Funday Sunday - Pizza Casserole

Pizza's great and wonderful and all, but sometimes it can get a little old. So here's a nice little recipe for something that is like pizza...only not. I have no memory of where I picked up this recipe, but I've been making it since I was still living at home with my parents. It's pretty tasty. So tasty, in fact, that the hubby asks for it fairly often. It's called Pizza Casserole. It's another one of those recipes that you can add or subtract with any ingredients you feel you want. Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole**

12 oz. Fettuccine or egg noodles
1 Package of pepperoni (3 1/2 oz pkg.)
1 1/2 jars of pizza sauce (14 oz jars)
12 oz. Mozzarella cheese or soy cheese substitute; shredded*
1 Can of mushrooms (4 oz)
1 Can of sliced black olives (2.25 oz)

Cook the noodles and drain. Cut the pepperoni in halves. Add sauce to the noodles. Add as much as you prefer, but I like my saucy. Add the pepperoni, black olives and mushrooms and mix well. Then add half of the cheese and mix into the casserole. Put it in a 9X13 pan and top with the remaining cheese. Cook in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and slightly browned. Serve with some garlic toast and green beans or a nice salad for a tasty meal.

*This recipe is great without the cheese as well for the kids. Naturally, due to milk allergy, I don't add the cheese for the kids. I put some in a separate dish for the kiddos and set it aside. Sometimes I add a soy cheese substitute, but they seem to like it better without it.
**You can get more creative with this recipe. Think about a pizza you like and put those ingredients in. Example: Peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, & black olives= Supreme pizza. Canadian bacon & Pineapple= Hawaiian pizza. Be creative and enjoy!

Funday Sunday - Ultimate Marshmallow Brownies

This weekend I made a tasty pan of brownies. Not good for my diet. At all. But it was meant purely as my Sunday dinner dessert. Um...I mean the kids' dessert. Yeah. I bought a box of brownie mix (because I wanted to be totally lazy and it was on sale). I didn't want just plain old brownies so I got creative and made a much tastier dessert. A lot of brownie mixes out there just have wheat and soy as their listed allergens. Just remember to always check, check again, and triple check for the milk-allergic kid. It makes a 9X13 pan of sinful deliciousness so beware the scale after consuming this lovely dessert. Needless to say, a good chunk of this bad boy will be leaving the house in Josh's lunch box tomorrow morning. Otherwise, enjoy!

Ultimate Marshmallow Brownies

1 Brownie mix*
1 C. Chocolate chips**
2 C. Mini Marshmallows

Chocolate Glaze

1/8 C. Cocoa
1 1/3 C. Powdered sugar
1 t. Vanilla
Soy milk (add 1 t. at a time until glaze-like consistency.)

Make the brownies according the instructions on the box. Mix in the chocolate chips to the batter and spread in a greased 9x13 pan. Once the brownies are done baking, then take them out of the oven. Sprinkle on the marshmallows to cover the top and place back in the oven for about 2 minutes or until they fluff up nice and big. Do not over cook or marshmallows will brown. Cool for 10 minutes. While waiting for the brownies to cool, make the chocolate glaze. Use a spoon and drizzle the glaze over the marshmallows. Cool completely for an easier cut. Enjoy!

*You can make the brownies from scratch. This is just an easy way to do it. **Don't forget to make sure you have a milk-free chocolate chip.

I Could 'Soy'vive

I've been doing some thinking lately about the food allergy situation that we've been dealing with now for going on three years. It's been a bumpy ride, but lately things have been going relatively smooth. When I first found out that Alex was allergic to milk, it was devastating. It was as if someone dropped me into a a sea of black water with no stars to guide me home and I was barely able to keep my nose above the water. I was still breastfeeding Alex when it all happened. For Alex's protection, the allergist told me I had no other choice but to stop eating milk, eggs and nuts (in any form - including manufactured in a facility). I was so lost and confused that I couldn't manage to find anything to eat. I lost so much weight in such a short time that it became seriously unhealthy for me to continue breastfeeding my child. Before this time I had never had anyone refer to me as 'guant'. I was so much thinner than normal. By nine months, I had to wean him just so I could eat again. When looking back on that time, I wished that there was someone giving me advice because the allergist was anything but helpful. I've learned that sometimes you need to use your own motherly instincts in the situation as well as the advice from doctors. When they told me that he had a 'border-line' egg allergy, I didn't think twice because the doctor struck the fear of God into me and told me that if he had eggs he'd slip into anaphylactic shock and possibly die. Point is, I didn't know how to survive without keeping milk in my diet (seriously, it's in everything).

