Raising a Allergy Child

Recently I read a good article about raising kids with Celiac Disease and the challege involved in it. The article was very well written and so close to my heart and I would like to share some of the strategy that I use to raise my kids, Kimi and Isaac, who has suffered severe food allergy.

1. To educate them early
It is very important to educate them as soon as they started to aware of their surrounding. As for Kimi, I started showing her picture books of different type of food. I would show her the picture of 'Cow Milk' and told her that she could have Milk, but has to be Kimi Milk (Rice Milk) but not 'Cow Milk'. As Kimi became toddler, I would show her the picture of 'Cow Milk' and asked her whether she can have them. Kimi would shake her head and told me, 'Kimi cannot have cow milk, but Kimi can have Kimi Milk.' When I asked her why she could not have cow milk, she would tell me that cow milk make her sick and itch (she has terrible ezcema along with the allergy. By educate them early, they will learn to protect themselves to some extend and help minimize any accident.

2. Teach them How to Handle Emergency
When the kids are a little bit older like around 4 years old, being a parents should start educate the kids how to handle emergency situation when they have a reaction. I always have Kimi to bring her benedryl when having a sleepover. I have a long talk with the other parents about my kids allergy and how to handle the situation when Kimi is having a reaction. I teach Kimi how to use Epi-pen. Kimi  learn early on if she did not know what to do when she has allergic reaction, it will have serious effect on her life.

3. Bring them Shopping
I know sometimes it not be a great idea to bring young kids to the store; however, I learnt that it's important to show them what the food look like that they could have and what they could not have. When the children are young, they would like to grab everything on the store and they are extremely visual. By teaching them what the food look like will help them to say 'NO' to people who offer them with food that they are allergic to.

4. Teach Them Always Ask Before Eating
I always told my kids not to be shamed asking the gredients on the food that they were being served even from me. Yes, even I made mistake sometimes. If my kids are in someone else house and not sure about certain ingredients, I told them to call before they eat anything.

5. Tell them They are not Strange
My Kimi has asked me whether she is a different because of her food allergy. Because of her allergy, her skin got irritated very easily. Kimi's skin would get so itchy that she would tear her skin off. It was a very tough period of time not only for her but also for me. I used to spend 20 minutes every morning and evening to put bandage on her hands, arms and legs so that she could not reach her open scar and to scratch them. I put long pants and sleeves shirt on her on hot summer day. Kids and adult would ask her why she got hurt so often; and I got fair amount of questioning stares from people when I was out with Kimi. I told Kimi all the time that she is not strange and everyone is unique in her/his own way. I told Kimi not to be afraid to explain to people what happen to her skin and arms if people ask. I told her she is just a normal kid and should act like a kid; a little bit of boo boo should not affect her ability to play at the playground with other kids. It is not healthy to make your kid to feel different because they cannot eat certain food or do certain activities. Educate them and keep telling them they are not strange is important. Provide as much love and attention you could possibly gift.

6. Cook Food that can Share as Family
Mealtime could be challeging in my household but it's not impossible. Instead of cooking different things for different members in the family. I tried to find recipe that would cater for the entire family and you will realized that it is actually not that difficult once you get into habit of it. For example, I will have beef stew; and instead of flour for the thickening agent, I will use corn starch. I will cook meatloaf and instead of egg for binding the meat together, I will use egg substitute. If I cook chicken as the potein for dinner, I would also make lamb for Kimi since she is allergic to chicken and she loves lamb chop. Every meal, I would cook starch and vegetables that everyone could have and share as family. I try not to cook a separate meal for Kimi and/or my husband because of their unique dietary needs. We are family and we are in it together.

There are a lot of resources and support group out there for people living with allergy so we are not alone. To me, just keep an open mind and deal with it one day at a time and be thankful that my family are happy and living a healthy life.

Spelt Flour for Wheat allergy but not Celiac Disease?!?

When my daughter was dignosed with wheat, soy and dairy allergy 8 years ago, I cried at the doctor office. How could my daughter allergic to the 3 most common food groups? And how could my daughter ever get nitrients? To make myself feel better, I thought about my origin and thank you for it.


