Allergies

Are you itching to try eating Paleo, but unsure of where to begin? If you’re Paleo-curious, I’ll show you how to plan a week’s worth of simple, economical, and delicious Paleo dinners — all without slaying a single mastodon! In all seriousness, Paleo isn’t about consuming the same foods that our knuckle-dragging forebears speared and charred over a fire pit. This isn’t about historical reenactment.

We’ve all been there. The Most Challenging Dinner Guest Ever is coming to dinner. The vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, how-in-the-world-do-I-feed-them friend. Rise to the occasion — we have five delicious meals that will not only work but satisfy and delight in even the most ingredient-constrained circumstances! I saw this infographic above at the marvelous designer Amy Sly’s portfolio and had to laugh.

Food allergies can be tough to live with: People who suffer from them have to monitor their dietary intake and be ready to take action when something slips through. But a new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), has found that food allergies aren’t as common as you might think.

Diagnosing food allergies is a complicated matter. On top of pinpointing the source of an allergy, there’s the added murkiness of the fact that people can outgrow them. So how do you figure out if you’re still allergic to something without jeopardizing your health? A new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology spotlights something called food challenge, which serves as a pretty good test, reports NPR’s The Salt.

Who: Hanson Watkins What: Indie Candy, allergen-free confectioner Where: Birmingham, Alabama At Indie Candy, the brainchild of Birmingham’s Hanson Watkins, “nothing is simple,” due to the many restrictions placed on her Big Eight allergen-free candy line. These allergens include milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans and shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy — with sesame thrown in for good measure.

Who: Hanson Watkins, owner of Indie Candy What: Big-Eight Allergen-Free Confectioners Where: Birmingham, Alabama Hanson Watkins knows a thing or two about the candy business. “There used to be a candy maker in every town in the United States – maybe two,” she explains, as we walk through the triple-storefront workspace of her company, Indie Candy. “Now most of the candy in the US is made by one of three companies, and it’s all done on an industrial scale.

Who: Hanson Watkins, Confectioner What: Indie Candy, Big-Eight Allergen-Free Confectionary Where: Birmingham, Alabama Hanson Watkins, proprietress of Indie Candy, knows her way around a confectionary shop. And unlike a large commercial operation — with super-speed computerized equipment that turns out 25,000 pounds of chocolate per run — she makes highly specialized, limited-quantity candy, and prefers to work with equipment that has stood the test of time.

Q: I was recently diagnosed with a slew of food allergies. Cooking has become a challenge, but I’m managing and am being very much a control freak about what I eat. But I’m facing a big family get-together in a rented vacation home with my in-laws and at this point, I don’t want to go because of my food allergies.We’re talking 10 people for one week in a house with a kitchen with big family dinners, and Grandma doing most of the cooking and baking.

When you have severe or multiple dietary restrictions, traveling can be frustrating, depressing … or a lot of fun, especially if you do some advance planning. Here are a few things I’ve learned from personal experience on the road and in the air. allhangry Research, research, research. Yes, it takes some of the spontaneity out of travel, but prior research can make the trip more enjoyable for yourself and your traveling companions.

Q: My husband is allergic to dairy and coconut. We both love spicy curry-like foods, but I miss the extra zing a dollop of yogurt or coconut milk adds to curries. While I could certainly just add those to my own dishes, I want my husband to be able to experience that extra flavor as well.Is there a good substitution for yogurt or coconut milk in this context?Sent by TiffanyEditor: Tiffany, there are quite a few non-dairy yogurt and sour cream options now available.

When spring allergy season struck, a friend advised me to buy some local honey from the farmers market. Eating a spoonful a day would build up my body’s immunities to the local allergens and alleviate my symptoms — or so the thinking goes.Does this home remedy actually work?Unfortunately, the answer is no.

I have a confession: Pasta Week is killing me. For medical reasons, I am not eating wheat for 30 days, and unfortunately this is only the third week of the new diet, so mac and cheese, fall vegetable orzo, and — my favorite — pappardelle topped with a rich, meaty tomato sauce are all off-limits. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the same long-simmered sauces I would normally eat over noodles.

Have you discovered soy curls yet? If not, you need to—whether you are a vegetarian or not. These soy curls are not your mama’s textured vegetable protein, that’s for sure. They are hip and tasty and just waiting for your next lunch salad or BBQ sandwich craving.These soy curls, produced by Butler Foods, are made from whole non-GMO soy beans that have been cooked, texturized, and dehydrated. They contain no additives or preservatives, and are gluten-free.

