Allergy Friendly

My husband was diagnosed with multiple allergies in our first year of marriage. Many years later I'm sharing our experiences and what I've learned from recipes, to restaurants, and the best brands.

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Allergy Friendly ham and turkey rolls

recipe for gluten, wheat, and egg free ham and turkey rolls

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How To Use Social Media Allergy Friendly Style

If you haven’t noticed, several of my recent blogs have been focused on social media. I've been working on my masters degree and thought a social media class would be great to not only help me with the Allergy Friendly site and blog, but also as a marketing professional. After several weeks of reading, discussion, and research I wanted to share what’s stood out the most for me in my social media class and what’s helped the Allergy Friendly site the most: Blogging

Voice -  It’s really important to use a consistent voice throughout your blog. When I decided I wanted to blog I looked at a lot of my favorites blogs and the style they wrote in. Most were easy to read because of the writers laid back, friendly style. This was the voice I wanted to use in my blog so I try to treat it like I'm talking to my friends, but still have a serious tone at times when subject requires it. 

Focus - Pick a topic you're passionate about and have a lot to share. My husband’s allergies have changed our life in many ways. I keep a list of all the little allergy related issues that come up in our life or that might make a good blog post and scroll through the list when I’m struggling on what to talk about in a new blog post. Other times there is something that has affected our life in that particular week that has really stood out in my mind, like when his coworkers moved their lunch meeting to an allergy friendly restaurant so he could join them.

Frequency - I've already failed on this one, but am trying to make amends to my loyal followers. Consistency is key or you'll start losing followers and relevancy on whatever topic you're focused on. I was pretty consistent with posts on my blog until my husband got sick during the holidays in 2013. Honestly I should have been blogging about this experience and the many tests that were run to rule out more allergies and other possibilities, but I was so worried about what they would or wouldn't find I couldn't even think about anything else and I didn't blog for months as a result. He’s fine now by the way. No new allergies, but more changes in his diet.

Twitter

Choose your followers wisely - Follow other experts and bloggers talking about the same or similar subjects, or even your competitors. The more active they are the better; more relevant information to share with your followers.

Sharing on Social Media - Being active on social media doesn't take much. Share, like, tweet, retweet, and favorite anything that you find interesting or relevant to your blogs focus. Those you follow like to see their links retweeted and shared and will return the favor, and your followers will enjoy seeing different perspectives as well. If you need some help getting up and running on Twitter, pick up Mark Schaefer's Tao of Twitter.

Google+

Opportunity awaits on Google+ - There are more people using Google+ than you think and the positives of sharing your blog posts on Google+ are plenty. More discussion happens here and Google+ posts show up in Google searches higher than any other social media. If you want your blog to be found by more new followers you must, at a minimum, be sharing your blog posts on Google+. If you need some direction on Google+ get your hands on a copy of Chris Brogan’s Google+ for Business or Guy Kawasaki’s What the Plus. 

Managing Social Media

20 minute management - Don’t be afraid of management tools like HootSuite, TweetDeck, or Seesmic. These tools can save you so much time getting your blogs and other content out there consistently and across all of your social media platforms. Twenty minutes and you can schedule tweets and posts of your current blog posts, past posts, and other valuable content for an entire week like these amazing allergy friendly sugar cookies, perfect for Halloween treats. This frees up the rest of your week to share other content you’re reading, or thoughts on your blogs focus in general.

As I share more about my husbands food allergies and our challenges as a family I get more feedback from followers that makes it all feel worthwhile. I know at least someone is getting value out of what I'm sharing, which was the whole point of starting Allergy Friendly. If I've shared something you loved, please let me know. If there’s something specific you’d like me to talk about, please share that as well. Any other advice you’d give for someone new to blogging or social media?

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Allergy Friendly ~ About Allergy Friendly

About Allergy Friendly

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Does Social Media Help or Hurt Allergy Friendly Brands?

