Minty lamb koftas

These kofta meatballs are a fantastic, easy allergy friendly finger food that's simple and quick to make!  A versatile dish that is great for barbeques, canapés, lazy dinner or ideal children’s food.  As they have a soft and slightly spongy texture they are perfect for young children. The fresh mint gives a great new flavour, and is perfect with fresh lemon or lime – a great companion to any lamb dish.  

INGREDIENTS

500 gm quality ground lamb (preferably not lean)

2 x tsp cumin

1/ 2 tsp cinnamon

2 x tsp honey (optional)

I/2 x bunch of very finely chopped fresh mint

1/2 x bunch Italian flat leaf parsley finely chopped

Good pinch of salt

½ cup of cooked cous cous (you can use gluten free cous cous or rice crumbs as wheat free alternative)

METHOD

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Be sure to mix fairly well, this will ensure that the fat binds the ingredients, and this means you don’t need eggs at all!

You can be as generous as you like with the herbs, we like a lot. If “green bits” are a no go with your children you can omit or reduce the fresh herbs, but I have been surprised how many children really take to the minty flavour once they give it a go. And fresh lemon squeezed on meat or veges is popular with many kids too. 

Form and roll into small balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball size. Chill in your fridge for at least 1 hour if possible. Again, this will help keep the kofta balls formed, and no need for egg. 

Remove koftas from refrigerator and grill on a lightly oiled cast-iron griddle or barbecue over high heat, turning the koftas, for about 8-10 minutes or until browned. Alternatively cook on a tray in hot oven for 15 minutes, this a quick easy way I often use.

Squeeze lemon or lime over the top when ready to eat. Or your favourite mustard or condiment. You can serve with cucumber salad, flat bread, cous cous, rice and /or yoghurt if tolerated. 

Enjoy!

 

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Ultimate Spice Chicken

Ultimate Spice Chicken

Allergy friendly adaption of American chicken or Chicken Nuggets

For kids with food allergies, coeliac disease and other food related health issues, “fussy eating’ can take on another level. It’s so important to learn to love food again and extend your diet, trying new foods and recipes when you can.

For any kid, meat can sometimes be one of those foods that are hard to coax your child to eat…“It taste like meat’! Marinating chicken in this recipe helps tenderise it, and makes the meat much softer and easier to eat, and more delicious!

When you have food allergies, food intolerances or coeliac disease this an easy to make treat food you can make at home.

At our house we call it “ultimate spice favourite chicken” and we make it special. We use our favourite spices, which you can adapt to include your own favourite spices, or for young children can be kept fairly plain just as easily.

This recipe is easily adaptable options for all the top 8 allergens

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken breast
• Buttermilk / Yoghurt (one that’s safe for you – dairy/soy or lactose free) or Coconut milk
• Breadcrumbs – you can easily use gluten free/ alllergy-friendly for you. The coarse chunky style are best like panko style. You can make fresh breadcrumbs if you are keen too.
• Flour – any flour that is safe for you, preferably one you like. We like organic wholemeal flour. Gluten free brown rice flour works well too. Or white flours are also great, and more traditional, and especially if the colour is an issue.
• Spices and pinch of salt. We use a safe Cajun spice – of chilli, paprika and Mediterranean herbs (optional)

 METHOD

1. Cut the meat into sizes you like. Around 4-5cm is a good size. Not too thick is best.
2. Marinate the meat for a few hours or overnight in buttermilk/ yoghurt or coconut milk. The meat should be completely covered and stored in air tight container. 
3. Mix breadcrumbs, flour and spices in a bowl. Around half to half works well.
4. Coat your pieces of chicken in crumb flour mix. You may need to skim excess milk/yoghurt from the chicken pieces before coating, it shouldn’t be too thick. I like to give a thick coat of the flour- crumb mix.
5. Set in fridge for 20 minutes approximately.
6. Fry pieces in medium to high hot oil in your deep frying pan or dish until the outer crust starts to brown and crisp. You may need to do this in batches, to avoid overcrowding the pan. Be careful not to burn the crust, if necessary you can brown each side and then place your chicken pieces, on oven tray in hot oven for 5-10 minutes to finish.

