Food Allergies & Summer Camps

When we arrived in France last summer, I was told that the only way that children could participate in the summer camps run by the city hall on a full-day basis was to eat the lunch provided by the catering company.  Anyone that knows me well, will not be surprised that I refused to accept.  After convincing the program that reasonable accomodations should be made and providing a note from a French allerologist, the camp managers accepted.  Afterall, would it be fair to restrict a child to the confines of their home during summer vacations?  Not at all.  It is my belief that food allergy sufferers should be able to enjoy the same joys of living, given reasonable accomodation.  The accomodation in this case was quite simple actually - do not feed Lady Grace anything other than what she brings to school in her lunch box and snack pack. We have the same plan at school and have never encountered a problem. 

Interestingly, I just came across an article about food allergies and summer camps in the United States, which inspired this post.  As much as we enjoy our experience in France, I do miss the level of sensitivity towards children with food allergies in the States.  Did you know that there are even summer camps for children that are for food allergy sufferers?  How awesome is that!  Unfortunately, I don't think that I'll be able to find such a camp in France.

Shiitake Mushrooms Rock!

After living in Asia for so many years (I now live in France), I am only now finding the true beauty of shitake mushrooms.  I never realized how much flavor these mushrooms add to a simple veggie stir fry, until a Taiwanese vegetarian friend of mine prepared a meal at our home a few months ago.  Talk about robust!  Now that I'm back on my egg-free, vegetarian-only for breakfast and lunch challenge, I've become creative about my meals.  I found that when I eat a veggie-based meal for lunch with just a modest portion of fish, chicken or turkey for dinner, I have so much more energy.  I will be enjoying this meal at work tomorrow over brown rice!  Anyone want to join me for a veggie for lunch challenge?

Baby Bok Choy and Carrots with Shitake Mushrooms and Garlic

Korean Bean Sprout Salad

I love Korean food.  In fact, I love it so much that once my husband and I took a trip to South Korea  just to enjoy all of the culinary delights!  I visited my local Asian grocery store yesterday and there were absolutely beautiful soybean sprouts available so I decided to try to make a cold soybean side dish that is frequently served at Korean restaurants.  I believe it is called kongnamul muchin. 

Ingredients
1 bag of soybeans
1 finely diced clove of garlic
1 finely sliced green onion
soy sauce
sesame oil
sugar
salt (if needed)

Directions
First begin by boiling the soybeans in about one cup of water with a bit of salt for about seven minutes.  Drain the soybeans and immediately rinse with ice cold water to cool and drain again.  Use papertowles to further dry the soybeans and then set aside in a large bowl.  Then add the diced garlic and sliced green onion.  Mix in a two-three teaspons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of sesame oil, and close to a teaspoon of sugar.  Add more soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar or salt to taste.  Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to chill and then enjoy!

Preparation Time
20 minutes

Korean Soybean Salad

Did You Know That Some Food Allergy Purchases Might Be Tax Deductible?

Just came across a really interesting guest post on the blog It's an Itchy Little World that got my attention - taxes and food allergies in the United States.  The post emphasizes the importance of itemizing and tracking your purchases and having your doctor's documentation.  It appears that the key is whether or not the purchase can be found at any run of the mill grocery store.  That said, my reading of the article and comments is that one must also consider the  "thresholds" - i.e. is it worth it?  Nonetheless, I think it is worth closer examination.  What do you think?

What are Your Egg-Free Easter Plans?

Easter totally creeped up on my this year and I must admit that I am somewhat unprepared.  I had intended on ordering a dozen ceramic egg-alternatives from Egg Nots to give Lady Grace the experience of dyeing eggs for the first time, but I don't think that an order from the United States would reach France in just a matter of days.  Nonetheless, I thought I would share this egg alternative for those of you in the States.  The story behind the development of these products is really heart-warming.  Apparently, the owner created these ceramic eggs as a way to include her niece in egg-dyeing activities.  These ceramic alternatives get rave reviews...I guess there is always next year for our family!   In lieu of using Egg Nots, I have found some chocolate eggs wrapped in colored foil paper (produced in the UK) that we will be using for our Easter Egg hunt along with plastic eggs stuffed with egg-free candies. Tell us: What are your egg-free Easter plans?

Photo From EggNots.com Website

My Trip to Whole Foods in London

I recently had an opportunity to visit to London (hence the radio silence on the blog) and had a fabulous time!  Most people look at me in a weird way when I say that my second stop in London after Buckingham Palace was Whole Foods in the Picadilly Circus area!  I spent nearly an hour just perusing the aisles.  You see, when we were living in the States, Whole Foods was a part of our weekly grocery shopping routine - in fact, it was part of our Friday evening routine.  In fact, my husband would tease me about not spending my whole paycheck at Whole Foods!  I love this store for the high quality, fresh food and the availability of egg-free commercial products for Lady Grace.  Since I was in London on business, I didn't have much space to bring back a lot, but I did manage to squeeze in a few items.  I was particularly excited to find egg-free mayo and Ener-G Egg Replacer since our stock was getting low. Not sure how I will use the egg-free mayo yet...any ideas?  I'd been feeling a bit homesick, but this trip to Whole Foods did wonders for me!  Below is a picture of my few purchases.  Is there a store that you are crazy about?

My Whole Foods Purchase in London

Black Mushroom & Peas Fried Brown Rice

So I am back on my healthy lunch kick, only eating vegetarian for lunch. Here is what I made today with some random items that I found in my fridge. I tried to convince the kids to eat this dish by calling the peas little green balls! It was really easy to make. I used leftover short grain brown rice (cold), frozen peas, and sliced fresh Chinese mushrooms. I began by sauteing garlic in a bit of olive oil then adding the mushroom followed by the green peas and cold day-old brown rice. Finished it off with a sprinkling of salt and a drizzle of sesame oil. Very simple and quick-under 10 minutes.  I think that the key to this dish is using day old rice.  I think it would taste even better with a drizzle of truffle oil!  

Black Mushroom & Peas Fried Brown Rice