Hiking with Allergies

About our last hike… I post often on social media about the fun outdoor adventures that we like to take. It’s important to me to encourage others that traveling and being adventurous are possible with food allergies, celiac, and other special diets. Life doesn’t have to stop when we get new diagnoses (we have had more than our fair share). It just means that we have to do things differently, and that’s ok.

Labor Day weekend, we planned a family hike for Saturday. We wanted it to be a relatively short hike as we had done a few long hikes the prior weekends and didn’t want to burn the girls out. After all, we want them to love hiking and the outdoors as much as we do. šŸ™‚ The hike we chose was an hour and a half drive from our home outside of Seattle, but the hike itself was only 1.5 miles each direction. When we hike, we get up early to beat the crowds, find a parking spot, and get home at a relatively decent time to enjoy the rest of the day. We made it to the trailhead about 7:30am and got one of the last parking spots in the small lot. After getting our gear together we headed up the dirt road to the trail. Soon after we started hiking my girls kept talking about hearing a constant buzzing noise. As we kept hiking, we kept hearing the buzzing noise. It was a similar sound to walking under power lines if you have ever done that. We looked around but didn’t see any power lines which wasn’t too surprising as we were pretty far out of town. On we went and tried to ignore the constant buzzing.

Family Hike

About 15 minutes into our hike, Super was hiking in front of me and got a bee stuck in her hair. She has long and very thick hair and happens to greatly dislike bees. My husband flung the bee out of her hair pretty far away just to have it fly straight back into her hair! This happened THREE times, no joke. We told her to put her hair up and then put her snow hat on, it was a bit chilly that morning. She put her hat on and then I got a bee in my hair. From then on, all of us girls had our hair up and snow hats on. We realized at that point that all the buzzing was BEES. For real, there were so many bees around that all we heard was constant buzzing. I have never experienced anything like it and I have spent countless amounts of time in the woods hiking and camping. My husband and I joked that we felt like we were being followed by the tracker jacker bees from the movie The Hunger Games. We just kept telling the girls to keep moving and not stand still for very long.

Daddy’s Girls

We made it to the small lake that was beautiful and serene. The girls enjoyed exploring the area we were in and Kiva (our mini australian shepherd) enjoyed swimming. Not long after we sat down to enjoy the lake, we actually saw more bees. Peppy got stung once or twice, but she has been stung many times and it doesn’t seem to bother her much. Then we heard a young boy across the lake start screaming and crying, he also got stung. We decided to keep hiking around the lake. There were a couple of gentlemen with their boys at one end of the lake so we struck up a conversation with them for a bit. They warned us that they had heard that the bees were really bad at the other end of the lake. We decided to go around the lake anyways and would watch out for bees. There was a beautiful rock on the other side that people cliff jump off and thought that would be a fun adventure for the girls. So, around the lake we went. We made it to the rock to jump off without any problems and enjoyed an hour there. It was getting late as we had another event to go to that evening so we needed to quickly finish hiking the rest of the lake to head home.

Bee Lake

My husband, Peppy, Zippy, and Kiva were a bit ahead of Super and I. Super and I were chatting and enjoying our time together. We were about 100 feet or so away from the trail to head back down. I stepped up on a rock and walked across to end up being swarmed by bees and repeatedly stung. Super was behind me being stung and yelling at me to keep going. By this point, both of us were running and being stung at the same time. My husband realized we were being stung by all of our yelling and came back to see what was going on. Super had a bee stuck in her sock repeatedly stinging her and I had been stung about 8 times at this point with a bee stuck in my pants. We finally got the bees off and kept running to find that Kiva had been stung multiple times as well. She was rolling all over the ground and frantically biting at herself. There was no time to hang around as these bees were quite literally following us.

As we were now hiking very quickly down the trail, Super is still complaining that her leg hurt. Then she started to hyperventilate and said she was having pain up her whole leg into her stomach. My husband looked at me and asked if she was going into anaphylaxis (I was thinking the same thing). We are not new to anaphylaxis, but we were NOT prepared to have Super go into anaphylaxis an hour and a half away from any medical care and no epi pen with us. It had been several years since Peppy outgrew her life threatening food allergy to peanuts so we no longer carry an epi pen. We decided that we needed to stop quickly and look at her leg to see why she was having so much pain. She had a rash going up her whole leg and continued to hyperventilate. This was one of the scariest moments I’ve ever had. We quickly look through our first aid kit to see if we have any Benadryl, but didn’t have any in it. The only thing we could do was keep walking as fast as we could while assessing if she was in fact going into anaphylaxis. My husband has an inhaler so he decided to have Super use it to see if it would help in case she was not going into anaphylaxis, but just panicking. We are very aware that an inhaler won’t help in an anaphylaxis situation, but we had nothing else to give her. After we gave it to her we kept walking as fast as is possible with three kids and a dog. I kept talking to Super trying to get her to calm down, see if she could take deep breaths, if she was light headed etc. What seemed like forever, but was probably 5 minutes Super slowly began to breath normally and we realized her breathing was NOT her throat swelling but hyperventilating from panic. That was the fastest mile and a half we have ever hiked. We got to the car and dumped out of first aid kit that we keep in there and thankfully had children’s benadryl in there. She took Benadryl and hopped in the car. Meanwhile, my husband was getting the dog in the car and found a bee stuck in her fur. The poor pup had probably been getting stung repeatedly the whole way down.

Ten to 15 minutes into the drive down the mountain, Super had calmed down and the rash up her leg had began to get better. The Benadryl was working!!! Praise the Lord! We monitored her all the way home to decide if we needed to head to the ER. She seemed fine by the time we made it into town so we all headed home. As a mom, I look after my kids way before I ever take care of myself. I too had been stung many times and my legs were on fire. It had probably been at least 30 years since I had been stung by a bee so I didn’t have very much to go on whether what I was feeling was normal or not. When we got home, we all changed, and I realized that one of my eight bee stings had a HUGE red mark around it. It measured 4 inches in diameter. I figured it was no big deal as I had no other symptoms other than my leg was on fire so I moved on with my life. The next day, and the day ofter that, all of my bee stings still stung and itched like crazy. Three days after I had been stung, my mom came over and showed my mom my bee stings. She took one look at the big one and told me I needed to let my Dr know. I took pictures of my bee sting and sent them to my Dr. Her office responded that I should have come in earlier for prednisone. Umm, what?! Oops! My mom told me I was probably glad I didn’t go in for prednisone as it’s side effects are awful.

