Gourmet Chocolates WITHOUT the Allergens?! Introducing Amore di Mona!
Here at AllerMates, we’ll find any excuse to eat chocolate, so stumbling upon a heavenly, gourmet, allergy-friendly chocolate brand was a dream come true for us! Amore di Mona creates allergen-free, low glycemic, vegan chocolates that are not just a good choice for kids with food allergies, but for all kids with a sweet tooth. […]
Read More
Get a FREE AllerMates Activity Booklet & A Chance to Win More by Shopping at CVS!
You may have heard of us mention how thrilled we are to be on over 4,500 CVS Health shelves across the country, probably because we can’t stop talking about it! We’re beyond excited to get the opportunity to introduce CVS Health customers everywhere to our products designed to protect kids with food allergies. We wanted […]
Read More
The Rise of the Nut Milk – like we don’t have enough to worry about!
As a mother to a child with a nut allergy, I feel the same way about the rise of ISIS as I do about the rise of NUT MILKS. It seems like one day I had never heard of them and then suddenly the next day, they were everywhere and posing a HUGE, imminent threat […]
Read More
Get a FREE AllerMates Activity Booklet & A Chance to Win More by Shopping at CVS!
You may have heard of us mention how thrilled we are to be on over 4,500 CVS Health shelves across the country, probably because we can’t stop talking about it! We’re beyond excited to get the opportunity to introduce CVS Health customers everywhere to our products designed to protect kids with food allergies. We wanted […]
Read More
Nut free classrooms. Guaranteed?
The other day I was preparing lunch for my two year old, non-allergic son for pre-school and grabbed his favorite type of yogurt… YoCrunch, the kind where a small container of M&M’s are placed on top of the container of “low” fat yogurt (another brilliant idea cooked up by the food conglomerates. Next it’ll be […]
Read More
When Epinephrine Doesn’t Work
In the past there have been too many tragic stories of kids with food allergies or even young adults with severe allergies who have left the world way too early due to an allergic reaction gone wrong. While there’s no doubt every loss is beyond saddening, perhaps the most disturbing stories for parents of kids […]
Read More
Enjoy Allergy-Free Baking with Enjoy Life!
Last month, we introduced you to one of our favorite allergy friendly foods, Enjoy Life when we included their decadent bars in our subscription boxes for kids. Enjoy Life creates products free from: Gluten Peanut Soy Casein Potato Wheat Tree nut Fish Sesame Dairy Egg Shellfish Sulfites Without all of these allergens, kids with food allergies can eat […]
Read More
Baking Egg Free For Your Kid With Allergies
The holidays are just around the corner and that means you’ll be seeing lots of sweet stuff like cookies, brownies, home-made candy, pastries, pies and cake. Kids are known for having a sweet tooth, but what about the kid with food allergies? Aren’t eggs a major ingredient in baked goods? Fear not! Most eggs can […]
Read More
I’m Thankful for My Kid with Food Allergies!
Here we go,everyone! From now up until the New Year, we’ll see a lot of articles and posts on gratitude. When I thought of writing a post on gratitude, I first thought, “There’s already so many. Do I really need to add one more to this group?” Well apparently the answer is “yes” because here […]
Read More
Allergy-Free Baking: Even Kids With Food Allergies Can Have Their Cake And Eat It Too
Yum! Cookies, cakes, candy and that oh so famous nut-bowl—just the thought brings a smile to most peoples’ faces; seriously, who doesn’t love those holiday treats? I’ll tell who doesn’t like it! Parents of kids with food allergies. That’s who! Those classic holiday goodies are usually loaded with ingredients that our children are severely allergic […]
Read More
GOBBLE, GOBBLE: Even a Kid with Food Allergies Can Enjoy Thanksgiving
As we move closer to the holiday season, we’re beginning to look forward to winding down, spending quality time with our loved ones and, of course, doing lots of EATING. Who doesn’t anticipate Thanksgiving Day dinner?! The turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, mac ‘n cheese, dumplings, pumpkin pie… We could go on and on….but as […]
Read More
A Mother’s Love to Help Kids With Allergies
I was happy to recently be interviewed by the team over at FreshKids about all things related to food allergies and AllerMates! Check out the interview below, and be sure to visit www.wearefreshkids.com and see how dedicated they are to providing healthier snack options for kids in their Nut Free Facilty! We recently caught up with […]
Read More
Shaking Things Up at CVS Health Stores With New, Exciting Changes for Kids with Food Allergies!
AllerMates is proud to have now been on CVS Health stores’ shelves for over three years offering our popular allergy bracelets and colorful cases to hold kids allergy medicine! My little team and I have been dedicated to educating parents and children and advocating for food allergy awareness for years, so being able to partner with CVS […]
Read More
Enjoy Life, Eat Freely!
