Food Allergies on TheBalancingAct.com - The Morning Women's Television Show on Lifetime TV - Food Allergy Awareness for Parents

•••••>O2MediaInc.com TheBalancingAct.com - The Morning Women's Television Show on Lifetime TV - Food Allergy Awareness for Parents

This is a wonderful show to educate the general public about food allergies.
Brian Hom also discusses the death of his son B.J. due to peanut allergies and reminds us that if you have a food allergy, you need to carry your epinephrine. It's the only way to save a life during a food allergic reaction.

Menu Plan Monday

I've been menu planning again for a few weeks now. I really stopped it over the summer because things got busy and I got lazy. But the only way to keep the meals organized and healthy during the busy school year is to actual do a menu for the week. We've had a few chilly days here (but not last Friday when it was 92 degrees!) so the Slow Cooker has come out of storage too. I heart my Slow Cooker!! I fire that thing up in the morning and at dinner time we have a hot, healthy meal and I barely had to lift a finger to get us there.
Since I've been doing a weekly menu I thought I'd start putting it up on the blog again.

Sunday Italian Pork Chops, mixed vegetable and salad

Monday Dirty Rice

Tuesday Jammin' Jambalaya (slow cooker)

Wednesday Oven Fried Chicken, broccoli, and a salad

Thursday Left Over Day

Friday Classic Minestrone [with gluten free pasta] (Slow Cooker), gluten free rolls

Saturday Slow Cooker BBQ Beef (Slow Cooker), Oven Fries, and a salad

Added bonus: My favorite breakfast has been The Pumpkin Smoothie. It's like pumpkin pie in a glass :)

Have a wonderful week!!

For more menu plan ideas or to visit the hostess, Visit Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie ~

Why God Matters: A Book Review

Tribute Books, the publishers of Why God Matters, asked me to do a book review and I was a bit reluctant. I like to read the entire book before I review it and the last few books sent to me are STILL waiting to be reviewed. But “Why God Matters” was different. It’s a Catholic devotional and I felt compelled to take a look at it. And I’m so glad that I did.

The book is written by Karina Lumbert Fabian and her father, Deacon Steven Lumbert. Karina is a “by birth” Catholic and the Deacon is a Catholic-convert. The book is actually quite small but packs a spiritual punch. Each chapter is written by one or the other and uses a story from their own lives to teach what they term as a “Life Lesson”. The Life Lessons they discuss are structured with teachings of the Catholic faith. For example, Chapter One talks about Deacon Steven being a reluctant convert. We learn about his religious back ground and how he came to the Catholic Church and eventually to be a Deacon. This is quite a journey. Most of us won’t make this drastic of a journey but the Life Lesson in this chapter is to “Determine where you are in your faith journey”.

Each chapter takes us through lessons that even fully practicing Catholics should be contemplating and praying about on a regular basis. But sometimes modern day life gets in the way, and we forget that we should be living a Catholic life daily. The Catholic living should be seen in our actions, thoughts and decisions. In the Forward of the book it’s said “Being Christian is not something we do, but a relationship we nurture and live out every day of our lives. And following the lead of those many catechumens of the ancient church, we too are called to continuing, radical conversions of mind, heart, and spirit”. Many of us Catholics leave our faith at the church door as we leave Sunday mass. We are practicing Catholics on Sunday and then forget to practice the rest of the week. This little book has a big message that we should be practicing Catholics in every area of our life, every day. After reading it, I find it hard to forget that message. I highly recommend this book for all Catholics, Christians and anyone who wants to learn more about the Catholic faith in daily life.

For more on Why God Matters visit:

The Why God Matters web page or Why God Matters at Amazon

Read an excerpt from Chapter Two

Follow Karina Fabien: Karina on Facebook, Karina On Twitter, and Karina's Blog

Visit: Tribute Books

A copy of an e-book was sent to me at no charge for review purpose only.

