Maggie - Teen blog

Here is a blog post by Maggie, our volunteer! We are very grateful for having such a bright girl in our office! Keep an eye out for more teen blogs to come :)

Hey there Facebook and blog followers! 

My name is Maggie and I am more like you than you might think! :)

Like you, I am a person living with an allergy. I’m a 4+ out of 5 and allergic to peanuts/nuts. I came to Allergy New Zealand for my service for Duke of Edinburgh and was overwhelmed by the knowledge and skill the people here have.

Back in 2010, on the first day of the Christmas holidays I experienced something that I had never in my life experienced before. 
My Mum was having some chocolates out of the favourites box and I asked if I could have one (don’t know what I was thinking). My Mum said yes and gave me a white chocolate. Five minutes later my Mum came in to find one of the eyes swollen shut and the other one almost shut. I do admit when my Mum first said that I needed the EpiPen I was scared, so scared that I started running around the house screaming. But once my Mum gave it to me I didn’t feel a thing. 

I later spent 9 hours at the hospital!

When we were standing outside waiting for a taxi, some ladies stopped us and told us that we had just won a spot prize! Mum and I thought we were just getting a Ipod or phone but we ended but getting a 32ich flat screen tv!!! The thing that sucks the most about that is that I didn’t even get it !!! When it was me who was in hospital and choose the taxi (to me that makes no sense).

A little more about me: I go to Epsom Girls Grammar and so far I have not had any trouble with getting into different groups and doing all the stuff that I want to do. So far at EGGS I have been involved in

-          Soccer

-          Cycling

-          Duke of Ed

-          Art

-          Sport caption for my class

But I plan on doing so much more so watch this space!

So what I’m trying to tell you is that your allergy shouldn’t shape you, it shouldn’t make you stop what you love doing. I know that allergies sucks but it makes you who you are and trust me, I wouldn’t change my allergy for the world (well maybe not as high as 4+, now that truly sucks). 

Always have a smile on your face even when things are hard!

If you want to ask me any questions feel free to leave a comment below!

Maggie

Easter Ideas - Allergy Today

Managing Easter Madness

AUTUMN 2011
ISSUE 136
You can purchase this past issue from here

Easter can be a bit of a challenge if you are dealing with food allergies, but being prepared means no one misses out.

Easter egg alternative

 
Buy plastic eggs from your local craft shop and have your children decorate them with stickers, felt pens, glitter and any other crafty things that take their fancy. 

Put them out on the table for the Easter bunny to fill with safe treats, little toys – try the $2 shop – or money and then hide them.

Click here for Easter GIVEAWAY

Make your own chocolate 

Provided by the Allergy Unit at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. These recipes were devised and tested by their Allergy Unit’s head dietitian, Anne Swain.

Chocolate recipe one

30g cocoa powder or carob
140g icing sugar
110g melted palm oil or cocoa butter or copha
110g milk powder or soy powder

Chocolate recipe two

125g solic vegetable fat
240g icing sugar
5 Tbsp cocoa
30g milk powder or soy powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Instructions

1. Melt the copha (recipe 1) or vegetable fat (recipe 2) over a low heat.
2. Sift together and add the other ingredients.
3. Pour into lamington tin and set, or pour into East egg moulds.

Do you have any Easter Ideas? Comment below!

NOTE: The Warehouse is stocking Kinnerton Luxury Dark Chocolate Easter eggs again.  In Wellington they are in both Lyall Bay and Petone stores.  Currently on sale for $18, it includes the usual egg and chocolate bar together.

Thank you Karen, for letting us know. 

 Click here for Easter GIVEAWAY

Safe Easter treats + GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)

As Easter begins to near, parents of allergic children will be on the hunt for safe Easter treats. This can sometimes become overwhelming as it is tough to find the right products.

Therefore, we decided to contact a few companies and see if they would be happy with us featuring their products on our blog.

AND what is even better, is that they could all be yours! Yes, all the products mentioned in this blog will be given away to one lucky person.

HOW TO ENTER GIVEAWAY

But if you do not win, don't worry. The products below will link you to where you can purchase the items from and there will be more Easter posts to come, with treat ideas for those with allergies.

So, read on and enjoy!

