Hi there! Chances are you sent me a direct message through social media asking me a question that I’ve already answered here, so I sent you this link.
I appreciate you taking the time to find your own answers. As I am a one-man band, and have four small children, you finding your answer below saves me the time of re-writing the same answers over and over in individual messages.
My time is limited to work on this blog, and I want every second I can to be spent in recipe developing and getting more recipes out to you!
If you still don’t find your answer, please message me at: [email protected].
Click on your question below, and it will jump you to the part of the FAQ you need, without having to scroll.
I don’t have a gluten allergy. Can I use regular flour?
I don’t have a dairy allergy, can I use regular dairy products?
I don’t have an egg allergy, can I use regular eggs?
Why do you use Bob’s Red Mill products when they use tree nuts?
Can you tell me if this product is free of…? Or safe for…?
How do you deem a product as “safe” or “allergy friendly”?
Why do you use products with soy lecithin?
Why do you say it’s nut free when you use coconut?
I’m frustrated your recipe doesn’t work for my individual situation.
What allergies does your family have?
Has your family ever done an oral challenge?
I would like to donate to your site.
Can I swap out or replace ingredients?
Do you have a certain recipe I’m looking for?
What broth do you use?
Do you have a cookbook?
Do you keep allergens in the home?
Do your allergic boys have 504 plans at their schools?
Did your boys have eczema?
Do you work with companies?
Do you accept guest posts or link insertions?
I don’t have a gluten allergy. Can I use regular flour?
Absolutely. Simply use the same amount of regular flour as is called for in the gluten free flour and omit the xanthan gum, if that is called for in the recipe.
Feel free to use whatever pasta you want to swap in as well.
I don’t have a dairy allergy, can I use regular dairy products?
Yes. You can replace vegan butter with regular butter, regular milk for rice milk, regular cream cheese for dairy free cream cheese, and heavy whipping cream for full fat coconut milk or coconut cream.
I don’t have an egg allergy, can I use regular eggs?
Yes! Here is the formula to help you convert it:
- 1 and 1/2 tsp of Ener-G egg replacer plus 2 Tablespoons of water equals one regular egg
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed plus 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons water equals one regular egg
- 1/4 cup applesauce equals one egg
- 3 Tablespoons of aquafaba equals one egg
Why do you use Bob’s Red Mill products when they use tree nuts?
I often get this question when I recommend Bob’s Red Mill products. Here is the statement off of their website:
“Each manufacturing facility follows Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and follows allergen control strategies to minimize the potential cross contact of food allergens. These practices include, but are not limited to: HACCP training, separation of like materials and sanitation.” Source.
Both of my boys have anaphylactic allergies to peanuts and tree nuts (except for hazelnuts) and we’ve used Bob’s products for almost ten years with zero problems.
I also emailed them directly about their pizza crust mix and concerns over cross-contact with tree nuts. I found their email, sent Dec 17, 2020 very comforting:
- “We do process the following tree nuts in our GF facility: almonds, cashews, coconut, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts. The chance of cross contact would be incredibly slim. Each facility follows Good Manufacturing Practices and follows allergen control strategies to minimize the potential of cross contact between food allergens. We clean our machinery thoroughly with high-pressure air and vacuums between each production run, inspecting and validating cleanliness before a new product is introduced. When a new product is introduced, we flush the lines, donating or discarding the first 20 pounds of product per lot before beginning the new packaging process.”
I trust their cleaning procedures. If ever in doubt, call and talk directly to them. Whenever I’ve done that, I always feel better when speaking with the company one and one.
I understand if that doesn’t feel comfortable to you, and you’d rather not use it–you do what is best for you! I always go off label alone when labeling things “top 8 free” or otherwise. If that doesn’t work for you, that’s OK too!
Can you tell me if this product is free of…? Or safe for…?
Short answer: No. You would be surprised at how many times I get direct messages wondering if an ingredient I use is safe for someone’s individual circumstances. I clearly feel comfortable using it, and it will take you doing your own research to draw your own conclusion.
