Peanut Allergies and the Peanut

Since the little porpoise was diagnosed with a milk allergy, allergens have become one of my biggest pre-occupations and neurosis. While her diet is basically just Soy formula and rice cereal right now, it's been very easy to manage the milk allergy. My bigger concern is that I somehow created an allergic kid. What allergies have yet to be discovered? Mostly, I fear the peanut allergy.

My husband's love for peanut butter borders on obsessive. He eats it all the time - peanut butter on English muffins for breakfast, peanut butter granola bars for snacks and peanut butter ice cream for dessert. His favorite part of the holidays - Reeses Peanut Butter Christmas Trees.

Now, while he's chowing on peanut butter by the spoonful and showering the Little Porpoise with loving kisses and playful zerberts, one news story sticks in my mind - the girl who kissed her boyfriend after he ate a PB&J and died!

Part One: 25 Things I am Neurotic About

In honor of the craze sweeping Facebook right now, I am listing 25 things I have worried about recently. This will be a series of five posts.

1. A mysterious, large bruise that appeared on my arm - When I was 11 I read a book about a girl who got leukemia, and one of the symptoms was that she bruised easily. Now whenever I notice a bruise and can not remember how I got it I assume the worst.

2. Ring worm - This is a rare instance that I was not worrying, and I should have been. As I have mentioned, I recently went to the doctor for a regular check-up. There I learned that what I thought was a patch of dry skin on my leg was actually ring worm. (Note: The doctor told me ring worm is not a worm, it's a fungus. That was supposed to make me feel better.

3. High levels of sodium - I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch today. Anytime I have a frozen meal I worry about sodium in-take, but today I topped it off with some soy sauce with my dinner. Now my toe feels like it's going numb. I'm convinced the two are related.

4. Blood clots - I am getting on a plane in three weeks.

5. Potholes - I can not believe that no one has invented pothole resistant asphalt. If I had not done Mad Libs all through chemistry in high school I'd be on top of that invention. Instead I sit at home and worry about my husband driving his little Civic straight into an SUV-sized pothole.Check back soon for the next five worries in this series...

Stuffing and stuff

Every year at Thanksgiving I deal with the same issue: what to do about the stuffing? As we have all heard a thousand times, stuffing cooked inside the turkey is dangerous. Unfortunately, stuffing cooked outside the turkey is gross. Every year I roll the dice with my life and eat the potentially bacteria-infested turkey stuffing. It's moist and delicious. For the past 31 years, I've been lucky-- no bacteria.

Now, this 31-year-successful track record might make you think the stuffing-bacteria warnings are overblown. But, what does a neurotic wife think? Next year my family and I will get seriously ill from infected stuffing.

Now we are (slow) cookin'

Yesterday I conquered a fear. I left the house while my Cuisinart crock pot was running.

In the winter I love making stews and soups in the crock pot-- great comfort food for a cold, winter day. However most crock pot specialties cook for 9-10 hours. With the exception of "work-at-home" days, I am never in my house, and awake, for nine hours.

I had heard that it was safe to leave your house with the crock pot on, although this belies any kitchen-common-sense I ever learned from my neurotic mother. You don't leave your house with the iron on, the stove on, or the oven on, so why is it "ok" to leave with the crock pot cooking? Nevertheless, yesterday as my crock pot made creamy, bacony, clam chowder I left the house to run to Best Buy. In an emboldened act of courage, I also went to Bed, Bath & Beyond. I was gone for a good hour and a half.

I rounded the corner to my circle (stopping to look for children of course) and my stomach felt queasy with butterflies. Joyous day! My house was still standing.

Today I learned it is ok to leave the crock pot on while going out for short errands. I dont think I would leave it for a whole day of work, but for an errand or two, that's fine.