Three years later, I've come to realize that my self-education on food allergies has made me a pro. If ever I had to take milk out of my diet, I know now that I could survive and probably never lose a pound in doing so. I've adjusted our house so that every meal I make, I can make milk-free. Not only every meal, but ever dessert, every drink, and every snack. Okay, okay. So I still snack on the occasional dairy products that are kept well out of Alex's searching fingers. But if I had to get rid of that stuff, it'd be a piece of dairy-free cake. If I had to replace milk in my diet, I couldn't stand soymilk plain. But have you ever tried Silk brand chocolate soymilk? Um...I still buy that for the kids once every few months and find myself drinking half of it. Yummy stuff. SoyDelicious brand makes amazing non-dairy soy 'ice'cream. There are various soy cheeses to make pizza and I'm certainly a pro and reading lables. I've found just about everything I ever really wanted in a non-dairy form (except whipped cream...still searching for that one.) I've made everything from pumpkin pies and pudding to pizza and ranch dip for chips. Heck, I can even live without peanut butter due to the soybutter options out there.

So after three years of diligent label reading, restaurant research (Wendy's hamburgers and fries), and constant research I have learned to take my son's food allergy and work with it to the point where I can do almost anything to let him live a normal and happy life. Heck, the kid is still in the 95th percentile for weight and 80th for height. The next time I will have to worry about it will be when he goes to school, but God willing he might have grown out of it by that time. He's due for another round of allergy testing. It's been a year and he's supposed to be checked every six months to a year. I used to get so anxious for those days. I'd build my hopes up that he might have negative results for a change. This year, I think I might actually be skipping the tests unless the doctor stresses it. Because for the first time in three years...I'm comfortable with my allergic kid. It can be stressful and sometimes break my heart when he can't have what the other kids have. Especially when others just can't fathom how allergies can turn your world upside down. But personally, it's just good to know that after three years of worry and doubt, I know that I could really soyvive.

Funday Sunday - Pizza Pockets

I don't know about you, but my kids love pepperoni. Sometimes I try and find new ways to incorporate pepperoni into things so that the kids will eat it. I know it's not the greatest and most nutritious thing to eat, but you can always try Turkey Pepperoni. It's got a lot less fat. And seeing as how pizza isn't exactly friendly to the milk-allergic kid, I've had to improvise. A favorite around our house with the kids are Pizza Pockets. It's super easy to do and I think you could put just about anything you want in them. I keep it simple, but that's just because I have finicky eaters. It's a really simple recipe and I'll even show you a nice step by step process via pictures so there's no question on how to do it.

Pizza Pockets

1 can of canned biscuits*
1 jar of pizza sauce**
25 Pieces of Pepperoni
Any other pizza toppings would work as well including, (soy) cheese, mushrooms, sausage, peppers, etc.

First, Preheat the oven to degree specified on the canned biscuit label. Mine is 400°. While the oven preheats, flatten a single biscuit into a big circle.


Second, take a nice Tablespoon of pizza sauce and place in the middle.

Third, place toppings in the middle. Do not over do the toppings because you won't be able to fold it into a pocket without making a big mess. When using pepperoni, make sure to cut it into small pieces. Usually 1 piece of pepperoni into about 8 smaller pieces. You can use cheese if you aren't milk-allergic and they make some fairly decent soy-mozzarella cheeses out there for another option. But I just use pepperoni and the kids love it.

Fourth, take one side of the biscuit and fold it over to make a nice pocket. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the dough. It makes a perfect little pocket.

Place the pockets on a non-stick or greased cookie sheet. Cook in the oven until nice and brown. Times vary per oven. For me, it only takes about 6 minutes. Serve with a nice helping of pizza sauce for dipping and enjoy! Kids love 'em!

*Just a tip: If you are looking for milk-free canned biscuits, look to the store brands to help you out. For some reason, the cheaper the biscuit, the better chance of being dairy-free. Generally the only allergen ingredients are wheat and soy. But I'm sure you could use homemade biscuits and they'd work just fine.
**Another tip: Buy jarred pizza sauce and you can store it in the fridge for use again later. Wash it when you're done and throw it in a recycle bin and there's no guilt involved!