I am not qualified to make this judgment call for you. It’s not fair to put me in that position, since I am not medically trained, nor know your medical history. And, it’s not good for you to put your wellbeing in a stranger on the internet.
I get how scary it is to read a label, but you and I both have access to the exact same information. Just as you can message me, you can message the company directly.
I go by labels alone (see below), so you will have to read it and make your own judgment call.
It’s imperative that you do not rely on others and get comfortable reading labels. I get it, it’s intimidating at first because there are so many words you’ve never heard of before and that you’re nervous about. But, this is a required skill once you have food allergies. I recommend reading up about FALCPA (the labeling law) so you understand what’s required on a label and what is not. There is also good label reading tips on sites like foodallergy.org, AAAAI.org, and AllergicLiving.com.
I hate to be all tough love, but I think this is what’s best for both of us in the long run.
How do you deem a product as “safe” or “allergy friendly”?
First of all, “safe” is relative and means something different to everyone–especially in the broad spectrum of food allergies. In my house, we go by label alone.
Even though both of my boys get yearly prick testing, and their reactions are off the charts, we have been able to go by label alone for almost a decade. We have been fine to not call manufacturers to find out about derivatives or potential cross-contact during manufacturing.
If your allergies require you to do so, you’ll need to do your own homework. Remember–only you can keep you safe.
Remember to read every label, every time. And, if ever in doubt, call the manufacturer and speak with them directly.
As much as I try to be SOOOO careful and have tons of information above each recipe, you have to speak to the people in charge, IE: the companies, instead of me, as they will have the most up-to-date information.
I wish this could be an end-all-be-all, but even among food allergies, everyone’s comfort levels and severities vary. I have an entire Instagram Bubble saved on this titled “May Contain” if you’d like to hear my personal (not professional!) opinion on how my family handles this more in-depth. For example, it doesn’t bother me if it’s not in a dedicated facility, or if it doesn’t show “free of XYZ” on the label, as I consider that just a marketing call out. I also found this article on how advisory statements do not tend to be helpful predictors good information.
If this doesn’t feel safe for you and work for you, that’s OK. We can agree to disagree and respectfully let each other handle our allergies how our doctors and personal opinions feel is best. I don’t care to hear you try to change my mind, or to be shamed for doing it differently. The shaming in our food allergy culture needs to stop.
Why do you use products with soy lecithin?
I still consider things to be “top 8 free” or “soy free” when there is soy lecithin in an ingredient based on the recommendations of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (also known as AAAAI). Here is what they say:
- “Soy lecithin is derived from highly processed soy oil and has very little, if any, soy protein (100-500 ppm). Most allergists do not recommend that patients with soy allergy avoid soy lecithin. Organizational on-line sources (FARE, FAARP, CoFAR) indicate that food products containing soy lecithin can be consumed safely by nearly all patients with soy allergy. A literature search found few case reports of allergic reactions that have been attributed to soy lecithin. ” (Source.)
Of course, don’t take my word for it. This is something for you to work out with your own allergist depending on your individual sensitives.
Why do you say it’s nut free when you use coconut?
I get why this would be confusing because the FDA labels it as such, but actually the AAAAI doesn’t. Here’s what they say:
- “Although the Food and Drug Administration labels coconut as a tree nut, the vast majority of tree nut-allergic individuals also tolerate coconut without difficulty, since coconut is not truly a nut, but rather a fruit. Nutmeg, water chestnut, butternut squash and shea nuts are not tree nuts (the term “nut” does not always indicate a tree nut) and are generally well tolerated by tree nut-allergic individuals. All individuals with tree nut allergy should discuss these specific dietary considerations with an allergist familiar in the management of food allergy.”
I’m frustrated your recipe doesn’t work for my individual situation.
I’m always surprised when I get messages, emails and comments along this line, “I was excited about this recipe until I saw you use XYZ.”
