RECALL - Fernando's Food Corp. Enchilada products MILK ingredient is NOT on label

Fernando's Food Corporation, a Compton, Calif., establishment, is recalling approximately 9,400 pounds of enchilada products because they were inadvertently mislabeled and contain an undeclared allergen, milk, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. Milk is a known potential allergen, which is not declared on the label.

The product subject to recall includes: [View Labels (PDF Only)]

• 9.84-pound cases of "CASA SOLANA BEEF CHICKEN AND TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN PRODUCT ENCHILADA." Each case contains 90 enchiladas and bears case code numbers "2103745" and "24947," as well as the establishment number "EST. 6492" inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The enchilada products were produced on Jan. 28, 2010, Feb. 16, 2010, and Feb. 28, 2010 and were sent to distributors in Ala., Ark., Calif., Tenn., and Texas.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact Fernando's at 1-800-338-0374. Media with questions regarding the recall should contact Ira Brill, Director of Marketing, at (209) 394-6891.

Great appointment - first of a few this month

This morning we had our eye appointment with Dr. Aaby and I am happy to report, that both girls are doing great!!! Eyes are clear, eye sight is fantastic and nowhere any cataract in sight. I am so happy. Ron asked me earlier whether I was concerned and truth be said that I really was not but then you just never know. It is just always such a relief when things are OK. By the way - both girls absolutely loved the appointment. There is a great playroom complete with a castle, and Sleeping Beauty painted on the wall. The girls loved identifying things even so Mia Rose threw the assistant of for a second when she called the cake a "pancake". Even getting the drops were no big deal.

After the exam, we dropped of Ron at work and I treated us ladies out for breakfast at Jam. Vegan pancakes for the girls with a side of bacon :). Alena is now at school and she proudly is wearing her sunglasses. Have a great day, everyone!

New Research Study in California

Please see below information I have received about a research study being conducted in California. The researchers are looking for individuals between the ages of 5 - 89 as well as parents whose children are between the ages of 5 - 17. We have chosen to participate in this study. Please contact the researches directly with any questions at galactosemiaresearch@gmail.com.

"...Researchers from the Palo Alto University are conducting a study to learn about the impact of having Classical Galactosemia. We propose to extend current work, with the goal of gathering more comprehensive information from as many affected people as possible regarding health-related quality of life, cognitive and executive functioning, and behavior of people with Galactosemia.

We are requesting participation from persons aged 5-89, as well as participation from parents of 5-17 year olds. Wendy Packman, JD, PhD, Sabrina Vierling, B.S., and Susan Gehrig, B.A. at Palo Alto University, are conducting this study.

If you choose to participate, you will be asked to meet with an examiner for assessments and to complete questionnaires about how you or your child are living in the presence of a chronic illness. Participation in this study will take approximately one and a half hours for child, adolescent and adult patients, and only 45 minutes for parents of child/adolescent patients. If you are interested in participating in this study, please email Galactosemiaresearch@gmail.com. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have..."

Dear Insurance Company I really do not like you...

Guess I am in a complaining mode today...Did you know that it costs around $300 a girl to get the blood work done. Can you believe it?! I am sure you can. Now, let me ask you how much do you think our co-pay for that would be? It's an essential exam both kids have Galactosemia so one would think that the deductible would be minimal, but you know what? Totally wrong. Our share for each (!!!) child is over $60. Isn't that appalling ? Tell me please, how can it be - Dear Insurance Company - that you won't cover the entire expense? Did I mention that we already pay a decent amount in premiums each month? Well, it's official I don't like you. Thank you for reading...

Appointments, appointments, appointments

..March and it looks like it will be a crazy month full packed with medical appointements. We started it out yesterday with Mia Rosie's 4 year old check-up coupled with immunizations for both girls. Next week it off to the Ophthalmologist for the routine exam. Neither girls really remember Dr. Aaby so, as our last appointment was two years ago. I am not worried, but thinking about it still makes me a little nervous...wonder why, maybe because deep down inside I am just a wee bit worried, or maybe because - do I really want to admit to this? - I just feel like a bad parent for not taking the girls on an annual basis to see the Ophthalmologist. Then again, we have checked with the Metabolic Clinic and it is clear that they only recommend the visit every couple of years...Aaaahhh, I just need to stop feeling so guilt ridden.

The month will go on with developmental appointments for both girls. Speech, and Occupational Therapist for Alena; Occupational Therapist for Mia Rosie...the final will be the meeting with the Developmental Physician which - as things look now - probably won't be until April. Oh, and then eventually it's time for another draw as well as Metabolic appointment...

Of course, the glass is always half-full - never the other way b/c then I would just get bad wrinkles ;) - never-the-less I still feel a bit uneasy, worried, have a pit in my stomach because it reminds me a little too much for comfort of our little metabolic gig we got going on...

