From the packaging: Perfect for school, daycare, camp, sleepovers, and more…

Yeah, I’m kind of on the fence about these, but I have the links below so that you can decide for yourselves. Reading through the comments on Amazon, people seem to love these things for their kids just to be extra sure that parents, teachers, and staff know about a child’s food allergy. I didn’t really see any negative comments about having their children wear these or any about schools requiring them, so I can only assume that they are providing parents with a sense of comfort when their children are away from them and out into this nutty world.

Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

We came across the same problem as with our first dining experience but it was much worse. There was the cruise ship in port, people here for another cruise that leaves tomorrow, people who just came for the weekend usually wearing a veil and holding a large colorful drink while being following by a group of women wearing matching t-shirts that said stuff like “She’s gettin’ hitched!”, and the 20,000 or so people here for the Rock n Roll Marathon happening tomorrow. Good gosh.

We looked inside of the Bubba Gump restaurant and saw that it didn’t look busy at all during the peak dinner time so we went in. We were only one of three tables being used in the dining area of the chain restaurant. Weird. What says Louisiana more than the authentic Cajun cuisine of a movie-based theme restaurant that started in Monterey, California?

Here’s the thing: I’m really easy to please. I don’t seek out the best burger in the country since I think that In-N-Out Burger makes a pretty darn good one. When people ask me who I think the best Doctor is in the rebooted Doctor Who, I always say it’s a tie between 10, 11, and 12 because they’re all fantastic. When asked about Star Wars Episode One, I say that it had its good parts. Get the picture?

To focus on the good, our waiter was a really nice guy who handled all of the questions we had about nuts being used in the dishes and the handling of food. He even asked the cooks when he didn’t know the answers. My shrimp and grits also turned out really well. Other than that, the experience was not so good. There was a lot of confusion in seating us in an empty restaurant from someone who didn’t seem to want to be there. We had the “Stop, Forrest, Stop” license plate up for a really long time before someone showed up to take our order in a restaurant with only three tables being used. Our waiter was told someone else was taking care of us but that person disappeared and never returned. I suspect the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter books which, incidentally, I thought were all equally brilliant with no faults whatsoever. Also, a family-friendly international chain restaurant that doesn’t have an allergen menu on their website? C’mon, Forrest, c’mon.

To focus back on the good, no reactions happened and the walk there and back was nice. We’ll try for a non-chain tomorrow.

Image from Flickr user Daniel Torres Bonatto. Creative Common License

Official Description: Regina is busy preparing for her birthday party, but then she discovers that her friend Paula can’t go anywhere near the cake because she has a peanut allergy. Regina soon comes up with a plan that will please everyone. Full color.

You obviously have a lot of choices when it comes to buying books, but we hope you would look into buying a used or new version from Better World Books. They are a B-Corp (Beneficial Corporation) who donates a portion of every sale to fund global literacy or local libraries.

Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

New Orleans, one of the great food places on Earth. However, they really like their nuts and you see praline stores on every block seemingly. We did all of the work in advance finding the places that are supposedly kind to those of us dealing with a peanut or
tree nut allergy. Then, you get here, find out there is a cruise ship that just arrived, and are told that there is a one hour plus wait at each of the restaurants on your list. Fortunately, we had a back up plan: Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. It was fast, on Canal Street so you get to watch all of the people going by, and honestly, it was better than the one at which we last ate back in Portland. So here’s to you, Popeye’s for giving us our first…um…authentic New Orleans dining experience.

Be sure to do your own research since their allergen policies can change and the peanut and tree nut allergy forums, some of which will convince you to never eat out, report differing experiences. Here is Popeye’s allergen menu.

Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

Nutrigrain bars are a staple in our house. Fortunately, no one is tired of them yet. I was thrilled when I went to our neighborhood Fred Meyer grocery store and found that they were nutless. Then, I notice that Kroger had their own, nearly identical bar. However, when I looked at the ingredient list, it did state that they were made in a facility that also processes food with nuts (do you hate that notice as much as me?). I’ve found that with a lot of the Kroger versions of nut-free products that I buy.

In this case, stick with the Nutrigrain bars (after you do your own research and confirm that it’s okay - see disclaimer).

So you have a peanut allergy. So you decide to travel with the family to somewhere cool. So you sit down and the flight attendants hand out a pack of peanuts to everyone on the plane. So you grab the EpiPen and hold onto it for the duration of the flight.

Keep in mind that this is only one person’s experience, but I was amazed yesterday about the service we got from Southwest Airlines. We let them know ahead of time that one of us traveling has a severe peanut allergy. We get to the gate and they provided a really friendly staff member who would pre-board with us and help us to prepare the area. When we were up in the air, the flight attendant on the microphone announced that there were people on-board with a peanut allergy and they would therefore be serving pretzels. There was one old timer who then stood up and said, “I chose Southwest Airlines because I wanted the peanuts! I’m not even going anywhere! I just fly from place to place for the peanuts!” The flight attendant then announced that they would have packets of peanuts available in a basket as we all leave if people really wanted them. The old timer was satisfied.

I just thought that the experience was really cool. With the rising rate of peanut allergies, I can only imagine that this is going to be more common. The main reason that I am writing about this is the fact that they were all so friendly about it and didn’t at all make us feel like we were inconveniencing them. So thank you, Southwest Airlines.

On a side note, the pretzels did say that they were processed in a facility that also processes peanuts so don’t eat those.

Image from Flickr user Josh Hallett. Creative Common License

Hey, whenever we recommend a product or restaurant, it’s still up to you to make sure that they are safe for you or whoever it is with a peanut or tree nut allergy. We are not responsible for any allergic reactions, okie-dokie?

So it’s a hot day and ye thinks to ye self, “I could really go for some fro-yo.” You walk into a shop and ask about whether it’s safe to get a cup from the machine even if you don’t add any toppings. You probably know what happens next. The person there may tell you that even though the peanut butter flavor is only ever in one machine and even though they are really careful about washing, they can’t guarantee that there won’t be any trace amounts in your delicious, frozen cup of goodness. Sad face.

2017 may give us a solution: a patch that may, at the very least, help erase the worry of exposure to trace amounts. DBV Technologies has had some really promising results with their Viaskin® Peanut patch. You wear it everyday and it may raise your threshold. It seems to have worked better for younger children, but still, wow. They’ve completed their Phase 3 clinical trials and it will, fingers crossed, be on the market soon. They’re also developing patches for milk and egg allergies.

More information is available on the DBV Technologies website:

Here’s an article about it on CNN from October 2016.

Image from Flickr user vallgall