Allergy Cooking with Confidence

Developer's DescriptionBy KA TechnologyIt is always hard to see your child get sick.It is always hard to see your child get sick. But when our younger son, Ben, was just a few months old, he developed chronic eczema and began to lose weight. At five months, he had his first allergic reaction to his first taste of formula milk. It was clear he was atopic,his little immune system was in overdrive and he seemed to be allergic to everything.Weaning, therefore, became an excruciatingly drawn-out and terrifying ordeal, requiringmilitary-style organisation. Because Ben might have an allergic reaction to any new food,we learned early on to wait at least 48 hours after previous reactions. We had to pickmornings when his brother was in school, in case we needed to deal with ambulances andhospitals. We learned to touch the food to his lip first, to minimise the initial reaction. Ikept an emergency hospital overnight bag ready by the front door for years just in case.The hospitals nutritional advice, was well meant and helpful. But I was frustrated whenthere didnt appear to be a comprehensive list of simple recipes I could follow, thatwould suit Bens particular needs. So, necessity being the mother of invention, I beganexperimenting with our favourite family recipes. Our elder son, Sebastian, coined thename Hunters Pie, which was one of our first combined family dishes that wascompletely Ben friendly.So it was serendipitous that Chloe was willing to help me assemble some of the recipes into a format that might help other families in the same situation. Three years, and much hard work, time and frustration later, here it is - A collection of recipes which are completely free of dairy and egg products. We have also, where possible, tried to offer alternatives for gluten and nut ingredients too.I am proud to say that every single recipe photograph was taken by me just minutes beforethe dish was served to the family. Chloe and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy the recipesas much as we have enjoyed discovering them.Ginny Avery