Compiling a Master Grocery List

[ajasfolks2]

I'm a fan of redundant systems (pilot wife and all).

I like having something on the phone/gadget AND the manual available too.

Might be great to do one of these up too for RESTAURANTS when you travel, KWIM?

You never know when you cannot log on and research here or review.

It needs to be simple, clear, and not overwhelming for the learning child, or the new caregiver, or the grandma who wants to help with the shopping or get shopping done before a visit.

Lots of uses here, I think.

[CMdeux]

CM, I'd pay you to make that binder for us went the time comes!!

Awww, you're really sweet...

<profound, Taoist moment with sonorous voiceover>

Here: a picture to go with this statement:



Each of us must forge our own unique path through the wilderness...

er-- binder.


Seriously, though-- I think that everyone's binder would be different.  I'll be happy to share templates of what I make for DD, of course.  Anyone can adapt them to suit their own needs-- for free, like everything else around here.    

[booandbrimom]

Wow, lot of great ideas! But to clarify, my son is very adept at reading labels. We all read every label, every time, even if the food is open because we've had so many near misses and outright mistakes. (Bad Mom! Bad Dad!) We've been doing the "did you read it" reminders for the last two years with him in preparation.

With MFA though, he needs a quick list of possible foods so, if he's ordering from PeaPod or a local store, he knows what he's even looking for. It's taken us years in some cases to find sources for hard things like soup. My husband and I have an impossible-to-communicate routine by now. We have NINE stores we shop at and, in many cases, only one store carries a particular brand. Gotta go to Trader Joe's for the only safe soup we can find...locally owned store for the Rich's Rich Whip, etc. He's probably going to need to order on-line for some of this stuff or have us ship it, but I'd like him to know what we've found over the years.

I don't have a Smartphone either so I'll probably just do it in Excel. (And of course I'd be happy to share it with anyone who would find a milk/soy/peanut/bean/pea free list of Midwest brands helpful with the REAL disclaimer.)

I'm also starting to compile the basic recipes. It's amazing what you can do if you have vegetables from a clean salad bar, Amy's Sausage or Boar's Head bacon, a starch, a salad dressing and an electric skillet. He could make it through freshman year with just that if he had to.

Oh, and about 12 pounds of Scharffen Berger chocolate.

[GingerPye]

boo, I think you've got the right idea! 
I've got a cookbook going for my two kids.  For the last few years I've been typing our allergy-free recipes and I currently have a binder of the recipes that I have printed for my use --- but when it's time I will print those recipes and make a binder for each of them to take with them when they leave home.

[becca]

Well, that's what most of US have done for years, too, I suspect.  It's just that now that it's time to start handing things over to our adolescents, we suddenly are realizing that our kids may have only a sort of nebulous sense of HOW we do all those things for them.  KWIM?

This. 

I thought dd got it, but I get alot of "But I have had these before."  She made a few risky choices this weekend(Grandma foods).  Grandma's house is chock full of "May contain and manufactured on same equipment" labelling.

So, anyway, I thought dd knew to ask to see a label or package.  So we practiced some things to ask, so as to not offend, but get the needed info.  But clearly, we need to do more training in this area.  This is tricky with people who are bothered or do not respect the allergy properly, like MIL.  She will be vague when answering me or dd about a baked item, not offerring up the box or label.  It is so strange.  Why wouldn't she?  But that is a different thread entirely. 

I do bring her grocery shopping from time to time and have her look at labels of things she wants. 

[CMdeux]

Definitely, becca-- there is a whole 'nother set of super-tricky social navigations there.

It's one thing to ask AFTER you've "tasted" something, but for a FA person, that is too dangerous.  Asking beforehand is obviously "I don't trust you to be honest enough or smart enough" no matter how else you dress it up.  Because that, uh... is kind of what it means, really.  It's just that most of us have ample evidence for the frequency of errors being at least an order of magnitude HIGHER among people who don't live with a food allergy. 

