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Cooking Tips when Food Allergies Factor in your Life

Ask anyone who has a food allergy - planning meals can be a tricky proposition. Unfortunately, if you or someone in your home has a food allergy, chances are they cannot really eat out due to fear of exposure to the wrong foods so that makes preparing meals at home the best alternative. Cooking at home gives you the most control over what you put into your body and at least you know how the food is prepared and what ingredients are used.

Food allergies can make home cooking quite a challenge, even for the most accomplished of cooks. Luckily, with the increased attention to allergies caused by what you eat, there is a plethora of information and recipes on the internet and in books that can help you in the meal planning process. Of course, learning how to substitute ingredients is important as well.

Approximately 90% of all food allergies are caused by peanuts, dairy, shellfish, tree nuts, dairy, soy and wheat. The good news is there are plenty of resources in which to find recipes that are food allergy friendly, especially if you are dealing with just a single food allergy. However, it starts getting tricky when there are multiple allergies to deal with.

Manipulating Recipes to Accommodate Allergies

While you may find a plethora of recipes that accommodate allergies, you may wish to adjust regular recipes by employing substitutions. This is a great talent to have in the kitchen especially if you find some great recipes that call for ingredients you just cannot eat. Luckily there are plenty of substitutions that are easy to find at the grocery store whereas other times may require a trip to a whole foods or organic market.

Experimenting is crucial to food allergy sufferers especially when it comes to dealing with substitute ingredients. This is where reading food labels come in handy! You can replace flours made from wheat and even find alternatives to dairy products and peanut butter. Half the battle is looking for these food items and the other half the battle is patience during your food experiments.

Obtaining and Cooking with Allergy-Free Ingredients

While your local supermarket may carry a limited selection of allergy-free products, other stores do not. Therefore, you may have to cruise the internet a bit to find websites devoted to food products that address allergies, especially if you live in the country or some other area where special types of food ingredients are available.

While you may be on a special diet because of food allergens, it does not mean the rest of the family cannot have "normal" food. You just have to be diligent about food preparation in regards to cross contamination. Even using the wrong spoon to stir something on the stove can be harmful. Washing hands, counters and sink areas are important in keeping possible food allergens away from your meal. Overall, what do you do when it comes to choosing a meal in a restaurant or preparing a meal at home? Worry! However with a little forethought and planning, you can whip up an food allergy free meal.