How to Plan an International Vacation with Food Allergies

It is summer vacation time and I just realized we will be taking our trip to Ireland in less than three weeks. Now is the time to get my travel planning ideas out to those of you who are also travelling so you can be ready to plan your next summer vacation! Even though we are travelling overseas, most of these tips could apply to any overnight trip.

The first thing we did when we decided to take the whole family to Ireland was to book our airline and find a place to stay while we are there.

1.     Booking Your Flight

You first need to check with airlines to see what their policy is on food allergies. This may be very important if you or your child has a severe allergy. As you probably know, some airlines serve peanuts on their flights which could be a problem if your child is severely allergic to peanuts. If this is the case, check with the airline to see if they would be able to serve another snack, such as pretzels, instead.

For us, all the airlines we looked at did not serve peanuts as a snack option. Keep in mind that there is no way to make sure your flight is entirely peanut or nut free since passengers are allowed to bring on their own snacks. If you are travelling overseas or are travelling far, you will need to look at their dinner options to see what is available. In the end, we chose Aer Lingus because they were the cheapest and they had direct routes which meant that we only had to check allergens on only one plane. Since it will be a 10 hour flight to Ireland, I went to their website to see their policy guidelines for their dinner options. This is what their site says:

“While we do not serve peanuts, there may be trace elements of unspecified peanut ingredients including peanut oil, in meals and sauces. We do not offer a special meal for peanut allergies.”

While they have many different dinner options available (kosher, vegan, gluten) our allergic teen has so many allergies that I knew it would be difficult to find any option for her to eat. We always carry snacks with us but I called the airline to see if they would allow us to carry on a sandwich for her to eat. According to Aer Lingus passengers are not allowed to bring any food items on the plane due to TSA rules. On the TSA website, they specifically mention that any food bought after you have gone through security is safe and allowed on all flights. Safe but expensive! Even though there are many food restaurants in the international terminal, very few of them will have any options for my allergic teen. Looks like McDonald’s may be the only option for us at this time. Either way, we will make sure we bring a lot of snacks and fruit for her to snack on.

2.     Where to Stay?

There are lots of options to look at when choosing where to stay during your travels. If you are lucky to have family or friends who live overseas, then you are the lucky ones! Our friends are more on the domestic side so this was not an option for us.

Contacting a travel agent is always a good idea because they can help you narrow down your options. Many countries have a core website to help you look at all the different options. In Ireland, you can go to Ireland.com where they have a section for accommodations. Under accommodations you will see listings for historic house and castles, bed and breakfast, hotels and self-catering  holiday homes. The best option for us is a cottage or an apartment where we can cook and store our own food so we looked at the self-catering listings. This has always worked well with us and I would recommend this for anyone with multiple food allergies. Not only does it save us money but we know we can make sure our allergic teen will have food she can eat.

We will be staying at a lovely rental house from Sykes Cottages in the Killarney area as our home base for most of the trip. For the other days, we found another small townhouse near the Waterford Castle and a hotel for the Dublin area. We feel there may be more food options in Dublin so our food selection may be more varied.

3.     What to Pack?

Snacks, snacks and more snacks!

The international food is not the same as we have here in the United States. While I am looking forward to eating the traditional Irish cuisine, we may have a hard time finding food free of butter and cheese which the Irish are known for. Corned beef or a burger may be good options but you can only eat so many burgers before you are tired of them.

When we travel by car we always pack a cooler so that we can pack some of our allergy free items, such as cheese and always have some cold cuts available for alternative lunch options.

4.      On Your Flight 

Clean Your Seat Area

It is a good idea to wipe your arm rests and tray table with a sanitary wipe as soon as you find your seat just to make sure there are no allergens  from a previous flight. The airlines is supposed to clean the plane before the next group but as most of us know, sometimes there is not enough time for them to do this if the prior flight is late.

Carry On Your Meds

Always carry on your meds. They could be lost in your luggage and you want to make sure they are within arm’s reach in case of an emergency. That is why I recommend you keep them under you seats and not in the overhead compartments. Also, it is a good idea to travel with more than one set of your Epinephrine (Epi-pen or Auvi-Q) just in case you need it. The same is true for your Benadryl. If you are flying, some airlines ask that they be in their original container. I also always carry a written request for the medicine from our doctor just to make sure there are no additional questions.