This past week the Gluten-Free buyers guide was promoting their survey for the 5th annual Gluten-Free awards. Anyone could vote on their favorite brands in multiple categories and the results would be shared in their annual list later this year. I was curious to see what brands were mentioned so clicked through the link to vote for my favorites. There were several categories with brands listed that I had never heard of before. There were also several where I was aware of the brand, but don’t use it because while they may be free of wheat and gluten they contain other allergens that my family must avoid. Several of my favorite brands weren't even on the list. This is concerning. How do I not know about some of these brands? They could be safe for my family, but they clearly aren't available in my area or they don’t promote themselves in our little corner of the Rocky Mountains. I know we live in a somewhat remote area, but Denver is just a few hours away. What about my favorite brands? Are they too regional to be included in the list, or too small that people aren't aware of them? Or is there another brand out there that is more popular and tastes, dare I say, better than my favorite? So I decided to do a little digging on a few brands in the list. Unknown brands on the list: Bumbalooza – They are on twitter, but I’ve never seen a mention or tweet from those I follow or follow me. They have a Facebook page and are an east coast brand. Interesting mixes that all look yummy, but nothing I would buy since I have recipes for most everything they list. Simple Mills – Has a Twitter page, but immediately saw from the photo they use almond flour – no good for my family. Also promoted as dairy, soy, GMO and weird product free. Cute, but you use nuts, a very common allergen. Better Batter - Here’s a confusing one, 19 people I follow or follow me also follow Better Batter, but still I’ve never heard of them. Somethings not adding up here. Maybe not promoting their brand the right way on Twitter? My favorites not on the list: Tinkyada pasta – Best gluten-free pasta hands down, but their website is extremely outdated and no social media presence at all. This really hurts them, but you can still find the #tinkyada hashtag all over Twitter. Bella Gluten Free flour mix – Easily my favorite gluten-free flour mix. They have a Facebook page but not a Twitter page. They have a link on their homepage to share a twitter link to their site to your followers. Very odd, why no physical presence on Twitter when you have a Facebook page? They are also a local brand, made in Colorado. Simply Organic sauces and spices – I follow them on twitter along with three other mutual followers. Do they not promote that many of their packaged sauces and seasoning mixes are also gluten, wheat, egg, nut, and soy free? Missing a big market here! It should have been a bit more obvious on my favorite brands when I realized I hadn’t followed a few of them on twitter. There’s just no twitter presence there and in this case it hurts the majority of them. This tells me that you can have a great product that sells well, but if you’re not promoting yourself properly on social media you’re missing potential new markets and growth opportunities. It also tells me that you can be on social media, but if you’re not using it properly why are you even there? It doesn’t take much time to be successful on Twitter or Facebook, don’t be afraid of it! There are so many articles and books out there that offer advice and support to get you started. *Take heed above mentioned brands, you could be doing so much more on social media with very little effort!* Have you voted on the Gluten Free Buyers Guide annual list? There’s still time, vote here. Any other brands you think should have made the list or were you like me wondering why you’d never heard of certain brands before?

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Allergy friendly bacon cheeseburger pizza

allergy friendly pizza

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10 posts!

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Social Media Applications And Food Allergies

For many of us whose lives are affected by food allergies it can feel like a lonely deserted road at times. We turn to social media to vent, ask questions, or search for answers. So many of us are experiencing the same things that you can always find someone who can offer advice or suggestions, support with a food allergy issue, or just someone to listen while you vent. Research is shared and discussed, photos of new recipes are posted and tagged, concerns and fears slowly fade.

We share our restaurant experiences any time we eat out with the Allergy Eats group so others will know what restaurants to visit or avoid. Their reminders every Monday morning on both Facebook and Twitter are always appreciated. Their app is then updated with the latest ratings making it easier for the food allergy community to enjoy the occasional meal out.

We watch for the latest development on food allergies to be shared by FARE via a twitter post. Twitter is the quickest way to share the latest research or article on food allergies and gets the conversation going. The research is often contradictory, which just makes the discussion more interesting. With no definitive cause for food allergies yet we all have our theories and support different areas of research while still supporting the same goal.

We wait for new recipes to be shared on Pinterest, because a photo with a recipe makes it look ten times more appealing. Pinterest even has a special grouping now to highlight specific dietary needs. It won’t be long before there are groups dedicated to specific food allergies.

