Eczema and Food Triggers/Allergies: MaFF Monday #30

If you follow our blog regularly, you probably know that our family has journeyed the road of food sensitivities/triggers for certain symptoms, including eczema with our son.Â It actually all started with him.Â While he does not have food allergies, some foods are, without question, problematic for him if he gets too much of them.Â It’s tough trying to explain to a young child why they cannot have certain foods they love to eat, as we have to do on days when he’s already had something we have to monitor.

So I can empathize completely with families who deal with full blown food allergies, and I really admire those families who have risen above these challenges and have found ways to make the best of the circumstances, even seeking to help others from what they have learned along the way.Â This is exactly what our featured Food-“e”-Friend this week is doing.Â Whether or not you or your family deals with food allergies or sensitivities, I think you will find something helpful or a recipe you’d be interested in trying from this blog, Real Food, Allergy Free, written by Nancy Broyles.Â

We’ll start with the recipe she’d recommend as a first to try from her blog, Rotisserie Chicken in the Crockpot because I don’t know too many people who don’t love finding great new crockpot recipes to try!

Nancy says she thinks this recipe will prove how eating allergy-friendly doesn’t have to be complicated and can actually be very simple and delicious. It also has been featured on several â€œregularâ€ non food allergy blogs.

Here’s what else she has to share with us:

1) Tell us a little about the “birth” of your blog. You’ve been blogging for a number of years now… why did you decide to start?

My youngest daughter was practically born with severe eczema. When she was 6 weeks old she was covered from head to toe with a red, angry, weeping rash. We have been in a battle for her health and comfort ever since.

One of the many ways we are fighting the eczema is to eliminate what they call the top eight allergens from her diet. The eight most common food allergens are egg, dairy, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish. Needless to say, eliminating all these food groups has been quite a challenge, especially in the beginning.

As I searched for recipes that my family could enjoy, I found that most of the recipes designed to be allergy-friendly were complicated and included ingredients I had not heard of. I was sure it didnâ€™t have to be so difficult. Now that I have some experience, and can say for sure that your allergy-friendly diet doesnâ€™t have to be complicated, I want to help fill a need for simple, healthy allergy-friendly recipes. I started Real Food, Allergy Free in May of this year to help fill that void. That said, my blog is not just for those with food allergies. I have many followers who donâ€™t have food allergies but they enjoy the simple and delicious recipes.

2) What would you say has been your family’s favorite allergy free recipe (even if not published yet on your blog) and why? Do you have a favorite allergy-free resource? What would you say are the best tips for saving money on allergy-friendly foods and products?

As you can probably tell from our weekly menu plan, my family’s favorite recipe is spaghetti. My kids and hubby request it at least once a week. I am happy to oblige them as spaghetti is fast, frugal and nutritious. I cook up some local grass-fed ground beef add spaghetti sauce (You can read how I make 5 jars of spaghetti sauce in 5 minutes for under $3 here) and serve over cooked rice noodles for my allergic kid and whole wheat noodles for the rest of the family.

Since I generally cook simple meals with an emphasis on real food, I generally get more out of following whole food blogs than I do allergy-free ones. Lately my favorite blog is Family Fresh Cooking. Her recipes are simple, yet elegant. Most of her recipes are gluten-free and are easily made top 8 free. But if there is something off limits that you must make, like gluten and dairy-free macaroni and cheese, Cyble Pascalâ€™s blog is the place to go. Another great resource is Kids with Food Allergies. They have a large support forum and recipe database.

Let’s face it; eating a restricted diet restricts your wallet. I have found it best to focus my spending on real, in season, local food. When it comes to non-perishables, my favorite way to save money is to purchase them from Amazon using my free swagbucks gift cards. Amazon has proven to be a great resource for items like coconut oil, coconut flour, and chia seeds. I often share allergy-friendly Amazon deals at Real Food, Allergy Free and I plan to set up an Amazon store for those items that are regularly priced better than the local store.

3) What feature of your blog would you like most for us to know about?

I am often asked why there seems to be such a rise in food allergies. I posted a TEDTalk given by Robin Oâ€™Brein earlier in the year. She does a great job explaining what I believe to be one of the causes for the rise in food allergies. Itâ€™s an 18 minute talk that is well worth your time. You can watch the video here.

I could not believe the wealth of information Nancy shared with us in just three brief questions.Â Be sure to check out one of her blog’s most popular recipes, Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Muffins, which she linked in our Star Recipes Collection.Â Since the time she linked that one, she says her Double Chocolate Chip Scones have become more popular than that one (and what a beautiful presentation and story, too)!Â They both sound good to me… no wonder they’ve been popular.

And now… for your recipes/food-related posts.Â If you are new, check out our Make a Food-“e”-Friend (MaFF) Monday page for more information on what this party is all about, specifics about how to link from your blog, and for more on how you can be a Featured Food-“e”-Friend in the future.

Just a few reminders before linking:

1) You can link any type of food-related blog post, including giveaways or food coupon offers. Make sure you use the URL for the actual post and not your blog so visitors can easily find what you wanted to share!

2) Don’t forget to link back to MaFF Monday, using either a text link, Make a Food-“e”-Friend Monday, or the button:

3) Most of all, have fun and be sure to grab a pen and paper or open up your notepad to jot down the recipes you find that you know you want to try.

(Link-up open through Wednesday):

Thanks for joining us for another week of MaFF Monday!Â Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Before you go… if you are new or have not yet checked out our Christmas series, you can do that here.Â So far, we’ve featured a gumdrop cookies recipe, a gumdrop ornament craft idea, a seasonal word blocks craft idea, several gift ideas, and The Christmas Smorgasbord, where you can link up your best Christmas inspiration.Â Join us each day!

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Find more great recipes at Tip Me Tuesday, Titus 2sdays, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Works for Me Wednesdays, The Mommy Club

About the Author

Adopted at age 2, grew up in the Charlotte, NC area. Obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University. Loves being a Mom of two and taste-testing Chef John's culinary creations and sharing them with readers.