EOS Lip Balm Is Hot

It seems like every year there is a new product that every tween and teen MUST HAVE! So when my teen approached me the other day to ask for the latest, coolest thing that every girl in school has to have, I tried not to groan. I must not have tried very hard because one escaped anyway. This latest craze is the new eos Lip Balm by Evolution of Smooth.

The eos Lip Balm comes in a round, plastic container that twists off to reveal the actual lip balm in the same round shape as the container. Cool! It comes in many different flavors including Blueberry Acai, Sweet Mint, Strawberry Sorbet and Pomegranate Raspberry. Yummy! It’s also 100% natural and 95% organic (not sure which ingredient isn’t organic), paraben and petrolatum free. Bonus! At $3.29, this lip balm wouldn’t break the bank so I went ahead and bought the Pomegranate Raspberry flavor because it was a cute color and I thought the flavor sounded great. Good marketing!

What can I say; I’m a sucker for cool products! As I am writing this post, I have twisted the top off and smelled the lip balm at least a half a dozen times. These people have totally sucked me in, they are ingenious! I put it on my teen’s bed and waited to hear her excitement. I didn’t have to wait long. My teen was so excited she could barely contain herself.

That is, until she looked at the ingredients. “Is Shea Butter okay for me?” Drats! In all my excitement, I forgot to look at the ingredients closely. I knew Shea Butter was probably one of those ingredients on her NO-NO list but I was having a hard time remembering whether it was a dairy, egg or nut product. Shea Butter is a fatty substance derived from the Shea Tree. FAAN and the FDA classify Shea as a tree nut even though there have been no documented allergic reactions to it. It is in the same family as coconut oil and cocoa butter.

With this in mind, we are going to have her try it on her skin for a couple of days and see if she gets a reaction. If everything appears okay, I will have her test a small amount on her lips, while she is at home, so I can watch her. Hopefully, she will be able to share in the same excitement her friends have with this latest fad. If not, my teen has talked about creating her own lip balm. Maybe she’ll start her own fad!

President Signs Epinephrine Bill

Last week President Obama signed into law the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act. This is the first federal law encouraging schools to stock epinephrine for use in allergic emergencies. This is because of a two year campaign by the FARE organization. With this law financial incentives are given to the states to encourage schools to keep lifesaving epinephrine on hand and ensure school personnel are trained on how to use them.

Right now, 30 states currently have laws or guidelines allowing schools to stock epinephrine for anaphylactic emergencies. Only four states (Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada and Virginia) currently require this practice. During the signing ceremony, President Obama revealed that his daughter Malia, age 15, has a peanut allergy.

This Act is important because many students who may need epinephrine may have no known history of an allergy and would not have a prescription of their own.

Apple Cinnamon Donuts (Dairy, Egg, Nut Free)

As I mentioned in my last post, we drove out to Jonamac Farms, 45 minutes west, for some apple picking, pumpkin picking and a real Amazing Race adventure in their corn maze. On our way out, we made our usual stop to their store to buy their warm apple cinnamon donuts. The smell of these warm donuts is so strong that it took all of our willpower to wait until heading home before sinking our teeth into them. We always feel sad because Katie can never have any because of her allergies so I felt that this was the year we were going to make our own apple cinnamon donuts.

I found this recipe on the Food Allergy Mama’s website http://www.foodallergymama.com/2009/02/25/dairy-egg-and-nut-free-apple-cinnamon-doughnuts/. I’ve made baked donuts before but we wanted to try frying them. Yikes, I was a bit nervous having never fried in oil before. Frying them was a bit tricky and it took us about four donuts before we started getting the hang of it.  

Apple Cinnamon Donuts (Dairy, Egg, Nut Free)

4 ¾ C  Unbleached All Purpose Flour

3 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp.  Cinnamon

½ tsp. Nutmeg

¾ C    Unsweetened Applesauce

2 tsp.  Vanilla

¾ C    Granulated Sugar

3 T     Dairy Free Margarine, Melted

1 C     Soy or Rice Milk

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Cinnamon Sugar for Topping:

½ C Granulated Sugar

2 tsp. Cinnamon

Makes 12 doughnuts and 12 donut holes

In a mixer, combine applesauce, vanilla and sugar. Add melted margarine and mix well. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add flour mix and non-dairy mix to margarine mix, alternately. Add more flour if needed to make the dough smooth but not too sticky.

In a large, heavy pot, heat 2-3 inches of vegetable oil until the candy thermometer reaches 375 degrees.

In the meantime, transfer dough to a lightly floured board. Knead and roll out to a ½ inch thickness.

Dip doughnut cutter into flour and cut into dough. Remove trimmings and re-roll. Repeat the process.

Slide a few doughnuts carefully in oil. You do not want to crowd the pot. 

Fry until the doughnuts rise to the surface, about 2 minutes, then turn over with metal tongs to fry over the other side. Doughnuts should be golden brown. Lift out with metal thongs and drain on paper towels.

Place cinnamon sugar mixture in brown paper bag. Place warm doughnuts, one at a time in the brown bag and shake. Shake off excess sugar. Enjoy, they are best warm! Even Gumby enjoyed them!