What started out as an easy family hike turned into our worst nightmare that ended ok thankfully. We have learned so many things from this wild event in the woods. The first and most important is that we need (and I would highly encourage you to as well) to carry Benadryl at all times hiking/backpacking. You never know when you are going to need it and are most likely far from any medical help when you are out hiking. We now have Benadryl stocked in our hiking bin, in our car, in our first aid kits, and of course at home. Super’s pediatrician has been great though all of this and we decided to get an epi pen just to take hiking with us. She consulted with our allergist to see if he thought we should be concerned about anaphylaxis in the future given Super’s body response to this one sting. He said he didn’t think she is at high risk. That being said, the pediatrician and I decided we would rather have an epi pen to hike with and never need it than to need it and not have one! You just never know what life is going to throw at you. I am so glad that my husband and I both jumped straight into assessing if Super was going into anaphylaxis. My husband asked me later if he thought that we handled the situation well. I think we did the best we could with the knowledge and tools we had. Now we have a new tool in our box, the epi pen. You can see below that I taught Super how to use the epi pen herself just in case she ever needed to use it on herself.

Epi Training

Seattle Nourished Festival

For years I have scrolled through social media to see gluten free and allergy friendly trade shows all over the country, except for my hometown. It has been sad and frustrating that there hasn’t been a show here. Seattle isn’t a small town in the middle of nowhere, it’s a major metropolitan city! Two years ago, my husband and I traveled down to Portland, OR. to attend and host a booth at the GFFAFEST. It still wasn’t close enough to home for me, I wanted one in my own city. Last spring, I heard that we were FINALLY getting a gluten free and allergy friendly trade show in my home town: Nourished Festival. YAY!! This is something I have looked forward to for a long time and am thrilled to not only attend as a blogger sponsor, but also as a speaker. I’m honored and really excited to be at this event and I’d love to have you join me there. You can purchase tickets for 30% off through September 20th by using the code: EARLYBIRD Please let me know if you decide to go, I would love the chance to meet you.

When my daughters and I go to Costco on sample day, it’s like a game for us to see who can actually eat any of the samples offered. For those of us with multiple food allergies, intolerances, and celiac disease, eating Costco samples is nearly impossible. Going to the Nourished Festival will be like the Disneyland samples of gluten free, allergy friendly, vegan, paleo, keto, and plant based food. My girls cannot wait to attend the event and be able to eat their way through the event. They have never experienced a place that they will be able to eat so many foods. If you are anything like them, you don’t want to miss this event!

I love attending gluten free and allergy friendly trade shows to find all the new amazing companies and products on the market. There are so many amazing brands out there, but it can be heard to sift through so many. An event like this is the best place to find what is new, ask questions, and of course sample their products. It’s also fun to see our most favorite gluten free and allergy friendly brands that we have loved for many years like Enjoy Life Foods, Made Good, Hilary’s Eat Well, and many others. At the festival this year, I love that they have added a paleo, vegan, keto, and plant based areas. So many of people’s food needs cross over into one or more of these areas as well. I think this festival is fit for anyone and if you don’t think so, I bet it fits for someone you know. As a way to love them, come join us and invite them too! šŸ™‚

Please follow along with me on September 21 & 22 as I will be posting in my Instagram Stories all about the event while I am there. I can’t wait to tell you all about the new brands I find, the information I learn through the classes I will attend, and what the favorite brands we’ve had for many years are up to these days. I’ll be sure to tell you everything once the festival is over in one blog post as well. You won’t want to miss it, it’s going to be great.

I mentioned that there will be classes at the Nourished Festival as well. There are a few classes each day that you’ll want to be sure to attend. I have been given the opportunity to speak on Sunday September 22 from 12-1pm on Baking and Cooking free from the top 8 allergens and gluten. It would be wonderful if you would attend my class! I am happy to answer any questions you may have during my class so come prepared with any you may have. Thanks for supporting me in this way, I can’t wait to see you all at the event! Again, be sure to buy your tickets ahead of time for 30% off by using the code: EARLYBIRD As always, let me know if you have any questions.

*There are affiliate links above for your convenience and helps support my blog šŸ™‚

Seattle Area Restaurant Guide

As a family we avoid most of the Top 8 Allergens, Gluten, and a good list of other random foods as well. If you have followed me for any length of time you know that my girls have out grown many of their food allergies. Some of those are now intolerances and some are completely gone. There are two people in our family with celiac disease, and we all have many food intolerances. All that to say, eating out is very difficult for us. We don’t often eat out because it takes a lot of time and effort to find a safe restaurant, but when we do eat out, it is something my family really enjoys. I will continue to add to my list as we find new local restaurants. Just so you have a better understanding of the foods we avoid when we go out to eat, I have them listed below. I am very aware that not all families deal with this many, or the same, food restrictions as we do. My list is to give you hope that you can find safe restaurants to eat at even with food allergies, celiac, and intolerances. Please be sure to call these restaurants yourself before you visit them to ensure that you feel confident eating there. We all have different levels of comfort.

Food Intolerances for us:
Dairy
Soy
Egg Yolk
Cane Sugar
Peanuts
Garlic
Tomato
Apples
Corn
Strawberries
Almonds

Food Allergies:
Peanuts
Tree Nuts

Celiac Disease:
Wheat
Barley
Rye
Oats unless they are certified GF

Even with that long list, here are the amazing restaurants we have found that we can eat at in the Seattle area. They are listed in no particular order.

Red Robin Seattle, Redmond, Bothell, Bellevue, Lynnwood

Red Robin Allergy Sticks

I know there are Red Robin’s all over our country, but they are still worth mentioning. Even though they are all over, I have heard that each location is very different when it comes to how allergy/celiac friendly they are. My understanding is that not all of them have a separate gluten free fryer and not all staff are well trained on food allergy/celiac safety. We have had wonderful experiences at several Red Robin’s, many of which even use allergy sticks in food items as an extra sign of the precautions they took in the kitchen. I love when I see the allergy sticks come out in our meals, it gives me extra confidence that they took our food allergies/celiac seriously. The Red Robin’s that we have successfully eaten at are: Bothell location off Bothell Everett Hwy (photo at the top), Lynnwood location behind Alderwood Mall, Redmond location downtown, Bellevue location in Bellevue Square, and the Seattle location on the water front.

Razzi’s Pizza Seattle

Razzi’s Pizzeria

Razzi’s is well known in our area for being allergy/celiac friendly. Zippy’s Celiac Support Group through Seattle Children’s Hospital has even had them cater one of their events. This small Italian restaurant is well worth your time and drive. They have the most amazing pizzas, calzones, sub sandwiches, salads, and more. Check out their gluten free menu, it’s AMAZING!! Not only do they have amazing gluten free breads and pizza crust, they also have dairy free/vegan cheese. This is the first restaurant we ever went to that had vegan cheese so pizza was actually an option for us. All of their staff are well trained and understand food allergies/celiac. One note of caution, their red tomato sauce contains soy. We found that one out that hard way when Zippy was allergic to soy. :/ They do have a soy free red sauce if you request it which we they told us when we called about Zippy’s allergic reaction. We still love going to Razzi’s and highly recommend it!

