Washington D.C. Trip and Food Allergies

Traveling with kids can be challenging, but traveling with kids with food allergies is MUCH more complicated!  I'm usually a complete stress ball a few days before a trip, even though I try to plan so well. I basically try to bring enough food for every meal and every snack for Little Guy, just to make sure we have enough food.  Plus, I always research and call restaurants ahead of time to make sure we have some safe options for eating out. Well, I'm so excited to share our fun trip to Washington D.C. which went well despite the stress of planning!  We met up with family in D.C. over Thanksgiving break, had fun touring the monuments and Smithsonian museums, and we were even able to eat out at a few allergy-friendly restaurants!

When we arrived in Washington D.C., we planned for our big group of family members to meet at the Pavilion Cafe. When I called ahead, they said they could make a sandwich for Little Guy with bread and ham. I wasn't sure about the safety of the bread (sesame free bread is so hard to find), so I actually packed a hot thermos of leftover steak + cauliflower which he ate instead. I was grateful for the Pavilion Cafe at least trying to accommodate him though!

After lunch we took a photo in front of the ice skating rink:

Had fun at the Natural History Museum (love the impressive elephant):

And talked with cousins while relaxing in the gem room:

We also had fun at the Air and Space Museum

And saw so many monuments:

There's only one good photo of me with the kids, and of course, one isn't looking and the other is hiding behind me!

But what about the FOOD you say?  Well, let's get to the good stuff!!

We had dinner at the Daily Grille on the first night.  I called ahead the week before, and not one, but TWO managers called me back at different times to confirm what they could safely cook for Little Guy.

They brought him out a beautiful fruit and veggie plate.

And a plain burger and broccoli with all the fixings.

I also brought along some carb focused snacks (muffins, etc.) and Divvies and Enjoy Life Cookies for DESSERT!!

For lunches and snacks, I took along the handy Easy Lunchbox (affiliate) containers and filled them with sandwiches, SunButter, cereal, etc. This isn't a great photo or an impressive lunch, but I took this quickly at the hotel during craziness of getting ready to sightsee!!

Speaking of the hotel, I was so grateful that we found an affordable and NICE hotel in D.C. that even offered rooms with a kitchenette! The refrigerator was KEY on this trip to store soymilk, SunButter, yogurt, etc. I highly recommend The Beacon Hotel!!

The restaurant at The Beacon Hotel was also helpful in cooking safe food for him. The week before our trip, they emailed me a list of foods they could cook safely for him.

Little Guy ate this amazing dairy free, egg free, nut free and sesame free breakfast at the hotel. We asked them to cook his bacon on foil in the oven, and they even brought it out on the foil which made this mama feel even more comfortable with the safety of his food!

For dinner on our last night in Washington D.C., we drove about 8 minutes away from the hotel to a restaurant I've heard about for awhile now, The Mellow Mushroom in Adams Morgan. Now I wish I had a better photo of the FESTIVE restaurant and YUMMY pizza, but this is all I have to offer!

We've NEVER gone to a pizza place together as a family, and I don't know of many restaurants that can make an allergy friendly pizza. The Mellow Mushroom has Daiya dairy free cheese, vegan crust, and can even make it gluten free if needed.

We ALL loved the pizza there - SUCH good crust!

On the way home to the Philadelphia area, we made our second trip to One Dish Cuisine (recently named the MOST allergy friendly restaurant in America!).

You can read about our first trip there in my blog post here.

Grammy, Daddy, the kids and I LOVED our second trip to One Dish. Smiles all around.

Little Guy tried spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast, and he also ate half of my turkey avocado BLT sandwich!

He also got to choose ANYTHING he wanted from this bakery display.

He ate a whoopie pie and frosted cookie, and we took cupcakes home for later!

We had an amazing time in Washington D.C. overall. I'm hoping this post helps others who are considering traveling there too.  I'm also going to put my reviews on Allergy Eats. Has anyone else found GREAT allergy friendly places to eat in or near D.C.? If so, please share!

You may also be interested in:

Eating Freely at One Dish Cuisine

Eating Out with Food Allergies: Penn State Trip

Food Allergy Friendly Trip to NYC

FABlogCon 2014 in Las Vegas

Life has been busy lately, so thanks for sticking with me even though I haven't posted in awhile! Make sure you're following me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as I do try to post more often on my social media accounts, even if I can't get a blog post written!

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to attend FABlogCon in Las Vegas. The was the second year for the conference, but it was the first year I attended. Fellow food allergy mamas and bloggers, Jenny Sprague and Homa Woodrum planned the WHOLE thing (Thanks to both of you for this wonderful event!).

I'm sure you and I both have been to enough conferences to know what they're all about. You usually sit a lot, listen to speakers, make new contacts, and hopefully enjoy a nice hotel bed all to yourself (and I DID enjoy that bed all to myself...I missed my little ones of course, but I LOVED sleeping!).

But this conference was different.

All the attendees had a common bond that was very personal. Everyone was there to learn, share and connect about food allergies and sensitivities, or "custom eaters" as I've heard it called lately.

