Origin story - The beginning
It all started shortly after our son Benjamin was born in 2013. Kristen was nursing and Benjamin was thriving... until he wasn't. He developed a terrible skin condition, which being young parents we thought wit was just dry skin or cradle-cap. When it began to spread across his whole head and face, we took him to the pediatrician and they gave us several creams for eczema. That didn't work and the condition got worse. It got to the point where his entire body was covered in what looked like eczema, but it started cracking and splitting open. It became so bad that he developed a full body staff infection due to his skin breaking down and not providing the barrier that was needed. It wasn't until we had him allergy tested that we learned that he was severely allergic to milk and eggs, which he was receiving in very low, but very harmful, doses from Kristen every time he nursed and when she ate either one.
And so, Kristen, being the trooper that she was, stopped eating both dairy and eggs for the next 9 months until Benjamin was one years old and onto solid food. We stayed away from milk and eggs for Benjamin. This was pretty easy when we were making all of his food, but started to get harder and harder as we began to eat out with him or when we would try find ready made snacks. We read EVERY label, for every food that didn't come from us. At a restaurant. At the grocery store. We wouldn't take any chances.
We became even more obsessed with finding options for him. We wanted him to be like all the other kids as he went to school; able to eat cookies, cakes, snacks, and treats, but we realized we would NEVER be like other families. Why the hell does a chicken nugget have 30+ ingredients, most of which have nothing to do with a chicken? Why do most processed foods not really contain food, but chemicals. That was it, if we didn't know the ingredient, we weren't eating it. Period. But reading labels is time consuming and lets be honest... not all vegan, natural, or organic options are created equal. In fact, most suck. We had to find a better way. But at the time it was all trial and error. We sampled, read labels, and tried tons of different products, loving some and gagging on others. Necessity became the mother of invention.
And so, Kristen, being the trooper that she was, stopped eating both dairy and eggs for the next 9 months until Benjamin was one years old and onto solid food. We stayed away from milk and eggs for Benjamin. This was pretty easy when we were making all of his food, but started to get harder and harder as we began to eat out with him or when we would try find ready made snacks. We read EVERY label, for every food that didn't come from us. At a restaurant. At the grocery store. We wouldn't take any chances.
We became even more obsessed with finding options for him. We wanted him to be like all the other kids as he went to school; able to eat cookies, cakes, snacks, and treats, but we realized we would NEVER be like other families. Why the hell does a chicken nugget have 30+ ingredients, most of which have nothing to do with a chicken? Why do most processed foods not really contain food, but chemicals. That was it, if we didn't know the ingredient, we weren't eating it. Period. But reading labels is time consuming and lets be honest... not all vegan, natural, or organic options are created equal. In fact, most suck. We had to find a better way. But at the time it was all trial and error. We sampled, read labels, and tried tons of different products, loving some and gagging on others. Necessity became the mother of invention.
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