I really hope that once people get past the hurt (trust me, I’ve been there!) that they’ll take the time and energy it takes to write a comment like that, that does no one any good, and put that into developing their own recipe.
When my son was diagnosed almost a decade ago there were little safe products and even less safe recipes. If I would have gone around and left comments on all the bloggers’ recipes I couldn’t use, we’d have a lot less work done on here.
The MAIN reason I do this blog is for my own individual family. I know some people want it to be all for them, but it really is for my allergic boys’ first. It was a place to keep a catalog of safe recipes we personally enjoyed.
My site is public in the hopes it can help those who share similar allergies as us. If it does not, I’m sorry. It’s so hard to get excited, click over and then see something you can’t use in the recipe. I hope one of my other 250+ recipes will work for you, and if not, that you’ll be able to find your own work arounds.
With the vast spectrum of allergies I cannot be everything to everyone and hope you’ll grant me this humanity and not bother to let your negativity fester forever in the comment sections of someone else’s blog who is trying their best to serve the community.
What allergies does your family have?
The list of food allergies my son has had has drastically changed over the years. When he was 1 years old, he literally only had ten safe foods. Thankfully, he’s outgrown many foods and is much better.
Currently, my oldest has anaphylactic food allergies to: wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (except hazelnut), goats milk and beef. He also has a rare allergic disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE for short) which is why he had so few foods at first. You can read more about his EOE journey here.
My second son has allergies to peanuts and tree nuts (except hazelnut and almonds).
Neither of our girls (our two youngest) have any food allergies. It’s hard to say whether that was luck, or the LEAP study.
Has your family ever done an oral challenge?
Yes, my son has done many oral challenges, thanks to him outgrowing his allergies. He’s done them to soy, shrimp, oats, hazelnut, and many others. If you’d like to learn more about oral challenges, I’ve saved a highlight in my Instagram bubbles called “Oral challenges”. It literally walks you through the entire process, as I’ve filmed several oral challenges.
I would like to donate to your site.
First off, thank you! My blog is small because it’s niche, so while every click helps me earn some ad revenue, I certainly don’t make much.
It takes a huge amount of time to recipe develop, take and edit photos, manage multiple social media accounts, answer emails, work with companies and learn all the millions of back-end website functions. There’s equipment fees, website hosting fees and the never ending grocery bill of expensive ingredients to recipe test.
I do it because I love it, but it is so helpful to be compensated in some small way, since most of my recipes are posted online for free for all to enjoy. So, anyway you can support me is appreciated as this takes a big chunk of time away from my young family.
You can donate to my Venmo here:
If you cannot donate monetarily, you can always support my site by:
- coming back to my site frequently (Every click counts! Not printing recipes, but actually pulling it up each time you make it is a big help.)
- buying my e-cookbook
- buying my printed cookbook
- sharing my site
- tagging me in social media when you make something
- rating a recipe (by clicking the stars on the recipe card)
- leaving comments on the actual blog post
- liking and commenting on social media
Can I swap out or replace an ingredient?
Other than general swaps like reverting back to regular ingredients like: using regular flour instead of gluten free flour, or regular cream cheese instead of dairy free cream cheese, or swapping in and out different oils I cannot speak to how the recipe will turn out. Especially trying other specialty flours or ingredients, as they can completely change the moisture level and texture.
First of all, I have to make this for my own family to eat, so I cannot be recipe testing things with ingredients that they are allergic to, so I can’t say if it will turn out with almond milk…etc.
Just as I had to take a leap of faith and recipe test, you may have to too. If my recipe doesn’t work for you as is, you will either have to decide to move on, or to take the risk altering the recipe. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not. Such is the life of allergy cooking. It’s the pits sometimes trying to find something to fit your exact situation.
While I wish I could recipe test every variant and substitution, I cannot.
I put what I feel works the best and will get the recipe to turn out how it looks in the photos. Should you choose to vary from that, I wish you all the luck!