Serve with Japanese rice and pickled ginger, and lime wedges.

Or if you prefer you can serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Interview: Sloane Miller, Living Well with Food Allergies

Interview with Sloane Miller, MFA, MSW, LMSWPsychotherapistSpecialist in Food Allergy Management

   

Photo by David Hanschuh  © copyright, and reprinted with permission of Sloane Miller, and David Hanschuh 

Sloane, you are wonderful advocate, and inspiration for the food allergic community, and show that it is possible to “live well” with food allergies.  Living with food allergies can be stressful for children, teens, adults and food allergy parents alike. One of the most overlooked things about living with serious food allergies is the anxiety that comes with living with such a serious condition.  As a food allergy parent, with a child at risk of anaphylaxis, we have seen that anxiety is a really big aspect of the condition that many people with food allergies and those that love them do not understand or even recognise.

One major aspect of anxiety is communicating our needs with family and friends.  Our anxiety levels can be particularly heightened at the early stages of diagnosis. This can be true whether it's a coeliac (celiac) disease diagnosis or severe food allergies. I know certainly this was the case for our family.   

**

1. How can we communicate our needs without becoming overwhelmed with stress?  

It can feel very stressful to talk about something as private and as a personal as a medical diagnosis. I talk about this at length in my book AllergicGirl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies (Wiley, 2011) and with my counseling clients all over the world but here are some things to keep in mind:

It’s very important to understand your food allergy diagnosis. If you have any lingering questions, go back to your medical health care provider and get all of your questions answered. Don’t worry, most people leave that first appointment feeling confused, upset and/or flustered and forget to ask even some of the basics. It’s normal. Just go back and get your questions answered.  I have a free download, a list of questions that you should fully understand before leaving the doctor’s office. http://allergicgirl.com/free-guidance/

The reason for understanding your medical diagnosis is multifold but it’s fundamental when it comes to communicating your needs to others. You will need to understand your food allergy diagnosis completely to be able to communicate your needs in a clear, concise and factual manner.

Generally speaking, I suggest using up to three sentences when communicating your needs to anyone, keeping in mind that the underlying message is: my medical needs are real and serious and this is how I need to take care of my needs.

So, for example: “I’m allergic to this ingredient and that ingredient. I cannot consume those ingredients or any foods that came into contact with those ingredients. And I carry emergency medication with me at all times and know how and when to use it.”  A few sentences are all you need to let someone know the basic information about your needs and begin to assess how to move forward safely.  

Do remember:  you have nothing to prove. You do not have to prove your food allergies; all you need to do is communicate your direct needs in any given situation and assess your safety.

  **

For many cultures food is central for celebrations. And in families often food is equated with love. 

2. How can we navigate staying connected with family?

Food may be “equated” with love but food isn’t actually love. Food is food. Love is love. Food is neither good nor bad. Love is love and can be/is expressed in a multitude of ways.  

Your job will be to separate your feelings out about food and love and help others understand that to love you is either to feed you safely according to your needs or not to feed you and to show love in other non-food ways.

As the holidays are coming up, start this conversation about your needs with loved ones early. If your food requirements cannot be accommodated within a family setting safely, then you cannot eat there. But that doesn’t mean you cannot go. Not only should you go but you must go! Do whatever you need to be able to attend a food-focused family event safely, like bringing your own safe dishes, and connect to your family in non-food ways. Enjoy the non-food based love that family has to offer.

Many children with serious allergies often become fearful of food. But also they often have a higher rate of generalised anxiety compared to other children, and as research has demonstrated are more likely to be targets of bullying.

3. What can we do to help our children deal with anxiety as food allergy parents?

The best first thing you can do is deal with any anxiety you have as a parent about your child’s food allergy diagnosis. If you do not feel on sure footing yourself, you cannot help your child feel secure. The below exercise works with parents and children alike. Please note: these are very broad strokes of an in-depth process that I do within a counseling relationship. The below is only meant to give an idea of where to start looking for answers to quell your concerns, not a substitute for counseling.

