Peanut-Free

On October 21, 2012 our world changed forever when I fed my 14 month old daughter Lacie a piece of peanut butter toast for lunch.  As my husband wiped down her face and hands from the mess that the lunch had made (it was peanut butter, the stickiest possible food to  feed a 14 month old) he asked "Why are her cheeks so red?"  Fast forward another twenty minutes and her top lip began swelling and we were on our way to the emergency room...oh yeah did I mention I was about 37 weeks pregnant with Blakely at the time?  Not good!

That week was a roller coaster of doctors appointments and blood work.  All the while, we were hopeful that it was something else...an allergy to the wet wipes perhaps.  Please don't let her be allergic to peanut butter I prayed.  As a teacher, I knew the huge impact a food allergy like this would have on Lacie's life in the not too far off future.  Approximately one week after the initial incident, the phone rang and I heard the words that I will never forget...

"Your daughter's blood work came back.  She tested at a level 4 out of 6 for peanuts.  This is considered a really high number."

I sat on the couch and cried.  I called my mom and cried.  I was devastated.  In my mind, I went through Lacie's entire future and how this would affect everything from the first day of kindergarten to attending friends birthday parties to her first date to her first day of college and, well, you get the picture.  Every single social situation seems to involve food.  How am I going to navigate this peanut allergy?  How am I going to teach Lacie to avoid these allergens that lurk everywhere.

Fast forward to today, and we are  handling her allergy diagnosis much better than we did when we were first hit with the news.  Every day, I try to look at the positive that comes from the situation...We are much more diligent about label reading and we eat much less "junk" food.  We no longer have the Peanut Butter M&Ms readily available in a candy dish...in fact we don't keep candy in the house on a regular basis at all.

I still pray everyday that Lacie will outgrow her peanut allergy.  While this is not likely (peanuts and tree nuts are the allergens that studies show are the least likely to be outgrown) there is always a chance.  And if she never outgrows her allergy, we have every reason to hope that some doctor or researcher will come up for a cure for these food allergies that seem to be plaguing this generation of children.

Until that day,  I am trying to create the best, healthiest, and yummiest peanut free environment I can manage for my little girl!  This piece of my blog will be dedicated to posting recipes (mainly desserts and snacks) that do not contain peanuts!