My relationship with food changed drastically when my youngest son ended up in the hospital after an anaphylactic reaction to food.

I’d like to think the initial diagnosis was a kick in the pants – which it was – but actually seeing my child suffer just put a whole different spin on things.

Both of my children have food allergies. We now avoid dairy/milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (like walnuts and almonds) and sesame (seeds and oil).

It’s very difficult to buy prepared foods that don’t contain one of those ingredients – or that weren’t produced on shared manufacturing equipment.

Plus, there are recalls every day lately  — most recently about the bagels we like. Luckily, the ones we had in the house are safe, and the affected lot is now off store shelves. But it does shake one’s confidence in the system a bit.

As the person planning and prepping most of what my little one eats, I am his best defense. This, coupled with the long list of ingredients to avoid, means I cook a lot, often from scratch. Did I mention I work full time too? So when I cook – it needs to either be prepped in advance, or ready in a jiffy.

Since I happen to love technology, I’m enlisting the aid of the internet in my quest to find the best recipes, plan the best menus, and organize the fridge and freezer to give us great options when we’re pressed for time.

Right now I do a bunch of meal prep once a month for chicken, pork and steak marinades; and a triple batch of spaghetti sauce, and we use those during the week often. I also try to bake at least two things on the weekend – safe cookies, or the pumpkin muffins everyone loves.

I’m also searching through food allergy recipes sites and lots of cookbooks, to find recipes that work. Many of these I am storing in Evernote. I have a whiteboard on the fridge for the weekly food plan but would love to synch the recipes with a grocery store app and create an instant grocery list. It’s on my List app to research soon.

This blog is about my journey in managing food allergies, planning our meals with the help of technology, and trying to keep my sanity as a working mom along the way. Welcome!