Don't Eat The 'Lobster Poo'

Suzipoo Lobster Poo recalled due to undeclared peanuts.

Really? I thought it would be recalled because it's just plain nasty. But there you go. It's because of undeclared peanuts.

I've seen it all.

Really.

Gag.

Food Challenged from Children's Hospital Boston

"Written by Joshua Feblowitz, a research assistant at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and a freelance writer for Children’s, the series will chronicle Joshua’s severe food allergy history, his life-long treatment at Children’s and the outcome of an upcoming test which may prove he has finally out grown of one of his food allergies".

Food Challenged post 1

Food Challenged - the 'egg-speriment' begins post 2

These are great posts written by someone who has had a life long food allergy. Please check them out to find out what happens during a food challenge and if he actually has outgrown his egg allergy.

There should be a 3rd post this week and I'll post it when I see it.

1st annual Cleveland FAAN walk

Yesterday we walked. The day was perfect except maybe a little windy. Oh and the fact that I have the flu.
The walk took place at Progressive Field. There was a table loaded with Enjoy Life Snacks (which are completely safe for the Little Man), Dey Pharmaceuticals, the makers of the Epi Pen, had a table set up with Epi Jr. trainers, hats, and back packs. There was also a table where the Little Man could write his name and all of his allergies on a foot print and add it to a poster.
The Little Man was so happy to be at a place that was all about his food allergies. He loved that he could go to the Enjoy Life Snack table and eat whatever he wanted. I think he ate 10 packs of cookies! He also met a big group of boys and they had a pick up foot ball game while we waited for the actual walk to start. I think it was nice for him to see other kids with food allergies. One poor girl has 18 different food allergies including processed sugar. Her breakfast was potatoes and spinach. We reminded the Little Man that he only has 6 and that EVERYONE has something that they have to deal with. We (He) need to remember that we need to be thankful that we CAN deal with them.
The walk itself was awesome! We walked around the actual field at Progressive Field. It's amazing to actually be ON the field. This was my third time of being on the field and I don't think I could ever tire of it. We also walked around the outside of P Field and then back down to the actual field. It was a really nice day and I think the Little Man felt really supported. Thank you to all of you who donated! We appreciate the support more than you'll ever know(thank you cards will be arriving soon).
Now, about the flu. It started Saturday as sneezing, but on Sunday I woke up feeling really poorly. I ended up having a fever, aching terribly, was stuffed up, and queezy. Luckily I didn't actually hurl on Progressive Field but almost.... The guys promised that if I passed out they would drag my carcass off the field and not leave me behind. I'm glad I made it and was able to support my son . I tried to stay away from the other people so I didn't pass this nastiness around.
I have a bunch of pictures and I'll post them when I'm feeling better.

A Day Of Remembrance

Just another day in paradise

I wish I were in paradise. But no, I'm here. In Ohio. Ohio is paradise if you like icky weather. Yesterday 94 degrees. Today 61 degrees. There's just something so wrong about that. And what's worse is that I sent the kids to school today without jackets (I figured it would warm up....). Bad Mommy.

It also occurred to me today that the Little Man has no pants to wear to school. He has shorts. But no pants. I think I better rectify that situation sooner versus later. This is Ohio after all and it could snow tomorrow (OK maybe not, but it could snow in a month).

Not much is new around here. We are starting to settle into a school routine. It's not easy but I think we are getting there. I'm trying to get more organized around here too. I'm trying to be more organized without being obsessive about it. When I get obsessive about something I burn out...FAST.

I've taken to menu planning again. And that has made life easier. It's also helping me keep the grocery bill under control a little bit. The grocery bill is so out of control sometimes you'd think I was feeding a family of 10 instead of a family of 4.

That also means that I'm cooking again. I have several recipes to add to the recipe blog, now I just need to find the time to get over there and do it.

I think I need to organize my time too.

