabeth Goldberg, the force behind OneSpot Allergy, I came across a very nicely put together video by EpiPen UK on ‘how and when to give oneself an epinephrine shot’. Definitely a must-watch for all allergy-aufferers and caretakers if they carry an EpiPen.

http://www.epipen.co.uk/patient/how-to-use-video.html

As mentioned in the video, even if symptoms recede and you are feeling much better after an EpiPen shot, call emergency. In the US, that number would be ‘911’.

Stay safe and always armed with an EpiPen…

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Allergy Friendly Chicken Noodle Soup – my way ;-)


Most people who know me personally will be shocked seeing this home grown recipe of AF Chicken Noodle Soup because I have been a vegetarian all my life. I have absolutely no clue how white or red meat tastes – go figure 🙂 That’s the reason why Allergy Foodie has not seen any recipe thus far listing any kind of meat as an ingredient. That soooooooo is not my forte!

However, meats are my little boy’s major source of proteins because he is allergic to many of the vegetarian sources of proteins like soy, eggs and dairy. So, when I whipped up this soup on a snowy evening and dad and sonny boy lapped it up like there is no tomorrow – I knew the soup was a sure winner 😉 If only my son had liked it then I would have put it down to all kids thinking that their moms are the best cooks in the world even if the mom is just warming up a frozen meal in the microwave but this had a discerning adult giving a thumbs-up too.  So – here is an Allergy Friendly Chicken Noodle Soup spiced up my way to add cheer to those long dreary winter nights. Am also delighted to be sharing this recipe on the blog-hop, ‘Allergy-Free Wednesdays’ – a weekly allergy-friendly party hosted by 5 fellow bloggers like…

Continue reading “Allergy Friendly Chicken Noodle Soup – my way ;-)”

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Allergy Foodie has a FB page – yayy!


‎Yayy – we have some exciting news…’Allergy Foodie’ finally has a Facebook page. But, why are we on Facebook? Well, the obective is to develop a community around positive Allergy Friendly living and bring news relating to food allergies from around the world. Do visit the page and ‘like’ it to get daily updates on new research findings, new products, personal experiences,  community outreach activities and more. Thank you 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Allergy-Foodie/193793763390

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Allergy Friendly Gift Basket…a pictoblog!


This is truly the most wonderful time of the year and the happiest season of all :-)Wishing everyone a joyous and safe holiday season from Allergy Foodie. This year was specially precious because I had an awesome time making Allergy Foodie gift baskets consisting of simple AF (Allergy Friendly) goodies! Organic, wholesome, nutritious and flavored with spices and herbs – perfect way to warm up a cold winter evening…

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds: Organic raw green pumpkin seeds, fresh lemon juice, chilli powder, salt with a dash of dark brown sugar!

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

 

Granola Fruit and Seed Bars: Old fashioned oats, organic pumpkin seeds, organic quinoa, organic dark brown sugar, organic local honey, organic dried fruits (dates, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries)

 
Sugar  Cookies: Cherrybrook Sugar Cookie Mix beautifully decorated by my little one 🙂
Sugar Cookies
 

Biscotti: Organic Rice Flour, Bean Flour, Herbs and Earth Balance Butter substitute.

Biscotti bursting with flavors.

Hot chocolate mix: Unsweetened pure cocoa powder, dairy-free chocolate chips, sugar with a hint of cinnamon and chilli powder to make it truly gourmet 🙂 Packaged with egg-free Marshmallows – cold winter evenings beckon…

And, finally the Allergy Friendly gift basket…

Recipes

AF Rice and Mung Bean Khichri


Moving forward from my previous post ‘AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…‘, this rice and mung bean dish tastes particularly good on a cold winter evening. Soul-satisfying, nutritious, packed with flavor and above all AF – Allergy Friendly. ‘Khichri’ has been a part of Indian cuisine for over 700 years – whoa! 

