Allergen Alert Dogs

I read a fascinating article in the Tampa Bay Times last week about an allergen alert dog. This kid, Billy, is so allergic to peanuts that breathing even the slightest peanut residue could be fatal in seconds. He used to hardly ever be able to leave the house, but now he feels safe as long as he has his dog with him.

Medical alert dog tagBilly’s parents bought the specially trained dog for $10,000 three years ago. Since then Billy has been able to travel and do all sorts of things they never thought he would be able to do. When Billy arrives everyone must be checked to make sure they haven’t eaten anything with peanuts or have any peanutty snacks with them. Then the dog is sent in to confirm that everyone and everything is clear of any and all peanut residue before Billy follows. The dog can even check Billy’s food without drooling on it or nibbling at it! Dog trainer, Leslie Staven, has trained 15 more working dogs since Billy’s dog. She can train them to find other allergens too.

I am so, SO glad that none of my allergies are this severe. I think it’s amazing that a dog can be trained to be so careful and thorough. I’m also glad that there are people taking the time to find ways to make life easier for people with allergies.

I just had to wonder though… I’m allergic to dogs, is there another animal I could train? Perhaps a bird? Not that I need one, but someone else might. 😉

Curry Chicken

Curry chicken is quick to make and very tasty. This has always been one of my favorite recipes and it’s allergy approved with no changes. There aren’t many pre-allergy recipes that I still make now. I made this to bring to our Bible study group last night and everyone liked it. Bonus… there is just enough leftover for us to have for dinner tonight so I don’t have to cook today!

Start by spacing out the chicken thighs in a baking dish. I usually like to use boneless thighs for this recipe when it’s just the two of us because it makes them easier to eat, but the bone-in ones are fine too. I used bone-in thighs last night because they are slightly cheaper and I was cooking for more people.

Chicken thighs

Curry sauce:
(Amount of sauce intended for one package, 6 thighs. I used more butter because I was tripling the recipe.)

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard
1-2 tbsp. curry powder

Sauce

Heat the butter in the microwave to melt it and then add all the other ingredients. The trick with this sauce is to get just the right smell. I usually make it according to the recipe and then have to add more curry and sometimes more mustard. I heat the sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds then smell, taste, and adjust. Repeat if necessary. It’s hard to explain the perfect smell… it should smell just a little sweet, the vinegar-ness of the mustard should burn your nose just a little, and the curry should be noticeable for sure. Once it smells perfect, I add a tad more curry just for good measure. I learned this ever-so-precise way of cooking from my mother. Many of her recipes require adding enough until it smells yummy. Other people cook this way too, right?

Ready to bake chicken

Then pour the sauce of the chicken pieces, don’t drown them or they wont cook properly. Bake uncovered at 350 for approximately 1 hour. Baste frequently. I recommend serving with rice because the extra sauce is really good drizzled over rice.

Enjoy!

Terra Chips

Terra chipsI’ve discovered Terra Chips, another allergy friendly snack. It’s really hard to find any potato chips that I can have. I haven’t eaten chips in months, ever since my food allergy (wheat, soy, and corn) diagnosis. I stumbled across this brand at the health food store yesterday, I can’t believe I didn’t notice them sooner.

I bought the original flavor to try first. This flavor has “a seasonal mix of root vegetables” including sweet potato, parsnip, batata, taro, and yuca. I had to do some research to find out what a couple of those are. They taste great. They are so similar to regular potato chips only each one tastes a little different because they are all different roots. And they really are as colorful as they look on the package, which makes them even more fun to eat.

I’ll have to be careful in trying out some of the other flavors because I noticed that some flavorings did contain wheat and soy. But overall they are a great find at a reasonable price, in comparison to other health food store snacks. They were $3.39, not too bad. Looking forward to eating more of these in the future.