So far school is going pretty well food allergy wise. He did get left out of 2 "ice cream" days because no one told me about them. There is now safe ice cream and cupcakes safely nestled in the freezer at school for him. I'm his "room mom" this year and I did send out a request that everyone give the teacher ample notice of birthday celebration so that I can send in a safe treat, but I thought I better stick some in the freezer just in case. I'm also signed up for the field trips so that we don't have a repeat of last year (I have the sheets and jumped on ahead of everyone but there are still more spaces available... not that I would have cared).

Other than that it's soccer games, soccer practice times two.

And Older Boy wants to play the saxophone (we'll see about that one).

But that's all that's new with us. What's new with you?

Vacation: and the story really does continue

When we last left off on the vacation story (EONS AGO!) we made it there, we set up shop, we found the Piggly Wiggly and there was an alligator in our pond. All was well.
The next day was our first day at the beach and the boys loved it (all three of them!) We had bought some body boards at the Piggly Wiggly and the boys (all three of them!) couldn't wait to try them out. The set up here was really easy and we could drive to the beach and park really close so it made bringing coolers easy. We had plenty of fluids to keep hydrated and plenty of safe snacks in case anyone got hungry (which of course they did... every 5 seconds). One thing we had to do was keep an eye out for left over food in the area that we set up our umbrellas every day. There were so many times we found pistachio shells and pistachio nuts under the sand around us. It's odd to me that people would choose to eat that nut at the beach. How do you shell those things with sandy hands?



The Little Man and his "Frogster" body board (he's such a ham)



The view from under my umbrella



Running to the waves


That night the Older Boy wanted to go to Carolina Wings and Rib House for dinner (not my first choice but it's their vacation too). We went over during the early afternoon to see if there was anything they could for the Little Man and to explain is allergy situation. The very nice manager said that he would cook up some boneless wings, no sauce, in a clean pan and steam him a baked potato (plain). I was a bit nervous about it but when we went back that evening, Doug (the manager) came over and assured us that the chicken was not seasoned or breaded and that he would cook everything himself to make sure that it would be safe. It was a plain meal, but a safe meal and the Little Man was able to eat out with us without having to eat something that we brought with us. They really went above and beyond to make sure that we had a safe meal and we are so thankful for all that they did.
The next night was the Little Man's turn to pick and he picked Outback Steakhouse. We saw it as we drove into town and he knows he can get a safe meal there. We've eaten with him at several Outbacks and we've always been pleased with the way they've handled his allergies. He always gets the same thing, a plain steak (Joey steak), no seasoning, cooked in a clean pan, with a plain baked potato (sometimes 2 potatoes depending on how hungry he is). He loves it there because he can eat something he likes and it's safe for him. So we were able to eat out twice while on vacation, safely, without having to bring his food. But the good times ended there for him. All of the other restaurants were local establishments and mostly involved fish (lots of BREADED fish) and everyone I spoke with just didn't feel comfortable that they could feed him without cross contamination due to the amount of flour that was flying around the kitchen. Although we brought safe food for him everywhere else, I consider those times a victory too because although he was disappointed, he still ate safely and the staff at each place that I spoke with was kind and honest and all said that they hated to lose our business but that they wanted to make sure they did what was best for our son not for their bottom line. I'm good with that and I so appreciate their honesty!!
Our condo had a wonderful kitchen and between the stuff that I brought with us (safe food, safe pots, pans and utensils, and the toaster) and the safe items we bought at the Piggly Wiggly, the boy certainly didn't hungry. He ate well!
But it was nice to be able to have the two places to take him to where he could enjoy a "regular meal" just like everyone else.
We really enjoyed our time at the beach and we hope to go back again soon!

Random pictures:



Fishing in the pond where the alligator was. This made me nervous.



Did I mention that Older Boy caught a shark? It was a very small sand shark that had no teeth, but still...



Look out Little Man, the shark is going to get you.



The condo



In the process of unpacking all the safe food. See, the boy didn't go hungry.



Thank you South Carolina for a wonderful time!