BD’s Mongolian Grill – The SAFE Restaurant

I had the pleasure of talking to Ken Leetch, the General Manager, at BD’s Mongolian Grill in Bolingbrook.  He was nice enough to take the time out of his busy schedule to discuss their safety practices with me.  This restaurant can be allergen free, gluten-free,  Paleo, or Vegan.  You pick, and they will try to accommodate.  First off, BD’s Mongolian Grill is one of my favorite buffet type restaurant.  Most buffet type restaurants are not very safe for Bean with her peanut allergy, due to cross contamination issues.  I was comfortable taking her to BD’s before, but now that I know more about their safety practices I am confident that BD’s would be a safe place for her to eat.

If you have never been to BD’s Mongolian Grill, it is essentially a place where you pick the ingredients and then take it up to the grill.  It’s amazing stir fry.  You can purchase one bowl or unlimited bowls.  With your bowl, you also get their soup and salad bar.  Their soups recently changed to being 100% home-made in-house by BD’s.  After you start off with the soup and salad, then you take your bowl and go up to the buffet and choose your ingredients.  You have several choices of meat, vegetables, noodles, sauces, and spices.  Once you have all your ingredients picked out, you can take your food up to a grill to be cooked.

Some of the safety practices they follow are:

• Temperatures are checked on the food lines every few hours to make sure everything stays cold and fresh
• The tongs are constantly changed to avoid any cross contamination
• If you are concerned about possible cross contamination due to a food restriction or allergy, they will make your bowl from fresh ingredients in the back that are kept segregated
• Also, they have an Allergy Friendly cooking station.  It is a separate place to have your food cooked to avoid allergens in your food.  The pans are used one time before being washed, and then they are heated up to 200 degrees to burn off any remaining allergens
• There is a MAC or MAM (Market Area Manager or Market Area Coordinator) walking around the food area, in a black chef coat.  They can help create meals, give ideas, and also can provide you with a nutritional brochure.

They also have a .pdf file on their website that lists every single ingredient used in all of their items.  If you are on the go, there is an Android and Iphone app called BD’s Go Mongo.  The app lets you create-a-bowl, choose all your ingredients, and view all the ingredients in the bowl you made!

Disclaimer: I did this review, because this is one of my favorite restaurants.  I was not given anything and did not receive any compensation in any way,  in order to do this review.  All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

 

Food Allergy?

To help determine if you or your child has a food allergy, there are a few steps you must take.

• Keep a log – write down very detailed symptoms.  Be sure to note the food and how much of the food caused the problem.
• Call your doctor – Bring your log with you and tell your doctor all about it.  He will do an exam and further testing.
• Blood Test – If your doctor suspects a food allergy, the doctor will most likely send you for a blood test.  A blood test measure’s your immune system’s response to certain foods known as immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. However, these blood tests aren’t always accurate, and produce false positives.
• Skin Test – This is typically performed on the back for children, and on the inner arms for adults.  Your skin is pricked with a very tiny needle, and a tiny amount of the allergens are placed beneath your skin’s surface.  If you are allergic to something, an itchy raised bump will form.  The doctor will rate the size of the bump with the severity of the allergy.

 

• Restricted Diet – Depending on your results, you will be asked to remove certain foods from your diet.  If the doctor thinks that you may have an intolerance or sensitivity rather than an allergy, he may ask you to remove certain foods from your diet, and gradually add them back in to check for specific symptoms when reintroduced.  This will narrow down which foods specifically are causing the problem.  If you are truly allergic, the doctor will recommend the food be eliminated from your diet completely.
• Oral Tolerance Test – This test is done in your doctor’s office or a clinical environment, where doctor’s are prepared with emergency medication. A small amount of the allergen is given to the patient to ingest.  Typically they start with a very, very tiny amount of the allergen.  If that it tolerated, then increasing amounts are given at set time intervals, typically a every half hour or so.  If you don’t have a reaction during this test, you can typically begin including this food back into your diet again.

 

Winning the Food Allergy War?