Enjoy Life, Eat Freely! is the motto of a company on a big mission to provide safe, great-tasting foods that are free from the eight most common allergens and gluten-free too! Founded in 2001, Enjoy Life has worked diligently to be a consistently delicious and reliable source for allergy-free snacks. They've grown to now offer 46 products including cookies, cereal, snack bars, seed and fruit mixes, baking chocolate, chocolate bars and snack chips.
Read More
Time for Teal: Allergy-Safe Trick or Treating with the ‘Teal Pumpkin Project’ Gets Bigger and Better!
For most kids, Halloween is all about costumes and candy, but some families have to worry about real scares for our food-allergic ghosties and goblins. Last year, the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) group as well as Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) promoted a national “Teal Pumpkin Project” campaign to promote non-food Halloween treats […]
Read More
Nightmare on Nut Allergy Street
It’s hard enough being a parent at Halloween. You walk down the supermarket aisle and cringe at the selection, knowing each bag is chock full of sugar and food dyes. Yet you do it because your kids love this holiday, and let’s face it, you do, too. But do you know what’s tougher? Being a kid with a...
Read More
True or False: Epinephrine and Timing… to wait or not to wait?!
You should wait until you're SURE your child is having a severe allergic reaction before going for the epinephrine. True or false? While you may hope an allergic reaction won't be "that bad," and it's possible you may be right, NEVER leave it to chance. That's right; today's answer is FALSE. Please realize that a delay in use of epinephrine has been linked to fatal food anaphylaxis. This means if you know your child is at risk for a severe reaction...
Read More
Five natural ways to help tackle seasonal allergies
Just as we get spring’s sneezing behind us, we now have to contend with ragweed pollen, which explains why your kid’s nose is running all over again. There’s no doubt this year’s pollen has had so many of us sampling allergy medicine like it was our job. Like many parents, you’ve likely tried pill after pill after […]
Read More
When back to school, education starts at home.
As I've said a thousand times before... as parents, we are our children's first and foremost educators, and one of the most important things we do in this role is teach them about their health. I know that if you're reading this post, your kid's health education is of utmost importance to you, whether related to food allergies, asthma, diabetes or another health concern. While it was my own family's experience that founded AllerMates, it's been your stories that have helped us build beyond our original line of safety products. In fact, AllerMates "Teacher Forms" were inspired by...
Read More
Two good ways to use your SunButter this school year (and two more reasons I love SunButter!)
If you saw my blog post earlier this week, you read four reasons why I love SunButter so. Now, I want to let you in on a fifth reason... it's versatility! Having been a fan of SunButter for a long time, I've not only used it as a peanut butter substitute, but also in place of other kids' allergens. However, I can't take all the credit for it because (reason #6) the company is very supportive of its community and provides free, yes FREE, recipes for its fans. Here are two of my favorites...
Read More
School Safe + Yummy = SunButter Sunflower Spread
As a mom to a kid with severe food allergies, back to school shopping is more than just notebooks, clothes, pencils and paper. It’s finding foods that are both safe and yummy for my son, so that he stays happy and healthy in the lunchroom. And even though his allergens don’t include peanuts, it’s very important to me to help protect kids with a peanut allergy, too, because I know so many of our friends in the AllerMates community and beyond have to deal with this one! Luckily, there are several wonderful companies out there making yummy peanut butter substitutes. If you’re curious what the go-to is for my family, it’s...
Read More
Six ways to protect your food allergy kid when back to school
August signals a bittersweet time of year, when summer fun is ending and the kiddos go back to school. For some parents, the return of routine and the peace and silence that fills the house is welcome (very welcome indeed), but for moms and dads to food allergy kiddos and children with other health ailments, […]
Read More
Your kid must go to the emergency room as a result of using epinephrine. True or false?
You may have been told that your kid has to go to the ER after receiving an epinephrine injection, and that's true. However, it's not because they got the epinephrine; it's because the allergic reaction may require further monitoring, which makes the answer to today's "True or False" question... FALSE. Many kids need another dose of epinephrine and other emergency treatments due to...
Read More
What it means to go gluten free
Your child has just been diagnosed with celiac disease, or your doctor has recommended removing grains to determine once and for all if they’re at the root of your kid’s upset stomach. It’s time to go gluten free – a term most people didn’t know existed until just three years ago! Have you ever stopped to think about […]
Read More
Gluten-free salad, um…. duh?
I'm always on the search for recipes that are safe for my kids' gluten-free friends and even my own. Last week, when perusing a couple of reputable sites, I ran across some yummy choices, but I have to admit some of their titles might have had you rolling your eyes. Gluten-free salads?! Gluten-free salmon?! C'mon! How hard is it to have these foods without gluten?! Had I not known better, these recipes would have had me rolling my eyes, too, but the truth is, yes, gluten CAN lurk in your salads, salmon and other unlikely places. So how to steer clear? Know these three things...
Read More