As with many of my generous readers, they will post a comment on the blog of what substitutions they did and if it still worked out. We can be a great community who help each other. I’d appreciate it if you’d do the same, because you never know who may need the same tweaks you just tried!
Do you have a certain recipe I’m looking for?
I’m going to teach you a life hack! If you are ever looking for something specific to a site, type into google the thing you’re looking for, and then the plus sign and the name of the site. It will comb just that site for your search phrase.
For example, if you’re looking for sugar cookies on my site you can google everything in between these parenthesis: “sugar cookie + allergy awesomeness” or even “sugar cookie by allergy awesomeness”.
Or, you can use the search bar in my main menu (across the top on a desktop computer or in the three bar drop down on mobile.)
Or, you can use my recipe index.
Or, a favorite way of mine to peruse my own recipes is to go to my Pinterest board. That way, I can scroll a visual catalog of mine.
What broth do you use?
Many of my recipes call for broth, bouillon, or one of the various names it has. You’re welcome to use what you feel comfortable with.
I used to make my own bone broth (there’s a recipe in my cookbook!) but found that took up tons of storage space.
Anytime I call for broth, I now use Orrington Farm’s broth base. They have a chicken, beef and vegetable flavor. They call for 2 tsp plus 1 cup water to make one cup of broth.
If you have broth and want to use that, simply use whatever the liquid is called for. So, for example, if I called for 4 tsp of broth base and 2 cups of water, simply use 2 cups of broth.
Do you have a cookbook?
Yes I do! You can learn all about it and see it’s own set of FAQ here: Why I Wrote An Allergy Mom’s Lifesaving Instant Pot Cookbook.
I also have a two-week elimination diet (top 8 free) dinner guide that’s in the form on an e-cookbook.
I also have an entire month’s dinner menu planned for winter (with a summer one coming soon!)
Did your boys also have eczema?
Yes. My oldest had sores from pretty much his trunk down. I do not consider myself an eczema specialist or can claim any certain thing made a difference. My guess was always that we took his diet way down and got out all irritating foods, kept a food journal and then carefully added them back in. But, who is to say? I also think he just grew out of it and got less sensitive as he got older. It seemed to be from birth on and was better by around 3. My youngest son also had it, and has grown out of it.
We did try to use everything unscented so as not to be irritating, and used Cerave lotion, but other than those few tips, I would recommend talking to your doctor or seeking out eczema specialists. I’m sorry and good luck!
Do your boys also have asthma?
Yes. So much so, that my oldest was hospitalized and on oxygen for days multiple times when he was young. But, he seems to be growing out of it. If you suspect your child has asthma, be sure to speak to a medical professional. I do not feel qualified to tackle this subject, but sure do feel for you!
Do you keep allergens in the home?
Short answer, yes. It was so nerve racking at first, but years later, I am so glad we do and it has opened up so many possibilities for my daughters who have no food allergens. I will write a post on this at a later time. It’s a very personal decision and you have to do what you feel is best, but it’s a fear I’m very glad we’ve gotten over. One quick story that helped me come to terms with it was, we were eating at a restaurant we feel is safe because of their strict allergen protocols. I realized that they had tons of allergens in their kitchen, and that they just had precautions and rules to keep things separate and safe. I thought, if they can do it, so can I.
Do your allergic boys have 504 plans at their schools?
Short answer: absolutely. Here’s an entire post on 504 plans for food allergies to give you all the info you need.
Do you work with companies?
Yes! I have worked with many companies: Hunt’s, So Delicious, Enjoy Life, Silk and many more. I require cash compensation to be placed on any of my social media feeds. Unfortunately, the bank will not accept free samples as a way to pay my bills. I will accept free samples, and if we like them, will do an Instagram story on them. Please email me at: [email protected] to arrange shipping and see pricing.
Do you accept guest posts or link insertion?
I’m looking at you, PR companies, that email me a million times a day. No, I do not accept either.