Anxiety is based on a series of “what if” thoughts that spiral out of control. The “what ifs” are not necessarily based in reality so it is crucial to ground oneself in the reality and separate out what might be triggering the anxiety spiral.  Here’s one way to begin to learn to separate what is an irrational fear versus a real risk:

Write down all of your fears, anxieties, your concerns and even your worst-case scenarios about any given situation.

Once you’ve written down your list of scary “what ifs”, do your best to take a critical look at your concerns and begin to sort out the rational fears from the irrational ones e.g. this could really medically happen, the doctor told me so, or, those things couldn't happen but I feel nervous about it happening even though I know it’s not real.

Explore your feelings with a trusted loved one: How did you feel looking at your fears critically?  What is different once you wrote down your fears? Did you gain any clarity, if so where? What is still unclear to you? What still is a big unknown or upsetting you?

If any of your fears are medical in nature, and I suspect many of them will be, make an appointment to have a consultation with your medical health provider. Write down their answers or record the conversation with their permission.

Continue to extract for yourself irrational fears from rational and possible risks. Go back to your allergist’s words and recommendation. Ground yourself in the reality of the risk versus your fears around the risk.

It will take a lot of work to keep checking in with yourself about what is real and what is imagined but it is worth it to gain clarity and to calm oneself.

Please note: If you are having overwhelming feelings of anxiety, depression and they are impeding normal life functioning and enjoyment, please see a local mental health provider immediately for an evaluation.

Thank you Kylie for your wonderful questions!

I work with clients around the world and would be happy to offer anyone coming through your site a %10 discount on my regular counseling rate.

Sloane Miller, MFA, MSW, LMSW

Psychotherapist

Specialist in Food Allergy Management

http://allergicgirl.com/

Tel/Cell: 347.541.3133

Author of AllergicGirl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies (Wiley, 2011)

Sloane Miller, MFA, MSW, LMSW, psychotherapist, specialist in food allergy management and author, is founder and President of Allergic Girl Resources, Inc., a consultancy devoted to food allergy awareness. She consults with private clients, the healthcare, food and hospitality industries, government and not-for-profit advocacy organizations. Ms. Miller earned her Master of Social Work at the New York University’s Silver School of Social Work and her Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature at Bennington College. In 2006, she started Please Don't Pass the Nuts, an award-winning blog for and about people affected by food allergies. In 2011, John Wiley & Sons published Ms. Miller's book, Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well With Food Allergies, the definitive how-to guide. Ms. Miller combines a lifetime of personal experience and passion with professional expertise to connect with people about how to live safely, effectively, and joyously with food allergies. For more information, please visit Allergic Girl Resources, Inc. on the Internet at www.allergicgirl.com

Learn more about Sloane's Book 

(Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well with Food Allergies by Sloane Miller.

Copyright © 2011 by the author and reprinted with permission

of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Picture © Kenneth Chen)

Is the Easter Bunny allergy Friendly?

It’s that time of year when all the stores are featuring colourful, shiny, glittering displays of chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs, filled with toys or favourite children’s characters. It’s hard to miss. It’s also hard to miss that so many of these treats designed for children contain nuts and other common allergens, like dairy and egg.

One year supermarket shopping with my little man, we ran into a wall of chocolate eggs with toys and treats, and signs of the Easter Bunny. He looked excited, superhero eggs, and some of his favourite characters attached to these chocolate eggs and lollies inside. He was very keen that maybe the Easter Bunny would bring something like this to him.

I reminded him that some of these treats, although they looked great might not be safe and they might not be allergy friendly. The face of disappointment and confusion looked up at me, “Why would the Easter bunny put my allergies and nuts in it? … he knows I have allergies…”

These are the kind of situations that are complex for little people with allergies. Cross contamination isn’t always easy to explain to little people, or big people for that matter.

For anyone who is at risk of anaphylaxis, only a tiny amount can cause a potentially fatal allergic reaction. A contaminated piece of equipment or careless labelling can take a life. This is not exactly how I explained it to my preschooler at the time.

What’s in the label?

