Hello, allergy buddies!  Missing being able to eat cookies with your friends?  My personal favorites are always any form of chocolate chip cookie, but especially ones with M&Ms in them.  Speaking of M&Ms, boy did I miss those!

But then I discovered the chocolate brand, Elite.  Made in Israel, this company creates a lot of soy free chocolate, especially around Passover since all Passover food is legume free. So, not only can you find chocolate bars from them (some of which have candy lentils in them which are basically mini M&Ms-YUM!), but they also have little snack packs of M&Ms.  On their own, they’re a little sweet, but still enjoyable.  My recommendation:

Mix up your favorite chocolate chip/chunk cookie dough.  As you place them on the baking sheet, press 3 Elite Chocolate Lentil candies into each cookie.  Bake as directed and voila, chocolate chip M&M cookie goodness!

First of all, who knew Boulder was so allergy-friendly?!  Restaurants were terrific there, as was a little convenience store called Lolitas! Not only did I find several of my usual snacks but I also found soy-free hot chocolate mix and something new (or at least new for me).  As somoene with a nut allergy as well as a peanut, soy and oat allergy, I really miss trail mix.  But ask and you shall receive!  Enjoy Life Foods now makes a few varieties of No Nuts trail mix. If you can eat sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, they come mixed with varieties of their soy free chocolate chips, raisins and cranberries or pineapples, apricots and cranberries.  These mixes are really hearty and delicious snacks.  Oh, and they’re dairy and gluten free too!

Check them out on Amazon: Beach Bash single order, Beach Bash bulk and Mountain Mambo single order, and Mountain Mambo bulk. Happy munching!

All of their products are soy, nut and peanut-free, … so happy munching!

Interested in getting the book?  Buy it here!
Check out the first ones I made…yum!

Then, after my amazing experience at Mesa Grill NYC (see my earlier post), I went to Bobby Flay’s booksigning and purchased his new “Throwdown!” cookbook. The interesting thing about this book is that it has 2 takes on every recipe since it highlights his recipes as well as his competitors – perfect for some inspiration to be creative when you need to avoid certain ingredients.  In addition to several other interesting and tasty recipes in his book, I was able to combine the two Dumplings recipes for an amazing homecooked meal.

For a soy-free, sesame-free dumpling treat, try using Sohui Kim’s Pork and Chive Dumplings recipe (p. 161 in Bobby Flay’s book).  Omit the tofu and replace with the finely chopped cabbage from Bobby’s recipe.  Omit the hoisin sauce and optionally use a small amount of oyster sauce.  Follow the rest of the recipe as written. For a great dipping sauce, follow Bobby’s recipe on p. 159 but omit the hoisin sauce.  I had never tasted black vinegar before but it’s quite yummy.

This recipe makes a ton of food so if you don’t want leftovers, you may want to half the recipe.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Tonight is the second time in a year that I’ve had Japanese food. I’ve been very cautious not to eat any Japanese food because soy and sesame are so predominant in the kitchens, but I have learned that there are Sushi items that haven’t been pre-marinated and can be prepared safely. I even tried Tonkatsu (fried pork) tonight without the sauce. Unfortunately the sauce is the best part so I put some ginger on top for added spice. We’ll see how I feel in the morning. Fingers crossed.

So, in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been busy making both of my childhood favorites!  I also found a book of Whoopie Pie recipes (although I can buy those soy and nut free at Trader Joes, I’d like to make a healthier version on my own).

Stay tuned for recipe details coming soon!

What’s your favorite food that you miss? Share a recipe with your food allergy friends in the comments section!

Start with some lean ground beef and heat it in a pan, stirring frequently, until cooked through. Pour out any fat that has cooked out and discard. Next, stir in some chili powder and a generous amount of salsa (spiciness to taste, although this is not meant to be a very spicy dish) and heat on low for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, separate the biscuit dough into thin circles by pealing each pre-made piece in half. Then, lightly grease a muffin pan and stretch the dough thin and press into the muffin compartments. Be sure to press the edges up flat around the top so the cups don’t cave in while baking. Next, fill each cup nearly to the top with the meat and salsa mixture and then sprinkle with some shredded cheese of your choice. Finally, bake in the oven according to the biscuit dough directions, but be sure to keep an eye on them because they will cook quickly!

Hope you enjoy!

This week, I traveled to a conference for work in Savannah. Great, I thought! It shouldn’t be too hard to avoid nuts and all those problematic vegetables and fruits of mine. Soy could be tricky, but I’ll be able to avoid it. Boy was I wrong! That said, I have experienced some incredible southern cuisine and I owe a huge thank you to the patient local restaurants, my coworkers willing to deal with me, and food allergy friends I met along the way.

The problem: networking is important at conferences. The best place to network is at conference sponsored meals and parties. These meals have set menus and parties have food catered from somewhere but no one seems to know the ingredients.

While pecan-crusted fried chicken and sweet potatoes and ravioli with pecan sauce sounded amazing, they all had one thing in common: nuts. While sometimes I do have the “just deal with it” attitude, I do also have the “don’t die” desire so I needed a solution for this pre-set menu and I needed it fast. To add insult to injury, every other time I tried to order some real southern fried food, the allergy friendly restaurant was closed or was cooking in peanut oil that evening due to special requests.

The solution: PLAN AHEAD. Arrive early at restaurant gatherings. Speak to your server and see if anything can be made without the problem allergens (in my case, I requested the ravioli without sauce, etc). The staff at the Old Pink House was amazing (thank you, thank you, thank you!) and was able to provide me a completely safe meal prepared separately from all the others. I was informed it would take awhile, but that it would be a 100% safe meal for me to eat. While dealing with hundreds of other people, that’s pretty amazing service.

Yet, I still feel that there was more I could have done to prevent the situation. Try talking to conference leaders before your arrival whether or not they have a comments section in signup forms. Alert them to your condition and explain that it’s not a preference, it’s a matter of life and death (or severe discomfort). If all else fails, plan to meet others during breaks and attend lunch on your own at a safe restaurant.

Now, at the end of the conference, I can happily say that I’ve managed to have some truly amazing southern cuisine and I’ve met some incredibly interesting people along the way. To all my new food allergy friends, I hope you keep in touch and I hope to hear more success stories from you soon!