Step up!

Dear all of us,
I watched a story this am on the Today Show that rocked me. I cried and cried. It was about homeless children. To hear this girl speak about what her life is like.....it's so very sad and so very unfair. No child in this country should be homeless. She deserves better, from all of us.
Do something to help someone that has less than you. Do one thing. Not just during the holidays but during every season.

http://www.today.com/news/shine-light-willie-geist-helping-renovate-shelter-homeless-families-1D80302217

Mixed emotions

This time of year is crazy. Holidays, shopping, cooking, managing life with food allergies and so on. I often feel bad for my daughter because her life is not easy and it's  not going to be easy. Well, life is never easy but it's even more difficult because of the food allergies. Then there is the guilt that I live with. I know, I did nothing to cause the allergies. I'm still a mom, I still have guilt. Can't help it. This morning I went to Target to do some shopping, grocery and holiday. For the second year in a row I ended up in Target on a special day. There were many police officers there helping children and families do some holiday shopping. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there too. There was a T.V reporter there also. The parking lot was packed with police cars. I started walking up and down the aisles gathering my things. I passed Santa. He wished me a Merry Christmas and then stopped to talk to someone behind me. There was a mom and child. Santa gave the little boy a candy cane. The little boy seemed to be a little scared of Santa but he took the candy cane and enjoyed it. Of course, this was adorable. Then I thought, glad the kids aren't with me because I would have to say no thank you to the candy cane. That would have been awesome....... :(
I moved on and heard an adorable conversation between a child and Santa. He asked Santa why he was there because we all know Santa lives at the North Pole. Santa replied that he came down to visit him and the other children etc. It was very sweet and brought tears to my eyes.
My family is so fortunate. We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. I can buy my children presents for the holidays. I have so many good things in my life. More importantly I have so, so many good people in my life.

Tis the season with food allergies

Are you as super busy as me? This time of year is crazy. Going back to school after Thanksgiving was tough. We had a nice break and we didn't want it to end. Now, about 3 weeks until our next break. During those 3 weeks there is shopping, cooking, and so on....
Yes, there will be parties also. How do you handle them all? Do you bring food with you? Do you not attend or do you have them at your house?
It's so hard to keep up during this time of year. Do you give  yourself any time off to relax? Is that even possible?

Two holidays in one!

Next week brings a strange mash up. Two holidays in one. Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collide this year bringing us a new holiday, Thanksgivukkah! I have wasted a lot of time recently looking up Thanksgivukkah ideas on pinterest. So, instead of a cornucopia I have made a geltucopia! The possibilities are endless.
Holidays can be stressful when dealing with food allergies. How do you handle it? I am so lucky to have supportive family, Thanksgivukkah will not be stressful for me and for that I am so very thankful.

Holidays and allergies around the world

Passover is around the corner. Yes, another holiday. There are many in an interfaith household. Passover is one of my favorites. It's very symbolic, the kids can be involved, there's wine....  :)
One of my favorite parts is the Charoset on the Seder plate. It's a wonderful concoction made from apples and walnuts traditionally. Wait. What? Apples and walnuts. That's right, my favorite goes right down the drain. Apples and walnuts are not a part of our house.

Here is the traditional recipe
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Traditional-Apple-Walnut-Charoset-234298

I modify it by leaving out the walnuts and filling it in with raisins and I use pears instead of apples. Not the same but not awful.

I'm not a cook by any means so if you have any thoughts on how else I can modify it please let me know.

Through Blogger I can see where in the world people are that are reading the blog. Besides the United States I have had readers from Germany, England, Australia, France, and Portugal! That's so exciting to me! Thank you all! It also makes me stop and think about food allergies in other countries. How prevalent are they? How are they diagnosed? How are they handled in schools etc? If you are reading this from outside the United States, I would love to hear how food allergies are handled in your country.
Thanks!