Every day more and more children, and adults are diagnosed with allergies.  Food allergies, environmental allergies, seasonal allergies.  Oh, and don’t forget there is asthma and eczema included too.  My almost 8 year old, has all 3, plus asthma, and we went through a bought of eczema this past winter.  The child takes more medications than I do.  Inhalers, nasal sprays, and pills.  Packing her an overnight bag is like packing her a small pharmacy.  I am seeing this more and more with children, and even adults are having seasonal allergies who have never had them before.  It all makes me wonder WHY?

Scientists are doing a crazy amount of research to find out why, but no one really has a definitive answer.  There are so many theories out there… GMO’s, fast food, lack of breast feeding, eating the allergen during pregnancy, the rise of planned c-sections, & use of hand sanitizer – just to name a few.  The list goes on and on.  There are many experimental food allergy trials out there, with things like desensitization (ingesting small amounts of peanut flour).  Now they are saying to start children on foods with allergens as early as 4-6 months.  Before they could not have peanuts until age 2.  Do they really know what will actually help or are we all just guessing?  They claim that they are making great strides in the right direction.  Personally, it all sounds like a bunch of trial and error, along with lots of hoping that somewhere along the lines something will truly make a difference.

How do we truly know what will work to help win the food allergy war, until we know the cause of the war and what we are actually fighting against?  Until they find a cause and a cure, I am thankful for support groups, and other Allergy Warriors who are fighting this battle right along side my allergic child and I.

 

Review: GoPicnic Ready-to-eat Meal (peanut free, gluten free, vegan, tree nut free, Kosher)

While at the GFAF (Gluten & Allergen Free) Expo, one of the companies that caught my eye was GoPicnic.  They have several gluten-free ready-to-eat meals, but I specifically asked if they had any peanut free ones.  Jamie was happy to show me the two varieties that were peanut free.  The first was GoPicnic Turkey Stick & Crunch and the other is Sunbutter & Crackers.  GoPicnic is a healthy, wholesome, good for you version of a Lunchable.  It comes in a package about the same size as a Lunchable, and fits perfect in any lunch bag, and is a shelf stable ready-to-eat meal.  No freezy packs required!  Packing a lunch daily is not only time-consuming, but there are days I run out of ideas, so I tend to fall back on the same foods over and over.  I am sure eating the same thing has to get old for Bean.  If you pack your child’s lunches daily, GoPicnic is a wonderful convenience!  Just pack a drink and lunch is served!

  

Bean picked the Turkey Stick & Crunch meal for the first one I packed in her lunch.  It is a balanced meal featuring an Old Wisconsin Turkey Snack Stick, Popchips Barbecue Potato Chips, Sweet Perry Orchards Tropical 100% Peel-A-Part Fruit, Enjoy Life Mountain Mambo Seed and Fuit Mix, and a Professor Zim Zam’s Extraordinary Sweets Dark Chocolate with Rice Crisps.  It contains no artificial flavors or colors, and is gluten-free, peanut free, egg free, and tree nut free!  The Popchips contain milk, and the dark chocolate contain soy, but that’s the only allergens!  I always strive to pack healthy options for my daughter’s lunch, and I was proud to pack this wholesome lunch for her!  All GoPicnic’s ready-to-eat meals are free of trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, added MSG, and artificial flavors and colors. Bean LOVED her lunch! She especially liked the Enjoy Life Mountain Mambo Seed & Fruit Mix.  I am pretty sure it is the closest thing she has ever had to a trail mix!

The next day we packed the Sunbutter & Crackers meal.  Again super easy, super quick, and a nice healthy, wholesome lunch!  Another balanced meal featuring Sunbutter® Creamy Sunflower seed Spread, Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Sea Salt Crackers, Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Trail Mix, Sweet Perry Orchards Tropical 100% Fruit Peel-a-Part and an Enjoy Life Double Chocolate Cookie. This meal is all- natural, Kosher, gluten-free, vegan, and free of 7 common allergens, including wheat, dairy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and egg!  The only allergen is that the Sunbutter is made on equipment that also processes soy.  My daughter also loved this meal!  She has asked for me to begin packing these in her lunch on a regular basis.

