I blogged earlier this week about my mother’s use of a Neti pot plus Claritin to manage her seasonal allergies. Turns out that the Claritin wasn’t necessary at all.

Somewhere in the midst of the worst of ragweed season, my mom got a cold. Some nasty bacteria took advantage of her irritated sinuses and got a really good hold on her. She started the Claritin thinking that her allergies were getting worse: she was wrong.

How do you tell the difference between a nose clogged by allergies and a nose clogged by a cold? The issue with colds and allergies is that the symptoms of both conditions can look very similar. Unless you are running a fever, it can be particularly very hard to tell in the early stages of a cold from an allergy attack.

Since allergies are the “situation normal” around here, I find it easiest to just start with a dose of antihistamine (if my son isn’t already taking it) if he starts to bark or wheeze or sneeze. That gives me crucial information right off the bat: if it’s his allergies, the antihistamine will help and his symptoms will improve. If it’s not his allergies, the antihistamine …

One of those things that most allergy sufferers never think about is the quality of the indoor air in their car.

Keeping allergens out of the air that you breathe, no matter where you are, is a great strategy for seasonal and inhalant allergies. However, when we get into our vehicle, we often forget this one basic rule for managing allergies.

Just like your home, your car should be a closed environment. This means that the quality of car’s climate control is extremely important.

The Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association now recommends four Volvo models because of their technology that keeps the air inside the vehicle as clean as possible. This air improvement is achieved through one of two systems that address indoor air quality: IAQS (Indoor Air Quality System) and CZIP (Clean Zone Interior Package).

The Volvo technology goes further than just ensuring clean air coming in from the outside. In fact, in the XC60, nickel exposure from metallic surfaces has been limited. Nickel is a common metal allergen which sufferers often first discover through its use in costume jewelry.

Another change is that a natural plant extract has been used for tanning of all leather trim. This will …

This month I’m taking part in a writing project, hosted by my friend Robert Hruzek of Middle Zone Musings. If you’ve never stopped by his blog, it’s a chatty, friendly kind of place where you can put up your feet and sip a cuppa, while enjoying his writing and learning a few things along the way. He might even introduce you to a few other blogs worth reading (like this one).

Which brings me to the topic of this post: If there’s anything I’ve learned from friends, it’s about allergies – theirs, mine and ours. When I bring a bunch of my favorite people together, there’s always the interesting balancing act of making food that everyone can eat, without making myself crazy.

It’s not always easy.

I’m always on the hunt now for new recipes. In fact, it’s become an embarrassing preoccupation. If a magazine is laying around and it’s got recipes in it, I likely have my nose in it. I find myself picking up the supermarket trash reading, because some of those things have really good recipe sections! I even find myself trolling the online resources to support my addiction. However, that recently paid off when I found Karina’s …

Ragweed season is in full bloom, and if you are allergic — it’s been a nasty fall so far.

My mother has ragweed allergies. Every year, she starts to look like death warmed over as September sets in: black circles under her eyes, blocked nasal cavities, nasty cough. Usually, this also results in her getting sick as the bacteria and viruses take advantage of her inflamed nasal tissues.

This year, I recommended Claritin to my mom. We’ve been using it for my son’s seasonal allergies in the summer, and it really worked well. These new once-a-day antihistamines are especially handy for kids who are away all day at school: I give it to him in the morning and don’t think about it again. We did notice that he had to be taking it for 4-5 days before it really worked at full effectiveness, but that seemed a reasonable trade-off for better control of his symptoms.

My mom decided that she’d go for the Claritin liquid too. Lo and behold: she got better control of her summer seasonal allergies.

But then ragweed season set in.

She decided she just didn’t want to be on a whole host of prescription drugs. Off she went to her local …

Cooking for your allergic kid, spouse or self can be trying, especially if you have different allergies among family members! How to make one meal that will feed everyone?

I found this recipe on the back of a package of Green Giant Lima Beans. It looked so good I just had to try it. It avoids the main allergens, and could be made with salmon (which is a family favorite in my house). Even my 2 year old ate her portion with hardly a complaint (although the cooked peppers were a stretch for her!)

We substituted basil for thyme (basil goes better with salmon) and left out the cayenne pepper. (We’ll wait to try that when the youngest member of the family is a bit older.)

If you need to be fully soy and gluten free, be sure to check your spices carefully. Soy and gluten can be added to spice mixes in particular.

Try this for your household! It’s supper in about 1 hour.

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Halibut with Potato Succatash

1-1.5 lbs halibut, salmon, sole or other fish fillets (4)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups peeled, diced Yukon gold potatos
2 cups lima beans
1 cup frozen niblet corn
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tsp fresh …