That might be another good section for the binder-- some social tips, such as they are. 

[booandbrimom]

We've found that it takes about two years of drills for each new behavior. Carrying the Epi wherever he goes is taking more for some reason. I think it's because where he goes and how he carries (med bag vs. pocket, bike vs. car) change every two years, so the patterns and reminders are different.

I'm just about sure my son is reading every label every time now. The next project is to assign him to cook one meal a week, starting this summer. He's done it occasionally but resists the routine thing.

Maybe girls are easier? I'm afraid I'm going to be texting him at college every morning, saying "do you have your Epi? Did you take your meds? Did you pack a lunch and read the labels?"

[CMdeux]

Boo, I think that girls self-carry more readily (no young man wants to carry a "purse"), but that girls are probably FAR less assertive socially in many instances ("But my friends will HATE me if I rain on their parade all the time").   

It's six of one, half-a-dozen of the other, really. 

[PurpleCat]

Please, please do not take this the wrong way!

After all your efforts if you create something like a binder - will your child actually use it?

What if something changed, how would you update it?

My DD would have a lot of excuses why she didn't have time, or forgot, or was already out and did not want to go "home" to check, blah blah and then there's me, banging my head against the wall.

My opinion is the more portable and convenient, the better.  Which leads me to think an app on a phone or itouch would be more likely to be used/referenced.

Here's one that works on all kinds of smart phones and syncs with other devices.  Just a thought - I've not personally used it.
http://grocerygadgets.com/how-grocery-gadgets-work.aspx

[Ra3chel]

Please, please do not take this the wrong way!

After all your efforts if you create something like a binder - will your child actually use it?

What if something changed, how would you update it?

My DD would have a lot of excuses why she didn't have time, or forgot, or was already out and did not want to go "home" to check, blah blah and then there's me, banging my head against the wall.

No way to guarantee this--but I'd imagine having the resouce on-hand would significantly affect the odds of them using it. It's about risk reduction, or the tools for it--no one's offering or asking for guarantees.

[CMdeux]

Yeah-- I actually see this as a study guide as much as anything else. 

Just as I don't expect that safer-sex literature is something I can make my daughter use and keep in mind when she's navigating real-world interactions (I certainly don't expect her to dig it out of her purse and say, "Hang on a sec-- I need to remember how I'm supposed to ask you to wear a condom,")... I still will provide it so that she has a chance to educate herself to the extent that she prefers, and I may even be a little assertive about that educational process at times.   

I don't think that a "pocket" tool is likely to be used much, to be honest.  Either the information has been internalized, or it's available if she has questions (which is where the binder comes into things), or it's available if she PANICS because of the newness of the situation (again-- binder as security blanket)... or she's going to make haphazard/bad choices.  All I can do is hope for the best, really.

[Ra3chel]

Y'know--the more I think about this, the more I think it would make sense to set up a wiki with manufacturer information. Would anyone else be interested in participating in something like that?

Thanks,
R

[Mfamom]

I actually think that participating in the shopping and making calls is a great exercise for our kids.  My ds is label reader like no other.  He reads the labels a lot and has caught a few of my mistakes.  (once almond flour in a cereal and a few other things).
I don't call every manufacturer and I am okay with some of the manufacturers that others don't like (kraft for one  )
I buy a lot of the same things every week, still look at the label and try to keep up with changes (like a new flavor etc).
That's worked for us...I just don't know if I could keep up with a binder/list. 

[ajasfolks2]

Gosh, R -- as to wiki,

that sounds like great resource set up, however,

I'd think it would be very hard to post there and not end up with big-fat-lawsuit from a food manufacturer, especially WRT comments that might be needed as to the perceived honesty/trustworthiness. . . .


I just don't know.

But, YES, portability for older/high school/college/young adult is a MUST.

Just like the new epi (the credit card size) is going to be the BOMB (due to portability) -- the grocery/shopping THING needs to be ultra-easy and,



oh I hate to say this . . .




COOL.