What we all need to understand about food allergies

[View in browser]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Rodale Wellness]( FROM THE DESK OF April Peveteaux Author of Bake Sales Are My B*tch [april-peveteaux-100-110.jpg] Dear wellness seeker, Whether you have an allergic kid or not, at some point, you will be required (or asked, most likely) to consider leaving out a key ingredient to your world-famous chocolate pecan shortbread. No matter how much you wish that were not so, the fact is 1 out of every 25 children in the United States suffers from food allergies, and those numbers are growing rapidly, with a 50 percent increase between 1997 and 2011. That's a lot of kids with food problems, and since 88 percent of schools report having one or more children with food allergies, it's going to be all up in your kid's lunch box soon enough. Let's talk about how to get through that tough time without making yourself insane trying to create the perfect dairy-free copy of cream cheese ice cream or, the alternative, coming off like the world's biggest asshole when you declare, "In my day, food allergies weeded out the weak!" Unless you're homeschooling your perfectly developing child in a bubble that does not allow for anyone outside its sphere to enter the inner sanctum, there will always be a miniature adult hanging out next to your kid in the lunchroom, at birthday parties, at classroom celebrations, and even in your own home who cannot tolerate some kind of food something or other. For those of us parents of children with unsullied immune systems (for now—we all know people who develop problems with food well into adulthood), it can be crazy-making to pack a peanut-free, tree-nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free lunch 5 days a week. As a proud member of the freaked-out parent club, I, too, have had brushes with minor allergies with my daughter. As someone who has celiac disease, I'm also always looking for signs of celiac in my own kids and always forcing them to test my gluten-free cupcakes. But only one of those things is truly stress inducing. To me. While it can certainly appear that there are two distinct sides to the great food allergy debate—those with issues, and those without—the fact is, we are all in this together. Because what we all have in common is that we're just really tired of making kid food, and exhaustion makes us cranky. That's all I'm trying to do here—get us all to imagine life from the other parent's perspective, and that's where my new book, [Bake Sales Are My B*tch]( comes in. Practice a little empathy while keeping our kiddos safe. And there's nothing that says we can't keep our own children safe and healthy while also considering other busy moms' limitations. Working together is challenging, sure, but if we can all put ourselves in some other gal's slip-ons, we'll all be happier, less stressed, and much more filled with kindness and light and gluten-free cookies. So, yeah, in [Bake Sales Are My B*tch]( we're going to learn how to make party foods that are the mother scratchin' bomb and serve them up to everyone with a genuine smile—even that lady who believes peanut allergies are all in your head. Let's do this. Join me, April It's a Truffle Party! Adapted from [Bake Sales Are My B*tch]( [chocoalte-truffles-500.jpg] Easy to make and easy to eat in one sitting, truffles are a hit for bake sales, holidays, after-dinner treats... you get the idea. Truffles rule! Make some today. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Chill time: 3 hours (Makes: 15 truffles) Ingredients: 10 ounces gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate 1/2 cup coconut milk 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Toppings: dairy-free cocoa powder, colored sugar crystals, powdered sugar, and sweetened coconut flakes Directions: 1. Chop chocolate into chunks and place in a medium bowl. 2. Using a double-boiler, bring coconut milk to medium boil. Remove coconut milk from heat and pour over chocolate chunks. Begin mixing immediately. Add vanilla and mix well. 3. After chocolate mixture is completely smooth, cover and place in refrigerator to chill for 3 hours. 4. Once chocolate is scoopable, using a tablespoon, roll chocolate into balls and place on a platter. 5. Choose your toppings, and roll truffles until covered completely. Return to refrigerator until ready to serve. For more tips on [how to not screw up allergy-free cooking]( head over to [Rodale Wellness](. Recommended for You: April Peveteaux's 50-plus recipes cover the eight major food allergens and everything from school lunches, kids parties, sleepover foods, after-school snacks, and, yes, bake sales. In [Bake Sales Are My B*tch]( she gets into the nitty-gritty of food allergies, from deadly serious reactions to how to deal with those who don't take your kid's allergy seriously. Whether you're a freaked-out parent or not, Pevetaux lends some much-needed guidance—and teaches you to make party foods that'll be a surefire hit. [ORDER NOW]( Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? Don't miss a single newsletter. Sign up at [RodaleWellness.com/join](. [facebook]( [twitter]( [pinterest]( [Instagram]( [Unsubscribe]( [Manage Your Email Preferences]( [Privacy Policy]( Customer Care Dept., 400 South 10th Street, Emmaus, PA 18098 © 2017 Rodale Inc., all rights reserved 10918