Funday Sunday - Banana Pudding Dessert

Funday Sunday is back this week with a couple of new tips that I discovered for the dairy allergic kid and a tasty recipe that I remember my mom making when I was a kid. I do believe there is a recipe like this on the back of a Nilla Wafers box, but seeing as how the actual Nilla Wafer brand of cookie has milk in it, I can't really say for sure. I have searched high and low for milk free Nilla Wafer type cookies and finally was victorious. Just a tip, if you are looking for tasty store bought cookies that don't have milk in them, check the cheap store brands. I've found extraordinarily wonderful cookies that only contain wheat and soy. The kids thank me for them. And the new tip of the week is for boxed pudding. Turns out that Jello brand cook and serve puddings actually work when you use soy milk. Just add about one tablespoon of watered down cornstarch once it's boiling and wa-lah! Pudding! So this week's Funday Sunday is for the Banana Pudding Dessert. Enjoy!

Banana Pudding Dessert

2 Boxes of Jello brand cook and serve pudding
4 C. Soy Milk*
2 Bananas
2 T. Cornstarch for thickening the pudding
1 Box of milk-free vanilla wafer cookies (see picture)

First make your pudding on the stove. Follow the instructions on the box using two boxes of pudding mix and the four cups of milk. Prepare the cornstarch by adding enough water to it so that it becomes a liquid. Probably anywhere from 2 to three tablespoons of water. There are instructions on the box of cornstarch. Once the pudding has come to a rolling boil, add your cornstarch mixture and whisk until it becomes partially set up. Remove the pudding and cool in the fridge so that it's no longer boiling hot. Warm is fine. Line a 8X8 or 9X9 pan with the vanilla cookies. Place them side by side until the bottom has a layer of cookies and then place a row of cookies on the sides of the pan so that you now have a cookie 'crust'. Put a layer of pudding on the cookies. Slice your bananas in medium thick coins to make the next layer, then cover that with pudding. Make another layer of cookies, then pudding, then bananas...you get the idea. Make as many layers as you have pudding to put in between the layers. Top it off with a layer of cookies (crushed or whole). Let it set for at least one to two hours so the cookies have time to soften. Enjoy!**

*Use the highest fat soy-milk you can find. I use Silk Soy-milk that is Omega 3 Plain. It's the highest fat one out there that I've found.
**When I was a kid, my mom topped it with whipped cream (Cool-whip). But I've yet to find that item dairy-free. Feel free to whipped cream it up if you aren't milk-allergic!

Funday Sunday - Banana Milk/Banana Shake

I've been meaning to put this up here since before I started Funday Sunday so it's about time that I share. Every morning, and I do mean every single morning, the kids enjoy a nice big cup of banana milk. I have no memory of where I picked this up from but I've been doing it for a long time now. Once Alex started drinking milk out of his straw cup, I had so much trouble getting him to drink it that I had to use flavoring. Seeing as how soy-milk is the only way I can get calcium in him, it was imperative that he drink it. Unfortunately I can't substitute calcium with the yummy cheeses and yogurts that other people get to use. So I found some fun flavoring called Magic Milk that was banana flavored. It was the only thing I could find that would make him drink his milk. No chocolate. No strawberry. Guess what? They discontinued it. Ugh. So I had to resort to making my own. I wasn't sure it would work, but I found a great idea for Banana Shakes. It's really two ideas in one. I modified it to work as banana milk too. You can use soy-milk or regular cow's milk. It's great either way. I'm giving you a recipe that works for two servings.

Banana Shake

2 c. Soy milk*
1 Frozen banana
1 t. vanilla
1 T. Sugar
2 T. Chocolate syrup (opt. for a chocolate banana shake)

Easiest directions ever. Peel and cut up the frozen banana and throw all the ingredients into a handy dandy blender and blend till smooth. It really does taste a lot like a shake with out the muss and fuss of ice cream for kids with allergies.

Banana Milk

2 c. Vanilla Soy milk
1 Banana

Okay...this is the easiest recipe ever. Just blend it up till smooth and serve. If you don't have vanilla soy-milk or are using regular milk then just add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1 Tablespoon of sugar (or as much as you feel necessary.) Vanilla soy just takes out those two ingredients and my kids look forward to this every single morning. It's the best way I've found to get at least 8 oz. of milk down them each day and they ask for it as soon as they wake up.

*I use Very Vanilla Silk soy milk and cut out the vanilla and and sugar.