Skinny D’s Yogurt Shop Mill Creek

Skinny D’s

This is our all time favorite local frozen yogurt. It’s as local as it gets, we can walk there easily. They have dairy free options, sugar free options, and only one (cookie dough) of their MANY flavors have gluten in them. We are also dairy free so we order our yogurt on a little iPad and our yogurt comes out in a separate space. Then we get to head to the toppings bar that is full of fresh fruit, mochi, candy, candy bars, cookies, etc. They have Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips and Kinnikinnick gluten free Chocolate Sandwich Creme (Oreo type cookies). While it is great that they have these toppings, they still aren’t safe for Zippy to eat with the chance of cross contamination. Buffet style food is never an option for her. I talked to the owner and asked if we could get all the items that Zippy needed from the back. She said she would be happy to do that so Zippy’s most recent toppings were strawberries, cherries, Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips, Kinnikinnick cookies, mochi, and boba on top of salted caramel frozen yogurt. YUM!! The owner went in the back and used a separate scoop for each item Zippy got or used fresh gloves. We just love going to Skinny D’s, it’s such a great treat! Not only that, they also have lots of board and card games so we often spend family evenings there playing games and building memories. šŸ™‚

Chick-Fil-A
Lynnwood, Kirkland, Bellevue

Chick-Fil-A

Chik-Fil-A is a new find for us. They have only been in our area for a year or a bit more. I honestly didn’t know that they were a safe option for us until a few months ago. We don’t eat fast food very often, but it’s nice to have a safe option when we need one. It make Zippy’s day every time she gets to go. She is able to safely eat their grilled chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and a juice box or water. They do also have gluten free buns! I love Chick-Fil-A because all of their staff is well trained in dealing with food allergies and their online menu shows allergens very clearly. When we order we tell them that we have celiac disease/can’t have any gluten. That usually cues the cashier to bring over a manager to ensure that your order was heard and communicated correctly. The receipt also says *Allergy* on it so they know to take extra precautions in the back and also change gloves.

Thai Rhapsody Mill Creek
Before we had kids with life threatening food allergies and celiac disease, we used to frequent Thai food restaurants everywhere we went. It’s definitely one of our favorite ethnic cuisines to eat. We have spent the last 9 years not being able to eat Thai food. Now that our girls have outgrown most of their severe food allergies, we only need to worry about gluten and nuts when we eat out in terms of cross contamination concerns. Last fall, I was on my Find Me Gluten Free App (free, I use it everywhere we go) when we had guests in town and read that a local Thai Food restaurant was great with celiac customers and other food allergies. I called the restaurant at an off busy time to ask lots of questions to ensure they could feed us safely. By the conversation I had with the restaurant I felt comfortable trying it out. We went early (4:30pm) which we typically do so we can be sure the communication with our server isn’t rushed and the kitchen isn’t too busy. When we arrived we talked to our waiter about celiac and nut allergies and they said they could feed us safely. To be honest, I still felt a bit of anxiety because I’m still human and have seen my girls have many celiac and allergic reactions. They made Zippy’s meal separately and she got to basically create her own meal there. The food was great, the staff was helpful and wonderful, and everyone left feeling healthy. We have since eaten there and had the same great experience!

Terracotta Red Everett
If you love Chinese food and have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, you need to visit Terracotta Red! They are very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac disease. Their gluten free menu (listed as GFO) is long and amazing. It is a place that you will want to get reservations for as it gets really busy, or go at on off hour from the rush. I remember my family couldn’t believe how good the food was and how many options they had to choose from. It’s definitely worth going to!

Grilla Bites Snohomish

Grilla Bites

We just found Grilla Bites last week, but had heard about it a few months ago. It’s a small restaurant/cafe’ in a quaint town close to us. They serve soups, salads, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and lots of drinks. The staff are very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac/cross contamination. They have gluten free bread for sandwiches and burgers as well as gluten free chicken nuggets. We had a great experience here and will definitely be back.

Asiana Bistro Redmond

Asiana Bistro
Asiana Bistro

This is a new find for us last week as well, again I found it on the Find Me Gluten Free App. Almost the whole menu is gluten free (58 items are). If you love Asian food you need to go here! It’s a small shop, but is a great one. The owner is very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac disease. She is also very sweet and funny. My severely peanut allergic mom ate here with us. All of us, including her, ate safely and well. The food was delicious! We will definitely be going back!

Hopefully this list is helpful for you. I will continue to add to our list as we find new great restaurants that we can eat at locally. If your list of food restrictions isn’t as long as ours, you can likely find many more safe finds. We love using the Find me Gluten Free App and Allergy Eats App to help us find new restaurants to try. I would love to hear your favorite safe restaurants in the Seattle area, leave me some in the comments below.

Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics Mixes

Happy Friday everyone! This week I have spent a whole lot of time in my kitchen re-stocking our freezer. I bulk bake to keep my family fed well and allows me more time with my family. One of the items I made this week are these gorgeous Lemon Poppyseed muffins. I met Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics back in November at FABLOGCON (Food Allergy Bloggers Conference). It was such a joy to meet her, she really is so sweet, and her products are safe for my family. All of her mixes are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Peanut Free, Soy Free, and Egg Free. She kindly sent me home with all of her mixes to try out: Chocolate cake/brownies, vanilla cake (which we made into these lemon poppyseed muffins), blueberry muffins, coffee cake, and pancakes/waffles. My family has loved all of her mixes. When I made the lemon poppyseed muffins this week, my girls were cheering as they ate them. šŸ™‚ My family’s favorite mixes were both of the muffins, but that’s probably because we are huge muffin fans anyways. All of the mixes are great!

If you haven’t ever heard of Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics, you must check out her mixes! She also just opened a bakery in Colorado as well if you happen to be in the area. You will love her goodies and see for yourself just how sweet Elizabeth really is. Thank you so much Elizabeth for sharing your mixes with my family, caring so much about our food allergy community, and being so sweet!

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Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics Brownie Mix
Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics Coffee Cake Mix
Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics Pancake Mix
Sweet Elizabeth’s Organics Muffin Mix

Nesco Dehydrator Review

Several people have asked me what dehydrator I use. I often post through the summer and fall all of the fruits and vegetables I like to dehydrate. We have apple and pear trees in our yard so this time of year I am busy picking, chopping and freezing, and also dehydrating. I have tried to dehydrate all kinds of fruit because I hate to waste food. Dried watermelon is my girls favorite. I have dried peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, canteloupe (yuck), carrots, peas, and I’m sure a few I can’t remember. This fall and winter I will be testing dehydrated meals and beef jerky. There are so many great ways to use a dehydrator.