A lot of the Easter chocolates - complete with favourite characters or popular toys and marketed towards young children - are not made in Australia. Not all countries have strict regulations that require manufacturers to declare allergens. In Australia the top most common allergens are legally required to be declared on the label – peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, fish/shellfish, wheat, sesame and soy. There are also some requirements for declaring gluten (see more). Obviously not helpful if you have allergies that are not in the top eight such as mustard seed or coconut for instance.

Other countries such as China and parts of Asia, and many other countries where Easter chocolate treats are often but not always made, for higher profit margins, do not have strict regulations such as we do here in Australia.  

However even with Australian labelling there are problems. Undeclared allergens are reported from time to time. And even 'may contain' warnings can be a problem too. 

Precautionary or warning labels such as “may contain” or “processed on machinery that contains...” in Australia, and most parts of the world are voluntary and are therefore not audited. Unfortunately there are many manufacturers who apply the ‘may contain’ warning on their products, sometimes perhaps unnecessarily.

This makes choices for people with serious allergies very limiting. Or we increasingly ignore the ‘may contain’ type labels, which can also be problematic. A recent US study tested 186 products with precautionary peanut labels and found 16 (just under 9 percent) actually contained the allergen. The consequences of ignoring such labels recently proved tragic. A young man aged 22, Bruce Kelly, of Minnesota who had a peanut allergy, died of anaphylaxis earlier this year after eating a chocolate bar with a label that said it had been “made in a plant that also processed peanuts”.

These ‘may contain’ warnings do warrant some skepticism, that many companies prefer to slap on this type of warning to avoid all responsibility rather than display accurate warnings and labels on their products. It appears profits come first, not correct labelling. Even allergists are confused about these ‘may contain’ warnings and advice can vary from doctor to doctor. In effect, the random and unregulated ‘may contain’ warnings shift responsibility away from the manufacturer, and on to the severely allergic consumer to decide without any real information on which to base their decision. This needs to change.

Chocolate Easter eggs and treats in particular can be risky for kids with allergies because they are often made in the same factory or machinery as milk, nut and egg products. In particular this can be a real risk for those of us with severe nut allergies, as while some brands of chocolates may not list nuts, they can contain traces of nuts, and many allergists would recommend only purchasing chocolate produced in a nut free facility.  

 Chocolate free Easter?

One Easter break we spent time with some little cousins, and they did the cutest little Easter treasure hunt. Coloured plastic eggs were hidden throughout the garden, inside were small toys, treats and safe lollies.  We organised it so that my son could participate, and we didn’t include any of the unsafe Easter eggs. The three little cousins must have been chatting about this as my little man was again confused about it.

“Heh mum, they (his cousins) think I’m allergic to chocolate? Isn’t that like … crazy!?

Luckily, although the majority of Easter sweets and treats that are heavily marketed towards kids are not safe for children with food allergies, there are thankfully some considerate manufacturers who make Easter chocolates in a nut free facility. These are the kind of chocolates we do buy, many are also dairy and wheat, and egg free too. There are increasingly a lot more of these appearing on the shelves.

While my little guy is still finding it tricky to comprehend cross contamination or what ‘may contain’ labels might mean, I can’t really fault him on this. It is super complex and unfair. After all, wouldn’t the real and true Easter bunny chocolate factory be allergy friendly?

The Easter bunny sure is allergy friendly and inclusive at our house, amongst friends and I think increasingly childcare centres and preschools are on getting on board. Here are some quick easy and FUN ideas to get started.  

Fun-Allergy-Friendly-inclusive ideas:

There are so many wonderful alternatives to unsafe cheap Easter chocolates and raw egg decorating craft activities to explore. There are loads of fabulous inclusive Easter activities that are lots of fun for kids.

Easter egg hunt

Plastic fillable Easter eggs are usually found at craft stores. I have also seen wooden eggs too. Fill with small toys, safe chocolates, lollies or favourite treats.

Filler ideas - Make sure they are safe for little toddlers if they are included in the activity:

Small figurines like dinosaurs or lego figures, or playmmobil figures

Marshmallows (bunny tails)

Small bottles of bubbles

Gold coins (real ones)

Stickers

Bracelets or hairclips

Small toys

Safe lollies or treats

Bouncing balls

finger puppets

matchbox cars

Inclusive Easter craft ideas for home or the class-room

·      Decorate eggs with collage, paint or markers. Foam, wooden or plastic eggs can be found at craft stores.

