The Food Allergy Queen

The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act: track it!

The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, H.R. 3627 was introduced to the House in December.

Here's a cool tool to track the status of the epinephrine bill as it moves through the House of Representatives. AND there's a place to click and show your support for H.R. 3627.

Go to http://bit.ly/wwT72S

Please pass this on! #foodallergy

PS. I just wrote a letter on this site that went directly to my Congressperson. Here is my letter http://pvox.co/8h3BCh. Personalize yours and make your voice heard! Share with others!

I support H.R. 3627 ("To provide States with incentives to require elementary schools and secondary schools to maintain, and") because...

As an adult with extensive food allergies, it horrifies me that the recent death of a young girl, Ammaria Johnson, may have been prevented. Just like first aid kits in schools and businesses, and defibrillators on planes, epinephrine should be considered basic medical emergency treatment, and should be standard in schools.

Most of the news has reported that the mother tried to leave an EpiPen at school and was told to take it home. I've heard from another of my blog readers that the same happened to her when she was in public school. Why would a school turn down life-saving medication on the premises?

Sadly, there have also been reports of the bullying of food allergic children (smearing peanut butter on their hands and chasing allergic kids), so it would be even more important to have this available in case of emergency.

I am encouraging others in the food allergy community to post here. Thank you.

Kishari Sing

Blog: www.foodallergyqueen.com

Facebook: Food Allergy Queen

Question: Autism spectrum and food allergies?

Readers, I have a question for you! A chef, restauranteur and host on the KCRW show "Good Food" in LA, Evan Kleiman, has posed this question.

We are working on a story about the relationship between autism and food allergies...do you know someone who struggles with food allergies due to Autism or Asperger's?

I already know that some people with Autism spectrum respond well to a gluten-free and casein-free (dairy-free) diet to help manage symptoms. BUT she's also asking if anyone with Autism has developed food allergies after diagnoses?

My guess is no, that Autism does not subsequently generate food allergies, that they're two very different systems in the body. But I wanted to pose the question to you, a bigger audience than me!

Please either comment below, or shoot me an email with your thoughts at foodallergyqueen@gmail.com, and I'll share them with her.

Thanks!

The FAQ

Recipe: Indian cabbage with mung beans (yummier than it sounds)

Happy New Year everyone! I am just getting back up to 100% after getting sick from an environmental allergy storm over New Year's eve. Sometimes high levels of gunky stuff in the air (pollen, grass, pollutants, mold) overpowers my sinuses and if I'm not careful I can get pneumonia. (After a few days indoors hanging out with my new BFF the neti pot, I'm much better.) As I'm trying to build up my stamina again, I felt like having something comforting and healthy, but new to my repertoire. Enter this Indian cabbage recipe. A lot of news in the food world lately has been about trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our diet for both health and environmental reasons, and I agree -- Meatless Mondays, Bittman's "less meatarian", or full vegan options are all great steps. Whatever works for you works! But rather than re-engineer foods to be meatless, I prefer to find recipes that are designed to be veggie to begin with. That way, to my thinking at least, it doesn't feel like it's missing anything! There are many vegetarians in the Indian culture, it makes sense that they've adjusted their cuisine so it's just right. :)

Luckily for me I have a copy of Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian cookbook, which I purchased after I was fortunate enough to take one of her cooking classes. She has simplified traditional Indian food for American cooks, and everything I've made out of it has been terrific. Most of the time, her recipes turn out way tastier than I imagined (and you have to imagine -- no pictures!). This recipe was not only one-pot easy and delicious, with balanced flavors, low fat and high fiber, it used things I already had in my fridge and pantry. Bonus!

BTW, I'm not advocating that everyone needs to become a full vegetarian unless you choose to. Adding in more vegetarian recipes is a good idea, AND I believe in listening to your body and crafting your diet for your individual needs. A few hours after eating this, I had a burger. :)

Here it is, with my subs noted.