I bought this Nesco Dehydrator several years ago. Mine came with four trays, this new version comes with five trays and a jerky gun. The price is a great deal. I have saved our family far more money than I paid for this dehydrator. The one down side is that it does take up quite a bit of space. Mine lives in our kitchen green house window. Not the prettiest thing to put in there, but it fits there and is quick to grab when I need it.

The directions are very simple and easy to use. The lid of the dehydrator lists the temperatures that each type of food should be dehydrated at. I love this feature because I don’t have to rummage around for the instructions each time I use it. From there, you just have to check each item every hour or so until you know how long certain foods take. Yesterday I made thin sliced strawberries and most of them were done in 3-4 hours. Blueberries take me about 12 hours or so.The thinner you cut your fruit or vegetables and how much liquid is in them will lower the time it takes to dehydrate. Thin carrots obviously take a shorter time than thin strawberry slices because carrots don’t have as much natural liquid in them. I have only ruined one fruit in all of my experiments. When I realized I had way over dehydrated the blueberries I made them into beautiful frosting. This link gives you a video tutorial too. šŸ™‚

Here are a few pictures of my dehydrator so you can see what it comes with. The lid shows you all of the dials and temperatures to dehydrate at. All of the trays are “webbed” so air can flow through them. Mine came with one solid plastic tray that fits on top of the other trays. This is used for very small items that would fall through the webbed trays or liquid. I have used the solid tray to make fruit leather, peas, and thin carrot slices. It’s a simple but great machine. I highly recommend it! If you have questions about the dehydrator that I didn’t answer let me know, I’m happy to help. šŸ™‚

Nesco Dehydrator Tray
Nesco Dehydrator Liquid Tray

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Going to School with Food Allergies

All three of my girls went back to school yesterday. I know for some of you, your kids have been in school for a month or so. The beginning of a new school year brings excitement, but also much anxiety for kids with food allergies and their parents. We send our kids off to be monitored by other adults that don’t always understand our situation fully. Most of them can’t fully understand our situation because they aren’t in it. Schools have protocols set in place for kids with multiple food allergies, you can request a 504 plan that states your childs needs and all of the ways your child will need services and/or support with their food allergies. The school nurse typically contacts the parents to get more information, collects the necessary medication (epinephrine, benadryl, etc.), and stores these items unless your child can carry their meds themselves.

I have found that there are several other steps that I like to take to ensure the safety and health of my three girls and their food allergies and intolerances. These are things that I have learned over time and hope they are helpful for you. If I missed something, feel free to let me know. This list is how I have worked mostly with teachers and not the school in general. I mentioned a few ways to work with the school above, but that is not what I am writing about today. All of the teachers are informed of students in their classes that have severe allergies. What I have found is that most teachers don’t know any information beyond that. Here is a list of things that I talk to the teacher directly about.

1. Tell the teacher exactly what food/s my daughter is allergic or intolerant to. I haven’t had any of my daughters teachers know the specific foods they are allergic or intolerant to. It is very important that the teacher knows exactly what foods my daughters can and can’t eat. With this, it is not their job to monitor my daughter and what she chooses to eat. This is to make sure that the teacher is aware and when they need to be extra vigilant. It is my job to ensure that my daughters have food that is safe for them while they are at school. This puts my mind and the teachers at ease.

2. Tell the teacher exactly what reactions my daughter has to each food. This is extremely important. Food reactions have such a wide range of severity and how they present themselves. Even with anaphylaxis allergies the reactions and how they present themselves can be very different from person to person and with different foods. This is a time to educate the teacher and to really know what symptoms should be of concern to them. I never assume the teacher knows what to look for or be concerned about.

3. On the first day of school I come with a box of cookies that are safe for each of my daughters to keep in the classroom. There are so many parties and other events that include dessert that I make sure my girls aren’t left out. Some birthdays happen right after school starts so I make sure they are prepared from day one. My daughters or their teachers let me know when their cookie supply is running low.

4. I request that the teacher let me know in advanced when they will be having activities that include food other than birthdays. There are several parties throughout the school year that involve pizza, ethnic food, popcorn, 5th grade camp (two days overnight), etc. I let the teacher know that I will always provide food for my daughters that is the same as what the other kids will be having or something similar. This ensures that my girls aren’t left out and they have safe food for them.

5. I request to teach in the class about food allergies. I did this last year because my middle daughter was having issues with kids in her class not being safe or kind to those with food allergies. It was a great way for me to educate the kids and teachers in my daughters classes. The majority of people don’t understand the severity of food allergies or understand the consequences of cross contamination. The teachers really appreciated me coming in, learned a lot, and requested that I come in the following year as well. Education goes a long way with people.

6. Check in. I check in regularly with my daughters and their teachers to see how everything is going. Is my daughter almost out of cookies in the classroom? Do you have any questions or concerns? How are my daughters feeling about their food allergies and intolerances at school? Is there anything I can do to make this easier?

I hope these are some helpful tips when sending your precious kids to school that have food allergies. It can be tough, but it can be done. Let me know if there is anything I missed or another topic you would like me to cover. Happy to school year to you all!

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Our journey of Severe Food Allergies- Can you relate?

I have been asked to write more about our personal journey with food allergies. It feels like this has been a very long journey, but that is probably just because it has been all consuming. Today I am going to tell you about the journey we have been on with my middle daughter. I am starting with her because her allergies have been the most severe and greatly helped us to recognize food allergies in our youngest when she had them as well. In due time, I will write our journey with my other two as well. I think all of their stories are worth sharing as all of us have different journeys with food allergies but similarities too. This food allergy community is one that I am so thankful for and happy to be a part of.

Peppy newborn

From the moment my middle daughter, “Peppy”, was born she screamed most of the time. At her one week appointment I told our pediatrician, who we love, that my daughter cried all the time. He said that it couldn’t be colic at that point because colic doesn’t start until 6 weeks or so. From then on, we kept in pretty close contact with our pediatrician. Peppy continued to scream, vomit, and have diarrhea often. I think I cried almost as often as she did. My oldest, then three, was having a hard time adjusting to having a new sister and all of the crying as well. Truth be told, we all had a hard time adjusting to the crying. I knew that something was wrong with Peppy, but no one knew what was wrong with her. Those days were long and exhausting. I remember for months that all I knew to do when Peppy screamed was to hold her and sing “Amazing Grace”. It was all that got us through that dark time. Every time I hear that song now I cry for many reasons.