For me, this conference was all about:

Connecting with the food allergy community 
The food allergy community at this conference included food allergy parents, bloggers, organizations and great brands who you and I probably use every day!

Here's the full sponsor list and here are some quick tidbits from a few great companies who attended:

• Do you ever eat SunCups? They're just like Reese's PB cups, but they're made with Sunbutter instead. We can't eat them because they contain milk. But I just heard at the conference from Kate that SunCups is coming out with a DAIRY-FREE version. YAY!

• Dave Bloom from SnackSafely.com said that this food allergy guide was downloaded over 60,000 times this month. They are coming out with a new service that includes allergen profiles for 11 allergens. You will be able to make a profile for each of your family members with food allergies, and find safe snacks based on each person's allergens they avoid.  I can't wait since the guide will include sesame. It's one of our most difficult allergens to avoid since companies are not required to label for it in the U.S.!!

• Joel Warady from Enjoy Life Foods said that this allergy-friendly company tests its products for allergens from supplier (i.e. - the companies that provide them with their ingredients) to the finished product (when you bite into that cookie).  I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that this company exists - it makes my life easier.

Learning more about food allergies and how to manage them
Even though we've been managing Little Guy's food allergies for 4 years now, there's always something new to learn. I knew I could learn a lot from this amazing conference. I wish I could have attended ALL the sessions. There were so many great sessions about food allergy management, nutrition and the teen years that I missed.  However, I did learn a few things like:

• Hanson Watkins from Indie Candy had a great tip on how to get in touch with a company with food allergy questions. She suggested calling the Marketing department, NOT customer service, if you can't seem to get the answers you need in a phone call. 

• Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a well-known food allergy research and author of The Food Allergy Experience (affiliate link) showed us her new awareness video and presented recent research. Fact I didn't know: The older age of a person at the time of diagnosis is associated with a more severe reaction.

Gaining inspiration to make Mamacado a better resource for you!
I attended a number of blog related sessions where I learned some great blogging tips. There are too many great sessions, bloggers and people to even name here!  I hope take what I learned at the conference and make this blog a great resource for you!

Here are a few fun pictures from the conference:

Colette Martin setting up her camera for a food photography session.

Cheryl Viirand from Freedible, Joel Warady from Enjoy Life and Homa Woodrum, conference planner extraordinaire!

I had to take a photo with Kyle Dine and the puppets! Little Guy was VERY impressed.

Amazing cookies From Cybele Pascal. I like making my own cookies, but buying them off the shelf is SO helpful to this busy Mom. I can't wait to find these at Whole Foods!

Oh, and take a look at the awesome bags of goodies we received. I had to ship this home since I couldn't fit it in my suitcase!  Thanks to all the sponsors for these great items.

If you're interested in seeing other pictures or leaning more about the conference, make sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Just search for #fablogcon and you can find all the fun photos from my trip and the conference!

If you deal with food allergies in your family, do you have a "go to" group who just "gets it"? I sure felt like I did at this conference!

Restaurant Review: Harrison's Harbor Watch Restaurant in OC Maryland

Last week I posted about our fun trip to OC Maryland. I wanted to share more with you about our restaurant experience. Since we rented a beach house with our extended family, we ate in most nights which made it easier from a food allergy perspective.  The one night we went out to eat, we had a positive experience at Harrison's Harbor Watch restaurant.

This wasn't our first time there. We had a positive experience there last year too. Harrison's offers beautiful views of the inlet, Assateague island (where the wild ponies roam) and ships coming in and going out to sea. They also have been great with food allergies.

After we handed the waiter our food allergy card, the manager came over to us with a kids' menu she updated to include all the options for little guy to eat. We've NEVER had that kind of service before. It was such a nice treat to see all the possible options.

I was so excited by it that I of course took a photo :)

Little Guy ended up ordering a plain burger, veggies, potatoes and applesauce. It was the "best burger" he ever had...and that's a direct quote. (I think he was really hungry! :)

Don't ya just love that allergy stick?  It's the same one that I took a photo of last year during a beach trip!

The only thing I would have changed?  The fact that the sides came out all together on a big tray with no allergy stick in them (only the burger had them on). It made me feel less confident that the sides were safe for Little Guy, so I made sure to ask the waiter about them.

Little Guy ended up only eating the burger a few veggies, plus some Surf Sweets gummy worms on the boardwalk that I brought along (in a BIG bag of treats that I made sure to have for him!). 

Did a restaurant ever update a menu specifically for you or your child? I know many restaurants like Red Robin have books ready-made for customers to reference. But I thought this was great customer service!

DISCLAIMER: My reviews are only reviews of our unique experience at these restaurants. They are not an endorsement of safety when eating at these restaurants as each restaurant, staff and kitchen are different. Please do your own research and take all precautions for you and your family when eating out.

Beach Vacation and Food Allergy Planning

What's the secret to a wonderful beach vacation with family (and views like this)?

Planning, preparation and fun!

But as you know, going on a vacation or trip takes a little more preparation and planning than usual when you have food allergies.

Last week we stayed at a beach house with 7 other family members. We all had a wonderful time together and also had a successful food allergy friendly experience for Little Guy.