5.     While You Are There

Locate the Nearest Hospital

Anytime you travel, whether foreign or domestic, it is always a good idea to know where the hospitals are before you go. We have been to several out of town hospitals over the years during our trips so I know how important this is!

Emergency Action Plan

FARE has an Emergency Action Plan you can download from http://www.foodallergy.org/faap. This plan is good to have with you just in case there is an emergency.

Eating Out Guides

It is difficult enough to eat out here with food allergies or celiac disease but go to a foreign speaking country the process can seem very daunting indeed.  Kim Koeller is the founder of Allergy and Gluten Free Passport at http://glutenfreepassport.com/. Kim has travelled to over six different continents all with gluten, dairy, fish, shellfish and preservative allergies. With her experience travelling with these allergies, she has developed dining cards, guides and travel packs that will help you navigate the language barrier while you are travelling. Her handy dandy iEatOut Gluten Free & Allergy Free app will allow you to plug in your allergic foods on the go.

Other Guides for Travel in the U.S. include:

AllerDine – United States

Allergy Eats – United States (with free app)

Allergy Cards

If you are traveling to a foreign country that does not speak your language, it can be very hard to communicate your allergies while you are eating out. There are several companies that offer translation cards in many different languages. Select Wisely has a large selection of allergy cards, while Allergy Translation will allow you to custom create your own allergy card and have it laminated. If you would like to print your own FARE Chef Card Template click here. I took ours to the local Office Depot to have it laminated and it cost less than $2.00 for ten cards.

It's good to know that you can still have a great trip even with food allergies. So go ahead have fun and leave your worries behind and book that vacation you’ve always wanted to book with the knowledge that you will be well prepared to manage your allergies no matter where you are.

Happy trip!

An American Teen’s Introduction to the English Afternoon Tea

Just last week, my allergic teen received an invitation to partake in “An Afternoon of Tea and Cakes” from one of her friends. A tea party! I love tea parties! Immediately after opening the card, the taste of little cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches, along with the smell of warm scones smothered with the most amazing clotted cream popped into my head. I swear I could even hear the clinking sounds of spoons as they stirred cream or sugar into their tea cups and the buzz of polite conversation as it milled around the room. I’d been transported back to an amazing time while I was studying in England many, many years ago.

Of course, I was not the one being invited, my daughter was. Darn! Since she was just as excited as I was, I did not want to put a damper on her enthusiasm by trying to figure out what to bring along for her to eat. So I went to the internet to see what they might be serving.

According to Natalie Hardwick from the BBC GoodFood site, “There aren't any rules when it comes to the food, but a standard afternoon tea comprises a layer of sandwiches, a layer of cakes and a layer of scones or teacakes. However, you could also throw in pastries, petits fours or biscuits.”

Since my teen is not a big sandwich fan, I thought this might be a good time to introduce her to sandwiches that were different than the traditional ham or turkey sandwich. Two traditional tea-type sandwiches stood out as good contenders: the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and the cucumber and cream cheese sandwich.  Since not every teen enjoys salmon, we decided to make the cucumber tea-style sandwiches for her to take to the tea party. In spite of my teen’s skeptical look while we were making the sandwiches, she was still game to try them.

After the Tea Party, she came home all excited about seeing all her friends and she loved her new cucumber sandwiches. In fact, she loved them so much that she now eats them two to three times a week packed in her school lunch. Her one friend, who is a vegetarian, loves them too!

Here is the very simple recipe which uses Tofutti dairy-free cream cheese instead of the traditional cream cheese, which also makes this recipe vegan.

Dairy-Free (Vegan) English Tea Sandwich

Serves 4

 8 slices white bread (dairy and egg free)

1 8 oz. Spreadable Tofutti Cream cheese

1 cucumber; thinly sliced

Dill to garnish (optional)

Place bread slices on cutting board and cut off crusts on all four sides. Spread a layer of Tofutti cream cheese on each slice of bread. Garnish with fresh dill if you would like. Peel cucumber and slice cucumber into thin slices and place on top of bread. Put the remaining slice of bread on top and cut sandwiches into three thin vertical slices. Serve immediately.

Easy Peasy! You can use the same recipe for Salmon Tea Sandwiches; just use the smoked salmon instead of cucumber. Other tea sandwich ideas include: ham salad and chicken salad. Just remember to use your vegan or allergy-friendly mayonnaise instead of the traditional one.