Since, I just could not come up with a name for the dish in English that would reflect the true nature of the dish – I threw it out as a question to my Facebook friends.  So, this post is an ode to all the fun names they came up with…Niv, a most creative food blogger of Panfusine came up with ‘Kedgeree’, the British dish that traces its roots back to the India Khichri and uses fish and rice. Mohita, my high school pal, names it ‘Rictle’ – Rice + Lentil, dear Indu called it the ‘Rice Porridge’, my cherished undergrad friend Helen wondered if ‘Rice Polenta’ should be the way to go and Kamy coined a real cool name – the ‘Indypot’ or Indian hot pot 🙂 Finally, decided to stick with the original name as suggested by the guys. They made school a barrel of fun but stuck to tradition when it came to dish-naming – Navin, a grad school pal and Vivek, an undergrad friend 🙂 Thanks all – given the various names, even a first-time taster can hazard a guess as to what the dish is going to taste like…

Continue reading “AF Rice and Mung Bean Khichri”

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AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…


Recently, I was reading an article about American Chefs having discovered Mustard Oil as a finishing oil in salads. It was a deja vu moment as it transported me to a time when I was a kid and used to love a dish hugely popular in Eastern India called ‘Aloo ka Chaukha’ which literally translates into ‘Potato Mash’ – go figure 🙂

If mustard oil is a heretofore unheard of ingredient, refer to my previous post – ‘Mustard Seeds, Mustard Oil and more…

Here goes…mashed potatoes aka ‘aloo ka chaukha’. Listening to one of my favorite Holiday classics, Santa Baby , Taylor Swift’s version as I whip up this delectable dish – perfect countdown to my son’s favorite day of the year 🙂 

Continue reading “AF Mashed Potatoes with a twist…”

Ingredient

Mustard Seeds, Mustard Oil and more…


Since many of my Allergy Friendly recipes use a medley of spices, I figured that knowing a tad bit more about them would make first-time users less trepiditious.  The idea took seed when Susan, an awesome mom and the blogger behind ‘Food Allergy Chronicles’ mentioned the fact that I use a huge variety of spices in my dishes – so, thanks Susan 🙂

Spices and condiments enhance the flavor of a dish but are almost always entirely optional. A quick note about the difference between ‘spices’ and condiments’ -usually spices are used to season a dish during the process of cooking for e.g. cinnamon in baking whereas condiments are used at the table to suit individual tastes like ketchup. Also, spices are oftentimes a part of a plant/tree like seeds, bark, fruit for e.g mustard seeds or nutmeg while condiments are prepared concoctions like mustard that is made from mustard seeds.

Continue reading “Mustard Seeds, Mustard Oil and more…”

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AF Cucumber Spice Cake


I do use the term ‘AF’ a lot in my posts, ain’t it?! Well, it is my abbreviation for ‘Allergy Friendly’ or Arjun (my son’s name) Friendly. It also happens to be the initials for Allergy Foodie – the name of this blog. So, I figured that if EVOO could stand for Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Rachel Ray, AF could work for Anu Rao 😉
  
Now that we are on the same ‘AF’ page, I will move on to the cucumber spice cake…it has a slighltly dense texture much like a zucchini bread but even better because the high-protein flour-blend makes this an extremely nutritious cake – just right for the holiday season and the cold winter months. Furthermore, the mild spicy taste and grated cucumber gives it a fresh feel and unique twist!
 
Here is to a soul nourshing slice of Cucumber Spice Cake:
 
 
  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 35 minutes
  • Servings: 16

Continue reading “AF Cucumber Spice Cake”

Recipes

Allergy Friendly Mini Savory Bean Pie


Taking off from my previous post on Allergy Friendly Mini Coconut Pie…the inspiration for this savory pie also traces its roots to a Southern Indian dish, modak, traditionally made during the festive season. What I absolutely drool over in this recipe is – it so totally answers my constant search for tasty, nutritious and gourmet alternatives. This pie recipe is free of all the top 8 food allergens including soy and wheat but still packs an energetic vegetarian protein punch.

The making of Allergy Friendly (AF) Mini Savory Bean Pie…

Continue reading “Allergy Friendly Mini Savory Bean Pie”