·        Make Easter bunny ears with paper and collage

·        Paper plate craft such as bunny mask, or collage a chick or bunny shape

·        Make a basket to collect your allergy friendly Easter eggs

Practice inclusiveness

If you are a teacher planning an Easter hunt non food treats might be the most inclusive idea. For craft or cooking activities there are many ideas out there to ensure all children can participate, and all children learn about inclusiveness.

Here are some great links for parents, carers and teachers to get you started, but there are so many to find you will be surprised.

More Allergy Friendly tips and creative Craft ideas
Cooking and craft

http://childhood101.com/

Allergy Adventures - fabulous cooking with kids recipes and more 

Craft ideas and more

http://www.playideas.com/

Food allergies and Easter

http://www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com/allergyfreeeaster.html

Great Easter tips

http://www.ausee.org/easter-tips

Easter ideas with food allergies

http://community.kidswithfoodallergies.org/blog/tips-to-safely-celebrate-easter-with-food-allergies-1

Cooking with kids

Again, there are so many allergy friendly cooking activities with an Easter theme or just as a school holiday activity. Cooking with kids with allergies is a great idea, as children with allergies or coeliac disease can easily become fearful of food. Cooking involves children with food and can help ease anxieties around food.

Or if you are planning a cooking activity at school or kinder, or afterschool care, it’s an activity all children could be involved in when the recipe is adapted accordingly. Don’t forget to contact parents of children with allergies, coeliac disease and other food intolerances before the day to ensure all ingredients are safe.  

Try these Supereasy chocolate balls

Great cooking activity, you can make with or without the kids!

Enjoy your fun activities with your children, whether it’s at home or school. There are lots of ways to make it fun and safe. If you are buying treats, remember always read the label every time as ingredients can change. Last, but not least you could leave out something special for the Easter bunny the night before, maybe something allergy friendly?

Read more about food labels

Allergies and the minefield of food labelling on Blueprint for Living, ABC National Radio

Food allergies and labelling, Choice magazine

 Australian Food Standards, consumers and food allergies, Aust. govt.

 PrecautionaryAllergy Labels Cause Widespread Confusion, Researchers Find, Allergic Living

Super easy chocolate balls recipe

Perfect for Easter, or anytime.

These are great to make with kids. Great alternative to chocolate Easter eggs as a yummy treat for the holidays. 

Ingredients:

¾ cup cocoa 

395g tin of sweetened condensed milk or sweetened condensed coconut milk

200g  chocolate allergy friendly biscuits (approx. is fine)

Sprinkles of your choice

1 x cup desiccated coconut

Method:

Blend your biscuits until fine. (blender is easiest)

Combine all dry ingredients really well.

Add condensed milk and combine.

Chill for around 15 -30 minutes, to make the mix more manageable for rolling

Roll into small balls and coat in coconut or sprinkles, or both!

These are best kept chilled in the fridge to prevent melting. Store in an airtight container

These chocolate balls can be great as an allergy friendly party plate for any social or family gathering. And they are also great for energy for kids.

Secret tips for parents

These chocolate balls are also a great way to sneak in some extra goodness.

You can improvise with mashed avocado (mix in well), finely chopped dates, or any other supplements to add nutrition to the recipe that you might like.

Allergy kids are awesome SALE

 20% off our entire range of  allergy apparel and tees for kids   

Fun allergy alert t-shirt range, just in time for the holidays

The Easter bunny is really on his way... these cute tees are a great way to communicate and start a positive discussion about food allergies at family and friends gatherings.

Just in time for school holidays and festive celebrations.

Not only are our allergy tees too cute for cuteness, they are also great way to start the conversation about food allergies or coeliac disease with your friends, family and community.

Also something special for your little man or lady, when they might be missing out on all the exciting looking chocolates around this time of year. Your little lady or little man will love to wear these fun tees, and at the same start the conversation about staying safe with allergies.

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