We read the latest blog posts on food allergy related issues. If a new research paper or article has come out or news about a favorite brand is released someone is already blogging about it. Whether it's the recent news of Annie's being sold to General Mills or the increase of gluten free and food allergy posers hurting our cause you'll find more than one person voicing their concerns.

We rant and support each other on Facebook. Facebook is the quickest way to share a bad experience or an urgent need for support. Whether you've had a bad scare with a food allergy reaction and just need to share or you've been excluded yet again because of food allergies you can quickly share and get a response from your support group.

While this list seems to cover a lot there's always more we want to do or could do to improve the presence of food allergies not only on social media and the internet, but also in our communities, schools, and homes. More support groups, more information, more tolerance, the list goes on. What would you like to see from the food allergy community that could help? How can we as a group do better, specifically on social media?

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The Odd Allergies

Every few months it seems I get on a kick to find new recipes that are safe for my husband and that the kids will eat. I'll do searches online or I'll dig through the drawer of cookbooks to see what I can find that could be easily converted. The biggest hurdle is always that one food allergy in our house that's not so common; tomatoes. While I use a red pepper sauce in place of tomatoes for a few pasta dishes, pizza sauce, chili, and enchiladas in recipes on my website this doesn't always cut it. To make this allergy even odder is that he can't be near a tomato plant without his sinuses starting swell and his eyes start to water. Just the other night my husband was talking about how much he missed chili. He's also sensitive to legumes on top of all his food allergies and went on and on about beans being the best part of chili, tomatoes were the second best thing about chili. This makes me sad. If there was some way I could create a chili for him that had something that tasted like a bean, but wouldn't make him sick... I'll gladly take any suggestions here. I saw a recipe today for a burrito pie. It looked and sounded amazing as I drooled over the picture and scanned the ingredients, then I got to the tomatoes and closed the page. I should have known better. You would think that one of his other allergies would be more limiting than the tomatoes, but the market for gluten free products and egg replacer has grown like crazy in the past few years along with soy, nut, and sesame free products and we hardly ever ate shellfish before his diagnosis so this didn't slow us down either. Something about not being able to use tomatoes just seems to ruin our meal possibilities. I've had comments from other food allergy sufferers on their odd allergies as well; pumpkin, mushrooms, pineapple, melon, and even an onion allergy. I would gladly trade any of these to be able to cook with tomatoes again. On the plus side red peppers were on sale this week at the store and I stocked up with plans to freeze some sauce for future use, a new pasta dish maybe. My husband looked at me and said; "or you can make your pizza" with a grin on his face. I'm glad I can at least make this new meal favorite for him. It may not be chili, but it puts a smile on his face. Do you have any odd allergies not in the top eight that you struggle with? What do you do to get around them or replace them? And do you have any suggestions on replacements for tomatoes or beans in a chili recipe? I'll take those comments as well!

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This red pepper sauce is what I use in place of tomato sauce for a good portion of recipes. With my husband being allergic to tomatoes I have to get creative sometimes with alternatives, but this red pepper sauce has worked well in Italian dishes, chili, enchiladas, and pizza sauce. http://allergy-friendly.weebly.com/red-pepper-sauce.html

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How Social Media Can Benefit Those With Food Allergies