Dairy and Soy free: Easter eggs & Eater bunnies
Price: $12.00 for a 100g bag

Product info: 100g bags containing either bunny shapes (approx. 14 per bag) or solid half eggs (approx. 15 per bag). 

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, rice syrup powder (17%), cocoa mass, vanilla. All ingredients from organic agriculture. Minimum 48% cocoa. Made in a factory that handles nuts.

 

Angel Food is an importer and manufacturer of dairy-free and vegan products, and distributes them through organic and gluten-free stores all over New Zealand, and through their own online store. 

They have just launched their new brand, Cherub Dairy Alternatives - the first product is a delicious dairy-free and soy-free cream cheese alternative. Look out for more exciting new Cherub products in the coming months!

Dairy, Soy, Gluten and Nut free: Chocolate
Price: $10.00 each

Product info: 70g bar of chocolate made in New Zealand. Madagascar Dark Chocolate is made from Organic, Single Estate Trinatario Cacao beans from he Sambriano Valley in northern Madagascar. Dominican Republic Dark Chocolate is made from Fair Trade, Organic Trinatario Cacao beans from the Conacado co-operative in the Dominican Republic.

Ingredients: Cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter. 

White Rabbit Cacao (pronounced ka-kow) is the first artisan bean-to-bar chocolate making company in New Zealand. They use ethically sourced ingredients to craft chocolate that reflects and respects the origin of cacao.

Dairy, Gluten, Wheat, Soy, Nut and Egg free: Muffin mix
Price: $8.00

Product info: 456g net, makes 24 mini muffins or 9 medium muffins and has no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.


Ingredients: Gluten free flour (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch), sugar, natural lemon flavour, baking powder (gluten and aluminium free), guar gum, baking soda, sea salt.  
Processed on machinery which DOES NOT handle wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.

Dairy, Gluten, Wheat, Soy and Nut free (egg free option): Cake mix
Price: $9.50



Product info: 536g net, serves 12 and can be made egg free by using an egg replacer. No trans fat, is GMO free and has no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.


Ingredients: Gluten free flour, (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch) sugar, cocoa powder, gluten and aluminium free baking powder, guar gum, baking soda, sea salt.  The cake mix also has an icing mix sachet which includes cocoa and gluten free icing sugar. 
Processed on machinery which DOES NOT handle wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.




Dairy, Gluten, Wheat, Soy, Nut and Egg free: Pudding mix
Price: $9.50

Product info: 370g net, serves 8 and has no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.


Ingredients: Gluten free flour, (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch) sugar, cocoa powder, gluten and aluminium free baking powder, guar gum, baking soda, sea salt. 

Processed on machinery which DOES NOT handle wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.

 
 





Dairy, Gluten, Wheat, Soy and Nut free: Cookie mix
Price: $8.00

Product info: 300g net, makes 20 cookies, is GMO free and has no trans fat and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.(eggs need to be used in recipe)


Ingredients: Gluten free flour, (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch) sugar, cocoa powder, gluten and aluminium free baking powder, guar gum, baking soda, sea salt.

Processed on machinery which DOES NOT handle wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.

Dairy, Gluten, Wheat, Soy, Nut and Egg free: Cookie mix
Price: $8.00

Product info: 373g net, makes 24 mini muffins or 9 medium muffins, is GMO free and has no trans fat and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.


Ingredients: Gluten free flour, (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch) sugar, cocoa powder, gluten and aluminium free baking powder, guar gum, baking soda, sea salt.
Processed on machinery which DOES NOT handle wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.

Love Cake Company’s gourmet Allergen Free baking mixes are the perfect answer to allergy free home baking. Love Cake’s unbelievably delicious mixes make healthy baking easy. Love Cake mixes are truly FREE FROM absolutely NO wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or eggs.

GIVEAWAY RULES
1. You must subscribe to this blog either by email, on the right side bar, or follow us with your google account.

2. Email your contact details to comms@allergy.org.nz (please specify if you do not want or cannot have a certain item on the list)

3. Competition closes on the 22nd of March.

THANK YOU
To Angel Food, White Rabbit Cacao and Love Cake for supplying us with this awesome giveaway!