MELBOURNE SCHOOL GIRL ALLERGIC REACTION SPARKS DEBATE OVER SCHOOL NUT BAN

I was driving my car when I heard this story on the radio. Once the story was finished my body almost went completely numb.

My heart almost stopped because this was somebody else experiencing my nightmare. Unfortunately all parents with children whom are anaphylactic would live with the same question everyday " Will my child come home alive today?"

Click on the link to see the full story of a little Melbourne girl Amelie King who almost lost her life on her first day of school because of an allergic reaction.

Melbourne school girl allergic reaction sparks debate over school nut ban

Easy Egg Free, Nut free Cookies

Basic Cookies

Makes 15

Ingredients

125 grams butter, room temperature
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup self raising flour
2/3 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons milk

Method

1.            Preheat oven to 170C. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste in a bowl until light and
               creamy. Sift flours together    
               and stir into the butter mixture, add milk. turn onto a lightly flour surface and knead lightly  
               until smooth.

2.            Line baking tray with baking paper. Roll out dough about 4mm thick. Cut out shapes with
             

cutters. Bake in oven for 15 mins or until pale golden in colour. Allow to cool.

Chocolate & Coffee Melting Moments

Chocolate & Coffee Melting Moments

Makes 30

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly pressed
1/2 cup of icing sugar, firmly pressed
700 grams butter room temperature
530 grams plain flour, sifted
100 grams corn flour, sifted
320 grams 70% cocoa dark chocolate, chopped
50 ml espresso coffee
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
Cocoa powder to dust

Method

1.           Preheat oven to 160C. Line 4 baking trays with baking paper. Use electric mixer or beaters    to beat brown sugar, icing sugar, espresso coffee, vanilla bean paste and 500 grams of the butter in a bowl until light and creamy.

2.           Fold in plain flour and corn flour. Mix to form a soft dough. With hands floured roll 1 heaped teaspoon of mixture into balls. Placed on prepared tray. Slightly flatten with a fork. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Bake for 15 mins or until pale golden. Cool biscuits on tray.

3.           Using a heatproof bowl, place chocolate and butter over a saucepan half filled with simmering water. Bowl shouldn't be touching water. Occasionally stir mixture until smooth. Chill for 30 mins or until thick. Spoon into a piping bag with a 2 cm star nozzle. Pipe mixture over half the biscuits. Place remaining biscuits on tray. Finish of by dusting with cocoa.

Welcome back... Feeling special

It's been a long time since my last publication. In that time we have added to our family a precious baby brother Xavier. Still living with Our little munchkin's severe allergies and hoping that one day the will be a preventative or better yet a cure. We have recently had our baby Xavier tested for allergies and good news he is free of allergies!

Recently started Xavier on solids (feel much relaxed about of him being allergy free). I wanted to share a short story about one morning. I was feeding Xavier some puréed carrots, which he loves and can demolish within minutes. As I was feeding him my little munchkin Sam asked me "can Xavier eat eggs?" I replied " yes he can eat eggs". Sam's response was " I can't eat eggs I'm allergic, but I can eat special food just for Sam!" I can't explain the emotions that I was feeling at this time. I wanted to cry because I felt sorry for him. Instead Sam wasn't at all  sad, in fact he was happy to be considered special.

I have to thank his teachers and careers at his Kindergarten for that. Doing a great job to educate and bring awareness to children with and without allergies about allergies.

Looking forward to many new publications

Xo

PEANUT EXTRACT USED TO FIGHT PEANUT ALLERGIES

Once again, new research has suggested the way to treat a peanut allergy is to expose small amounts of peanut protein to the sufferer over a period of time to increase tolerance.

People with peanut allergy were given small doses daily for more than a year. This was given in clinic environment under medical supervision and should not be tried at home.

At the end of the study the test subjects who responded to treatment could tolerate 285 times more peanut protein than previous (this is only equivalent to 6 peanuts, and not in the form of an actual peanut).

Little Munchkin's Allergy Update

I have recently decided to have my son tested for a few things before he commencing kindergarten. Some things that came to mind were shellfish, kiwi fruit, coconut and mango. Our allergist was confident that he would not have any reactions to any of these products, as there is no particular link from eggs and nuts to these mentioned foods. I believe that a mother’s intuition can sometimes prove to be the best indicator above any other source.

The testing began and the method used was a skin prick test. We waited for 10 minutes for a reaction. He seemed to be getting a little red but it didn’t seem to be anything to be concerned about. The allergist decided to wait an extra 5 minutes. That extra 5 minutes made all the difference. He had a positive reaction to shellfish, kiwi fruit and coconut. I was told that all these were as harmful to him as eggs and nuts and that his anaphylaxis plan needed to be updated.

Our Allergist stated that if I ever had that same intuition to anything else to always follow it and request testing.

It’s a little heartbreaking that a mother’s intuition was proven to be correct in this case. It is not news we want to hear. However, we can never be too careful when it comes to anaphylaxis. Better to be safe than sorry.

The Chicken or the Egg? or the Vaccination?

Ok, we have at one stage asked the chicken or the egg? which one came first?

Well... I still do not know the answer to that question but am faced with another more concerning. My son is allergic to egg (anaphylactic), I always have to be careful in reading ingredients and making sure that he does not have anything with egg in it. My concerns are always "does anything have egg in it?" apparently it should also be "is anything in the egg?". I have stumbled across a very interesting and informative article. It is worth a read. I had no idea that the flu vaccine is grown in chicken eggs and may contain tiny traces of egg protein.

MORE EVIDENCE FLU SHOT IS SAFE FOR THOSE WITH EGG ALLERGIES