What the heck do you feed your kids?

Whenever someone finds about my girls' food allergies, one of the first questions they ask is 'So, what the heck do you feed your kids?'

Rylie has to avoid anything containing milk and peanuts/tree nuts...which also means avoiding anything that could be cross-contaminated with these ingredients. Believe it or not, she's the 'easy' one, and I feel like there are tons of foods she can eat. She can eat pretty safely at restaurants and we make sure to ask all the right questions about food preparation.

Rowan is the challenging one, so I will talk about the foods that she eats. She has to avoid anything containing milk, egg, peanuts/tree nuts, wheat, soy, chicken, turkey, pork, and citrus. She cannot eat anything at a restaurant due to cross contamination. When we eat out, we always bring her food.

So here are the foods she eats ALL the time. There are other foods that I prepare, but these are our regular safe foods:

Study finds many restaurant workers uninformed about allergens in food

Anxiety's on the Menu for People with Food Allergies

Cincinnati Reds Peanut-Free Game

Last year I contacted the Cincinnati Reds about the possibility of a peanut-free section for one game. They told me they were not able to make it happen. This year, there are quite a few major league teams offering peanut-free games, so I'd like to try again.

I set up a facebook page called Cincinnati Reds Fans for a Peanut-Free Night at the Ballpark so we can show how many families out there might be interested in this. Please 'like' this page to show your support!

Here is a list of peanut-friendly games at other Major League ballparks.

Go Reds!

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Last year we built our own little raised garden bed, tucked away on the side of our house. I'd been wanting to do this for some time and just needed to find some visual inspiration and a good plan. The plan I really loved (and the one we ended up using) is here at Sunset.

The great thing about a raised bed is that it looks clean and tidy, and you can make it any size you want. You can also fill it with nice rich soil, instead of using the soil in your yard. The soil here in Ohio tends to contain a lot of clay and rocks. A raised bed also has better drainage.

We mounted PVC pipes inside the frame to hold hoops that elevate bird netting, and once the plants reach a good height, we remove the netting.

We planted tomatoes, basil, peppers, zucchini, beans, and peas. Most of the tomatoes got eaten by deer, and the beans got eaten by rabbits. But everything else did really well! This spring, all of the hard work was already done, so I tilled the soil, added some compost, and planted peas and broccoli. Around May, I'll plant zucchini and experiment with some other vegetables.

Our garden is organic, so I don't use any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. This year I'll have to try to find a better way to keep the deer away from the tomatoes.

The girls loved helping with this project, and they had fun watering and picking the vegetables.

Please note - commercially treated lumber is not safe to use for your raised garden bed. The chemicals will leech into your soil and your plants. Redwood and cedar are really good options, but we couldn't find either and we ended up using untreated pine.