The Wonder of a Teen’s First Dance

This weekend was a very exciting time for my allergic teen. Friday was her 8th grade dance which also happens to be her very first dance. It was been fun watching the excitement and wonder of picking out a brand new dress to wear and then choosing the right shoes to go with her outfit. She really rocked those She cool matching eyelet Keds® sneakers.  A girl has got to be comfortable!

Her dance was a big affair beginning with pictures at a friend's house and then off to the 60's themed dance which included a DJ and a photo booth. After the dance, my teen and her friends went back to another friend's house for pizza, munchies and ice cream. They spent the next couple of hours exchanging stories about who they danced with and what songs they liked the most.

What made this special for my teen was that not once did she feel left out because of her food allergies. Since I knew this was so important to her, I made sure she had a vegan pizza from the Whole Foods pizza menu to be ready for her when she got back from the dance. The host then provided some dairy-free, coconut milk ice cream from So Delicious and dairy-free chocolate sauce. Since the host's family was vegetarian and the Mom was vegan, she had someone else to share her food with. For my allergic teen, what mattered most was that not only did she feel special on her special night but that it was important for her to feel like any other teen her age, just normal.

Colleges Have Become More In Tune With Allergies

When my sister went away to college, back in the late 70’s, there was very little awareness of food allergies. In fact, she did not even know anyone else, besides our mother, with severe food allergies. Back then, when you walked into the Dining Hall, there was no special menu for gluten-free or vegetarian options like they have today. They offered only a few general options and nothing for dietary restrictions.

Today, this has all changed with the rise in the number of children with severe food allergies and celiac disease. According to recent research by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), food allergies affect 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the United States. Now, think about how many of these kids will want to go on to college. That’s a lot of kids!

This week, my son and I went on a college tour at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. This was just one of the many college visits we have had over the past year, so we have heard about and sampled some of the food services available to the students. Some were good, some were not so good. What struck me the most was that UW-Madison mentioned special food options for those who have celiac or are vegetarian or vegan. While other schools may have these options available, they did not seem to place much emphasis on special dietary needs.

On April 6, 2015 FARE announced a launch of a pilot program “Pilot Guidelines for Managing Food Allergies in Higher Education” that will provide colleges and universities with guidelines and resources for providing students with food allergies a safer college experience. FARE has chosen 12 schools to participate in this pilot program. In addition, FARE will be providing training for staff in dining and residential life facilities. A list of the participating colleges can be found here.

  

Three years from now, our college search for our allergic daughter will be very different than the search we had for our son. We will need to make sure she will have a great college experience, but we will also need to feel confident that she will have safe food options available to her. I know this is a tall order for most colleges, but I am hopeful that in four years there will be more awareness for these kids with allergies. Thank you FARE and the participating colleges for taking a step in the right direction in making sure our allergic teens can have a safe and rewarding experience in college.

Allergy Friendly Shepherd’s Pie

This has been such a cold year that I have been making lots of soups, stews and pies to keep us warm. One of my favorite Irish recipes is for Shepherd's Pie. In this recipe, I love the combination of the meat and the Worcestershire sauce with a hint of tomatoes and Dijon for the filling. Add a touch of Parmesan cheese to the mashed potato topping for a slightly different taste that is not too overpowering. Delish!

So with St. Patrick's Day, I thought it would be nice to include this recipe instead of the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage. This recipe is free of dairy, eggs, and nuts.

    I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.  - Oscar Wilde

Allergy Friendly Shepherd's Pie

Potato Mixture:

1 ½ lbs. Russet Potatoes

¼ C Rice milk

2 Oz. Vegan Margarine

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

Meat Filling:

1 tsp. Olive Oil

1 ½  Pounds Ground Beef

2 Cloves Garlic, Diced

2 T  Worcestershire Sauce

2 T Tomato Paste

1/2 T Dijon mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 C Cubed Carrot

1 C Frozen Peas

1 ½ C Diced Onions

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

¼ C Dairy-free Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a large pot of water on the stove; bring to a boil. While it is heating up, skin the potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. Add the potatoes to boiling water and simmer for about 15 minutes, until they are tender. Drain potatoes and place back into pot. Mash them with a masher or the back of a large spoon. Add rice milk and vegan butter to potatoes and mix until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In the meantime, heat a pan with oil. Add carrots, peas, onions and thyme. Cook for 5-6 minutes until they are tender. Set aside. In the same pan, add 1 tsp. olive oil and heat pan. Add the meat and chopped garlic and cook for 5-8 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and Dijon mustard and cook for another 5 minutes until well browned.