I am chinese so rice is in my major diet and thanks God that Kimi is not allergic to rice. Kimi is also not allergic to corn and potato. Therefore, kimi was able to use rice and corn products. The only problem I found was bread. The taste of non-wheat breads are not very appealing. They tend to be very heavy and they're rather hard for a little girl to swallow sometimes. There is also very little dessert choice out there, ice-cream, cookies, cake and cupcake etc are completely cut out from her diet. I often felt sorry for her not being able to be a little kids when she could not enjoy some common dessert.


Then one day, some major bread through; one of my co-worker a few years ago has a friend whom has a daughter also has the same allergy as my Kimi and he told me that his friend mentioned about spelt flour as substitute for wheat. Then I do more research on spelt. I have done some research before and I ruled spelt out because spelt is in wheat family. My daughter is very sensitive in term of what she eats; hence, I did not even want to try spelt flour even I have heard people with wheat allergy can somehow tolerate spelt. In addition, I don't bake. I burned everything I baked. However, after I did more research on spelt flour and connect with Jeanie, I converted. Jeanie baked a birthday cake in Dora theme for my daughter on her 3rd birthday and by seeing Kimi's face light up when she saw and ate the cake. My heart melted.


Spelt flour can be used as a good alternative for people who has wheat allergies; however, it is not suitable for Celiac Disease.

What is Spelt Flour?
Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a hexaploid species of wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times; it now survives as a relict crop in Central Europe and has found a new market as a health food. Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the closely related species common wheat (T. aestivum), in which case its botanical name is considered to be Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta. - From Wikipedia

Spelt is similar to wheat in appearance. However, spelt has a tougher husk than wheat, which may help protect the nutrients in spelt. Spelt flour has a somewhat nuttier and slightly sweeter flavor than whole wheat flour. Spelt contains more protein than wheat, and the protein in spelt is easier to digest. This means that some people who are allergic to wheat may be able to tolerate spelt. Spelt has gluten, just like wheat, so spelt is not suitable for a gluten-free diet.

Spelt flour can replace whole wheat flour or whole grain flour in recipes for breads and pasta. Some people like to blend spelt flour with wheat flour. I have used spelt to make bread, rolls, sweet-breads, cookies, muffins, bagels, pretzels and I have used spelt to replace wheat in almost any recipes.

Spelt is becoming better known as a healthy grain, so spelt products like bread and pasta are easy to find in most health food stores. .- From About.com - articke By Shereen Jegtvig

Cleaning the Pantry - Get Ready for Dietary Need

Cleaning the Pantry is a not easy task. I myself avoid it as much as possible. I have recently spent about 4 hrs in the pantry and going through all the items in there and organize all items with labels for "Easy Navigation". I have thrown away 3 bags of items that were expired; and a full bag of items that does not fit the dietary requirement in my household and I will donate it to food bank.

The important idea of cleaning the pantry is not only to make some space but also to understand what is currently available and appropriate for your diet on hand. Once you understand what you have already had, then you can make a list to stock up something that you will need to satisfy your diet.

When I cleaned up my pantry, I implemented the following process and it works well for me. It might work for people as well:

• Take everything out and try to put them in different categories; such as soup, spices, pasta etc.
• Go through the expiration date, and toss anything that is more than 6 months old. In theory, if the product is less than 6 months past the expiration date; they are still good but make a note to use it; otherwise, should put it in a bag for donation.
• Go through every label. You will be surprised that the ingredients that are actually in each product. I learnt to read label when my daughter was allergic to 'Everything'. 'Wheat' is a very common ingredient in a lot of product and 'Soy' as well. Make sure to spend sometime to read each label carefully. If something does not meet the requirement, donate it.
• Implement a grouping system. It does not matter how you organize your items; whether by region or by type. The key is that it will allow you to find what you are looking for easier. I group my items by combination of region and type.
• Once you group your item, I put them in container and I label every container; such as 'Mexican Spices', 'Gluten-Free', 'Kid's Snack' and 'Asian' etc. 

I am on the process of converting the family into a more a gluten-free diet so that I do not have to keep and cook 2 different meal. Once you understand your pantry and know what you have, then it will prevent any "Accident", such as having a can of soup that might have containing wheat.

Like I said, it's not easy to clean the pantry and it's very time-consuming. However, it will help in keeping up with dietary restriction.