Missing chocolate no more

I am a lover of chocolate. When I am on a dairy/gluten/egg free diet while breastfeeding I miss my chocolate. I don't particularly love lollies/candy and they don't particularly hit the spot after dinner. Also a lot of the soft lollies (like snakes/jelly babies etc) have wheat starch in them. So, when I saw this at the supermarket I grabbed it - mint chocolate is my favourite as well! This is delicious! You can slightly taste the "soy-ness" of the chocolate but the mint helps cover it well while not being overbearing (another brand of allergen-free mint chocolate tends to be a bit crazy on the mint). I now feel I can keep up the dairy-free part of the diet quite easily with this as a treat every now and then. All I have to do is make sure I don't eat it all at once...

Snack Search

I did the grocery shopping today for the first time in a little while. My husband has been braving the Saturday supermarket rush since the little Miss was born - what a legend. My aim (as well as getting our weekly food) was to find some yummy and healthy snacks for me. Since I am breastfeeding I am super hungry and especially because a wheat and dairy free diet tends to have a higher Glycaemic Index - you get hungry quicker! I bought quite a few things but here are two that I have tried since coming home and think are great:

Freedom Foods Ancient Grains Super Bar

photo from here

You can tell it's good for you but the syrup makes you feel like it's a treat. Miss 3 also tried it and wanted one for herself (I told her she could have one when she's older and so she decided it would be when she was 4!). A box of 6 cost me $4.39 which is expensive but if you consider how much a chocolate bar costs (oh if only I could have a chocolate bar!), it's actually good value.

Woolworths Macro Free From Moroccan Pumpkin Dip
I do love hommus but to have another option is exciting! My friend from church told me about this range, so I looked out for it and chose this one. I had it on some rice cakes with lettuce (from our vegie patch!), cucumber and tomato for lunch. Delicious. I'm looking forward to trying the avocado one - it could work well with tacos or something when I can't get a good avocado.

The quest continues with Sweet Potato Fries

Well, I went off dairy a week ago and even after 5 days there wasn't much difference in her rash. It was a little better but we were also using hydrocortisone cream and serious moisturisers on her so that it didn't get too awful. So 2 days ago, I went off wheat. And already it is looking better. I was hoping to not have to go off wheat since Miss 3 is back on wheat these days (although more on that in another post) but it looks like wheat might be the main culprit for Miss 0's reaction at the moment. So I have been seeking yummy lunches and here is one easy and delicious recipe that I'm enjoying this week that I got from Bill Granger's 'Every Day'.

Sweet Potato Fries (serves 1)
1/3-1/2 sweet potato (depends on its size and your appetite), peeled and cut into batons
a generous shake of paprika
a little shake of cayenne pepper (your preference as to how much heat you want really)
salt (again, to taste)
a couple of tablespoons olive oil

ready to go in the oven

Preheat oven to 230C. Toss the batons in all the other ingredients. Place on a baking tray in a single layer and bake, stirring occasionally, for 30min or until golden brown. Bill recommends serving with lime wedges (which I am trying today and it is great!). I used to like them with mayonaise but that's out at the moment...

I'm no food stylist and I have a new baby so you are just going to have to cope with these pics - they were super yummy and filling though and that's what counts :)

PS - sweet potatoes are also known as kumara and yam depending where you live

And so it begins again

Beginnings of her rash

Well, almost to the day that my first daughter started showing her eczema, my second daughter has developed it as well. So instead of waiting for it to get completely awful, I have removed dairy from my diet. Dairy is the worst of my older daughter's allergies and also the one I consume the most (we still have some wheat free meals and rarely have egg but I always add dairy to everyone else's meals if I can). So, by doing that I hope I can reduce her eczema. If it doesn't reduce enough then I'll look to remove wheat and egg completely. Here we go!

Another one to love

So tiny and perfect.

We recently welcomed another little girl into our family and although we are exhausted, we are all in love with her and look forward to getting to know her as she grows.

Lots of people might (secretly) wonder why we'd have another since the risk of food allergy is high but we don't feel it is a reason that should stop us having kids - we are much better at managing it these days anyway. How could you not have more when they are so gorgeous! (that's just my opinion!)

I plan to keep breastfeeding and will restrict my diet appropriately should this little one show signs of food allergy and I'll blog about it as I go. Breastfeeding is a far better food especially if they have allergies. We do pray that she'll be spared of them though!

More Easter Chocolate!

image from here

After ordering my daughter's Easter Eggs online the other week, I went shopping for our eggs at Darrell Lea. I had been chatting to a friend who was planning to buy Australian made eggs this year and finding it difficult to actually find many. Most of the supermarkets etc don't have many made in Australia and if they are, the ingredients are often imported. We talked about Darrell Lea as an option, so I decided to buy our Easter chocolates there.

I had a good look around the store trying to work out what to buy and found that they have a dairy/nut/gluten free range (and egg free of course - eggs don't normally get used in regular chocolate). I decided to buy a pack of these Easter Bunnies since we are going to a park event soon that will involve an egg hunt and I want to have enough substitutes for her. At only $8.69 for 12, that's pretty great. Plus being individually wrapped really helps - I can keep one in my handbag just in case and I gave one to preschool in case someone was going to give out eggs etc. They also aren't that 'mini' but more generous. So that's pretty cool.

It's a shame there were no actual eggs (I find bunnies a bit tricky to help kids get the real meaning of Easter. We can talk about new life with eggs, but rabbits...?), but these and a larger rice crackle bunny are still great to be able to get without shopping online and to know you are buying Australian-made.

Oh and my daughter has already tried one (Mummy caved! Rare but true!) and loved it.

Product Deletions

Here is an excerpt from Allergy Train's latest newsletter about product deletions. I have previously recommended the Millet Rings and Mrs Robens Tortilla mix so it's a bit sad that they won't be produced anymore.

"Product Deletions

There are a couple of products that have disappeared in the last few months and i just wanted to let you know what has happened to them. 

Eskal Marshmellows - Unfortunately our supplier had the wrong shipment of marshmellows arrive. They received pink and white instead of plain white. We do not yet have a time frame on when these will be back.  

Ecor Rice and Millet Rings - these have been deleted by the manufacturer and we can no longer get them. This is very sad news for many of our customers who's kids loved them for breakfast. If you hear about an alternative product that may be a suitable replacement for these, please let us know and we will do our best to get hold of them.  

Angel Foods Meringue and Marshmellow Mixes - these have been deleted and are no longer available. We have a few meringue mixes left, but no marshmellow.

    
Mrs Robens - The manufacturer closed it's doors last year and last we heard the potential buyer was still talking to their bank so it looks like these may not be back any time soon if at all, which is a real shame. We loved their tortilla and pie mixes at our place."

We have ordered our Easter Chocolate this year from The Cruelty Free Shop and our daughter will enjoy a Moo Free Easter Egg and some Bonvita Rice Milk Mini Half Eggs as we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross and how he's alive again. Happy Easter!