Separate meat from fat and place the meat on the bottom of a casserole dish. Add the vegetable to the meat layer and then add the mashed potato mixture. Spread the potatoes down with the back of a spoon so that it covers the top of the casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the cover, sprinkle with the vegan Parmesan cheese and bake another 10 minutes until the casserole if heated through. 

A Trip to Ireland

It is only appropriate that with St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, I have been daydreaming of rolling green hills, the smell of corned beef piled high on rye bread, and the dark, robust taste of a tall glass of Guinness.

This St. Patrick’s Day is going to even more special knowing that this summer our family will be heading to Ireland for the first time. To say that we are excited is an understatement! This has been a trip I have wanted to take for many, many years and we are finally going to go. In fact, the picture above is of the Waterford Castle in Waterford, Ireland where we will be staying for part of our trip. How cool is that?!

As anyone with severe food allergies knows, taking a trip anywhere--however long or short--involves lots and lots of planning but a trip overseas will take that much more planning. This will be especially important since Ireland is known for their ample use of butter and cheese. Two key ingredients our teen is allergic to. I will be spending the next couple of months showing you some of the different steps we are taking to ensure that not only will our allergic teen enjoy this trip but that it will also be a safe one for her. Some of the things we will look at will include?

·      Should you book a tour or travel on your own?
·      What are the best types of accommodations for families with severe food allergies?
·      What can we order if eating out?
·       What type of medicine do I need to bring with us?
·       What to do if you or your child has an allergic reaction?
·       Are there any resources available that will make the planning go easier?

It is my hope that these guidelines will help other families who would love to do more travelling but are worried about the idea of being so far away and are not sure how to accomplish this with food allergies.

Let the travels begin!

French Toast for the Allergic Teen

I am feeling like a very neglectful parent. This happens from time to time. Like the time I forgot to pick up our daughter at school in temps of 10 below zero (thank goodness she waited inside). Or the time I forgot my son’s orthodontist appointment for the third time. I am sure there are many more times of my extreme “spaciness” that I have chosen to forget and have blamed it on too much “stuff” swirling in my brain to concentrate on one thing.

The other morning, my allergic teen said something that really made me feel terrible. It was last Saturday morning and in a very uncharacteristic moment for a typical busy Saturday, I asked her if she wanted me to make her some French Toast. She responded by saying, “I don’t know, I have never had French Toast.” “Really?!” I said a bit dumb-founded at the fact that she is 14 years old and I had never made it for her before. Even though I have made her countless variations of muffins, coffee cakes, donuts and even crepes, I cannot remember ever making her French Toast. Before you send me hate messages or turn me in for child neglect on behalf of my poor family, I know I have made French toast before, but the few times I had made it, I used traditional eggs in the recipe and she ate something else those mornings, which she did not seem to mind.

On that Saturday morning, I decided to make her some French Toast that she could eat; which meant that it needed to be dairy and egg free. I quickly did a search for "Vegan French Toast” and found several basic recipes. What I noticed is that each recipe used flour instead of egg to coat the toast before frying. I was sure this substitution would make the bread too stiff and feel like we were eating a sandwich for breakfast. Well, as I found out, this was not the case. The combination of whole wheat flour and maple syrup added just the right amount of texture to make the French Toast delicious! I also added some nutmeg because I adore nutmeg and I thought it would pair well with the cinnamon. 

From now on, I will make it this way because I really did not miss the egg taste, in fact, the maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla flavors are enhanced without the egg to mask them. Give this recipe a try and see if you like it as much as I do!

French Toast (no dairy, eggs, or nuts)

Makes 6 slices

1 ¼ C  Soy or rice milk

¼ C  Whole wheat flour

1 T   Maple syrup

1 tsp.  Vanilla

½ tsp. Cinnamon

¼ tsp. Nutmeg

6 slices of French bread

Powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine the milk, flour, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk together. Pour mixture into shallow bowl. Place slice of bread into bowl one at a time and coat both sides with mixture.

Place toast in a frying pan coated with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Cook until golden brown on one side and flip. Do the same with the other side. Serve warm with powdered sugar or maple syrup on top.