I was formula feeding because I didn’t produce enough milk to feed Peppy so my pediatrician suggested trying different brands. We went through as many dairy formulas as we could think of still with no change. Then our pediatrician suggested trying soy formula so we did that and the screaming, vomiting, and diarrhea persisted. Realize all of this probably took two months since we needed to try new formulas for long enough to determine if they were helping or not. Our last ditch effort was to put her on Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula and also begin stool testing on her. Peppy continued to have the same symptoms on Nutramigen and also tested positive for blood in her stool two out of three times. By this point she was also failing to thrive as she couldn’t keep very much formula down. My pediatrician finally referred us to see a pediatric gastroenterologist at Seattle Children’s hospital. The GI clinic is so far booked out it was probably a month before I could get in.

By the time we got to our GI appt we were a mess, just hanging by an emotional and string. Peppy was 11 weeks old when we finally made it to the GI. Our new GI came in, he was the sweetest, most helpful, and understanding Dr. He carefully listened to Peppy’s story, looked over her , her chart and test results, and simply said that Peppy had severe food allergies to dairy and soy. At that appointment he gave me a few cans of EleCare prescription formula to try and said she would be fine. I was hesitant to believe that this formula was going to work, but I was willing to give anything a try at that point. We went home and I started the EleCare and I had a new child instantly. It was nothing short of amazing for us and also laid on some serious mom guilt. I felt like I had been poisoning my child, unknowingly. It was horrible, but I am just thankful that the EleCare worked for Peppy. Peppy remained on EleCare until she was four years old to keep up her weight and keep her food allergies at bay.

We continued to see the GI regularly as Peppy got older for weight monitoring and also as we added new foods into her diet. I am so thankful for this team of Dr’s, nurses, and nutritionists that cared for Peppy for many years, they always gave me hope and support. The more foods we added to Peppy’s diet, the more we found that she was allergic to.

When Peppy was about 18 months old we went on vacation to Arizona to see my husbands family. A few friends from home were also going on vacation there so we met up at the house they were renting. In the basement of the rental home there was a movie theater so all of the kids were watching a movie. Our friends kids were eating shelled peanuts and throwing them on the ground when they were done. My husband was with Peppy and she picked up a peanut and put it in her mouth. As soon as she got the peanut in, my husband noticed and took it out of her mouth. Immediately after, Peppy began to cry. It was a long day without a nap so we figured it was time to get her to bed. She cried and cried as we gathered all of our things and buckled the girls in the car. On the way home she continued to cry really hard and began scratching her tongue saying “owie, owie” We couldn’t figure out what was going on so we took her home and got her ready for bed. At this point we put her down but she just kept screaming and scratching her tongue. This was really abnormal for Peppy, she loved to go to bed. All of a sudden, it clicked, THE PEANUT! We immediately called our consulting nurse and she told us to take her straight to Childrens ER in Phoenix. That felt like the longest drive ever! We arrived at the ER and a nurse checked Peppy right away to be sure her throat wasn’t closing. Her throat was still open so we waited to get a room. Upon entering the ER we retold the story, along with the fact that my mom has an anaphylaxis allergy to peanuts. The nurse and Dr left and quickly came back with benadryl and a shot of epinephrine. Peppy quit crying for the first time in 7 hours. From the moment the peanut went in, to getting benadryl and an epinephrine shot was 7 hours!! :/ We spent the rest of the night in ER to monitor her for a secondary reaction. At 7 am we were released, it was Mother’s Day 2011. We went straight to a pharmacy to pick up an epi pen and benadryl, our lives forever changed that day.

We saw Peppy’s GI not long after her anaphylaxis reaction to peanuts. He suggested staying away from all nuts since her reaction was so severe from such a small amount and my family history of allergies. Peppy’s list of allergies continued to grow as she got older. It’s honestly hard for me to remember all of them because they have changed over the years and my youngest daughter also has severe food allergies. I think Peppy’s list at one point that she was allergic to was dairy, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, wheat, corn, peaches,tomato, and some other fruit I am forgetting. By the age of three Peppy’s GI didn’t think she would grow out of any of her food allergies. We had tested and re-tested all of the foods in office when needed but she had no change.

This is where my very in-depth baking for multiple food allergies began. I had been baking for food intolerances for many years at that point, but not for severe and multiple food allergies. While I loved our team at Children’s I never had someone to explain in depth what food allergies are, what kind Peppy had, when to use an epi pen, how to use an epi pen, how to make the food she needed to eat to keep her safe and gaining weight. What I have found is that none of these were the job of the specialists we saw. Peppy had severe, though not life threatening food allergies (except peanuts) and had all GI reactions. Allergy testing was never helpful because food allergies that effect the GI tract don’t show up on a prick test. We didn’t have an allergist that followed us for that reason. Our nutritionists were amazing at giving us the kinds of food to feed Peppy, but their job wasn’t to find recipes for us, teach us how to bake safely, eat our safely, etc. This is exactly why I started my business. There is a huge gap in service. The practical piece of how to live this food allergy life once you leave the Dr’s office can be so hard and overwhelming. I am passionate about helping people through the practical steps of living with food allergies. You can contact me and also sign up for my newsletter for more helpful information.

I am happy to say that Peppy passed an in office prick and oral peanut test when she was 6. The rest of her food allergies have gotten so much better the older she has gotten. All of them are now either intolerances or she can eat them just fine. Currently she is intolerant to gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and tomato. There is hope whether that means allergies go away or this life becomes easier as we live with them longer.

Hello Toothpaste

My husband works for a dental lab and attends many trade shows. He finds new products at these shows and brings them home for us to try. This one in particular, Hello toothpaste, he was very excited about and thought I would be too since it is a natural toothpaste. I’ve honestly never thought about using a natural toothpaste, but it only makes sense since I am very careful to use natural products in most areas of our lives. Hello toothpaste sent us a free sample to try along with a guide telling us about their company and products. I have given you several photos below out of their guide.

I posted the picture above on social media about a month ago and had several people ask questions about natural toothpaste, fluoride, and it’s safety. On Instagram I follow Gena (pronounced Jenna) at Symplynourished. Can I just tell you for a minute how much I love following Gena? She has been the sweetest, supportive, and encouraging lady. If you’re on Instagram go on over and follow her and check out her new blog with the link above. There you will find information about holistic health, great recipes, and life with a food allergic child. Gena is a dental hygienist by trade and has worked in a traditional dental office and a holistic dental office that didn’t use fluoride treatments. When I posted on Instagram that I was going to test this toothpaste out and others had questions about it, Gena was our sounding board. She has kindly written a very thorough post answering all of our questions about oral health in regards to traditional toothpaste vs. natural toothpaste. It is a must read, I learned a lot from reading her post and know you will too. šŸ™‚ Thanks Gena for a great and informative post!

