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Delicious allergy-friendly recipes for you and your family
Feb/Mar 2013
Features
Breathe Easy
Subscribers OnlyA heavy, congested cough wracked Gina La Rosa’s small frame for several months each year starting at age 5. The cough kept her up at night, leaving her exhausted during the day and it made her self-conscious when she couldn’t stop the coughing fits that disrupted class in school. In the winter, when the cold air could exacerbate her condition, Gina stayed inside while all her friends went out for recess each day. The pulmonologist diagnosed Gina with allergy-induced asthma but physicians could never nail down exactly what triggered her wet, deep-chest cough.
Why Can’t We Have a Baby?
When Marisa and Doug Horowitz-Jaffe decided to start a family, they didn’t expect to have trouble. “There weren’t any red flags,” says Marisa, then 30. But after six months of well-timed trying and no signs of pregnancy, the couple went for help.
FODMAP: Road Map for IBS
Subscribers OnlyIrritable Bowel Syndrome interferes with life. People who have it narrate a frustrating journey of countless tests and recurring symptoms that wax and wane but are rarely relieved for long.
Gluten-Free Decadent Desserts
Perhaps your boss is coming over for dinner. Or your in-laws are visiting. Or you’re entertaining a “special someone” for the first time. Whatever the event, you’d love a show-stopping dessert guaranteed to make your guests swoon. But what if your diet restricts gluten, the top eight allergens—and refined sugar? Luckily, these gluten-free recipes deliciously fit the bill.
Departments
Life Story
Jodi Lyn O’Keefe
At age 17, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe starred opposite Don Johnson in TV’s Nash Bridges. Now 34, the former model has worked on many of television’s popular shows, including Two and a Half Men, Lost, Boston Legal and Castle. Recently, she starred alongside John Cusack and Nicolas Cage in the movie, The Frozen Ground. She’s currently shooting a Lifetime movie, Stalkers, and creating her own jewelry line, “Q Jewelry Designs,” inspired by her mother. She lives in the Hollywood Hills where she shares a home with her two dogs.
So Good
Avocados
Subscribers OnlyMy fascination with avocados began when I met Mimi Holtz, wife of a third-generation California avocado farmer. The sprawling Holtz family avocado ranch is located in California’s San Diego County, where most of the US domestic crop is grown. Mimi Holtz’s passion for the fruit ignited the baker in me and I wondered—Were there other ways the avocado could be used in baking? I decided to find out more.
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Muffin Tin Meals
The word is out. Muffin tins are good for more than just cupcakes. From individual meatloaves to sure-to-impress gluten-free French toast cups, there’s no shortage of allergy-friendly recipes that can be prepared in round form.
Gluten-Free Sunday Supper
Subscribers OnlyThe winters get cold and blustery in Vernon, Connecticut, where my husband and I operate a natural foods market, bakery and café. This time of year, we prepare and serve these family-favorite soups and gluten-free bread to customer acclaim. Use these recipes to make cozy Sunday suppers of your own.
House Call
Allergies Q & A- Nut Allergies, EpiPens, Dating with Allergies, & More!
Food allergens can be transferred through saliva. There are reports of allergic people experiencing symptoms after kissing. A study conducted a few years ago by Jennifer Maloney, MD, and colleagues backs this up. It showed that soon after eating peanut butter, salivary levels of peanut protein were high enough in some to cause a reaction. The same study found that some mouth-cleaning methods, like tooth brushing and using mouthwash, didn’t completely get rid of the peanut allergen.
Research Roundup: Celiac Cure, Beneficial Bacteria, and More!
Archaeologists in Tuscany, Italy, found the remains of a first century AD teenager who may have had celiac disease. The teen, a female, appeared severely malnourished and showed other signs suggestive of celiac disease: short stature, osteoporosis, dental enamel defects and cribra orbitalia, a bone condition that researchers think may be an indirect sign of anemia. Food scarcity was unlikely since the overall quality of the teen’s tomb, as well as her jewels, indicate she came from a wealthy family.
Trouble Losing Weight?
Subscribers OnlyThe idea that eating gluten can make you fat is practically gospel in the weight-loss world with many of the most popular diets (South Beach, Paleo, Atkins) advocating gluten avoidance. The number of celebrities touting the benefits of going gluten free has only added momentum to this increasingly popular dietary trend.
Try it
Living Without's Favorites: Clean Containers
You work hard to buy pure, wholesome food and prepare it safely. Kids Konserve offers reusable lunch packaging that keeps it clean—non-toxic meal containers made with materials free of PBA, PVC, phthalate and lead. Designed for adults and kids alike, a typical kit includes two stainless steel containers and water bottle, a cotton napkin and a food “kozy” (a sandwich wrap you can use again and again).
Living Without's Favorites: A Better Bar
Mother-of-four Ginny Simon is a chef, integrative nutritionist and owner of Ginnybakes, a company that offers organic, gluten-free baking mixes and treats (yummy cookies!). Ginny recently turned her culinary zeal into creating a super-healthy gluten-free bar.
Living Without's Favorites: It’s Time Again …
Here’s a tasty way to help your immune system fight them off. American Health’s Ester-C Effervescent Vitamin C Packets deliver immune support in a delicious, natural orange-flavored beverage.
Living Without's Favorites: Seasoned Loaf
We love the Ever-E-Thing Bread mix from Chef Ally Allergen. This easy mix has no gluten, dairy, soy, corn, rice, potato, peanuts or tree nuts. No preservatives, GMOs or artificial anything either. What it does have is delicious seasoning—dried onions and garlic, poppy seeds, caraway, dill and celery seeds. You can add eggs, oil and water for a tasty loaf, as the package instructs.
Read it
Living Without's Favorite Books: A Crash Course
Creating delicious and healthy baked goods without gluten and the top food allergens is a challenge for special-diet newbies and seasoned cooks alike. But here’s help. Savvy food-allergy mom Colette Martin shares her decade-plus experience in Learning to Bake Allergen-Free, A Crash Course for Busy Parents on Baking Without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts (The Experiment Publishing).
Living Without's Favorite Books: In a Flash
It’s true that aspects of cooking are time-consuming. Now culinary instructor and gluten-free chef Robert M. Landolphi speeds things up with his second cookbook, Quick-Fix Gluten Free (Andrews McMeel Publishing). This handy guide to gluten-free fare provides more than 100 fast, easy recipes that delight the taste buds while they save you time in the kitchen.
Living Without's Favorite Books: Feed Your Cookie Monster
Do you crave big chocolate-chip cookies but good sense demands you eschew the sugar and fat? Not to worry, Hallie Klecker’s got just what the doctor ordered. Her latest cookbook, Super Healthy Cookies, 50 Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes for Delicious & Nutritious Treats (Pure Living Press), offers an impressive range of moist, chewy, crispy, crunchy, nutty or chocolaty homemade cookies made with pure foods like seeds, whole-grain alternative flours, nuts and natural sweeteners.
Living Without's Favorite Books: Your Friendly Guide
The Total Food Allergy Health and Diet Guide (Robert Rose) is one of those books for every allergic household. Written by dietitian Alexandra Anca with allergist Gordon L. Sussman, MD, it contains 150 recipes, as well as important information for managing food allergies and intolerances.
Food for Thought
Wheel of Fortune
Sometimes life on a special diet feels like a Wheel of Fortune. One spin lands you on the “jackpot,” a feast of abundance. The next spin falls on “bankruptcy,” a forfeit-dinner card. I’ve been there and always pack a bag of safe snacks, just in case.