Cabbage with Yellow Mung Beans (Bund gobi aur peeli mung dal)
from Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian

Makes 8 servings

3 Tbs vegetable oil (I used grapeseed for its mild flavor)
2 Tbs peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic (I used shallots)
1 cup finely chopped scallion greens (I used the whole scallions)
5 jalapeno peppers, skin punctured to prevent bursting (I skipped this because in this state they would have killed me)
1 cup of cleaned, loosely packed finely chopped cilantro, including soft stems
1 Tbs ground coriander (which is cilantro btw, did you know?)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 cup finely chopped fresh tomato (I used a red pepper since I'm allergic to tomatoes)
1 medium-sized head of green cabbage (about 1.5 lbs.), finely shredded
1/2 cup dried yellow mung beans (I used white lentils), picked over and washed
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tbs chopped cilantro for garnish

Note: this may need add'l water or broth, so have it handy

1. Heat the oil in a large wok or saucepan over moderately high heat and cook ginger and garlic, stirring until golden, about 1-2 minutes.
2. Add scallion greens, jalapeno peppers and cilantro for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in spices: coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt and let them heat through to bring out the flavor.
4. Add tomato (peppers for me), cabbage and mung beans. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until cabbage wilts, 3-4 minutes.
5. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the dal is tender about 25-30 minutes. Note: since I took out the tomato, there was not enough liquid for the lentils to cook, so I added a combination of water and broth over the cooking time so that it didn't dry out and burn!
6. Transfer to a serving dish, season with salt and black pepper to taste, garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy.

Recipe: Pecan pie (gluten, dairy and soy-free)

I finally made the pecan pie I didn't make at Thanksgiving (one month and several inches to my waistline ago). It was satisfying and delicious, I'll work on an egg-free version for next time. If anyone tries it with Ener-G egg replacer, let me know if it works by posting on my Facebook page. The eggs are used for a custardy-type filling, so don't know if the powder will do the same.

Kentucky Pecan pie
From Rita Shiang

1 8" gluten-free pie crust, unbaked (I used the Bob's recipe here)

3/4 c. white corn syrup
3/4 c. dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 c. melted butter (or substitute of your choice, I used Earth Balance margarine)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract (gluten-free!)
3 slightly beaten eggs
1 c. roughly chopped pecans. (Set aside add'l pecan halves for decoration if you like.)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together the syrup, sugar, butter, salt and vanilla. Add in beaten eggs.
Add in chopped pecans -- at this point you can either mix pecans in the batter, or pour the batter into the shell and sprinkle pecans on top. I like mixing them in.
Decorate with pecan halves if you like, but this is strictly optional. (BTW, if the pecan halves sit on top of the pie they're likely to burn like mine did, so cut out a loose circle of foil to protect them but let the crust brown!)

Bake for 45 minutes or until pie is set. Serve warm or cold.

Happy Holidays!

Happy #foodallergy safe Holidays everyone! I hope you enjoy the blessings of the season. <3

As for me, I'm enjoying these Butternut squash latkes from Elanas Pantry! http://bit.ly/s6yb9H

Best Wishes to you and yours, the FAQ

Work in progress...lentil soup

This came out nicely today, so wanted to share the picture of my work in progress. It's a variation of the lentil soup with saffron yogurt recipe from 101 Cookbooks http://bit.ly/vJEicg

I'll post my version once I'm done tweaking it to my liking.

More gift ideas! Food Allergy Canvas Tote Bags More gift ideas! Food Allergy Canvas Tote Bags. I shared this on Facebook the other day as well. Shop for them on this link! http://bit.ly/uy5YsX

These are some of the great tote bags out there that help food allergy awareness! My favorite one is "If not for gluten, I'd be normal." Well, maybe.

Recipe: Artichoke Spinach Dip

Uh oh, I'm in trouble. I LOVE dips -- as a kid when my parents took us to grownup parties, I'd look for the inevitable chips with sour cream onion dip, then strategically park myself in front of the bowl and not budge the entire time. Shoveling of dip ensued.

Tonight, I was breezing through one of my older low-carb cookbooks, and found this quick and easy recipe. Warning: it's low-carb, but NOT low-calorie! You pick your poison, right? This can be gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free depending on which ingredients you choose. (Click on the photo to see it full-sized._

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Adapted from 500 Low-Carb recipes cookbook
8 servings

1 can 13 1/2 oz. artichoke hearts
1 package frozen chopped spinach (10 oz., thawed)
2 cups mayonnaise (whichever kind suits you...I use canola oil based mayo fm Whole Foods since I can't have the soy oil in most mayos)
2 cups Daiya mozzarella shreds (or real cheese if you can have it)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used onion instead)
paprika for dusting (I used smoked paprika)

1. Preheat oven to 325F.

2. Drain and chop artichoke hearts into a rough dice.

3. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach, using your hands.

4. Combine all ingredients except for paprika, spread into a shallow baking dish.

5. Sprinkle with paprika.

6. Bake at 325F for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Let cool a bit, then serve with tortilla chips, #gf crackers or raw vegetables. Beware. I shoveled quite a healthy portion of this as soon as it cooled!

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