Food Allergies in your 20's

Food allergies in your 20's is not fair. Not that it's ever fair to be told you can't eat something yummy but here is my reason that finding out in your 20's is the worst time. Think about what most people in their 20's are doing: school, starting a career, going out, traveling, living on tight budgets, working late, still learning to cook, starting families, always running here and there, you get the point. Throwing food allergies into all that on the go confusion is just a huge thorn in my side. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with this during college, especially since my diet consisted of a lot of spoonful of peanut butter dinners with ice cream and chicken tenders from the caf.

As I tried to think of a new blog topic this morning it just hit me....this food allergy thing is a total wrench in my daily fun. My schedule from week to week is never the same. I'm working late some nights, starting to plan a wedding, taking dance classes, pretending I'm a runner, on the Komen board, loving girls nights out, traveling to various states to visit family when I can, and I'm on a budget.

Getting home at 9:30 at night after being gone all day, the last thing I want to do is cook myself dinner. I have a cookie obsession but I hate that my cookies cost 3 times as much as normal cookies. Before food allergies I could eat whatever I wanted and it was always easy to eat a balanced diet. Now I'm often wondering, "am I getting too much soy, not enough calcium, am I tired because I forgot my vitamins or because of something else, what can I eat to get more iron?" Going out with the girls I never used to worry about whether my drink had corn syrup in it, or if the beer was gluten free, or if I was going to get sick from the post bar food runs. 

Had I been born with these allergies I wouldn't have grown up knowing just how good real peanut butter is, or had time to develop my love for carbs like bread and pasta. I would have been well adjusted and getting meals would be second nature. I would be used to asking a million questions at restaurants and wouldn't be embarrassed when the chef comes out to talk to me. 

I didn't start this post with the intention of writing out the pity party that goes on in my head when someone makes popcorn at work or I smell pizza. I may find it harder or easier to deal with food allergies as time goes on but I will remain on my stand that food allergies developing in your 20's is just plain not fair.

Till next time...

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies Review

I have a sweet tooth....I also have multiple food allergies. If Coconut Milk ice cream could always take care of cravings I would be set. Unfortunately I also love carbs (pasta, bread, cookies, you get the point) so the wheat allergy is very upsetting to me.

Now grocery shopping is typically a very frustrating process. I happened to go to Publix to get a few basics and while wandering the isles and hoping for something yummy and safe this box magically appeared.

I nervously looked at the box...waiting to find one of the banned ingredients...well...it's safe!!!!!!!!! My fiance and I both double and triple checked the box....yup it's safe! I'm pretty sure that my little happy dance was not cute but I don't really care if anyone saw it. 

Bought the mix, took it home and pulled out the mixing bowl. The only change I had to make to keep it safe was to use shortening instead of butter. This made them a tad greasy but I have since then bought vegan butter to use so hopefully that will reduce the greasy factor. *As a side note they were not as greasy once I let them cool off. 

I mixed it all up, ate some dough, and popped them in the oven.

When they came out and finally cooled enough to eat I was such a happy girl!!!! THEY WERE SO GOOD!!

Thank you Betty Crocker for making it easy to have food allergies and a sweet tooth. The cookies are all gone and I think I'll try Betty's Brownies next time. Also thank you Publix for carrying a product like this! 

Till next time....

An overdue update

This overdue update is full of updates on my life and my food allergies. I have to start off with the most exciting piece of news:

We're engaged! 

Jeff proposed on September 25th in Colorado at the top of Mt. Democrat. I couldn't have been more surprised. We took a trip to Colorado with our good friends Andre and Cassie. We went to do some hiking and see the fall colors. The main goal was to climb a 14er. For those of you not from Colorado, a 14er is a mountain that is 14,000 feet tall. There are over 80 in the United States and over 50 of them are in Colorado.

We decided on Mt. Democrat and packed our hiking boots. After a long few hours of us Florida residents huffing up the mountain we made it to the summit. While taking a picture from the top Jeff got down on one knee and presented me with a BEAUTIFUL ring and asked me to marry him.

 For those of you who know Jeff and I, you know how perfect his plan was. In June of 2009 we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania together. When my friends heard about our engagement, they joked that we would register for camping supplies, to which I thought...not a bad idea. :-)

Not only do we have a great engagement story but we have great pictures and even a video documenting the whole thing (thanks Andre and Cassie).

  We are so excited to be in this phase of our lives and having fun being engaged. No wedding plans yet but it sure is fun looking through wedding magazines.












In other news I have updates on my continually changing food allergies. The list of allergies has been changing each time we do more blood work. The exciting part is that I get to try corn tonight!!! Unfortunately wheat was added to the list but with avoidance I am feeling much better. The current list is as follows:

• Wheat
• Dairy
• Oats
• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts
• Sesame
• Sunflower
• Apples
• Oranges
• carrots
• other assorted raw fruits and veggies
• Rice (although I've been eating rice with no problems so that is good)
• Corn (to be tested this evening)

I hope that as I continue to learn about my food allergies I can also get a little better at cooking good meals that I can eat and doesn't taste horrible for my fiancé (I am still getting used to using that word :-)  )

Till next time...

CousCous in Colorado and more!

"What am I supposed to feed you!?!?" 

This is one of the first things my Mom said when I booked my flight to go visit my parents in Colorado for the weekend. My Mom has never had to deal with my food allergies (other than peanuts) and being a mother she wanted to make sure I ate healthy and got enough food. I was a tad nervous because I didn't know what I was going to ask my mom to get or cook. 


It turns out it was great! My Mom went to Whole Foods with me and said, "get what you need". I got some soy milk, yummy mango Popsicles (thanks to my friend Sara who was with us and saw them), bananas, and ingredients to make a couscous salad. My Mom was looking for things I could have and trying to help me come up with new recipes. 


My couscous salad was so easy to make and served cold it was very refreshing. Here's what I included:

• multicolored pearl couscous
• vegetable broth (tastes better than cooking with just water)
• fresh mushrooms
• garlic
• basil (fresh from my Mom's garden)
• and a touch of olive oil
• a tiny bit of black pepper

I just cooked it all up and then stuck it in the fridge to cool and BAM! easy summer couscous salad. 

Overall the whole weekend was great. My Dad made me eggs in the morning to go along with my soy milk, and I managed to eat out with friends a bunch.

Two restaurants that were great for me were Racine's in downtown Denver, and Kona Grill in Cherry Creek. Racine's let me modify the heck out of my salad and it was so fresh and tasty. The real kudos go to Kona Grill which not only modified my entire meal, but were very understanding and willing to help me have a great meal. I will definitely be trying out the Kona Grill here in Tampa. 

Overall I am getting the hang of how to modify recipes at home and in restaurants to fit my needs. My parents were great and my Mom helped me come up with a few ways to try new recipes. 

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

Till next time...

Yummy Chocolate Cake Mix!

Last week I posted a review of a mac and cheese that I did not like. This week I am happy to announce I am posting a good review! This chocolate cake mix is very moist and not too sweet. I am still working on being able to find a frosting I can make for the top but I'll take at least cake for now. The cake required eggs, oil or butter, and milk (can use water to make it dairy free). I used egg white, vegetable oil and vanilla soy milk (this time the vanilla helped the recipe unlike last time :-) * ).


The cake came out really moist, not to heavy, and the perfect amount of sweet and chocolate. Like I said, I'm still looking for a good frosting but what girl can resist chocolate cake?

*This cake can be dairy, egg, and soy free depending on what your allergy needs are

Till next time...