All that is Rice

Now that we are in a new area, we needed to find a new allergist for the Babe. We saw the doctor last week, and had skin testing done. She previously only had blood work done, which shows IgE antibody levels. The results are on a scale of 0-6, and the levels themselves do not necessarily correlate to the degree of allergic reaction to expect. In fact, the Babe scored low for a rice allergen (1), and our former allergist thought she could eat rice, until we reminded her that at that time rice cereal caused hives.

For the past 15 months, we have been living without dairy, eggs, wheat, rice, barley, rye, peanuts, tree nuts, strawberries, and coconut. We were not surprised when she again tested positive for dairy, eggs, or the glutenous grains. While the list is still major of what she is allergic to, the biggest victory right now is rice. That's right- she doesn't appear to be allergic to rice anymore. The allergist wants us to do a food challenge at home before assuming we are in the clear to start eating rice. However, he said rice is a very low allergen, so any reaction would be less dramatic. So, when I have a weekday that is clear, I shall do the challenge. And if the Babe is clear, then, oh the doors that will open!

Once we can integrate rice into our diet, here are some of the wonders that are rice, besides the beautiful white little grains I so love to eat! Most gluten free baking recipes contain rice flour in them, and supposedly cookies and bake goods taste more natural using rice flour. Ergo, I can buy mixes (like Bisquick's Gluten Free mix) and some pre-baked breads. There is rice wine vinegar. Rice noodles. Rice pilaf. Wild rice (usually a mix of wild rice and white rice). Rice milk. Rice crispies. Rice crackers. All the various ethnic rice mixes. And the list goes on.