Allergy Free Lemon-Piccata Chicken Thighs

Here's a really simple allergy free recipe that my husband and kids LOVE. I serve it with sauteed garlic spinach, asparagus, or butternut squash and rice.

Prep Time 5 minutes; Cook time: 45-50 minutes
Ingredients:
4-6 Chicken Thighs
1/2 cup olive oil
3 small scallions(sliced, white parts only)
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tbs capers
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine oil, scallions, lemon, & capers. Arrange chicken thighs in roasting pan-skin side up. Lightly salt and pepper chicken. Pour marinade over chicken, then turn so the skin side is down. Roast in oven for 25 minutes basting once. Turn chicken over, baste, and continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. If you like your skin crispy, turn oven on Broil and broil for 5-7 minutes.
Let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving. ENJOY!

Information on Cold Urticaria treatments

Here's an interesting information in the treatment of Cold Urticaria-which my 2 year old Nicholas had.
http://ow.ly/1p8FHk
http://ow.ly/1oXwtA

Illness and the Food Allergic child

For most Moms it's nerve wracking enough when your child runs a high fever, has a bad cold, or is generally ill but for the mother of a food allergic child it is especially stressful. Alexa is recovering from pneumonia which started as a fever, coughing, and general malaise but progressed one day into vomiting. You're probably thinking, "yeah, sounds normal-what's the big deal?". Well, when you have a child with food anaphylaxis, vomiting can be a sign of a severe allergic reaction headed to anaphylaxis, so it is especially stressful when she starts to vomit within half an hour of eating and seems to gasp for breath in between heaves. In that moment you think, "is this just the illness or was it something she ate? What did I just feed her?" You have to consider whether or not to give her Benadryl, her Epi Pen, or just wait it out. It's all in your hands and your interpretation, so you just pray you make the right call. We've had several experiences where her vomiting was so severe and scary that I almost administered her Epi Pen. In that moment you do not want to make the wrong call. You don't want to miss a reaction and not give her the medicine, which can result in death, but you also do not want to "freak out" and stab her with a needle because you panicked. We have been fortunate enough to not need her Epi Pen in the past 3 years but I'm always on the fence in these moments. I just pray that if the moment ever comes when she does need her Epi Pen that I know what it looks like and make the right call. There are many days that I wish this was not my burden to carry but I am unbelievably thankful for my beautiful little girl.

New town, new food allergy challenges.

We've been in NYC for over six months now but I continue to struggle with finding safe "basic" foods for my daughter. In our previous home I knew just where to go to find her rice milk, pasta, safe chocolate chips, cake mixes, special snacks, and even pizza delivery. When we moved to NYC I had to start over which caught me off guard. Most of her items were not readily available at the local grocery story and if they did carry something I needed it would cost twice as much. My in-laws actually drove to New Jersey to find her Rice Milk and bought a case of it which helped tremendously. Since my kids drink 1/2 a gallon a day-I really needed to find it close by and for a reasonable price, which, thankfully, I managed to do. However, I have to order her Enjoy Life chocolate chips and Cherry Brook Kitchen mixes on line and pay for shipping since I can't find them here. It took me several days, phone calls, and emails to find safe pastas that she could eat (my mother in law is Italian so this was a must). Now Alexa is asking for pizza delivery. I make safe pizza at home but she's wanting a pepperoni pizza delivered. She doesn't ask for special food items very often so when she does I try my best to accommodate her but this one is proving to be a challenge. We live on an island on the East River so our delivery options are limited. NYC pizza places will not deliver here. The local pizza place uses eggs in their crust so they're out and so far the other delivery places from Long Island City are unsafe for various reasons. I will continue to call around and search for that perfect pizza place, but it make me sad that a simple thing like take out pizza is such a challenge for a food allergic child.