Walk for Food Allergy

            Join the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward a Cure.  This 1.5 mile walk will be held Saturday, October 25, and begins at Veteran's Memorial Park. Check-in begins at 9am, the walk begins at 10am.  Activities include face painting, spin art, costumed characters, pumpkin decorating, a DJ, a bounce house, prizes, and more!  For more information and to register for this free event, visit www.foodallergywalk.org.      

Tips for Managing Food Allergies-provided by The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, foodallergy.org.

Read the Labels-Read the labels on all foods, all the time-how else will you know what's in your food?  Don't eat food that doesn't have a label.

Carry Your Medicine-Make sure you know how and when to use your medicine if you have a reaction.  If your doctor says you need to carry medicine, such as EpiPen® or Twinject®, be sure to have it with you wherever you go.  If you have questions about your medicine, ask your doctor.

Ask Questions-Just because a food looks safe doesn't mean it is. Ask questions about ingredients before you eat anything.

Don't Take Chances-Sharing food with your friends is risky.  How do you know if the food is safe?  Your friend's cupcake may look good, but if it has something you are allergic to, it could make you feel very sick.  The best policy is: don't trade food!

Find a PAL-Teach your friends how to be a PAL: Protect A Life from Food Allergies.  Tell them which foods you need to avoid and what happens when you have a reaction.  Also show them how to use your medicine, so they can help if you are having a reaction.

Family Celebration

        The March of Dimes will be hosting the Second Annual Celebration of Families. This event celebrates families that have experienced prematurity, usually with a stay in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  It is designed as a party specifically for families and children, but it also encourages families to reconnect with local hospitals and NICU caregivers, and to share with other families who have had similar experiences. 

• Saturday, November 1, 9am-noon, Discovery Center of Idaho
• Free for hospital NICU personnel and families with prematurity
• Refreshments, music, special activities for children, surprises

        For information, contact the March of Dimes at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Family Trail Weekend

        Just as Christopher Columbus explored the new world, thrilled to discover its natural beauty, the National Wildlife Federation has created a program that encourages families to discover and reconnect with nature by participating in the first annual Make Tracks!^TM  Family Trail Weekend, October 11-13, Columbus Day Weekend.  NWF is hoping families will trade some screen time for green time by walking, biking, hiking, or strolling on the trails and paths right outside their front door.

        NWF has taken the legwork out of preparing for this fun family outing.  A new website, maketracks.org, provides a list of supplies, tips for family-friendly activities, and a link to NatureFind, a terrific database to locate the best nearby trails, walking paths, and parks, just by entering your zip code.  With today's high gas prices, discovering nature where you live has even more benefits.

        Make Tracks! is part of National Wildlife Federation's Green Hour® campaign, which urges parents to give their kids a daily dose of nature-unstructured  time for children to leave homework, piano lessons, and soccer practice behind to play outside and discover the freedom it provides.  This time can improve both physical and mental health for adults and kids alike.

CORRECTION

            We incorrectly listed one of our Field Trip Guide entries in our September 2008 issue.  Here's the correct information-make plans to visit today!  We apologize for any confusion we may have caused our readers.

World Center for Birds of Prey
5668 W. Flying Hawk Lane
Boise, ID 83709
362-8687
www.peregrinefund.org

Sensible Shopping

        Consumers are noticing that grocery prices are up almost all across the board, as much as 36 percent more than last year for common kitchen staples.  Amy Bergin created The Couponizer®, a shopping system offering a set of tools to enable consistent savings on groceries plus entertainment, restaurant, retail, and services, as well as a sleeve to hold frequent shopper cards (www.couponizer.com).  And Stephanie Nelson, known as The Coupon Mom, started the program couponmom.com, a free website featuring weekly lists of the best grocery deals and grocery coupon information for 50 states.

        From these two experts, here are a few key tips to help you start saving:

            Establish a weekly shopping routine that includes both planning and shopping.  Inventory your current supplies, check your calendar, scan your recipes, and make a shopping list.  Then line up coupons and weekly deals.  Use a system like The Couponizer® to organize and shop with your cut coupons.  If you do the planning, then shopping becomes nothing more than executing your plan and you will shop faster and easier and save more money.

            Set goals for spending.  When you decide as a family how much money you have to spend each week or month for necessities, you tend to be more diligent in how you spend that money.  Revisit these goals quarterly to see what is working and what is not.

            Look online.  There are more ways than ever to obtain savings with the availability of downloadable internet coupons from coupon websites, online promotion codes, and consumer friendly websites offering free samples. 

            Track your savings.  If you total your savings for a month or two, you will be amazed at how much this total is.

Dinner at Your Door - Co-op Cooking

        Local authors Alex Davis, Andy Remeis, and Diana Ellis all love to cook-but not every night!  So, they have all been involved in a dinner co-op, "a geographically close circle of cooks who alternate preparing and delivering fresh, hot weeknight meals so you get more than you give.  The goal is to feed three or four households with just a bit more effort than it takes to feed one-and to feed them well."

        With Dinner at Your Door: Tips and Recipes for Starting a Neighborhood Cooking Co-op, you'll see how to cook one fabulous dinner a week and have two or three equally sensational meals delivered to your door, hot and ready to eat.  The beautifully presented book provides information you need to set up your own dinner co-op, along with more than 60 recipes specially developed for co-op cooking. 

        Kitchen notes and personal tips from local co-op participants are included throughout the book, helping to give a real feel for what it is like to be in a cooking co-op.  Helpful forms and worksheets are included at the end of the book, all useful in creating a successful and fun co-op experience. 

        Dinner at Your Door is available at www.amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and locally at the Boise Co-op, Rediscovered Books, Fox Trot, and A Novel Adventure.  For more information, visit www.dinnerco-ops.com.

Help Your World

        Even young children are eager to help the environment. Here is a bright, inviting book that offers simple ways to make a difference.  10 Things I Can Do to Help My World, by Melanie Walsh (Candlewick Press), invites young readers to make a difference. 

Do you remember to turn off the tap while you brush your teeth?  How about using both sides of the paper when writing and drawing?  Or planting seeds and nurturing the new plants as they grow?  Bold, child-friendly illustrations and die-cut pages will draw even the youngest listeners to this gentle reminder of the easy, everyday ways we can be kinder to the earth.

Family Music

            The irrepressible energy and optimism of Trout Fishing in America moves further upstream with an all-new collection of 14 original songs, Big Round World.  The new CD features a range of musical styles and several songs derived from songwriting workshops with children.  Trout Fishing in America is the three-time Grammy nominated duo of guitarist Ezra Idlet and bassist Keith Grimwood.  Their music appeals to audiences across the generations, making theirs truly "family music." 

        The Afro-pop vibrancy of Big Round World sets the tone for the thoughtfully happy music, but the CD takes unexpected forays into a wide range of genres from cool jazz to rock and bluegrass.