sestrenki: July 2010

Hi, sorry for being MIA, we were visiting my family in Russia. Me and my 4yo daughter, who has some food allergies... and that is what the post is all about.

She's allergic to milk and eggs (and possibly to some nuts or legumes). She is a somewhat picky eater (I suppose, many kids with allergies are cautious than trying new foods), but when at home she has enough choices to pick from. I'm not sure if this is true for everyone, but every time we travel outside the US, our child has very limited food choices. Eating out becomes impossible unless there is a McDonald's around. The ingredients are not always listed on products in Russia. Very often pasta and baked goods are sold by weight, and so there's no package to look at. Also, hot dogs and sausages commonly have milk or cream in them. We were not able to find a single variety that was safe for her to eat.

What did she eat for three weeks? At least we could cook... We took a box of Cherrybrook Kitchen Original Pancake Mix with us, so I was able to make her pancakes. We found a brand of pelmeni (Russian style meat tortellini) that had no milk/eggs. She ate mac and kasha (buckwheat), potatoes, meat; and various berries that were in season. For snack she had "sushki" - small, crunchy, mildly sweet bread rings which can be eaten for dessert (from wikipedia). The only fast food choice she had was french fries, so I had to make sure we had enough food with us when we were out and about. It seems counterintuitive, but it's a lot easier to feed a child who has diabetes than a child who has food allergies. But it is true.

I'm curious how other people handle travel and food issues. Especially when you stay in hotel and have no stove.

I had a 10 year old in my care this week, so I finally had an excuse to try tie-dyeing. I bought a Tie Dye Kit and a bunch of t-shirts. We watched the DVD that came with the kit, and the girls picked their favorites folds. We had enough t-shirt to try all the basic folds: spiral, "bull's eye" (best on bandanas!), vertical and horizontal stripes and crinkle.

Here's what we've learned. Tie-dye is fun, easy, and the results are great. The girls were very happy with their t-shirts and proudly wore them the next day, telling everyone that they've made them themselves.

The kit came with everything we needed: dyes, soda ash, rubber bands and gloves (and a DVD and instructions, of course). I used the regular kitchen gloves, because they stay on better, especially on the small kids' hands. In addition to the kit, you will also need gallon size ziplock bags, one per each item you paint.

The process was not very messy, but it took a long time, and there were a lot of "Are the t-shirts ready?" We made some Jello while the folded shirts were pre-soaking in soda ash solution.

We had t-shirts of different quality, all brand new, the best results were on 95% cotton/5% spandex t-shirts from Target; the worst on 50/50 cotton from Hanes. We also dyed worn, washed, not-so-white-anymore socks, and these turned out great.

We painted 10 t-shirts, two pairs of socks, bandana and a hand towel. And there still was some dye left. The dyes have to be used within 2 weeks of mixing, so if the package says that you can paint 10-15 shirts, make sure to get that many.

Here are some of the t-shirts we made: