When we finished egg OIT at the end of July, we were excited, but we knew we still had a ways to go. We were still pretty limited on what Riley could eat because milk is also in most food that contains eggs, and we still had a month before milk graduation. But the milk limitation didn’t stop us from trying to find new things. Riley could do milk baked in, so that helped open a few more doors as well. Even more than what new things he could eat, feeling like some of the constant and sometimes suffocating restrictions were starting to loosen and be removed was exhilarating. Here are a few of our new adventures (be sure to read the one- it’s my favorite):

Scrambled Eggs

Riley thought it was a very strange flavor and texture for his first bite in the office. His face was so puzzled, that I wish I had captured it on video. There really isn’t anything you eat that you could compare to a scrambled egg, so it is unlike anything he’s ever had. After eating the whole egg in the office, he was excited to eat scrambled eggs again. He eats a scrambled egg for his dose once or twice a week and loves it.

Glazed and Powdered Donuts

Donuts were top on Riley’s list of things he wanted to eat when he finished OIT. It was a little tricky to find donuts with no milk in the frosting (baked in the donut was ok) and no nut cross-contamination, but we managed to pull it off. A Krispee Kreme donut was the first thing we gave him the morning after he finished. He was so excited. He liked it, but he was pretty impressed that his grandma’s donuts made from fried Pillsbury biscuit dough tasted pretty close. I think he was expecting something totally different. We also bought Franz glazed donuts and Hostess powdered donut holes. He really liked the donut holes.

Boiled Egg

We were making Cobb Salad and my husband realized we could add boiled eggs now, which we have omitted for the last 12 years. Riley tried his first boiled egg. It was so strange to see him holding it, and even more crazy to see him put it in his mouth. He was totally weirded out by the texture and taste. I told him it was okay, a lot of people feel that way about boiled eggs.

Mayonnaise

He ate a BLT with mayonnaise on it for the first time. It wasn’t a very strong flavor in the sandwich. He didn’t dislike it, but wasn’t in love either. It has been several weeks since his first bit of mayo now and he asks for mayo on his sandwiches, so it must be growing on him. I think some of these new flavors will take some time to get used to.

Chik-Fil-A – So Many New Options!

Riley ate a breaded chicken sandwich. When we got up to the menu, the only thing we had to avoid was cheese on the sandwiches. There were SO MANY more options that were available to him. It was so exciting. He even tried the Chik-Fil-A Sauce. He loved the sandwich but didn’t love the sauce. Seeing him light up looking at the menu made me so happy.

New Recipe -Cinnamon Sticky Rolls

My daughter wanted to make Cinnamon Rolls for her first time. We looked up a recipe and actually followed it. No extra work trying to guess if it would work with an egg substitute and which one would work best. No worrying about setting her expectations that it might not come out exactly like the picture. We just followed the recipe with eggs, and they came out great. Riley loved them.

Chubby’s Fries and Fry Sauce

Riley ate the fries at our family’s favorite burger place for the first time. The fries are fried in the same oil as other egg ingredients, so he hasn’t been able to eat the fries there before. He loves fries. He was so excited. He tried fry sauce for the first time. He wasn’t a fan, but it might grow on him over time.

Stress Free Eggs at Family Vacation

Eggs were allowed on family vacation. This has been banned from our family reunions with extended family for years. This year, there were eggs in the refrigerator and people had eggs for breakfast, they even made cookies with eggs. I wasn’t worried about the egg messes the babies and toddlers made. Riley did a scrambled egg for a dose on one morning so he could eat eggs like everyone else that day, and he could eat the cookies his cousin made for everyone. It was awesome.

New Restaurant -Arby’s

We tried a new restaurant on a road trip. My kids have never eaten there. We don’t branch out, especially when traveling because it is usually super frustrating when there is hardly anything safe to eat. Passing egg OIT made us feel like we could try a new place because it didn’t matter if there was egg in their buns. We didn’t love Arby’s, but we loved the feeling of expanding freedom.

Store-Bought Potato Salad

Riley liked it, but our homemade potato salad is so much better, even with vegan mayo. This was an exciting moment for me though because I had a lot of relatives coming over and I realized I could actually buy something pre-made at the store. WHAT???? I didn’t have to make something from scratch? It was an awesome feeling (even if the salad wasn’t that good, lol).

Box Mix Brownies

We made a pan of brownies from a box. Yes, I know it sounds silly, but I love box mix brownies so I was excited for this moment. We followed the instructions exactly and made brownies that tasted like the gooey, chewy, chocolaty goodness they were meant to be. We had a lot of close substitutes over the years, but nothing quite nailed it exactly like a brownie made with eggs.

Corn Dogs and Breakfast Burritos

Riley always wondered what a corn dog tasted like. He didn’t like it. I can’t blame him, they are not my fave either. Curiosity satisfied. Checked that box.

We also tried breakfast burritos. He didn’t like them with scrambled tofu, and still didn’t like them with scrambled eggs, even though he likes scrambled eggs. Go figure. We learning there are a lot of things to try, just to satisfy curiosity. Now he also knows what he has NOT been missing out on!

Chocolate Crinkles

My family made these cookies at Christmas time and I’ve never been able to get an egg free version to come out quite right. There is just too high of an egg ratio in these. We were excited to make these for him and he loved them.

Social Inclusion – Lemon Bars

My favorite Post OIT moment after graduating egg was with my hairdresser. I took Riley with me to my appointment because Riley had taken his dose later than we planned and had to be under my supervision for the hour afterward. After my haircut, my hairdresser said it was her birthday and her husband had made her favorite treat, lemon bars, to share with her clients.

My initial feeling was dread. It’s how I always feel in these situations. Someone is so excited to share something delicious with you and you have to turn them down, effectively crushing the happiness from the giver and the receiver (your child) and replacing it with guilt, sadness, and frustration. The person offering the food feels bad. As a parent, you feel bad. The kid feels bad. Anyone who eats the food feels guilty for eating it in front of someone who can’t have it and the giver is desperate to try to find something else to offer, or to say, or to do to make the child feel better. It’s just all around awful. I hate these moments. It makes me wish we didn’t eat food socially. But this time as those feelings of dread started to creep in, I realized that if the lemon bars had baked milk, he could eat them. My hairdresser called her husband and asked about the recipe. There was butter in it but it was baked into the crust. YES!!!

She offered Riley a slice and he ate his first lemon bar. More importantly, he ate his first treat that someone unexpectedly offered. He ate it with everyone in the room. He ate it while we smiled and laughed, and inhaled powdered sugar together. My hairdresser was celebrating her birthday, but my heart was celebrating so much more than that.