Just a few decades ago food allergy sufferers and parents of food allergy children didn't have much support. There was no one to share their experiences or frustrations, no one to help them navigate the grocery store in search of safe brands, or another voice of concern when working with schools in providing a safe place for their children or explaining to co-workers for the umpteenth time why you can't have the cake, cookies, or other goodies they've brought to share with the rest of the office. If you were lucky you lived in a larger area where there may have been a handful of food allergy sufferers to support each other. As food allergies have increased support groups are popping up everywhere. Even if you live in a small town you can still be a part of these groups as they increase their presence on social media and numerous blogs. Food Allergy Blogs There are so many food allergy related blogs out there that a conference is dedicated to this group, Food Allergy Bloggers Conference. Not only are the most popular bloggers, advocates, and medical experts in attendance at this conference, but they also invite anyone dealing with food allergies to attend and learn how they can start a food allergy related blog too. The best known allergy friendly brands are also in attendance and invite you to visit their booths and try their products. The amount of information, experience, support, and recipes is limitless not only at FAB but from the community as a whole. There is a food allergy dedicated blog out there for just about any diagnosis; kids, adults, multiple allergies, epipen support, Celiac disease, etc. and if there isn't one out there that fits your needs the FABLOGCon community can help you create one. The FAB community was created from the desire to connect with all the other food allergy bloggers out there who share information on Facebook and Twitter, that have written books and blogs, and influenced others to share their experiences as well. Twitter for Food Allergies Twitter is a limitless resource for food allergy sufferers. You can find multiple food allergy bloggers, brands, advocates, and medical experts through a quick search. Follow them on Twitter for constant updates on food allergy research, support, events, and recipes. You can search hashtags specific to your allergy to find more information or specialists focusing on a specific allergy. You can use those same hashtags to ask questions about a specific food allergy, reach out to the food allergy community, or voice concerns on any food allergy related issue. Send a direct message to a food allergy blogger or advocate to ask about a more personal issue or share information with them that they can share with others. With social media we've become this little family of support. We know what you're going through and can help you get through it safely. Most of us that blog about food allergies started with the purpose of sharing our experience with others so that they wouldn't have to struggle the way we did. We want you to reach out to us and ask us questions, comment on blogs and recipes that we share, and share your experiences with us so that we can all help someone else.

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Allergy Friendly Fruit Crisp

Allergy Friendly Fruit Crisp: I like to experiment with recipes and make them work for my husbands numerous food allergies. This fruit crisp recipe came out so well that I'll be making it again for a dinner party later this month. I would work well with several different fruits; apples, peaches, cranberries, blue berries....

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Yummy gluten free and egg free chocolate cookies with Quinoa flakes; http://allergy-friendly.weebly.com/chocolate-pure-lust-cookies.html

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Gluten free and egg free jelly rolls made with home made chokecherry jam; http://allergy-friendly.weebly.com/jelly-rolls.html

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When my husband goes on business trips I plan ahead and cook like a mad women so he has extra food to take that can be warmed up in a hotel room microwave. To reward me for all I do he whisked me away for our anniversary to Steamboat Springs, CO. Here's a photo of the beautiful drive home. We packed our small portable grill and picnicked in a park along the Yampa River. Then we wandered around the shops downtown before enjoying a great meal with the attentive folks at Mahogany Ridge. Can't thank their staff enough for making sure my husband had an allergy safe meal, and he's still talking about their white cheddar potatoes two weeks later.  

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When I list off all of the foods my husband is allergic to people often ask me what we do eat, and I just want to shake my head.

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Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese

This is another recipe that I've been using for years and wanted to convert it to Allergy Friendly form. I found the original recipe in a Holiday Cookbook years ago and have passed it on to family members. My mom even uses this recipe in the sugar cookies she sells at her holiday crafts booth in the spring and fall. I made a batch of these for Easter and so many family members commentrf on how they could not tell that these were wheat and egg free cookies. They are easy to roll out and cut, and the kids love to decorate them as you can tell from the photo.  1 cup butter, softened 1 small package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla (make sure it's gluten free vanilla) 1 egg (or egg replacer equivalent for one egg) 3 cups gluten free flour mix 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. xanthan gum Mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg replacer on medium speed. Then add in the flour, salt, and xanthan gum until blended. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, but no longer than 24 hours. Heat the oven to 375 degrees while you roll out a portion of the dough. I like to use white rice flour on my work surface, rolling pin, and cookie cutters for this recipe. The dough will need to be "worked" a little bit to warm it up and so that it rolls out smoothly. The thickness of the cookies is up to you, but I like these cookies a little on the thick side even though it doesn't make as many that way. Space them out on your cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 10 minutes. I go closer to ten minutes so that they're just starting to brown on the tops. I let them cool on a cookie rack and then mix up several colors and flavors of frosting for decorating. Make sure you read the ingredients on your sprinkles as some have soy to give them a longer shelf life. I've seen a few recipes for making your own sprinkles with food coloring and sugar and then baking for a few minutes, but haven't tried this yet. I also like to add jelly beans for decoration. I like the Starburst jelly beans as they are safe, but have also found a generic version of Jelly Belly's at King Soopers and Walmart that are also wheat, egg, and soy free. I usually get about 2 1/2 dozen with large cookie cutters.