 

These are healthy meal options that can be taken anywhere, anytime!  No refrigeration required! These would be great to take on outings to the zoo, museums, parks, picnics, or even camping.  I was even thinking these would be great to take on road trips.  No worrying about where to stop for food, and if the food will be safe once we do find a place.  These alleviate having to purchase those overpriced foods sold at public places, and you can be confident that what you are feeding your child (or yourself) is nutritionally balanced and safe!   They have several varieties for people living allergen free, vegan, and gluten-free.  Just throw them in a bag and go!  I found these available in the gluten-free section at my local Meijer. They are also available at Target, Walgreens, Mariano’s Fresh Market, Whole Foods, Regal Cinemas, or they can also be purchased online at http://www.gopicnic.com.  They offer several varieties for specialized diets, plus they have specials and discounts online.

 

Disclaimer: I was given both boxes of GoPicnic meals reviewed above, in exchange for my honest opinions of their products.  I was not financially compensated in any way.  The meals were eaten exclusively by my daughter, Bean.  All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Product Review: Crunchmaster

**I was provided free product in exchange for my honest opinions.  I received no financial compensation and all opinions contained in here are my own and in no way influenced by an outside party.**

When I am looking for snacks that are safe for our house, I can NOT even begin to tell you how much of a pain it is to find ones that taste good!  I walk down all the aisles with the kids and of course they look and want everything.  And I know that even if I didn’t…they would see their friends with “normal” snacks and wonder why they have to be so different.  And sometimes, I can’t help but wish we could just buy whatever we wanted without looking.  Luckily though, I found a company that really has that in mind when producing their snacks.  Crunchmaster!!  Check out their website here.

The kids and I were so excited when our product got here… I could barely get a picture before the kids wanted to tear into them!

We were able to try Crunchmaster’s two new kids snacks, Cheezy Crisps and Grammy Crisps.  And we also got to try the Rosemary and Olive Ooil Multi Seed Crackers. We were very happy with each item, which is unusual.  For those of you that follow this blog regularly, you know how much of a challenge  it is for me to find something both kids will like and agree on.

The Cheezy Crisps were the first things the kids wanted to try, and I was all for it.  After checking the nutritional panel to see about a serving size, I was even more excited to give these to the kids.  60 of these crackers make up an adult serving for 120 calories!  That’s quite a s snack!  I portioned out half that amount for the kids and the full amount for myself and got to sampling.  Before I even tasted them,  I was worried that like so many other cheese snacks, they may have that fake flavor.   I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did not.  They are made with a great blend of real mozzarella and cheddar cheese and you can definitely taste them.  They are light and crunchy and have a fantastic texture.  There is enough cheese so that you know you are having a cheese based snack, but its balanced well and not ever overbearing.  These snacks are great all on their own.  The kids and I also mixed them in with some cereal and pecans and dried cranberries for a nice little trail mix.

Next up was the Grammy Crisps.  These have a suggested serving size of 25 crackers for 130 calories.  Still not a bad deal in my book, especially because both of their kid centered snacks are made with whole grain. So the kids each got a few and off we went to taste them and see how we can incorporate them into other things.  These by far were my favorite of all the Crunchmaster items we sampled.  They are nice and crunchy, and have this amazing blend of cinnamon and sugar.  These definitely took me back to when I was a kid and the cinnamon and sugar toast that we would have with breakfast. I was so happy to find something that allowed me to share these kind of flavors with my kids.  The kids could not get enough of them and were quickly coming up with some great recipe ideas.   These are amazing all on their own or in our nice little Smores mix.  The kids actually came up with this one…and we mixed the Grammy snacks, some mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips and had our own version of easier to eat, no heat Smores!  This is something we will definitely be making again, it is a great little snack mix to have for play-dates or get togethers.