Funday Sunday

So, when I started Funday Sunday I said I'd use it to share fun recipes or neat items of food that I've found that are milk-free. During Halloween, it was difficult to watch Alex ask for all of the chocolaty goodness and have to tell him no. I don't know why it hurts me to think that all those other kids get to try the Three Musketeer or the Snickers but not him. After weeding out all the milk-free candy, I got to wondering if I would ever find a label on something chocolate that would not include dreaded milk. This is when I almost tossed my miracle candy into the milk pile. I saw a little box of Junior Mints and after checking countless labels, didn't know if it was worth looking. But to my surprise, it said "May contain traces of milk" but didn't actually contain any in the ingredients list. So I got all warm and fuzzy inside and decided to research it. I called the company and had a message in to product control. They actually called me back a couple of days later and told me that it is packaged on the same line that have packaged one product that also may contain milk. Turns out that this product only 'may contain milk' because of where one of the ingredients come from. The lines are fully cleaned and sanitized and so after careful consideration...Alex can now have Junior Mints. Chocolate for my milk allergic kid! Ahh...a silver lining to the madness. I'll still always check the label though.

Funday Sunday - Pumpkin Pie, Dairy Free!

Could it be? Is it really possible that there is a way to make pumpkin pie without milk in it? Why yes. Yes it is. I figure, in spirit of the holiday, I will post a holiday recipe. Okay, so you can get a pumpkin pie recipe just about anywhere on the internet, right? Well, it's true. I mean, all you have to do is google it and bingo! There's a pumpkin pie recipe lookin' back at ya!. Shoot, you can even get it off the side of a can of pumpkin. But if you have a milk allergy, nearly every recipe you find will include one key ingredient: evaporated milk. It's sorta necessary for the pie to work. There's no such thing as canned evaporated soy milk. So after some research, I found that you can, in fact make evaporated soy milk. Without further ado, I give you Pumpkin Pie, Dairy Free!

Pumpkin Pie, Dairy Free!

2 Eggs: beaten
1 1/2 c. Pumpkin
3/4 c. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Ginger
1/4 t. Cloves
4 1/3 c. Plain soy milk*
1 Uncooked pie crust

The first thing you will want to do is evaporate your soy milk. This is a very long process because you have to evaporate the soy milk down by 50%. A normal pumpkin pie takes 1 & 2/3 cups of regular evaporated milk (1 can) and in order to get soy milk (which is extremely low fat) to work in an evaporated form, you have to start with twice the amount you need. The purpose of evaporated milk is to have the fatty part of the milk which is why soy milk doesn't work well in puddings and pies. Pour your milk into a saucepan and simmer it down over a medium-low heat. I will warn you that it takes at least an hour to evaporate it to 50%. Stir continuously so that you prevent scorching or boiling over. I use a wooden spoon to stir.** Once you have your evaporated milk, let it cool in the fridge so that it is at least warm and not boiling hot. Mix the eggs, pumpkin, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Finally, add the evaporated soy milk and mix it all well. Pour it in the uncooked pie shell and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour (the soy milk can increase the cook time from what I've experienced so that is why I say up to an hour.) The pie is done, when you can insert a knife into the middle and it comes out clean. The pie will look slightly darker than your traditional pumpkin pie but tastes identical!

*I've never used vanilla soy milk on this because I think it might not cook down the same as plain. Sugars can do weird things when they get heated. **Tip: You can use the handle of the wooden spoon to keep track of your evaporated milk process. Before turning on the heat, dip the handle into the milk to measure depth and mark that spot with your fingernail/knife on the spoon. Make a mark at the halfway point on the spoon and every so often, just dip the handle into the milk and see how close you are to the 50% point.

Funday Sunday - Granola Bars

What kid doesn't enjoy a good granola bar every now and then? Or what adult for that matter? The problem with prepackaged granola bars is that I have yet to find a single one (and believe me, I've looked) that does not contain milk or nuts of some form. So when I get in that 'granola-mood', I make my own. This, like the previous Funday Sunday recipe, has many possibilities. The less allergies you have, the more fun you can have of course. My kiddos love them of course and Josh gobbles his fair share up too. I tell ya, I love rolled oats. They have so many uses!

Granola Bars

1/2 c. Butter
3/4 c. Brown Sugar
1/3 c. Corn Syrup
1 Egg
1/2 t. Vanilla
3 1/2 c. Oats
1/2 c. Raisins*
1 c. Chocolate Chips**

Mix the butter, sugar and corn syrup together in a bowl. Add the egg and vanilla. Third, add the oats, raisins and chocolate chips to the mixture and mix well. Grease a 9x13 pan and firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until it's light brown on the top. It usually takes me around 23 minutes. Cool for two hours before eating (but they taste pretty darn good warm with a glass of (soy) milk). Expect them to be slightly crumbly. I don't know what the manufacturers do to keep them nice and firm, but a little crumble never hurt anyone.