I have now been using the Hello Toothpaste for about a month. It is important to me when I am writing a review to be sure I have given a product enough time to give an accurate review. Here is my honest review of the Hello Toothpaste. When I thought about using this toothpaste, I’ll be honest, I was apprehensive. I have sensitive teeth and have grown accustomed to using traditional whitening toothpaste. The sample I received in the mail from Hello was about a month’s worth so I figured I could use it until it was gone. I tried the extra whitening, but there are several other flavors including a sensitive one on the way.

Hello Adult Toothpaste

Here is a picture of the ingredients.

Hello Toothpaste Ingredients

I was very pleasantly surprised with this toothpaste. When I brush my teeth, the most important thing to me is that my teeth FEEL clean and smooth, the sweaters get removed well. šŸ˜‰ The Hello Toothpaste definitely left my teeth feeling clean and smooth. The next important thing to me in a toothpaste is that it gives me fresh breath. I will give this toothpaste and ok in this department. The flavor of the toothpaste that I tried has a mild minty flavor with a hint of coconut. Now, I think the flavor of this toothpaste is very good and refreshing, but it doesn’t leave me with super fresh breath like traditional toothpaste does. Whitening is at the bottom of my list of what I want in a toothpaste, but I like to keep my teeth at their “normal” color. I haven’t used this toothpaste for long enough I don’t think to make a great judgment call on whether this toothpaste is good for whitening. In the month that I did use it I will say that my teeth stayed the same color which is a good sign to me. The Hello Toothpaste I noticed doesn’t foam at all. This isn’t a bad thing it is jsut different from traditional toothpaste and takes getting used to. All in all I was very impressed with this toothpaste and will continue to use it. It does have fluoride, though I’m not sure which ingredient is the fluoride.

They also have kids toothpaste that I have heard great things about, but my kids haven’t tried it yet.

Hello Kids Toothpaste

The price is more than traditional toothpaste, but not as much as I anticipated. I would love to hear your thoughts if you try it!

*There are affiliate links above for your convenience and helps support my blog šŸ™‚ always be sure to check ingredients to be sure the items are safe for you.

Growing up in the 50’s with food allergies

I have always known that my mom had a severe anaphylaxis allergy to peanuts. When I was a bit older I realized that she avoided all nuts. She was very careful about chocolate in particular as far as I remember as a kid. I’m sure she would have many items to add that she was careful about, but that’s one thing I remember in particular. Kids memories are funny aren’t they?! Chocolate definitely is an area of concern for people with peanut and tree nut allergies. She even made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when we were kids. There was a strict rule that the knife goes in the jelly FIRST and the knife had to go directly into the dishwasher, NO RINSING in hot water first! I still have that same strong rule in my house just in case someone comes to my house that has a peanut allergy.

When my middle daughter had severe food allergies as an infant, and then had an anaphylaxis reaction to peanuts at 18 months old, it didn’t come as a huge shock. I will write a blog post at some point about my daughters anaphylaxis reaction. Knowing my mom has an anaphylaxis allergy to peanuts greatly helped us when my daughter had her reaction. I adopted some ways that my mom has lived life with food allergies for my daughters. One thing that I have greatly appreciated about my mom and her food allergies is that they have never stopped her from enjoying life. She takes them seriously, takes appropriate precautions, but they don’t keep her from living life to the fullest. My mom travels all over the world, enjoys restaurants, and time with family and friends. Her food allergies certainly don’t define her.

Since two of my daughters have had severe food allergies, my parents and I have talked a lot more about their experiences. My dad is a Dr. so he too has added a great level of comfort for our family with food allergies. We always know that if anyone has a severe reaction and panics, he won’t panic. He’s calm, cool, and collected all the time in every situation. That has helped all of us to see life a bit in the same way. Clearly, he also takes my mom’s food allergies seriously and has been there for many of her anaphylaxis reactions. It’s great to have a Dr. with you everywhere you go. šŸ™‚

My parents have taken amazing care of our girls and their food allergies. They don’t get a lot of social media posts from me on how they care well for my girls because they have my girls without me often. šŸ™‚ Date nights = overnight stays for my girls with my parents who spoil them with Udi’s blueberry muffins, Van’s waffles, Rudi’s bread, Pamela’s cookies, and Enjoy Life Foods cookies. I have never feared that my parents wouldn’t know how to handle a severe food allergy reaction. Let me tell you, this made my life so much easier! I know many people don’t have this same experience. My parents have been an amazing support for us over the years in many ways, including our food allergies. When we have family gatherings, my mom goes out of her way to ensure that we all have safe food for us. Thanks mom for loving us so well!!

I thought it would be good to ask my mom several questions about growing up in the late 40’s and 50’s with food allergies. This gave me great perspective in many ways. My mom is very clear that her parents response to her food allergies is likely not how others may deal with them. I want to be sure that this is not a place for judgment, but a place for us to gain understanding of one persons experience growing up many decades ago with food allergies. It has opened my eyes to understand my mom in new ways and has also brought me to a place of thankfulness that there is so much more education and help for those of us with food allergies today. Here is my mom’s story of growing up with food allergies, please read with a heart of kindness and understanding. šŸ™‚

From my mom:
OK. This may not help much, and you may not agree with the way I was raised, but here it is… šŸ™‚

How old were you when you were diagnosed with food allergies/what year was it? I suppose that the answer to this depends on your definition of ā€œdiagnosed.ā€ I had my first major allergic response to peanut butter as a toddler. (ok, so that would be in 1946 or ā€˜47…) I was first tested for allergies by an actual allergist at age 7, in 1953.

What foods were you allergic to as a little girl? What were your symptoms for each (as brief as you want). I have anaphylaxis and occasionally nausea and vomiting with peanuts. (Iā€™m not totally sure if the nausea is part of the allergic reaction per se, or if, as I have begun to theorize, every time as a toddler and small child I was given ipecac in the ER every time I was brought in.) Iā€™m also very allergic to walnuts. From age 7 on I lived in a house with a huge walnut tree in the front yard that I routinely climbed. Touching the oil in the nuts caused my eyes to swell shut and hives to break out. Eating walnuts causes hives and extreme swelling and itching in my hands and ears. I have similar reactions to pecans. Iā€™m allergic to all melons, although the reaction is less severe. When I eat melons my mouth and throat itch and I feel kind of ā€œickyā€. I ate watermelons regardless as a kid, and just put up with the itching because I like them. I canā€™t eat stronger flavored melons, like cantaloupe, at all. I am allergic to milk, which causes stomach cramping.

How many other people that you knew growing up had food allergies? My dad was also allergic to milk. Thatā€™s about the only person that I knew had problems with eating certain foods.