I have a selective but serious sweet tooth and real cravings for chocolate that usually end with spoonfuls of Nutella and a sore mouth/throat. Do you have any recipes for snacks/baked goods that would satisfy a chocolate lover without having actual cocoa in them? Maybe something sweet, yet dark and complex? So far my search for chocolate substitute has yielded carob which has less than glowing reviews. Am I doomed to a dull, dreary, chocolate-less life?

For individuals and families with food allergies, going out to eat or ordering takeout is not always an option, even if the cook is busy or tired. Cybele Pascal’s Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking offers a solution with recipes for homey comfort foods and restaurant favorites that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less.

If you think raw food has to be austere, Amber Shea Crawley’s Practically Raw Desserts will surely change your mind. From cookies to cakes, brownies, pies, puddings, candies, and other sweet treats, the recipes in this cookbook are full of flavor and also flexible so you can adapt them to your tastes, dietary needs, and ingredients on hand.

Can’t eat gluten, dairy, eggs, or refined sugar? Don’t despair — even you can have dessert! In Naturally Sweet & Gluten-Free,Ricki Heller (of Diet, Dessert and Dogs fame) shares 100 allergy-friendly and vegan recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, and other treats that nearly everyone can enjoy.

Salty, umami-rich miso paste is a staple in my kitchen — for soup, of course, but also salad dressings, marinades, and more Miso is generally made by fermenting soybeans with cultured grains and sult. There are many varieties with different degrees of boldness, color, and flavor. Even when food allergies or intolerances are not a factor, substituting one type of miso for another will not always taste the same.

If you’re allergic to soybeans or avoiding soy for other reasons, it might seem like tofu is off the menu for you. But wait! There’s a new tofu in town and it’s made from hemp. I recently gave it a try and here’s what I thought of it… DIY hemp tofu recipes have been floating around for several years (here’s one from Bay Area Bites).

Book: The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out by Angela Liddon Price: $25.00 Overall Impression: Filled with recipes that will impress vegans and non-vegans alike. The Homies 2014 award winner Oh She Glows has tons of fans and it’s no wonder. Angela Liddon’s recipes are fresh, enticing, and approachable.

Q: I am allergic to all citrus and citric fruits — lemon, lime, orange, pineapple and the like — which trigger red eyes, sneezing and hives. (Imagine living in Texas without margaritas!) Unfortunately, many recipes, even ones that aren’t citrus based, include zests or juice of lemon, lime and/or orange. Is citrus always necessary for the taste of the dish? And are there any other ingredients that will provide the same tasty results without my having to take Benadryl?

For those who are highly allergic to peanuts, the FDA has issued a warning that ground and powdered cumin should be avoided. The spice, which is found in many foods and spice mixes, has been found to contain “undeclared peanut proteins.” Be sure to check labels on packaged foods like veggie burgers and hummus, which can contain cumin, along with Indian spice mixes. If you want to use cumin, but are allergic to peanuts, opt for whole seeds and grind your own.

Passover has a lot of inherent food restrictions. The no bread thing is a given. But oats, barley, spelt, and rye are also off limits, as is anything made from wheat flour (which is basically everything). For many Jews, particularly those of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) descent who tend to be more stringent, corn, rice, legumes, soybeans, lentils and all sorts of other unexpected staples are also off the table. Phew.

As someone with severe nut allergies and a child in a nut-free preschool, I am over-the-moon happy about all the peanut butter alternatives available these days, from store-bought tahini and sunflower butter to homemade pumpkin seed spread (and pumpkin seed butter cups). But even with these satisfactory PB-replacements, I think we can still look at other options, beyond tree nuts and seeds. Because, with an open mind, one ingredient limitation often leads to another ingredient revelation.

I used to be an insufferably picky eater. I hated all meat, most vegetables, spicy food, nuts — the list went on and on. I was afraid to try any new foods because, what if I didn’t like them? That apprehension made me reflexively dislike anything unfamiliar I put in my mouth, leaving me even more fearful of trying it again, a self-reinforcing cycle that left me living on a diet of cereal, fruit, and rice and beans.

Researchers have developed a drug that may have “potentially life-saving properties” for children who suffer from peanut allergies. The drug won’t cure peanut allergies in children, but rather decrease the chances that accidentally ingesting peanuts will lead to a life-threatening allergic reaction, according to a report from The New York Times.