After the kids had their fun with the new snacks and building new recipes, my husband and I set out to try the more “adult” type snack from Crunchmaster, the Rosemary and Olive Oil Multi Seed Crackers.  They are super thin and all natural and nice and crispy.  They have a great blend of seeds including sesame, quinoa, flax, and amaranth.  They are great right out of the bag, with nice undertones of Rosemary and Olive Oil. I was a little nervous that the Rosemary would be overwhelming but it was not at all.  My husband was totally content to eat them just plain, but I could not help but wonder what sorts of topping would work best for these awesome little crackers. I tried various cheeses, and our favorite was a New York Extra Sharp Cheddar.  I also had a dinner to attend with some  friends and wanted to bring something along.  I used these crackers and make up some Bruschetta.  What a great combination!!! My friends at the dinner party could not get enough of them and just had to know what kind of crackers I was using.  They are such a great substitution for bread in dip like recipes and I cannot wait to try therm with other options.

All in all, before trying these Crunchmaster products I had come in contact with mixed reviews from other people I know who have tried them.  I was a little hesitant, but I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to try them for myself.  I am excited to say they are one of the better gluten-free snack companies out there.  For those of you interested in trying them for yourself ( and I highly recommend you do!!) check out this link for a great coupon! Also, please check them out and show them your support on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!  And don’t forget to share your opinions with me!

Allergies and Chiropractic Care

In addition to having issues with gluten, both my children ( and myself) have environmental and seasonal allergies.  And while there are literally thousands of things that fall into these categories, sometimes I feel like we may have wound up with reactions to a good percentage of them.  For awhile we had been on the seemingly never-ending cycle of allergy medicines that did not quite work well enough and overly tired, crabby kids due to the medication.  On top of that, I would typically limit our time outside, knowing that the longer we were out, the worse it would be for the kids later.  Now, my kids are the kind that would be perfectly happy living outside, if there was a way to do it, so cutting their time outside short never ended well for any of us.

That is when my husband and I began to look into other options for treatment.  This is what lead us to natural medicine, including chiropractic.  After a long period of research and continuous learning, we now choose to treat our children naturally and homeopathically whenever possible ( by this I mean that if there was a serious condition going on I would of course bring my children to their traditional pediatrician).  While starting down this new path, we can across the idea of chiropractic.  I had previously always thought it was something that either older people or people with back problems used.  I never realized the vast amount of conditions that chiropractic can help treat, and actually prevent.

We did our research and had meetings with multiple chiropractors before we found one that was the right fit for our family.  Before we even told him our concerns, he was able to look at the kids and pinpoint a lot of their conditions, which amazed me.  He then explained to us that our bodies have this insane healing ability that most of us are not aware of, and once everything is in alignment,  our body is able to take back over and work on healing.  We spoke of the laundry list of things that I was concerned about with the kids, and myself, and we got to work on a treatment plan.

Soon, we were all going for regular adjustments.  After the first adjustment, I noticed amazing results in the kids.  Temperaments were better, they slept better, they even ate better. As time went on, I began to see a drastic reduction in the way they responded to their typical allergens.  Reactions were far less severe and medication was rarely necessary.  Of course, our chiropractor advised us that the likelihood of a “cure” for their allergies was far-fetched, and not something we should be anticipating.  But, he also let us know that with continued adjustments, we can help keep their reactions at bay, since their bodies are better able to handle being exposed to the allergen.

We now continue to go for regular adjustments and check ups.  We use a homeopathic allergen blocker right under their noses on days we know the mold and pollen counts are high, which helps keep those days less severe.  We still keep Benadryl on hand, just in case we have a bad day or two, but I can honestly say I could not tell you the last time I needed to use it for seasonal and environmental reactions.

I am well aware that chiropractic care is not something that everyone is open to.  However, if you are, and if your family and children are, do your research and think about adding this to your treatment plan.  For us, it has made all the difference in the world.

Awareness in the Food Service Industry

It was another one of those nights tonight…

You know, the whole, hey let’s try and go out and grab something for dinner.  For those of you who can do this effortlessly, and without any kind of thought, I envy you…dearly. For us, it is a lovely game of first, finding somewhere safe, and then second, trying to find somewhere that my uber picky Bear will eat from.