*I've substituted the raisins with dried cranberries. They are really tasty in the mix. And I've even added both to change it up. I figure you could put just about any dried fruit you want in there. Blueberries, apricots, coconut, etc. My favorite is coconut and cranberries.
**If you don't have any kind of milk or nut allergy the chocolate chips can be substituted for just about any kind of chip (or no chips at all if preferred). I have always wanted to try 1/2 cup peanut butter chips and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Drizzle a little melted chocolate chips over the top of the cooled bars and you could have a really nice peanut-butter cup granola bar. Yum!
***Just FYI...marshmallows don't hold up in the oven so don't waste them trying but I bet peanuts or almonds would be tasty.

Funday Sunday: Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

This Sunday's edition of Funday Sunday is brought to you by Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies. This recipe has been passed on to me by my mom who shall from here on be referred to as the best cook ever. This recipe, though deceiving by the name, can be made 100% milk and peanut free. It's a very good recipe that has countless possibilities when it comes to different combinations. You just change up the different kinds of chips and pudding flavors that are out there. Now as far as dairy free goes, I've never found any other flavor other than chocolate for the chips. But a good majority of Jello® brand pudding oddly enough has no milk in it. Just be sure to always double check the label if you have a milk allergy like Alex does. So without further ado, here's the goods.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

1 c. Butter*
1/4 c. Sugar
3/4 c. Brown sugar
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
1 Box of vanilla instant pudding**
1 t. Baking soda
2 1/4 c. Flour
1 Package of chocolate chips***

Mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. Add the dry pudding mix and stir until mixed well. Add the baking soda and flour and mix and then add the package of chocolate chips. Spoon out on a cookie sheet (I don't grease my pan because it's supposed to be non-stick, but you could use a lightly greased pan if the cookies seem to stick). Bake at 375 degrees until lightly brown. Now...if you use chocolate pudding it is a bit harder to see how brown they are so I'd venture to say check them after about ten minutes. The funny thing about my mom is that she never really was one for setting timers on her food. She passed that down to me.

*For a good stick 'butter' that is 100% milk-free I've found that Blue Bonnet Light works great.
**For allergy-free families, you can use any kind of chip. White chocolate and butterscotch are really tasty in these. There are two brands I've found that are milk-free. Kroger Value brand Semi-sweet chocolate chips and Baker's Choice chocolate chunks.
***Make sure you check the allergen label on Jello® brand pudding if you want milk-free. But try changing it up with different flavors. White chocolate chips with fudge pudding, chocolate chips with butterscotch pudding, cherry chips with lemon pudding...the possibilities are endless!

Funday Sunday

Today marks the day of my 200th blog entry. Wow...I can't believe that I've blogged 200 times! That's amazing. So in honor of my 200th blog, I will be starting a new thing. Every Sunday, I will be posting a recipe that I have found (or use regularly) that I think is worth sharing. My mom taught me my mad cooking skills and I hope to pass those skills on to my children someday. They already join me in the kitchen and 'help' bake when they can. Naturally, it mostly makes a larger mess for me to clean up, but it's worth it in the end. Hey, gotta learn somehow, right? And seeing as how I have a child with a milk allergy and am still avoiding nuts, most of my recipes or fun foods that I find will be milk-free and nut-free. I'll be giving tips as to what products to use for anyone who might read this blog that also has a milk allergic person in their family. I will be calling this blog Funday Sunday and hope to post it every Sunday. Today's recipe is for Chocolate Soy-Pudding--yes, you can have pudding with soy milk! Woo-hoo! And here's a fun little note about my picture of the eggs in a bowl. I was making scrambled eggs this morning and when I cracked all four eggs, I looked down to see that they randomly created a happy face. Funny stuff I tell ya. Enjoy!

Chocolate Soy-Pudding

3/4 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Cornstarch
1/3 c. Cocoa
3 c. Soy milk (vanilla or chocolate tastes best)
1/4 t. Salt
1 1/2 t. Vanilla
3 T. Butter

Mix cocoa, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously to prevent lumps. Bring this mixture to a boil with medium heat. Continuously whisk to prevent burning. Once mixture is boiling, lower the eat to simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes until it thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

*Tips: This pudding is best served cold, but I tried it warm and it was tasty too. It saves well in the fridge. For a good stick 'butter' that is 100% milk-free I've found that Blue Bonnet Light works great for my cooking needs. It has a lot of water in it because it has no milk so it can make things softer than normal, but it works great. Plus, you can pretty much find this stuff at any grocery store.