What are the main things that I prepped?  Well, beyond LISTS and LISTS of everything we needed to take and remember for the trip....

I baked a double batch of pumpkin muffins from Sophie-Safe Cooking the day before we left to share with everyone in the family.

I baked a loaf of food allergy friendly egg-free, dairy-free (and gluten free) bread two days before. We use King Arthur Flour, Gluten Free Bread Mix. It's STILL Little Guy's favorite bread. (Deep breath exhale of frustration). More on that in another post.

I bought a FRIO pack to make sure Little Guy's Epipens stayed at the correct temperature at the beach. During other years we kept the Epipens in a thermos in the shade of a beach umbrella. This year we tried something new and I was VERY pleased with the FRIO pack. It was simple to use and it made me feel more at ease without having to worry about the Epipens getting too hot at the beach.

Frio pack to make sure the Epipens stayed cool at the beach

I normally would have researched restaurants before our trip, but since we've had a few good food allergy related experiences at restaurants in OC Maryland the past few years, I felt comfortable in knowing where we could go. We only went out to eat one night at Harrison's Harbor Watch restaurant, and we had a great experience. I'll write a separate post about it!

I brought a lot of food to the beach (including items I knew I might not find at the beach grocery store like coconut yogurt, Sunbutter and safe soymilk), but I also planned meals beforehand and wrote a shopping list for the beach. My list included things like meat, fresh veggies, fruit, brown rice, etc. 

One of the nights we all had the same food allergy friendly chicken chili meal with avocado and safe tortilla chips. Thankfully everyone was very satisfied!

And all the kiddos had dairy free So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream with mini Oreos on top. A definite treat!

We all had a wonderful trip in general and love the family and beach time. Here are a few pics of the beautiful community where we stayed in OC Maryland.

A few of the bayside part of the resort looking at the beach area where the kids loved playing.

Lots of fun at the beach and pool here.

OC Maryland and the setting sun.

The kids loved playing by the bay. 

Fishing off a pier was fun too.

We all had fun playing in the water! Some days we went to the bay, and some to the ocean.

A beautiful sunset. We felt like we were on an island in this picture!

And here are some other beach and food allergy posts you might find helpful:

OC Maryland Food Allergy Friendly Restaurants

At the Beach: Traveling with Food Allergies

Traveling with Food Allergies: What I packed on our beach trip

Here's the link to the Frio pack we used:

3 Reasons I Miss NYC

I traveled to New York City last week for work. It was only a day trip, but I tried to soak up as much of the city as possible in my short time there. I lived in NYC for two summers when I interned at MTV and Showtime during college and I learned a lot about the city during that time. BUT there's always so much to explore.

I thought I'd post this week about 3 reasons why NYC is so great for a day trip or even longer! And this is of course JUST scratching the surface of what NYC has to offer.

1. NYC is Walkable

NY is truly an easy city to get around. It's built in a perfect grid system and it's so easy to follow a map. Of course, walking is not only great for exercise, but also great for sightseeing. As I was walking from the train to my work meeting, I walked right past the New York Public Library (Yes, this is where Carrie Bradshaw was supposed to have her wedding for all those SITC fans). It's a beautiful building inside and out. There's SO much to see and do in NY.

2. NYC is Surprising
You never know what you'll see in NYC. I guess this could be good OR bad! On my way to my meeting, I heard tubas and trumpets up ahead (remember, it was about 8:30am in the morning), and I came upon this lively double decker bus. This was a college band playing an upbeat song in preparation for the March Madness basketball game that night. I saw lots of smiles on the street though, which is something you don't always see in NYC.

You also never know WHO you'll see. As I said before, I'm a celebrity watching junkie. NYC is a great place to see random celebrities being "normal". Hey - who ever thought I'd see Martha Stewart in a Speedo shop!? I didn't see any celebrities this trip though.

3. NYC is Delicious
Oh, the food. NYC has a TON of diverse restaurants. You just can't keep up with all the options! I knew I had to seek out an awesome lunch that day, so I ended up walking outside and following a constant flow of take out bags. Yes, I followed take out bags!  There were a number of professionals carrying eye catching bags of food who looked like they were on their lunch break. I knew I had to figure out where those bags were coming from.

I finally found the source - a restaurant called Dishes. They offer a bunch of ethnic food options. I went straight for the "noodle bowls" since it was a cold day and I love noodle bowls! I ordered a noodle bowl with shrimp, rice noodles and all the veggies they could stuff in there. It was AWESOME.

We haven't taken 3 year old Little Guy to NYC so far, so I have not tried to find a food allergy friendly restaurant...yet. But I'm guessing with a little research we can find a great restaurant who can offer a tasty and safe meal.

Just take a look at this wonderful goodness! They give you your noodles and veggies in a bowl (on the right) and broth with shrimp, mushrooms and other veggies on the left.  You just put it together and.....

You get this TASTY lunch. So fresh, warming and satisfying (too bad my phone photos in bad lighting didn't capture this dish better!)

So, those are a few of my reasons I miss NYC. What do you think of New York? Love it or not?