After a long debate and thought process, we finally settled on somewhere.  As usual, once we were there and getting ready to order, I went through our typical “we can NOT have anything with gluten, so I need to know what your ingredients are” speech.    And this was met with the typical “Oh is this for an allergy” question.  I begrudgingly say yes, not wanting to get into how it is NOT an allergy (that is another post for another day).  But then, to my dismay, our server said they would have to go and ask someone else, and they would get back to us about what was safe.   It took quite awhile, and finally someone else came out to talk to us, with a large book that they told me contained all the items they had and what was in each item.  And I am NOT kidding when I say that this binder had to be 3 or 4 inches thick.  At this point, we explained that we did not feel safe enough to continue our experience, thanked the establishment, left a small tip for our server ( I used to waitress, so I feel that it is only right to leave a little something for taking up some time at a table) and wound up back home eating leftovers.

But here is my point, I just feel like if you work in an establishment where food is served, you should be knowledgeable enough to explain to patrons what is or is not in your products.  Not just for those with gluten issues or food allergies, but for anyone who asks.  People are becoming more and more aware of what they put in their bodies, and typically most like to know what they are eating.  I just find it amazing that in most cases the servers or counter staff typically have no clue what they serve.  Even worse, as in our case, the management did not even know what was in the products they were serving.  Um…what?  While I understand that this may be a paycheck for you, this could be a life threatening mistake for someone else.  I am not at all trying to downplay the need for us with food issues to do our homework…but it would be nice for places to start educating their staff on the make up of the their products.  Also, maybe a bit of education on the plethora of food issues that people can have.  It would be nice to walk into a restaurant and explain my situation and have it met with something more than a weird look.  A bit of extra effort on the part of restaurants could do wonders for their customer service, and open up their businesses to a whole new market of people who may have previously been unaware that eating there was a safe place.

Gluten Free Candy

Over the past few days I have been working on some research and emailing companies to try and bring you the best list of gluten free candy that I can.  This is is not, by any means, complete.   What I mean by that is, it does not contain all of the candy out there that is gluten free.  If it did, it would probably be as long as a book!  I have not included any of the specialty candy brands that only work with gluten free candies, but rather chose to focus on what “normal” candies are safe.  This is because, odds are, you and your children will come into contact with these mainstream candies way more often than those of a specialty nature.  As always, please make sure to check the labels.   While all of this information is current, that does not guarantee that the manufacturers will not change their recipes or manufacturing processes.

 

Tic Tacs are considered by the company to be gluten free.  They said that none of their items contain any gluten containing ingrediants.  For more information, you can reach the maker of Tic Tacs, Ferrero at 732-764-9300.

Jelly Belly jelly beans are considered by the company to be gluten free.  ALL of their jelly beans, in ALL flavors are safe.  However, sometimes Jelly Belly will package their items as a mixed set that may contain malted milk balls, or other candies that are not safe.  Always make sure to check the packaging… as long as its JUST jelly beans, you are free and clear.  You can contact Jelly Belly  at 800-522-3267.

Wrigleys makes gum, mints and other candies.  They also make Lifesavers, Creme Savers, Skittles and Starburst.  Almost all of their items are considered to be gluten free.   The company assured me that the only products that are NOT considered to be gluten free are:  Altoids Smalls Peppermints, Altoids Chocolate Dipped Mints, Hubba Bubba Gummie Tape and Lucas and Swinkles Candy Strips.  Contact Wrigley at (800) 974-4539.

Necco is another famous brand of candies that replied to me with a list of their gluten free options.  They include : Necco Wafers and Chocolate Wafers, the Sweethearts Valentine Conversation Hearts, Mary Janes, and Peanut Butter Mary Janes, Sky Bar, Mint Julep Chews,  Banana Split Chews, Candy House Candy Buttons, Haviland Thin Mints, Wintergreen Patty, Nonpareils and Chocolate Stars, and Canada Mint, Wintergreen and Spearmint Lozenges.  You can contact Necco at 781-485-4800.

Nestles also makes are variety of candies, both under their name as well as Willy Wonka.  The items that they have assured me are currently considered to be gluten free are:  Laffy Taffy, Pixie Stix, Bit O Honey, Baby Ruth, Original Flavor Butterfinger (no seasonal flavors, or shapes), Goobers, Nips, O Henry, Nestles Milk Chocolate,  Snowcaps, and Raisinets.  For more information, you can contact Nestles at 800-225-2270.