How did your parents help you with your food allergies? This is an interesting question, and one that you may not like my answer to. I had my first actual ā€œallergy testingā€ at age 7. I pretty much reacted to everything that I was tested for. Iā€™m strongly allergic to just about anything that grows, from all grass to all flowers, from weeds to mold, from dust to cats, and on and on. My allergy testing results were pretty much the same for foods. Some foods showed an exceptionally strong reaction, but others were milder. Iā€™ll never forget leaving the doctorā€™s office and my mom looking at the full page of foods that I ā€œshouldnā€™tā€ be eating. Of course it included peanuts and all tree nuts, but it also included wheat and eggs and milk and raw carrots, and melons and on and on and on. She immediately pretty much just tore up that list and threw it away… You may freak out right about now, but for me it was the best thing that she could have done. From then on she simply figured if I had a bad enough reaction I wouldnā€™t try eating that item again. Pretty much, ā€œif it doesnā€™t kill her she can eat it.ā€ That attitude allowed me to have personal control over my diet. It also allowed me not to feel like I was totally different from other kids. I continued to eat bread and cookies and cake (which all contain wheat and eggs and milk) and my system has, through persistent exposure, accommodated those milder allergies. I learned on my own that M&Ms in those days (even the ā€œplainā€ ones) contained ground up peanuts, and I only needed one problem to never eat another M&M.

How many anaphylaxis reactions have you had in your life? Were they from direct contact eating a food you are allergic to or was it from cross contamination? This is a hard one to answer. Supposedly in my first couple of years of life I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. I assume that at least some of those visits started with anaphylaxis, although probably most were from my severe asthma. My asthma attacks occasionally were almost like anaphylaxis because my throat was closing and I couldnā€™t breathe. Since early teen years Iā€™ve always had Benadryl within reach, and take a big dose whenever I think Iā€™ve gotten in trouble. I had one anaphylaxis during college when our chef unexpectedly decided to put walnuts in the beef gravy… sigh. As an adult Iā€™ve had maybe 5 trips to the ER with anaphylaxis. I have carried an EpiPen, but never used it. Instead I take a bunch of Benadryl and get to an ER for IV epinephrine. Iā€™m not totally sure how you would define cross contamination. Iā€™ve had my throat start to close and my eyes swell shut from the steam when someone ran hot water over a knife coated with peanut butter. Because of the peanuts covering the ground and being walked on and floating in the air I can only go to baseball games when I am so loaded down with Benadryl that Iā€™m totally groggy. I had one episode in a Mexican restaurant when they put mole sauce with peanut butter on the enchiladas instead of normal enchilada sauce. I learned that I canā€™t walk into a Thai restaurant because the peanuts cooked in oil permeate the air from the cooking steam and my throat will immediately close up. I had a bad time once from pesto sauce that the menu had not clarified contained ground walnuts. I know that I canā€™t eat at a Cold Stone ice cream place because I worry about what has been chopped up on those stones before I get my ice cream. I know that I canā€™t eat a Blizzard at DQ because they donā€™t really clean the machinery after making a Blizzard with something like Reeses Pieces. I suppose that I learned that by having a reaction from the cross contamination.

Did you ever feel left out as a kid with food allergies when there werenā€™t very many people with them? I didnā€™t really feel all that ā€œleft out.ā€ Partly that was because the only foods that had total urgent restrictions were nuts. Partly that was because Iā€™m pretty much an introvert and as a kid was sort of ā€œoddā€ anyway. Because my parents were so laid-back and never overreacted when I had a problem with food I never actually focused on it very much. People have often asked me if it isnā€™t just ā€œterribleā€ not to be able to eat peanut butter and chocolate bars with nuts, etc. I canā€™t say that it has been that hard. Since those items make me so sick they just donā€™t appeal to me. Basically there are so many things that I can eat that I donā€™t worry about it at all.

What is one piece of advice that you would give parents that have small children with severe food allergies? For me it worked to be 100% vigilant about the foods that could truly be potentially fatal, but having plenty of leeway and not overreacting and panicking about foods that might cause more minor irritations like itching or brief rashes.

Anything else you want to share with us? šŸ™‚ Help you kids have strong self-identities that donā€™t stress their ā€œdifferencesā€ but stress their ā€œsimilaritiesā€ to the other kids. I love that you have learned to make cupcakes and pizza and all the things that the other kids eat so that your girls never feel left out.

Thanks for sharing your story with us mom! I love you!

*There are affiliate links above for your convenience and helps support my blog šŸ™‚ always be sure to check ingredients to be sure the items are safe for you.

Living in Africa with an Anaphylaxis Allergy

In 2011, my family left our home country to live in Rwanda, Africa for six months. At the time, our oldest daughter had just turned 5 and our middle had just turned 2. We headed half way around the world to fill in for the executive director of a home for former street boys. Our health journey leading up to us leaving was exhausting in many ways. Six months before we left, our middle daughter had an anaphylaxis reaction to peanuts while we were on vacation. She also had severe, though not life threatening, dairy and soy allergies. Due to these two allergies she was on prescription formula. Before we left, we had long conversations with her pediatrician and her gastroenterologist. They were both amazing and supportive of our upcoming trip and encouraged us to not let the food allergies keep us from going. With the stamp of approval from her doctors, along with many other pieces coming together, we prepared to head overseas.

baggage

As you can see, we took a whole lot of baggage! Flying internationally allows each person to have 2 suitcases up to 50 lbs and 2 carry-ons. We took full advantage and took all 16 bags, a stroller, and 2 car seats. It was quite a spectacle at the airport. We arrived three hours before our flight took off so that we had plenty of time to make it to the ticket counter, through security, and onto the plane. The woman that checked us in was amazingly helpful and patient with us. One item that we purchased for this trip and still use everytime we travel is a hand held baggage scale. It works like a charm and is very small, I highly recommend getting one if you don’t have one. I made sure that we had enough, and extra, food to get us all the way to Rwanda with delays if they happened. We called the airlines ahead of time to ask what they would be serving on the plane. There wasnā€™t a whole lot that we could eat, but that is pretty common for us. I had Drā€™s notes for the epi pen, Benadryl, and medically necessary food in case anyone gave us a hard time. If I remember correctly we had at least one whole carry on full of food with ice packs. No one gave us a hard time, it just took us a very long time to get through security lines. We were prepared for that so it was ok.