Thank you for reading me whine :) - Have a great weekend.

Little t Baker for breakfast

Yesterday Mia Rose and I met a few people at Little t Baker for breakfast before going to the playground. Their bread is outstanding and all but the Brioche as well as the Pretzel bread are without milk derivatives. Note, that the Pretzel bread (aka Laugenstangen) are available for special order without butter, just "off the shelf" unfortunately does not work for the kiddos.

In any case, we have not been there for a while so yesterday we found a couple of new items the kids can eat. One item is a Green Pea & Bacon Leaf which Mia Rose had. Wow - out of this world!!! Packed full with lovely bits of bacon, and it has a little greenish tint for the peas. So, so good!!! Mia Rosie actually ate the entire thing...and may I add that it it quite large :).

The other item we found yesterday was a Hazelnut Rochet (sp?) it also looked delicious and I was so thrilled to see that there now also is a pastry item available for the girls. BTW - the Green Pea & Bacon Leaf are weekend items only, but the Rochet (sp?) is available everyday. Oh, and if neither appeals to you then order the "Continental Short and Skinny Bread" and skip the butter. Delicious....

Here is the link http://www.littletbaker.com/ Enjoy!!!

Birthday Cake Picture

Look at that beautiful Butterfly. The cake was just amazing. When you are in Portland you must pay visit :) here is the link --> www.sweetpeabaking.com

Mia Rose turns 4...look at that beautiful cake

So my baby turned 4. I can hardly believe it - time goes so fast...but yes, it is great. Mia Rose, just like Alena, also had big Birthday Party complete with entertainment, and a beautiful cake from Sweet Pea Baking. She chose a Lemon-Raspberry Cake, and requested it to look like a butterfly since she lately really is into butterflies :) The cake was - as always - amazing and Mia Rose was so excited that it really did look like a butterfly....look at it - isn't it beautiful...and so delicious.

Kids Night Out

Once a month something fantastic happens at Alena's school....it's called "Kids Night Out". Enrolled students and siblings can spend a Friday night at school. Isn't that fantastic? It starts at 5:30 and the latest the kids can be picked-up is 9:30 pm. They bake pizza for the kids, play games, go out to the playground, or to the gym. It's great - Mia Rose loves it and both are so excited for the night out without parents :) BTW - I would like to add that Ron and I are equally excited for a night on the town...

The girls obviously can't eat the pizza that is served and in the past I have picked up a pie for them at Pizzicato. A couple of month however we started to make our own pizza, and the girls bring it unbaked to school. It's great - we have an activity for Friday afternoon by rolling the pizza dough, piling on the sauce, topping the pizza and they can eat it together with the other kids. Our girls get to eat their pizza and nobody even questions it. It's easy and understood by all. It's no big deal...wow who would have ever thought that the diet becomes so manageable!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day

Ok - I know it's only the second month of the New Year and I am already not keeping up with my New Year's resolution of blogging at the very least once a week. However, because some weeks I blog more than once a week I am technically still on par :) What do you think?! - It has been a little hectic here. Ron was out-of-town for a whole week so it sometimes was even hard to hear myself think...alright, alright I stop it's the world's smallest violin. I am not writing to complain! Why on earth would I do that?! No, Valentine's Day is the topic...Yay - hearts, pink and purple a girl's dream come true :) The three girls at our house (that includes me) love it...we cut out hearts and decorated the windows. One word l-o-v-e-l-y...and yes, there was chocolate for everyone. Dark chocolate bars with cherry and almond. Yummy!!! In any case, it was great but I really wanted to write about Mia Rose and what happened at her school.

Mia Rose goes to school two full-days a week. Her school has a cook and the foods are always safe for her to eat. In preparation for Valentine's Day Tea on Friday the kids made cookies in school last Thursday. The cookies however contained butter. So what were we to do? a) not let her touch the dough, or b) let her touch the dough but make sure that she would not eat anything and clean her hands immediately. What do you think we did? Well, she made the cookies and the teacher was close by the entire time. She had such a fantastic time. Truth be said, it made me just a wee bit anxietal but she had so much fun. How could we have excluded her from that fun activity? Mia Rose knew exactly that she could not eat the cookies. That to me is amazing.

Valentine's Day Tea was on Friday and the teacher's asked me to bring along cookies that Mia Rose could eat. So early in the day, her and I baked heart-shaped sugar cookies and brought them along to the Tea. One of the activities scheduled was for each child to frost a cookie. Immediately I thought, well Mia Rosie won't be able to frost her cookie but you know what the director of the school went out to search for milk free pink frosting. I was so excited...well, OK the ingredient list certainly did not contain items we usually eat but it was so much fun.

In retrospect I am very proud of ourselves for allowing Mia Rose to work with the "evil" cookie dough and also just so proud of our little girl for resisting the temptation to try. I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day!!!