Just Born makes the marshmallow peeps that we usually see on Easter, and they also make Mike and Ikes.  The company said that any of their marshmallow products that are gluten free will be labelled gluten free.  They began this process last October.  While some of the products do say modified food starch, the company assured me it was corn, so it was safe.  This list of Mike and Ike candies that are safe are the following flavor varieties: Hot Tamales, Zours, Tropical Typhoon, Jelly Beans, Berry Blast, Italian Ice, Original Fruits, Tangy Twister, Redrageous.  You can contact Just Born at 888-645-3453.

Smarties says that most of their line is gluten free with the exception of the Smarties Gummies.  While the Smarties Gummies have no gluten containing ingredients, they are processed on machinery that also processes gluten containing ingredients.  However, something to be aware of with Smarties, is that the company often sells them to other companies to bag together with other items.  In these cases, the other items that the products may be bagged with cannot always be considered safe.  Note from the Smarties Company…. “Note: If the UPC number on the packaging begins with “0 11206”, you can be assured that it is manufactured in a facility that is gluten free and safe to eat if you have Celiac Disease.”  If you need to contact Smarties, you can do so through their website.

Mars Chocolates sent me the following list of what was safe.  Please note that some varieties of M&Ms are NOT safe and you are always going to want to check the packaging!  Here is what is safe from Mars: all flavors of 3 musketeers and Snickers Bars, M&Ms EXCEPT for pretzel and SOME mint and coconut, Milky Way Midnight and Milky Way caramel bars, and ALL Dove chocolate products EXCEPT cinnamon graham and cookies and creme flavors. You can contact Mars at 800-627-7852.

Tootsie Roll who also makes Charms Products has ensured me that as of October of last year, ALL of their products are considered to be gluten free, with the only EXCEPTION being Andes Cookies.   Great job Tootsie Roll!  You can call Tootsie at 773-838-3400.

Hersheys Chocolate lists the following products on their website as gluten free. The list is: all Almond Joy and Mounds, Milk Chocolate Kisses, the caramel and cherry cordial filled chocolate kisses, Hersheys nuggets, Heath Bars, Skor and Skor Toffee bars, all York Peppermint Patties, all Reeses peanut butter cups EXCEPT holiday shapes.  Hersheys chocolate bar and Hersheys chocolate bar with almonds are also considered to be gluten free, but ONLY certain sizes.  The plain chocolate bar is gluten free in the 1.55 ounce size and the Hersheys with almonds is gluten free in the 1.45 ounce size.  I think that this is strange and in our house we avoid those two bars altogether though.  You can contact
Hersheys at 800-468-1714.

 

I hope this helps to put your mind at ease a bit when your kids want candy, or come home with candy from school or from friends houses.  I recommend printing out this list, or one of your own if your children have other allergies, and giving it to friends, family, babysitters, or school teachers.  Anyone who could possible give your child candy.  This safe list allows for a little more freedom and normalcy for your child when they are not with you.  If you have any questions, or if there is anything you think I may have missed, please feel free to let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gluten and Allergen Free Expo 2013

We are super excited to announce that we have been selected as official members of the Chicago GFAF Expo Blogger Team!  The Expo is being held April 20th & 21st in Schaumburg, IL.  We are counting the days!!  The Expo is the premier gluten and allergen free event in the US! Whether you are looking for specialty products that taste great or trying to learn how to cook and bake to meet your dietary needs, the Expo is the place to be!  If you are in the Chicago come join us!!  This is such a great place to go if you have allergies or are gluten free!  At the vendor fair you can sample and purchase products from over 110 vendors!  There is also a book fair and all vendors will have signs indicating which allergens their books are for!  PLUS… your ticket allows you free admission to the cooking classes!

If you are in the Chicago area, come out and join us!  For those of you not in Chicago, we will be posting lots of pics and will share all the great info we learn with you!

Blog makes local newspaper!

The local newspaper in my town wrote an article about Allergy Warriors.  Just wanted to share this with all of you who are not on my Facebook.

Here is the link