I’m a mother to a wonderful 16 month old little boy who I have nicknamed Mantou (mahn-toe). Mantou is the name my husband and I chose to call our baby while in utero.The name itself is a Chinese breakfast item also known as a steamed bun. We decided not to find out the gender of our baby because we figured it is one of those surprises in life that really is a surprise. The nickname is pretty gender neutral and was the perfect choice for our son. Unfortunately, it’s one of the foods, he will probably not be able to enjoy (unless he grows out of his wheat allergy).
Mantou was born on a very green day, St. Patrick’s Day! I nursed him from day one and have not regretted my decision. It’s such a wonderful bonding experience and it’s been the only real time I get to be close with my son. Otherwise, he’s such a daddy’s boy!
We learned that he had eczema at one of his routine office visits and decided to run a blood test to see if he had any food allergies that we could remove from my diet so that he would be less itchy. When the results came back, we learned he had allergies to
- Walnuts (tree nuts)
- Egg whites
- Peanuts
- Wheat
In order to continue  nursing my son, I had to take out a lot of food from my diet! I didn’t realize almost all carbs have flour, which comes from wheat. Plus I love peanuts, especially peanut butter cookies!! But I love my son even more. Talk about a real change – I have since then read all kinds of ingredient labels, when we eat out my husband and I ask about the ingredients, and I definitely got back to my pre-pregnancy weight minus some on my quest to eat allergen free.
As I read other allergy-free, gluten-free blogs, I learned that I must embrace this challenge. There are so many other blogs dedicated to eating gluten-free, dairy-free (by the way just found out he is allergic to cow’s milk), egg-free, nut-free. It’s unfortunate that the U.S. has such an increase in food allergies among kids, but it’s also been fortunate to look to the internet to share stories, recipes, food products and general support on living without food allergies. For one, I’ve found more than tortilla chips as snacks and actually am gaining weight!
I hope to use this blog to record what I’m eating. If that be recipes I find online, cooking on a whim (which I usually do), eating out, buying specific products – I need one place to just come back to, and this is where I’ll begin.
mantousmom
redducksoup
Meals with Mantou 
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