Peanut Fail

If it was appropriate to utilize four letter words (the bad kind) on a blog, I would be using them right about now. But I am doing my very best to refrain from writing or saying them for the moment. As you are aware, if you read this blog regularly, then about a month ago I decided to try and turn our house into a peanut friendly zone. Three years of avoiding them with a child who has never tested positive to peanuts on his allergy tests was long enough. So I finally became brave enough and began the great peanut challenge. It went fine. I actually got the guts to rub a little on both Alex and Abby's lips and they didn't react. Day two I gave them a teeny, tiny amount to eat. It went fine again. So since that day about three or so weeks ago, I've been randomly giving them about a pea sized amount to eat every so often with out even the slightest hint of danger.

Until today.

I was braver today and decided to give him a bit more; about the size of two peas. He put it in his mouth, told me it was bad and that he didn't like it. Then about 2 minutes later he was complaining about his throat. He asked for a drink and after the drink I looked in his mouth, only to find red, swollen spots around his tonsil area. There were a couple of, what looked like, puss-filled pockets. Keep in mind that it is really hard to look into a reluctant three-year old's mouth. But I did my best. I find myself at a loss of words for this moment. Okay...that's a lie. I'm not totally at a loss for words, but the words I want to use are not appropriate for a PG rated blog. I suppose I just don't understand the black cloud that is hovering constantly over our house lately. I have adjusted to the milk allergy and the asthma, the dog allergy, the mold allergy...blah blah blah. The list goes on. But after having so many family and friends reassure me that 'he'll be fine with the peanut test', I suppose I just expected that things would turn out fine. He'll have to go in to be officially tested, but I don't know when I am going to be willing to subject him to getting his blood drawn again. Until then, I guess it's back to soybutter for the time being. Abby, on the other hand, was fine with the peanut challenge. I suppose this is just another thing to add to my list of things to fret about. (As if having no income wasn't enough.) I'd say that things are going to look up soon, but the house might spontaneously explode. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go knock on wood...

The Great Peanut Challenge Approaches

Three years ago, I would have banked on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches being a staple lunch in my house with kids. But after Alex developed his milk allergy, the allergist told me to avoid nuts in all forms until he was three. Actually, I could more accurately word that. She horrified me into believing that Alex getting peanuts, nuts, eggs, shellfish and milk would be a potentially deadly choice on my part until he turned at least three years old. He originally tested "positive" to eggs as well as the positive to milk. Please keep in mind that in the world of allergy testing, there are many false positives and inaccurate readings. Especially on the skin of an already sensitive skinned 6 month old. The egg allergy turned out to be a false positive. But we avoided it, nonetheless, until he was almost 18 months old. The nuts/peanuts were always a negative, but as a precaution for food allergic kids, we had to refrain. I was released by the doctor to try peanuts at the age of 2 1/2, but after seeing what a serious reaction to milk was like, I was too terrified to try it. I didn't want to spend my day/weekend in the ER. So I waited...and waited...and waited. And now, lo and behold...I have a three year old. At Alex and Abby's most recent well kid check up, the doc said it was time to give it a go. He told me to introduce both of them at the same time. With Abby having a zero allergy history, it would also be safe(r) for her.

So here I am...counting down the days until my great peanut challenge. I really don't enjoy the idea of being home by myself with two kids eating peanuts for the first time. One kid having a deadly reaction to milk was a disaster in itself. I can't fathom how scary it could be having two kids and dealing with that situation. Okay...so the likelihood of them having an allergy to peanuts is low just judging from the testing history (knock on wood), but still, I'd be more comfortable with Josh here. Two kids. Two adults. Better odds, ya know? Am I nervous? Unbelievably so! Will I chicken out once again and continue with soy-butter as a sandwich alternative? Chances seem to lean more towards that direction. But I hope I can get brave and just go for it. The first test will be a little peanut butter on the lip. One hour later, they will get their first taste of glorious peanut butter in the form of a pea-sized amount. Day two will be a teaspoon...day three a tablespoon...etc. I can feel my anxiety for the impending test building. "But Jessica," you ask, "don't you think you're overreacting just a tad?" Hmmm...yes. I'm sure I'm overreacting in a way. But after seeing your child slowly slipping away in his carseat as you are driving 90 MPH down the road trying to get to the nearest phone before he dies, can sorta put you on high alert for future food allergies. Ugh...wish me luck. Let the countdown to Saturday begin.