While my middle daughter had severe food allergies, the rest of us also had food intolerances. At that point, our family couldn’t have nuts, gluten, dairy, soy, egg yolk, tomato, and garlic. We had a friend in country that was able to help us decide what we needed to pack for our time in Rwanda. Two of our suitcases were full of food and kitchen items. The first one of these suitcases was full of 40 cans of prescription formula for my daughter. We couldn’t leave the country without the formula since my daughter couldn’t drink any milk alternatives and she also failed to thrive without the calories she got from the formula. Our carry ons also held several cans just in case our bags didn’t show up. The second suitcase full of food had xanthan gum, one pot, one pan, and as many boxed mixes that we could stuff in. At that time, we used Chebe pizza mix, Bisquick GF (gluten free) pancake and waffle mix so we packed many of those, and a few other random mixes as well. We knew that we could easily buy GF flour so we didn’t need to bring flour with us. It was amazing to have GF flours so easily accessible and also launched me into baking full time.

Chebe pizza

Our friend that was in country was able to get us a loaf of GF bread upon our arrival from a sweet friend of hers. Along with the loaf of bread was the recipe as well. All of the corner markets carried GF flours for very little money. I could get brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca starch, millet flour, and I think teff as well. Before we went to Rwanda, I had used many boxed food items for our allergies, but hadn’t done very much baking with my own mixes. This trip changed all of that in a heart beat. I was able to get many recipes from other Americans that we had become friends with, but I had to figure out how to convert them to fit our dietary needs. Our internet connection there was far slower than dial up, if it even worked at all. I didn’t have pinterest or any other sites that I could get recipes from. So this began my crash course in allergy friendly baking. I spent hours upon hours in the kitchen there with my two daughters to make enough food to sustain us. Meat in Rwanda is VERY expensive so it was only for special occasions. Other than that, we ate a ton of rice, eggs, salad, avocado, fruit, and vegetables. While we lived there I managed to make bread every other day since we only had a small refrigerator and the heat made the bread mold quickly.

Kitchen
Breakfast

We worked at a home for former street boys and all of us would spend a full day together there each week. From the first time we met the staff and boys, we were VERY clear with them about our daughters severe food allergies. We made a rule that no one was allowed to feed her. While people in Rwanda don’t have food allergies, the staff and boys were amazingly understanding. They all took her allergies very seriously which we were so thankful for. English is the national language in Rwanda, but hasn’t always been. Thankfully all of the staff at the home spoke fluent English and we also had an interpreter with us most of the time so we could communicate effectively.

boys

There is a very close knit group of ex-pats in Rwanda. We made sure that we connected with them right when we got to Rwanda. This made our transition much easier to find safe restaurants, large grocery stores, learn how to navigate the market we lived next to, and also gave us friends right away. When we lived in Rwanda we ate at home, or home made food, about 98% of the time. This was the easiest way for us to ensure our daughters safety. There were a handful of restaurants that we frequented, there is a list of them below. We lived in the capital city of Kigali, so there were many options for us to choose from. All of these restaurants had staff that spoke fluent English, were originally from an English speaking country, and/or were high end that catered to English speaking people. These three criteria were important for us to stick to so we knew our daughter would get safe food. Many of these restaurants also let us bring a few of our own food items. We made sure to call ahead to ask if this was ok and also to talk to them about our daughters food allergies ahead of time. Thankfully we made it through six months living in Rwanda without needing to use an epi pen!!

Our Safe Restaurants
Mr. Chips- this is a small burger shack that is owned by a Canadian man. It is frequented my many English speaking people and all of the staff speak English

Sakae Japanese Restaurant- This was a brand new restaurant when we lived there. They serve amazing asian food of all sorts and kinds. All of the staff speak English. We called ahead of time to talk about our food allergies. They were fantastic! We went for early dinners so the staff wasn’t rushed. They allowed us to bring our own GF soy sauce for those of us that could have it. All of our food was checked closely by the staff to ensure that it was safe for my daughter to eat.

Zen Oriental Cuisine- We had the same experience here as we did at Sakae. They were a bit on the busier side, but still great!

Aromas Coffee- This coffee shop was a few blocks away from our house so we went there several times. We would get smoothies and nothing else. I wasn’t comfortable eating food there, but the drinks were great.

The country of Rwanda is very small in terms of land mass. It is easy to go on day trips to other parts of the country. This was very helpful for us to see other parts of the country without having to find safe food in small villages. While there, we went on a safari trip. We used Bizi Dannyā€™s guided tour and they did a great job. They picked us up very early in the morning because the animals are most active then. I packed all of our food for the day so we didnā€™t have to stop at any restaurants along the way. Akagera National Park is on the east side of the country that borders Tanzania. The park is split between both countries so the animals are free to roam between them. We had the opportunity to see zebras, hippos, topee, gazelles, water buffalo, baboons, giraffes, and many species of birds. The day we were there the elephants and lion were in a different part of the park. We were told that the lion typically stays on the Tanzania side of the park. This is one of the most amazing experiences Iā€™ve ever had. It felt surreal the whole time we were there. I would highly recommend doing a safari trip.

Zebra
Topee
Hippo
Giraffe

At the very end of our trip we headed west to Nyungwe rain forest. The scenery in the rain forest is stunning to say the least. We found a little hotel and restaurant to stay in just outside of the forest. This hotel wasnā€™t fancy in the least, but it worked for us. We had fun guests outside our room every morning. Our girls loved having baboons so close. The drive through the rain forest is slow but beautiful so we just learned to enjoy the scenery as we made our way through. Towards the west side of the forest there is a ranger type station. This is where you can find trail maps and hire a guide if you want. Many people go to Nyungwe to see orangutans, but they donā€™t allow kids to go on those hikes. We hired a guide to take us to see colobus monkeys. It was a pretty steep mile hike down before we found the monkeys, but worth every step. There were probably 1oo monkeys playing with each other, screaming, and flying from one tree to the next. If you ever go on this hike, or any other hike in a rain forest, itā€™s a good idea to hike in tall rain boots or gators. Take it from me, biting ants in the pants are no fun! :/ After our hike we drove through the rest of the forest to see what was there. There are miles of tea plantations in a gorgeous setting. In the middle of one tea plantation is an amazing hotel. The next time we go we will be saving our pennies to stay here. Our time in the rain forest was magical.

Baboon
Tea Field

All in all, our trip to Rwanda was a great success with food allergies! It took a lot of planning ahead and time in the kitchen while there, but it was all worth it. My current baking is a direct result of our time in Rwanda, so I am abundantly thankful for that. It pushed me far beyond my limits in many ways which helped me to grow in ways that I wasnā€™t expecting. If you are contemplating a trip with severe food allergies, it can be done, if your medical team approves it. I am so thankful that we had a medical team that cheered us on and encouraged us to make this trip. They prepared us and helped us in many ways to make this a safe trip. I hope you enjoyed learning about our overseas journey and feel encouraged that it is possible to travel with severe food allergies!

*all photos are mine